Deuteronomy 4 commentary

The power and love of God to Israel are here made the ground and reason of a number of cautions and serious warnings; and although there is much reference to their national covenant, yet all may be applied to those who live under the gospel. What are laws made for but to be observed and obeyed? Our obedience as individuals cannot merit salvation; but it is the only evidence that we are partakers of the gift of God, which is eternal life through Jesus Christ, Considering how many temptations we are compassed with, and what corrupt desires we have in our bosoms, we have great need to keep our hearts with all diligence. Those cannot walk aright, who walk carelessly. Moses charges particularly to take heed of the sin of idolatry. He shows how weak the temptation would be to those who thought aright; for these pretended gods, the sun, moon, and stars, were only blessings which the Lord their God had imparted to all nations. It is absurd to worship them; shall we serve those that were made to serve us? Take heed lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God. We must take heed lest at any time we forget our religion. Care, caution, and watchfulness, are helps against a bad memory.

Moses urged the greatness, glory, and goodness of God. Did we consider what a God he is with whom we have to do, we should surely make conscience of our duty to him, and not dare to sin against him. Shall we forsake a merciful God, who will never forsake us, if we are faithful unto him? Whither can we go? Let us be held to our duty by the bonds of love, and prevailed with by the mercies of God to cleave to him. Moses urged God's authority over them, and their obligations to him. In keeping God's commandments they would act wisely for themselves. The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom. Those who enjoy the benefit of Divine light and laws, ought to support their character for wisdom and honour, that God may be glorified thereby. Those who call upon God, shall certainly find him within call, ready to give an answer of peace to every prayer of faith. All these statutes and judgments of the Divine law are just and righteous, above the statutes and judgments of any of the nations. What they saw at mount Sinai, gave an earnest of the day of judgment, in which the Lord Jesus shall be revealed in flaming fire. They must also remember what they heard at mount Sinai. God manifests himself in the works of the creation, without speech or language, yet their voice is heard, Ps 19:1, 3; but to Israel he made himself known by speech and language, condescending to their weakness. The rise of this nation was quite different from the origin of all other nations. See the reasons of free grace; we are not beloved for our own sakes, but for Christ's sake. Moses urged the certain benefit and advantage of obedience. This argument he had begun with, verse 1, That ye may live, and go in and possess the land; and this he concludes with, verse 40, That it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee. He reminds them that their prosperity would depend upon their piety. Apostacy from God would undoubtedly be the ruin of their nation. He foresees their revolt from God to idols. Those, and those only, shall find God to their comfort, who seek him with all their heart. Afflictions engage and quicken us to seek God; and, by the grace of God working with them, many are thus brought back to their right mind. When these things are come upon thee, turn to the Lord thy God, for thou seest what comes of turning from him. Let all the arguments be laid together, and then say, if religion has not reason on its side. None cast off the government of their God, but those who first abandon the understanding of a man.

Here is the introduction to another discourse, or sermon, Moses preached to Israel, which we have in the following chapters. He sets the law before them, as the rule they were to work by, the way they were to walk in. He sets it before them, as the glass in which they were to see their natural face, that, looking into this perfect law of liberty, they might continue therein. These are the laws, given when Israel was newly come out of Egypt; and they were now repeated. Moses gave these laws in charge, while they encamped over against Beth-peor, an idol place of the Moabites. Their present triumphs were a powerful argument for obedience. And we should understand our own situation as sinners, and the nature of that gracious covenant to which we are invited. Therein greater things are shown to us than ever Israel saw from mount Sinai; greater mercies are given to us than they experienced in the wilderness, or in Canaan. One speaks to us, who is of infinitely greater dignity than Moses; who bare our sins upon the cross; and pleads with us by His dying love.

1. Now, therefore, hearken, O Israel. He requires the people to be teachable, in order that they may learn to serve God; for the beginning of a good and upright life is to know what is pleasing to God. From hence, then, does Moses commence commanding them to be attentive in seeking direction from the Law; and then admonishing them to prove by their whole life that they have duly profited in the Law. The promise which is here inserted, only invites them to unreserved obedience through hope of the inheritance. The main point is, that they should neither add to nor diminish from the pure doctrine of the Law; and this cannot be the case, unless men first renounce their own private feelings, and then shut their ears against all the imaginations of others. For none are to be accounted (true) disciples of the Law, but those who obtain their wisdom from it alone. It is, then, as if God commanded them to be content with His precepts; because in no other way would they keep His law, except by giving themselves wholly to its teaching. Hence it follows, that they only obey God who depend on His authority alone; and that they only pay the Law its rightful honor, who receive nothing which is opposed to its natural meaning. The passage is a remarkable one, openly condemning whatsoever man’s ingenuity may invent for the service of God.

deuteronomy 5

Deuteronomy 5:32, 33

32. Ye shall observe to do therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

32. Custodite ergo ut faciatis quemadmodum praecepit Jehova Deus vester vobis: ne declinetis ad dextram, aut ad sinistram.

33. Ye shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.

33. Per omnem viam quam praecepit Jehova Deus vester vobis, ambulabitis, ut vivatis, et bene sit vobis, et prorogetis dies in terra quam possidebitis.

3. Your eyes have seen what the Lord did. This enlargement more clearly shews that so conspicuous was the example given in the punishment, that it could not be hidden from even the most ignorant; for Moses does not here address those of refined judgment, but the common people generally, who had only been spectators. Assuredly, if God’s vengeance had been less manifest, he would not have so confidently appealed to them as witnesses; hence was their stolidity the less excusable, if they were blind to so plain and notorious a fact.

His praise of their constancy I refer to the present case alone; for it is abundantly clear that they did not persevere in cleaving to God. The meaning is, that there was a manifest discrimination in this Divine chastisement, so that the death of the ungodly multitude should preserve the pure worship of God among the survivors.

Numbers 26

Numbers 26:1-65

1. And it came to pass after the plague, that the Lord spake unto Moses, and unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying,

1. Et fuit, post plagam loquutus est Jehova ad Mosen et Eleazar filium Aharon sacerdotis, dicendo:

2. Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, throughout their fathers’ house, all that are able to go to war in Israel.

2. Tollite summam universae congregationis filiorum Israel, a filio viginti annorum et supra, per domum patrum suorum, omnium egredientium ad bellum in Israele.

3. And Moses and Eleazar the priest spake with them in the plains of Moab, by Jordan, near Jericho, saying,

3. Itaque loquutus est Moses et Eleazar sacerdos cum illis in campestribus Moab, juxta Jordanem Jericho, dicendo:

4. Take the sum of the people, from twenty years old and upward; as the Lord commanded Moses and the children of Israel, which went forth out of the land of Egypt.

4. Numerate universam congregationem filiorum Israel, it filio viginti annorum et supra: quemadmodum praeceperat Jehova Mosi et filiis Israel qui egressi erant e terra AEgypti.

5. Reuben, the eldest son of Israel: the children of Reuben; Hanoch, ofwhom come the the family of the Hanochites: of Pallu, the family of the Palluites:

5. Ruben fuit primogenitus Israelis, filii Ruben fuerunt aliquot: de Henoc fuit familia Henochitarum: de Phallu, familia Phalluitarum:

6. Of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites: of Carmi, the family of the Carmites.

6. De Hesron, familia Hesronitarum: de Charmi, familia Charmitarum.

7. These are the families of the Reubenites, and they that were numbered of them were forty and three thousand and seven hundred and thirty.

7. Istae sunt familiae Rubenitarum: et fuerunt numerati eorum tria et quadraginta millia septingenti et triginta.

8. And the sons of Pallu; Eliab.

8. Et ex filiis Phallu, Eliab.

9. And the sons of Eliab; Nemuel, and Dathan, and Abiram. This is that Dathan and Abiram which were famous in the congregation, who strove against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, when they strove against the Lord:

9. Filii autem Eliab, Nebuel, Dathan et Abiron: isti sunt Dathan et Abiron majores synagogae qui rixati sunt contra Mosen et Aharon in congregatione Core, quum rixarentur ipsi contra Jehovam.

10. And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died, what time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men: and they became a sign.

10. Et aperuit terra os suum, et deglutivit eos et Core, quando mortua est congregatio, dum consumpsit ignis ducentos quinquaginta viros: qui fuerunt in signum.

11. Notwithstanding the children of Korah died not.

11. Filii vero Core non sunt mortui.

12. The sons of Simeon, after their families: of Nemuel, the family of the Nemuelites; of Jamin, the family of the Jaminites: of Jachin, the family of the Jachinites:

12. Filii Simeon per familias suas: de Nemuel, familia Nemuelitarum: de Jamin, familia Jaminitarum: de Jachin, familia Jachinitarum:

13. Of Zerah, the family of the Zarhites: of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites.

13. De Zare, familia Zareitarum: de Saul, familia Saulitarum.

14. These are the families of the Simeonties, twenty and two thousand and two hundred.

14. Istae sunt familia Simeonitarum: duo et viginti millia et ducenti.

15. The children of Gad, after their families: of Zephon, the family of the Zephonites: of Haggi, the family of the Haggites: of Shuni, the family of the Shunites:

15. Filii Gad per familias suas: de Sephon, familia Sephonitarum: de Haggi, familia Haggitarum: de Suni, familia Sunitarum:

16. Of Ozni, the family of the Oznites: of Eri, the family of the Erites:

16. De Ozni, familia Oznitarum: de Eri, familia Eritarum:

17. Of Arod, the family of the Arodites: of Areli, the family of the Arelites.

17. De Arod, familia Aroditarum: de Areli, familia Arelitarum.

18. These are the families of the children of Gad, according to those that were numbered of them, forty thousand and five hundred.

18. Istae sunt familiae filiorum Gad juxta numeratos suos quadraginta millia et quingenti.

19. The sons of Judah were Er and Onan: and Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan.

19. Filii Jehudah, Er et Onam: et mortuus est Er et Onam in terra Chanaan.

20. And the sons of Judah, after their families, were: of Shelah, the family of the Shelanites: of Pharez, the family of the Pharzites: of Zerah, the family of the Zarhites:

20. Fuerunt inquam filii Jehudah per familias suas: de Selah, familia Selanitarum: de Phares, familia Pharesitarum: de Zare, familia Zareitarum:

21. And the sons of Pharez were: of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites: of Hamul, the family of the Hamulites.

21. Fuerunt autem filii Phares, de Hesron, familia Hesronitarum: de Hamul, familia Hamulitarum.

22. These are the families of Judah, according to those that were numbered of them, threescore and sixteen thousand and five hundred.

22. Istae sunt familiae Jehudah per numeratos suos, sex et septuaginta millia et quingenti.

23. Of the sons of Issachar, after their families: of Tola, the family of the Tolaites: of Pua, the family of the Punites:

23. Filii Issachar per familias suas, de Thola, familia Tholaitarum, de Phua, familia Phuitarum:

24. Of Jashub, the family of the Jashubites: of Shimron, the family of the Shimronites.

24. De Jasub, familia Jasubitarum: de Simron, familia Simronitarum.

25. These are the families of Issachar, according to those that were numbered of them, threescore and four thousand and three hundred.

25. Istae sunt familiae Issachar juxta numeratos suos, quatuor et sexaginta millia ac trecenti.

26. Of the sons of Zebulun, after their families: of Sered, the family of the Sardites: of Elon, the family of the Elonites: of Jahleel, the family of the Jahleelites.

26. Filii Zabulon per familias suas: de Sered, fimfilia Sereditarum: de Elon, familia Elonitarum: de Jahleel, familia Jahleelitarum.

27. These are the families of the Zebulunites, according to those that were numbered of them, threescore thousand and five hundred.

27. Istae sunt familiae Zabulonitarum juxta numeratos suos, sexagint, a millia et quingenti.

28. The sons of Joseph, after their families, were Manasseh and Ephraim.

28. Filii Joseph per familias suas, Manasse et Ephraim.

29. Of the sons of Manasseh: of Machit, the family of the Machirites: and Machir begat Gilead: of Gilead come the family of the Gileadites.

29. Filii Manasse, de Machir, familia Machiritarum: et Machir genuit Galaad: de Galaad, familia Galaaditarum.

30. These are the sons of Gilead: of Jeezer, the family of the Jeezerites: of Helek, the family of the Helekites:

30. Isti sunt filii Galaad: de Jezer, familia Jezeritarum: de Helec, familia Helecitarum:

31. And of Asriel, the family of the Asrielites: and of Shechem, the family of the Shechemites:

31. Et de Asriel, familia Asraelitarum: de Sechem, familia Sechemitarum

32. And of Shemida, the family of the Shemidaites: and of Hepher, the family of the Hepherites.

32. Et de Semida, familia Semidatarum: et de Hepher, familia Hepheritarum:

33. And Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but daughters: and the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

33. Et Salphaad filio Hepher non fuerunt filii, sed filiae: quarum haec nomina Malhad et Noah, Hoglah et Milchah, et Thirsah.

34. These are the families of Manasseh, and those that were numbered of them, fifty and two thousand and seven hundred.

34. Istae sunt familiae Manasse: numerati autem eorum, duo et quinquaginta millia et septingenti.

35. These are the sons of Ephraim, alter their families: of Shuthelah, the family of the Shuthalhites: of Becher, the family of the Bachrites: of Tahan, the family of the Tahanites.

35. Isti sunt filii Ephraim per familias suas: de Suthelah, familia Suthelitarum: de Becher, familia Bechritarum: de Thaban, familia Thabanitarum.

36. And these are the sons of Shuthelah: of Eran, the family of the Eranites.

36. Et isti sunt filii Suthelah: de Eran, familia Eranitarum.

37. These are the families of the sons of Ephraim, according to those that were numbered of them, thirty and two thousand and five hundred. These are the sons of Joseph, after their families.

37. Istse sunt familiae filiorum Ephraim juxta numeratos suos, triginta duo millia et quingenti: isti sunt filii Joseph per familias suas.

38. The sons of Benjamin after their families: of Bela, the family of the Belaites: of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbelites: of Ahiram, the family of the Ahiramites:

38. Filii Benjamin per familias suas: de Bela, familia Belitarum: de Asbel, familia Asbelitarum: de Ahiram, familia Ahiramitarum.

39. Of Shupham, the family of the Shuphamites: of Hupham, the family of the Huphamites.

39. De Sephupham, familia Suphamitarum: de Hupham, familia Huphamitarum.

40. And the sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman: of Ard, the family of the Ardites: and of Naaman, the family of the Naamites.

40. Fuerunt autem filii Bela, Arde et Nahaman: de Arde, familia Arditarum: de Naaman, familia Naamanitarum.

41. These are the sons of Benjamin, after their families: and they that were numbered of them were forty and five thousand and six hundred.

41. Isti sunt filii Benjamin juxta familias suas, et numeratos suos, quadraginta quinque millia et sexcenti.

42. These are the sons of Dan, after their families: of Shuham, the families of the Shuhamites. These are the families of Dan, after their families.

42. Isti sunt filii Dan per familias suas: de Suham, familia Suhamitarum: istae sunt familiae Dan per familias suas.

43. All the families of the Shuhamites, according to those that were numbered of them, were threescore and four thousand and four hundred.

43. Omnes familiae Suhamitarum juxta numeratos suos, sexaginta quatuor millia et quadringenti:

44. Of the children of Asher, after their families: of Jimna, the family of the Jimnites: of Jesui, the falllily of the Jesuites: of Beriah, the family of the Beriites.

44. Filii Asser per familias suas: de Imnah, familia Imnahitarum: de Isui, familia Isuitarum: de Beriah, familia Beriitarum.

45. Of the sons of Beriah: of Heber, the family of the Heberites: of Malchiel, the family of the Malchielites.

45. De filiis Beriah, de Heber, familia Hebritarum: de Malchiel, familia Malchielitarum.

46. And the name of the daughter of Asher was Sarah.

46. Nomen autem, filiae Aser erat Sarah.

47. These are the families of the sons of Asher, according to those that were numbered of them, who were fifty and three thousand and four hundred.

47. Illae sunt familiae filiorum Aser juxta numeratos suos, quinquaginta tria millia et quadringenti.

48. Of the sons of Naphtali, after their families: of Jahzeel, the family of the Jahzeelites: of Guni, the family of the Gunites:

48. Filii Nephthali per familias suas: de Jesiel, familia Jesielitarum: de Guni, familia Gunitarum:

49. Of Jezer, the family of the Jezerites: of Shillera, the family of the Shillemites.

49. De Jeser, familia Jesrilitarum: de Sillen, familia Sillenitarutn.

50. These are the families of Naphtali, according to their families: and they that were numbered of them were forty and five thousand and four hundred.

50. Istae sunt familiae Nephthali per familias suas: numerati autem eorum, quadraginta quinque millia et quadringenti.

51. These were the numbered of the children of Israel, six hundred thousand, and a thousand seven hundred and thirty.

51. Isti sunt numerati filiorum Israel, sexcenta millia, et mille septingenti ac triginta.

52. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

52. Loquutus est autem Jehova ad Mosen, dicendo:

53. Unto these the land shall be divided for an inheritance, according to the number of names.

53. Istis dividerut terra illa in possessionem secundum numerum nominum.

54. To many thou shalt give the more inheritance, and to few thou shalt give the less inheritance: to every one shall his inheritance be given according to those that were numbered of him.

54. Numerosiori dabis possessionem majorem: et pauciori diminues possessionem suam: unicuique secundum numeratos suos dabitur haereditas sua.

55. Notwithstanding the land shall be divided by lot: according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit.

55. Veruntamen sorte dividetur terra, per nomina tribuum patrum suorum haereditatem accipient.

56. According to the lot shall the possession thereof be divided between many and few.

56. Secundum sortes dividetur haereditas ejus inter multum et paucum.

57. And these are they that were numbered of the Levites, after their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites: of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites: of Merari, the family of the Merarites.

57. Isti autem sunt numerati Levitarum per familias suas, de Gerson, familia Gersonitarum: de Cehath, familia Cehathitarum: de Merari, familia Meraritarum.

58. These are the families of the Levites: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, the family of the Korathites. And Kohath begat Amram.

58. Istae sunt familiae Levitarum, familia Libnitarum, familia Hebronitarum, familia Mathlitarum, familia Musitarum, familia Corhitarum. Cehath autem genuit Amram.

59. And the name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, whom her mother bare to Levi in Egypt: and she bare unto Amram Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their sister.

59. Nomen vero uxoris Amram Jochebed filia Levi, quam peperit ipsi Levi in AEgypto, et quae peperit ipsi Amram, Aharon et Mosen, et Mariam sororem eorum.

60. And unto Aaron was born Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

60. Natique sunt ipsi Aharon, Nadab et Abihu, et Eleazar et Ithamar.

61. And Nadab and Abihu died, when they offered strange fire before the Lord.

61. Porro mortui sunt Nadab et Abihu dum offerrent ignem alienum coram Jehova.

62. And those that were numbered of them were twenty and three thousand, all males, from a month old and upward: for they were not numbered among the children of Israel, because there was no inheritance given them among the children of Israel.

62. Et fuerunt numerati eorum, viginti tria millia: omnes mares filio mensis et supra: non enim numerati ruerant inter filios Israel, quod data non sit illis haereditas inter filios Israel.

63. These are they that were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the children of Israel in the plains of Moab, by Jordan, near Jericho.

63. Isti sunt numerati Mosis et Eleazar sacerdotis, qui numeraverunt filios Israel in campestribus Moab juxta Jordanem Jericho.

64. But among these there was not a man of them whom Moses and Aaron the priest numbered, when they numbered the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai:

64. Inter istos autem non fuit quisquam de numeratis Mosis et Aharon sacerdotis qui numeraverant filios Israel in deserto Sinai.

65. For the Lord had said of them, They shall surely die in the wilderness. And there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

65. Dixerat enim Jehova de illis, Moriendo morientur in deserto, et non fuit superstes ex eis quisquam, nisi Caleb filius Jephuneh, et Josue filius Nun.

6. Keep therefore, and do them. In order that they may set themselves more cheerfully about the keeping of the Law, and may proceed more steadily in this endeavor, he reminds them that nothing is better or more desirable for themselves. For God is not duly honored, except with ready minds and volutary obedience, to which we are rather attracted by pleasure than forced by rigor and violence. Now, since all desire to excel, he says, that this is the chief excellence of Israel, that they have God for their Lawgiver and Master. If any object that what he says may be refuted by two arguments, namely, because the Law of God was unknown to heathen nations; and because the form of God’s worship prescribed in it, and the whole Jewish religion, was not only despised but hated by them; I reply, that other nations are not here absolutely stated to be the judges or arbitrators, but that the words must be thus understood, viz., that there will be no nation, if it should come to a right understanding, which will dare to compare itself, much less to prefer itself to you; for by the very comparison it will acknowledge to what a height of dignity God has raised you. Wherefore, although the doctrine of the Law should remain neglected, nay, detested, by almost all the world, still Moses with truth declares, that since God has deigned to deliver to the Jews a rule of life, a stage had been erected before other nations, whereon the nobility of that one people would be conspicuous. For it was unreasonable that the glory of God should be tarnished or extinguished by the ignorance of the blind. But we gather from this passage that we then are truly wise, when we depend on God’s words, and submit our feeling to His revelations. Where I have rendered the words, “Surely (certo) this people,” the Hebrew particle, רק, Only; at least; surely. — Nold. Concord. partic. — W. rak, is used, which is often applied in an exclusive sense, so that it would appropriately bear this meaning: “Only this people,” etc. Unquestionably, the eminent condition of the people, on account of their gracious privileges, is referred to.

7. For what nation is there so great? Moses now repeats in his own name what he had stated in the person of others, as if to shew by additional reasons, that not without cause would the Jews be celebrated in the whole world, because it would actually appear that none were equal to them. He mentions two points, first, because God would be ready to afford them help, as often as they call upon Him; secondly, because He had instructed them in perfect righteousness, beyond which nothing could be desired; for, when he says that God is “nigh unto them,” I refer it to the presence of His power, which had been abundantly manifested by many miracles. Justly does he deny that the Gentiles had ever experienced such aid from their gods, since their prayers and cries were offered to deaf and dead idols.

9. Only take heed to thyself The same particle, רק, rak, of which I have just spoken, is used here, and its meaning in this place is, as if Moses had said, that this only remained; unless it is preferred to translate it nevertheless. What follows means literally “Guard (custodi) thyself, and guard thy soul;” wherein Moses advances by degrees, reminding them that they needed no common heedfulness, but that they must beware with extreme vigilance and diligence lest they should fail through the want of them; for the slothfulness of the flesh must be spurred on by such instigations as these, and at the same time our weakness must be fortified, and we must take measures against our unsteadfastness; for nothing is more easy than that all our zeal should suddenly be forgotten, or should gradually grow cold. God had established the certainty of His law, as far as was necessary, for the grateful and attentive, yet not without reason does He desire the people to remember how great is the carelessness of men. Nor does he command those only to remember who were eye-witnesses, but also to hand down (what they had seen) to their sons and grandsons, that the memory of such remarkable things might be preserved.

10. The day “In the day,” etc. — lat. that thou stoodest. The word day might be taken in the accusative, as if in apposition. It is, at any rate, clear that he explains more fully what he had briefly alluded to before, for he summons the people as eye-witnesses, lest, perchance, they should object that they were not sure from whence Moses had derived what he professes to be enjoined him by God. For they were all well aware that he had undertaken nothing without the express command of God. Finally, he proves, from the end and object itself of the doctrine, that God was its author, since it tended to nothing else but that God should be purely served, and that His people might be obedient, than which nothing can be imagined more just and right.

11 And ye came near, and stood. This explanatory narrative is intended to prove the same thing, viz., that Moses was only the ambassador and minister of God, because the mountain burned in the sight of all the people, that God might be manifested, speaking from the midst of the fire. His statement that they only heard the voice, but saw no similitude, may be understood as a kind of admission, (concessionis.) Thus the two clauses would be read adversatively, “Although no similitude appeared, yet a voice penetrated even to your ears.” But I conceive that this was expressly stated more clearly to shew that it was the voice of God, and not proceeding from a human being; for no man could have so concealed himself by artifice as to prevent himself from being seen to speak, whereas they beheld the voice come out of the fire without any external instrumentality.

Deuteronomy 4:32-40

32. For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth; and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great tiling is, or hath been heard like it?

32. Interroga agedum de diebus antiquis, qui fuerunt ante re, ex quo die creavit Deus hominem super terram, et ab extremo coeli, usque ad extremum coeli, an acciderit unquam aliquid secundum hanc rem magnam, vel auditum fuerit simile.

33. Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?

33. An audierit populus vocem Dei loquentis e medio ignis, sicut tu audisti, et fuerit superstes.

34. Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched-out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

34. Vel an tentaverit Deus ut veniret ad gentem sibi assumendam e medio gentis, per probationes, signa et prodigia, praelia, manum fortem, brachium extentum, et visiones magnas, secundum omnia quae vobiscum egit Jehova Deus vester in Aegypto coram oculis vestris.

35. Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the Lord he is God; there is none else beside him.

35. Tibi ostensum est ut cognosceres quod Jehova ipse est Dens, nec ullus praeter ipsum.

36. Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee; and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.

36. E coelis audire to fecit vocem suam, ut erudiret to: et in terra ostendit tibi ignem suum magnum, et verba ejus audisti e medio ignis.

37. And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt;

37. Et quia dilexit patres tuos, elegit semen eorum post eos, et eduxit te coram facie sua, in virtute sua magna ex Egypto.

38. To drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day.

38. Ut expelleret gentes magnas a facie tua, et robustiores te, ac te introduceret ad dandam tibi terram earum in haereditatem, sicut dies haec demonstrat.

39. Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.

39. ltaque scito hodie, et reduc ad cor tuum, quod Jehova est Deus in coelis sursum, et super terram deorsum, nec alius ultra.

40. Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, for ever.

40. Proinde observabis statuta ejus, et praecepta ejus, quae mando tibi hodie, ut bene sit tibi et filiis tuis post te, utque prolonges dies super terram quam Jehova Deus tuus dat tibi omnibus diebus.

Deuteronomy 4:12. And the Lord spake unto you. It is a confirmation of the Second Commandment, that God manifested Himself to the Israelites by a voice, and not in a bodily form; whence it follows that those who are not contented with His voice, but seek His visible form, substitute imaginations and phantoms in His place. But here arises a difficult question, for God made Himself known to the patriarchs in other ways besides by His voice alone; thus Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob knew Him not only by hearing, but by sight. Moses himself saw Him in the midst of the burning bush; and He also manifested Himself to the Prophets under visible figures. Since it would be superfluous to heap together many citations, let the remarkable vision of Isaiah suffice, which is related in (Isaiah 6), and those of Ezekiel, which we read of in (Ezekiel 1 and Ezekiel 10) And yet God was not forgetful of Himself, when He thus presented Himself to the sight of His servants. Wherefore, this argument does not appear to be valid and good, that it is sinful to represent God in a visible image, because His voice was once heard without His being seen; when, on the other side, it is easy to object that visible forms have often been exhibited, wherein He testified His presence. The solution is twofold: first, that, although God may have invested Himself in certain forms for the purpose of manifesting Himself, this must be accounted as a peculiar circumstance, and not be taken as a general rule; secondly, that the visions shewn to the patriarchs were testimonies of His invisible glory, rather to elevate men’s minds to things above than to keep them entangled amongst earthly elements. In the promulgation of His Law, God first prescribed what believers must follow; because He saw that this was the best method (compendium) for retaining the minds of His people in true religion, and at the same time the best remedy for idolatry. Unless we submit to this counsel of God, we shall not only betray a licentious spirit of contention, but shall run directly against God, like butting bulls. For it was not in vain that Moses laid down this principle, that when God collected to Himself a Church, and handed down a certain and inviolable rule for holy living, He had not invested Himself in a bodily shape, but had exhibited the living image of His glory in the doctrine itself. Hence we may conclude that all those who seek for God in a visible figure, not only decline, but actually revolt, from the true study of piety.

If any one should object that God is not inconsistent with Himself, and yet, as has been said, that He has more than once taken upon Himself a visible form, the reply is simple and easy, that, whenever He appeared to the patriarchs in a visible form, He gave a temporary sign, which still was by no means contradictory of this commandment. Isaiah saw the Lord of hosts sitting on His throne; yet he boldly cries out as from the mouth of God, “To whom will ye liken me?” (Isaiah 40:25.) Nor need I repeat how constantly he speaks against idolaters; certainly he inveighs more strongly than any of the prophets against the folly, nay, the madness of those who make to themselves any image of God; because they thus turn truth into falsehood; and finally he assumes the same principle as that of Moses, that the true nature of God is corrupted by tricks and delusions if a corruptible thing be called His image. But what was His vision itself? The seraphim, who surrounded God’s throne, sufficiently shewed by their covering their faces with their wings that the sight of Him could not be borne by mortals. As to what Ezekiel relates, no painter could represent it; for God has always appeared distinguished from the shape of any creature by those marks which surpass man’s apprehension. This conclusion, therefore, always remains sure, that no image is suitable to God, because He would not be perceived by His people otherwise than in a voice. But then also fire was a symbol of His presence, yet He testified by it that His glory is incomprehensible, and thus would prevent men from idol-making. We have elsewhere explained what it is “to guard themselves as to their souls.” See Lat. of ver. 15. The explanation to which he alludes is probably that given on Deuteronomy 8:11. Vol. 1 p. 397. But we infer, from his anxious exhortations, that they should take heed, how great is the leaning of the human soul to idolatry. This is the tendency of that attestation against them, which I have inserted from (Deuteronomy 8); for Moses not only threatens them, but, as if summoning witnesses according to the custom of solemn trials, denounces that they shall perish, in order to inspire them with greater fear by this earnest mode of address. Whence it appears that this insane lust (of idolatry) is not to be repressed by ordinary means. With the same object he says that they are “corrupted, or corrupt themselves,” who make any similitude of God. Thus Paul also declares that in this way the truth is changed into a lie, (Romans 1:25;) and Jeremiah and Habakkuk condemn images for their falsehood. (Jeremiah 10:14; Habakkuk 2:18.) No wonder, then, that an idol should be called the “corruption” of men, since it adulterates the worship of God; and it is a most just recompense to those who pollute the pure and perfect knowledge of God, that they should be thence infected with a rottenness which consumes their souls. Hence, also, the stupid ignorance of the Papists is confuted who confine this prohibition to the ancient people, as if it were now permitted to paint or to sculpture (images of God) Added from Fr. as if they had been Jews whom Paul was addressing, when he reasoned from the common origin of our nature: “Forasmuch as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold or silver,” or corruptible matter. (Acts 17:29) Addition in Fr., “Or, c’estoit aux Payens qu’il parloit ainsi;” Now, they were heathens whom he thus addressed. There is no necessity for entering into details; but the Spirit declares no less plainly now that we must keep ourselves from idols, (1 John 5:21,) than He of old forbade their being made. Moreover, it was an act of diabolical madness to make away with one of the Ten Commandments, in order that they might rush into this foul and detestable extravagance with impunity. They pretend that the Jews were formerly prohibited from idolatry with greater strictness, because they were too much disposed to it, as if they were not themselves much worse in this respect. But, setting aside this, who does not see that the vice of superstition, which is natural to the human mind, was corrected by this remedy? Until, therefore, men have laid aside their nature, we infer that this Commandment is necessary for them.

19. And lest thou lift up thine eyes. Moses proceeds further, lest the Jews should imagine any divinity in the sun, and moon, and stars; nor does he only recall them from the error with which many were imbued, See Job 31:26-27. Any discussion on the history of Sabaism would be superfluous here. Dr. Layard, (Nineveh and its Remains, vol. 2, p. 446,) points out, that “representations of the heavenly bodies, as sacred symbols, are of constant occurrence in the most ancient sculptures;” whilst the “one symbol” of the supreme Deity is “a winged figure in a circle,” sometimes assuming the form of “a winged globe, wheel, or disc,” resembling the Egyptian representation of the sun, and the Persian Ormuzd. thinking that these were so many gods; but also anticipates another superstition, lest, being ravished by the brightness of the stars, they should conceive them to be images of God. And to this the expression, to “be driven,” refers. For since God represents His glory in the heavenly host, so also Satan, under this pretext, confuses and stupefies men’s minds by a wily artifice, in order that they may worship God in these luminaries, and thus stumble at the very threshold. Therefore, that the Israelites may the better acknowledge how absurd it is to seek for God in earthly things, or in the elements of the world, or in corruptible matter, he expressly declares that they must not even lean Lat. “subsistendum.” Fr. “s’amuser." on heavenly creatures; since God’s majesty is superior to the sun, and moon, and all the stars. Besides, he reproves the absurdity of transferring the worship of God to the stars, which, by God’s appointment, are to minister to us; for when he says that “God hath divided them unto all nations,” it implies subjection; as if he had said that the sun was our minister, and the moon, together with all the stars, our handmaid. Still, by the word “divided,” God’s admirable providence is fitly commended in respect to their varied position, and course, and different offices; for the sun does not enlighten and warm all lands at the same moment; and, again, it now retires from us, and now approaches us more closely; the moon has her circuits; the stars rise and set as the heaven revolves. I pass over the slower movement of the planets; but, according to the aspect of the stars, one climate is moister, another drier; one feels more heat, another more cold. This variety is aptly called by Moses “dividing ” Yet it aggravates the sin of superstition, if the Jews give themselves to the service of the stars, which minister also to heathen nations; for what can be more unworthy than for the children of God to worship the sun, which is the servant of all the world? whence again it follows, that in proportion to the dignity and excellence of the creatures themselves, so is the ingratitude of men towards God all the more base, if they adorn with His worship as with spoils, those creatures which He has appointed to minister to their advantage. The silly notion in which some of the Rabbins delight themselves, S.M. says, “Rabbi Aben-Ezra, and the author of the ‘Bundle of Myrrh,’ foolishly think that the Gentiles were under the dominion of decrees emanating from the stars; but that the Jews were free, because the Lord turneth aside their noxious influences. But this text teaches us, that the functions of the stars are distributed among the nations, inasmuch as they afford light and heat, and temper the cold to all men.” — W. is unworthy of mention, viz., that God has divided the stars to the Gentiles, since they are subject to their influences, from which by special privilege the Jews are free; as if the condition of the human race had not been the same from the beginning. But the reason which I have adduced plainly shews, that they depart most widely from the meaning of Moses, and therefore pervert his intention; viz., that the creatures which are destined for our use, are by no means to be worshipped as God.

21. Furthermore, the Lord was angry with me. He again records that it arose from the transgression of the people that he was not permitted to enter the land, not by way of expostulation, and much less in order to accuse God of cruelty, as if he had been improperly and unjustly substituted as a criminal in the place of others, but rather to magnify the goodness of God towards those whom He had treated with so much indulgence. For we must observe the comparison, that, whilst they were to enjoy the land, he was to be prevented from entering it. “I must die (he says) in this land” of Moab, whilst to you it is given to enjoy the promised inheritance. We perceive, therefore, that they are upbraided with their guilt in such a way that all the bitterness of the reproof is sweetened by the sense of God’s mercy; nay, that by this sweetness they may be ravished into admiration, when they understand how mercifully that pardon is extended to them, which was denied to Moses.

The sense of the expression which I have rendered “for your words,” A. V., “for your sakes;” (דברים.) might be “for your things,” inasmuch as the Hebrews call men’s affairs (negotia), דברים, debarim. Assuredly, although he had been impelled to sin by their rebellious clamors, he simply states that he was now punished on their account. If any should inquire why he lays the blame on them, whereas the actual offenders were most of them dead, the reply is obvious, that many of them were still surviving, and that it is no novelty that the children should be included with the fathers, when the whole body of a people has sinned.

Deuteronomy 31

Deuteronomy 31:14-30

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

14. Et dixit Jehova ad Mosen, Ecce, appropinquaverunt dies tui, ut moriaris: voca Josua, et state in tabernaculo conventionis, et praecipiam ei. Perrexit ergo Moses et Josua, steteruntque in tabernaculo conventionis.

15. And the Lord appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of a cloud: and the pillar of the cloud stood over the door of the tabernacle.

15. Et apparuit Jehova in tabernaculo, in columna nubis, stetitque columna nubis super ostium tabernaculi.

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

16. Et dixit Jehova, ad Mosen, Ecce, tu dormiturus es cum patribus tuis: postea surget populus iste, et fornicabitur post deos alienorum terrae ad quam pergit in medio ejus, et derelinquet me, irritumque faciet pactum meum quod pepigi cum eo.

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

17. Itaque irascetur vultus meus contra eum ipse die, ac derelinquam eos, et abscondam faciem meam ab eis: et consumetur, et inverient eum mala multa, et angustiae: dicetque in die illa, Nonne propterea quod non est Deus meus in medio mei invenerunt me mala haec?

18. And I will surely hide my face in that day, for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.

18. Ego vero abscondendo abscondam faciem meam in die illa, propter omne malum quod fecerit, quod converterit se ad deos alienos.

19. Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.

19. Nunc itaque scribite vobis canticum istud, et doce illud filios Israelis: pone illud in ore eorum, ut sit mihi canticum istud in testem contra filios Israelis.

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

20. Introducam enim eum in terram quam juravi patribus ejus, fluentem lacte et melle: comedet autem et saturabitur, impinguabitque se: tunc convertet se ad deos alienos, et colent eos, vilipendentque me, et irritum facient pactum meum.

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

21. Quum autem invenerint eum mala plurima, et angustiae, tunc respondebit canticum istud in conspectu ejus in testera: non enim oblivioni tradetur ab ore seminis ejus, novi enim ingenium ejus, et quid ipse faciat hodie antequam introduxerim eum in terram de qua juravi.

22. Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel.

22. Scripsit itaque Moses canticum istud eo die, et docuit illud filios Israelis.

23. And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong, and of a good courage: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them: and I will be with thee.

23. Dein praecepit Josuae filio Nun, ac dixit, Fortis esto, et roborare, quia tu introduces filios Israel in terram de qua juravi eis: et ego ero tecum.

24. And it came to pass when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished,

24. Quum autem fecisset finem Moses scribendi verba legis istius in libro, donec ea complerentur,

25. That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying,

25. Praecepit Moses Levitis portantibus Arcata foederis Jehovae, dicendo:

26. Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee.

26. Capite librum istum legis, et ponite eum in latere arcae foederis Jehovae Dei vestri, sitque ibi contra te in testem.

27. For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the Lord; and how much more after my death?

27. Ego enim novi rebellionem tuam, et cervicem tuam duram: ecce, adhuc me vivente vobiscum hodie rebelles estis Jehovae, et quanto magis posteaquam mortuus fuero?

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

28. Congregate ad me omnes seniores tribuum vestrarum, et praefectos vestres, ut loquar in auribus eorum verba ista, et antester contra eos coelum et terram.

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

29. Novi enim postquam mottuus lucre, corrumpendo corrumpetis yes et recedetis de via quam praecepi vobis, unde eveniet vobis malum in novissimis dierum, quum feceritis malum in oculis Jehovae, irritando eum opere mannuum vestrarum.

30. And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended.

30. Itaque loquutus est Moses in auribus totius congregationis verba cantici hujus, donec ea complerentur.

23. Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget. There is no contradiction in the sense, that he should first of all altogether forbid that idols should be made; and, secondly, speak only of worshipping and adoring them; for it is already in itself a wicked error to attribute any image to God; and another superstition always accompanies it, that God is always improperly worshipped in this visible symbol. There is a strong confirmation here of what I have previously stated, that whatever holds down and confines our senses to the earth, is contrary to the covenant of God; in which, inviting us to Himself, He permits us to think of nothing but what is spiritual, and therefore sets His voice against all the imaginations, whereby heathen nations have always been deceived; because they have been deprived of the light of that doctrine which would direct them to the heavenly greatness of God Himself. But those who have been taught by God’s Law, not only that He alone is to be worshipped, but that He may not be represented by any visible effigy, are justly accounted covenant-breakers, if they do not confine themselves within these bounds; for they violate that Second Commandment (caput) by which they are commanded to worship God spiritually; and consequently are forbidden to make to themselves likenesses, or images, whereby they would deface and pollute His glory. At the end of the verse, which some translate “the likeness, which your God hath forbidden,” So the V. which is followed by A.V. and S.M. Our expositor seems to mean that אשר is here equivalent to even as, and connects the last with the first clause of the verse; so that it should be rendered as follows, “Take heed to yourselves, etc., even as the Lord your God commanded you.” —W. The Fr. thus abbreviates the Latin text: “La ou j’ay translate, Ce que l’Eternel vostre Dieu vous a defendu, vaut autant que s’il estoit dit Comme ou Selon." the proper rendering is, “hath commanded, or enjoined:” and hence the relative אור, asher, must be taken, as in many other places, as an adverb of comparison. The meaning of Moses is indeed by no means obscure; viz., that we must simply obey God’s word; and that we must not dispute whether what He has forbidden is lawful or not; and that no other rule of right is to be sought for, except that we should follow what He has prescribed. Let the Papists dispute as they please, that images are not to be removed because they are useful for the people’s instruction; but let this be our wisdom, to acquiesce in what God has chosen to decree in this matter. Although the threat which is subjoined might have been placed amongst the sanctions, which we shall hereafter consider in their proper place, yet I have been unwilling to separate it from the Second Commandment, to which it is annexed. A confirmation is added in Deuteronomy; viz., that God, who has not spared foreign nations, will much less pardon His people; inasnmch as it is a greater crime, and fouler ingratitude to forsake God when once He is known, and to cast aside the teaching of His Law, than to follow errors handed down from our forefathers. I have already explained in what sense He is called a “jealous God;” but in Exodus 34:14, Moses has not deemed it sufficient simply to honor God with this title; but, in amplification, he has added that this is His name, in order that we may know that He can no more bear a companion, or a rival, to be compared with Him, than He can cast away His Godhead, or deny Himself. He compares Him to fire, to increase our terror of Him. We know how audaciously the world indulges itself in superstitions; so that, as if in very sport, it metamorphoses God just as fancy leads. Wherefore, in order to incline men’s minds to reverence, he sets before us in this figure God’s fearful vengeance; as though He would instantly consume them, just as fire consumes stubble, if they shall have dared to think of God otherwise than is right.

Deuteronomy 11

Deuteronomy 11:16, 17

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

16. Cavete ergo vobis ne seducatur cor vestrum, et recedatis, colatisque deos alienos, et vos incurvetis coram eis.

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.

17. Unde excandescat ira Jehovae in vos, et claudat coelos ne sit pluvia, ac ne det terra fructum suum: pere-atisque celeriter e terra bona quam Jehova dat vobis.

25. When thou shalt beget children, and children’s children. Although at the outset he only adverts to idolatry, yet, inasmuch as he thence takes occasion to inveigh generally against the transgressors of the Law, and denounces punishment against them, I have thought it advisable to introduce this passage amongst the Sanctions (of the Law.) He had already strictly forbidden them to turn aside to idols; he now requires this instruction to be handed down to their grand-children and their whole race; as though he had said, that they must continue faithfully in the pure worship of God, not only lest they should deprive themselves of entering the land of Canaan, but also lest, after having long enjoyed quiet possession of it, they should be expelled from it. For long possession might have hardened their minds in security and arrogance, as if they had no change to fear. Lest, therefore, as time should pass away, they should trust that they were firmly established, and advance to greater license, he now reminds them that the punishment which he had already taught them to await themselves, would also be extended to their descendants; since it was no less easy for God to drive their “Abnepotes,” — Lat.; i.e., their grandchild’s grandchildren. distant posterity from their quiet nest, than it would have been for Him to prevent their taking possession of it. But although he is treating of idols, still he addresses them on the subject of the curse, which overhangs all despisers of God. And, in order that the threat may affect them more deeply, he calls on “heaven and earth to witness;” as though he had said, that even things inanimate and without reason were in a manner conscious of the vengeance of God. Their opinion “When he calls heaven and earth to witness, he calls all things which are in heaven and in earth, by metonomy; and especially angels and men, who are properly called witnesses. Thus Theodoret. So the Poet says:

Vos aeterni ignes, and non violabile numen Tester; (Virg.Aen., 2. 154;)

for the Platonists thought that the heavenly fires, i.e., the stars, were animated by their intelligences, or guardian angels, whom they worshipped as inferior gods.” — Corn. a Lapide in loco.

De Lyra’s note is, “i.e., every intellectual creature existing in heaven and earth, since none but an intellectual creature can properly bear witness.” is a poor one who think that angels and men are thus designated by a metonomy; for we shall see a little further on that the same form of expression is repeated. And when he says in his song, (Deuteronomy 32:1,) “Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth,” it is to signify by hyperbole that his address is worthy of being listened to by all creatures. Thus Isaiah, the more to shame the Jews, who had become stupified in their folly, addresses his words to the heavens and earth. (Isaiah 1:2.)

When he calls heaven and earth to witness God’s vengeance, it is as much as to say, that it will as clearly appear as the heaven and earth appear before our eyes; and after he has said that they shall perish, he also declares in what manner, viz., that God would scatter them hither and thither, and reduce them to a small number. What follows might seem absurd, inasmuch as it ought not to be reckoned among their punishments that they should serve idols among strangers, whereas they had already worshipped them of their own accord in their own land; but this difficulty is easily solved, and in two ways, either that banishment was a just reward to them in order that there they might indulge to their full these impure dispositions; and thus there will be an antithesis between the nations of the heathen and the Holy Land, as though God had said that He would not; suffer them to profane the latter by their superstitions; or else, that then, the veil being as it were removed, they should be ashamed when they should be compelled to serve dead idols. Nor can it be questioned but that then they were wounded in spirit by the same disgusting practices in which they had before taken pleasure; and I (See ante on Deuteronomy 28:36, p. 254.) have stated elsewhere that I prefer this latter sense. Meanwhile, he reproaches them for their stupidity in adoring “Des marmousets sans sens;” senseless puppets. — Fr. dead images, formed of corruptible things, and the work of men’s hands.

29. But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord. In this passage also he exhorts and encourages them in the confidence of obtaining pardon, and thus anticipates them, so that they might not be overwhelmed with sorrow when smitten by God’s hand; for despair awakens such rage in the wretched that they cannot submit themselves to God. He sets before them, then, another object in their punishments, that they may not cease to taste of God’s goodness in the midst of their afflictions, whereby He invites them to repentance. For the sinner will never set about seeking God, unless he deems Him to be accessible to prayer. Moreover, he warns them to return truly and sincerely to a sound mind, because they will gain nothing by false profession. We know that nothing is more common than to make complaint to God whenever we are oppressed with troubles, but, when they are at all intermitted, immediately to return to our natural state. Sincere conversion is, therefore, prescribed; for “all the heart” is precisely equivalent to an upright heart, (integrum,) which is contrasted with a double or feigned one; and this must be noted, Addition in Fr., “car s’il avoit une pleine perfection requise;” for if entire perfection were here required. lest a sense of our infirmity should disturb us; for, since it is not possible for men to give themselves wholly to God, the knowledge of their own inability is apt to induce listlessness; whereas, provided we do not deal deceitfully, it is declared that our penitence is approved by God.

30. When thou art in tribulation. He here shews the advantage of punishments, on the ground of their usefulness and profit; for what the Apostle says is confirmed by experience, that

“no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby.” (Hebrews 12:11.)

Lest, therefore, they should be provoked to wrath by God’s stripes, he reminds them of their usefulness to them, because they would never turn to God unless aided by this remedy. He tells them that, after they shall have been afflicted by the curses of God, if they sought after Him, they should find Him: and further, he gives them grounds for hope both in God’s nature and in His covenant. He assures them that God will be willing to be appeased, because He is by nature merciful; but he adds another confirmation of this, which is more certain and familiar, viz., because God had adopted them by a perpetual covenant.

Deuteronomy 29

Deuteronomy 29:10-28

10. Ye stand this day all of you before the Lord your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel,

10. Vos adstatis hodie omnes vos eoram Jehova Deo vestro, principes vestri tribuum vestrarum, seniores vestri, et praefecti vestri, omnes viri Israel:

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

11. Parvuli vestri, uxores vestrae, et peregrini tui qui habitant in medio castrorum tuorum, a caesore lignorum tuorum usque ad haurientem aquas tuas:

12. That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the Lord thy God, and into his oath, which the Lord thy God maketh with thee this day;

12. Ut transeas in pactum Jehovae Dei tui, et in jusjurandum ejus quod Jehova Deus tuus pangit tecum hodie:

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

13. Ut statuat te hodie sibi in populum, et ipse sit tibi in Deum, quemadmodum loquutus est tibi, et quemadmodum juravit patribus tuis, Abraham, Isaac, et Jacob.

14. Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath;

14. Neque vobiscum solis pango pactum istud, et jusjurandum istud.

15. But with him that standeth here with us this day before the Lord our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day:

15. Sed cum eo qui est hic nobiscum stans hodie coram Jehova Deo nostro, et cum eo qui non est hic nobiscum hodie.

16. (For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the nations which ye passed by;

16. Vos enim nostis quomodo habitavimus in terra Aegypti, et quomodo transivimus per medium gentium quas transistis:

17. And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:)

17. Et vidistis abominationes earum, et idola earum, lignum, et lapidem, argentum et aurum, quae sunt apud illas.

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

18. Ne forte sit inter vos vir, aut mulier, aut familia, aut tribus, cujus cor avertat sese hodie a Jehova Deo vestro, et abeat ad colendum Deos gentium harum: ne forte sit in vobis radix fructificans venenum et absinthium.

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

19. Sitque quum ipse audierit verba maledictionis hujus, ut benedicat sibi in corde suo, dicendo, Pax erit mihi, etiamsi in cogitatione cordis mei ambulavero: ut addat ebriam sitienti.

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

20. Non placebit Jehovae parcere illi, sed tunc fumabit furor Jehovae, et zelus ejus in eum virum: et recubabit in eo omnis maledictio quae scripta est in libro isto, et delebit Jehova nomen ejus de sub coelo.

21. And the Lord shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law.

21. Et separabit eum Jehova in malum ab universis tribubus Israelis, juxta omnes maledictiones pacti scripti in libro Legis hujus.

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

22. Et dicet generatio postera, filii vestri qui surgent post vos, et alienigena qui veniet e terra longinqua, quum viderint plagas terrae hujus, et morbos quibus aegrotare fecerit Jehova in ea:

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

23. Sulphur, et sal, combustionem in toto solo ejus, ut non seratur, neque germinet, neque ascendat in ea ulla herba, ut in subversione Sodomiae, Gomorrhae, Admae, et Seboiim, quas subvertit Jehova in excandescentia sua et ira sua:

24. Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?

24. Dicent, inquam, omnes gentes, Quare fecit sic Jehova terrae huic? quae est ira excandescentiae hujus magnae?

25. Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt:

25. Et dicent, Eo quod dereliquerunt pactum Jehovae Dei patrum suorum, quod pepigit cum eis, quum educeret eos e terra Aegypti:

26. For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them:

26. Et abeuntes coluerunt deos alienos, incurvaveruntque se eis: deos, inquam, quos non noverant, et qui nihil impertiti fuerant illis:

27. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book:

27. Et irata est excandescentia Jehovae in terram ipsam, ut induceret super eam omnem maledictionem scriptam in hoc libro:

28. And the Lord rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.

28. Extirpavitque eos Jehova e terra ipsorum in ira, et indignatione, et excandescentia magna, et projecit eos in terram aliam, sicut hodie.

32. For ask now. Moses here more forcibly extols and pronounces magnificent praises upon the miracles which he had before more simply related to have taken place at the promulgation of the Law, his object being to produce a fuller conviction of its dignity. He magnifies, too, by comparison, the testimonies whereby its authority had been ratified, viz., because nothing like it had ever occurred; for if any such instance had previously taken place, some portion of its preciousness or honor would have been taken from it. But since from the beginning of the world only one such illustrious manifestation of His power had been given by God, it afforded the greater sanction to the Law. He adds, too, that if they were to search over the whole world they would nowhere find anything similar. For I do not approve of the more refined exposition which some give of this clause, as if he said that all creatures above and below were witnesses that God’s might had never been manifested by so many and such illustrious miracles; as also the sense appears too restricted which others give, understanding “the days that are past” to mean annals or chronicles; for I make no question that Moses simply desires them to inquire and to examine whether from the creation of the world, or in any most remote region, any such thing had come to pass.

33. Did ever people hear? He points out more openly the greatness and extraordinary transcendency of the matter which he has just mentioned, viz., that they heard the voice of God speaking out of the fire. It is true, indeed, that the superstitions of the Gentiles had been confirmed of old by many apparitions, yet amongst the portents which wretched men have imagined for their willing self-deception, there is nothing approaching to this miracle. Many have individually lied, and their false and foolish tales have been rashly believed; but here we have not to do with unfounded and scattered rumors, nor with the dreams of some single person, but Moses produces more than 700,000 witnesses, to whom God’s glory had clearly and certainly appeared; he subjoins, therefore, that God had never assayed to do the same, but had afforded this solitary instance to render His Law illustrious in all ages. Ce chef-d’-oeuvre unique. — Fr. Yet in this verse he not only alludes to the promulgation of the Law, but to the whole course of their deliverance, since he names in general His “temptations and signs.” He says that God “took him a nation from the midst of another nation,” for by His incomparable power He rescued the descendants of Abraham, who, though dispersed through Egypt, and, as it were, enclosed in its bowels, were yet an obscure and ignoble part of a most famous nation; whereof no similar example is to be found. Addition in the Fr., “Si quelqu’un aime mieux prendre le nombre singulier pour le pluriel, lors le sens sera tel: Combien que tous peuples fussent pareils, ou d’estat indifferent quant a leur nature, neantmoins que Dieu en a pris un d’entre tousles autres;” if any should prefer taking the singular number instead of the plural, then the sense will be, Although all people were equal, or of the same condition by nature, nevertheless God chose out one of them from amongst all the others.

35. Unto thee it was shewed. He first says that God had so proved His divinity by miracles and prodigies, that the Israelites might know certainly that He was God. Whence, too, he concludes that He is the only God; for although God’s holy name be torn in pieces by various opinions, whilst each one manufactures his own gods for himself, yet is it still sure that the power and dominion of God cannot be withdrawn from Him, but reside in a single subject, as the logicians say. Therefore the essence of the one God overthrows and annihilates all the other deities which we foolishly invent for ourselves. And this we must carefully remark, for this has been the common error of all ages, to seek for a mixture of many gods, whereas all these imaginations should vanish before the brightness of the true God. In the following verse he confirms this declaration, because God instructed His people out of heaven, and in the fire. Is it, however, asked how these two points accord which seem to be opposed to each other, that God’s voice was heard from heaven and from the midst of the fire? I reply, that Moses simply means that the voice which flowed out of the fire into the people’s ears was distinguished by plain indications which proved it to be heavenly.

37. And because he loved. These words admit of two meanings; for the copulative conjunction stands at the beginning of the verse, — “And because he loved thy fathers,” and also before the next clause, “and he chose their seed;” the reasons here assigned might, therefore, be taken in connection with the previous sentence, viz., that so many miracles were wrought because God had chosen Abraham and his seed. Others understand it differently, that this people was honored with so many blessings by God because He loved their fathers. In this case they omit the copula in the middle of the verse, as must be often done. In the main, there is little discrepancy; for Moses desires to shew that whatever good things God has conferred upon His people are gratuitous, by which circumstance he commends God’s grace the more. He had said that by unusual favor this nation was taken from the midst of another; and he now adds that this was done on no other account but because God had embraced Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with His love, and persevered in the same love towards their posterity. But we must remark that by the word “love” is expressed that favor which springs of mere generosity, so as to exclude all worthiness in the person beloved, as may be more clearly gathered from other passages, viz., Deuteronomy 7:8, and Psalm 78:68, and as is pretty plain from the context here, wherein he attributes the election of the people to the love with which God had honored their fathers. If any object that God’s election is eternal, the objection is readily solved, for the seed of Abraham was separated from all nations, because God had gratuitously adopted their father. We now understand the meaning of Moses, that the deliverance of the people was only to be ascribed to God’s goodness. He thus amplifies this blessing by another circumstance, viz., that God had preferred to great and mighty nations this ignoble people, whose own proper worthiness could not have acquired His favor.

39. Know therefore this day. He again inculcates what we have lately spoken of, that the glory of the one true God was proved by the miracles, but he does so by way of exhortation. For he desires them carefully and attentively to consider what God had shewn them, because in so plain a matter there would be no excuse for error or ignorance. He therefore infers from what had gone before, that the people must beware of shutting their eyes against the clear revelation of God’s power, and therefore urges them to keep it in memory, because man’s ingratitude is but too prone to forgetfulness. He afterwards reminds them wherefore God would be known, viz., that they might keep His Law and obey His statutes. The sum is, that they would be inexcusable if they did not obediently receive the Law, which they knew to have come from God; for they must needs be worse than stupid if the majesty of God, known and understood by so many proofs, did not awaken them to reverence. And lest they should undervalue the doctrine as proceeding from a mortal man, he expressly confesses, indeed, that he is the minister, and yet that he had set before them nothing which he had not received from God.

DEUTERONOMY 7

Deuteronomy 7:6-8

6. For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself— above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

6. Nam populus sanctus es Jehovae Deo tuo: te elegit Jehova Deus tuus— ut sis illi populus peculiaris ex omnibus populis qui sunt in superficie terrae.

7. The Lord did not set his love upon you— nor choose you— because ye were more in number than any people; (for ye were the fewest of all people;)

7. Non quia plures essetis prae omnibus populis— amavit vos Jehova— et elegit vos: (vos enim eratis pauciores omnibus populis.)

8. But because the Lord loved you— and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers— hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand— and redeemed you out of the house of bond-men— from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

8. Sed quia diligebat vos Jehova— et custodire volebat juramentum quod juraverat patribus vestris— eduxit vos Jehova in manu forti— et redemit vos e manu Pharaonis regis Aegypti.

God had destined, as we have before seen, See ante, on Numbers 35:10-34; vol. 3, pp. 62, et seq. six cities for refuge, in case any one had killed a man, provided he could prove his innocence before the judges. As to the three which He had appointed on the other side of Jordan, Moses records that he had faithfully performed what God had commanded. Hence it appears that, although he could not immediately comply with God’s command to its full extent, still he did not wait until the three other cities could be added; but that, as far as circumstances permitted, he discharged his duty. Hence let us learn that, even when we cannot at once entirely carry out what God commands us to do, we are still to be by no means idle. For nothing but sheer laziness stands in our way, unless we speedily commence at God’s command what it is His will to finish and accomplish by the hands of others.

Numbers 33

Numbers 33:1-56

1. These are the journeys of the children of Israel, which went forth out of the land of Egypt with their armies, under the hand of Moses and Aaron.

1. Istae sunt profectiones filiorum Israel, qui egressi sunt e terra Egypti, , per manum Mosis et Aharon.

2. And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of the Lord: and these are their journeys according to their goings out.

2. Scripsit autem Moses egressus eorum per profectiones eorum juxta sermonem Jehovae: istae, inquam, sunt profectiones eorum per egressus eorum.

3. And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians.

3. Profecti sunt igitur Ramesse mense primo, decimaquinta dic mensis primi, postera dic Phase egressi sunt filii Israel in manu excelsa in oculis omnium Egyptiorum.

4. (For the Egyptians buried all their first-born, which the Lord had smitten among them: upon their gods also the Lord executed judgments.)

4. (Egyptii autem interim sepeliebant quos percusserat Jehova ex eis, omnem primogenitum et in diis eorum fecerat Jehova judicia.)

5. And the children of Israel removed from Rameses, and pitched in Succoth.

5. Profecti sunt, inquam, filii Israel e Ramesse, ct castrametati sunt in Suchoth.

6. And they departed from Succoth, and pitched in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness.

6. Profecti autem de Suchoth, castrametati sunt in Etham, qum est in extremo deserti.

7. And they removed from Etham, and turned again unto Pihahiroth, which is before Baal-zephon: and they pitched before Migdol.

7. Et profecti de Etham, reversi sunt in Phihahiroth, qui est ante Baal-sephon, et castrametati sunt ante Migdol.

8. And they departed from before Pihahiroth, and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and went three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham, and pitched in Marah.

8. Profecti vero de Phi-hahiroth, transierunt per medium maris in desertum: et ambulaverunt viam trium dictum per desertum Etham, et castrametati sunt in Marah.

9. And they removed from Marah, and came unto Elim: and in Elim were twelve fountains of water, and threescore and ten palm-trees; and they pitched there.

9. Profecti vero de Marah venerunt in Elim: in Elim vero erant duodecim fontes aquarum, et septuaginta palmae, et castrametati sunt illic.

10. And they removed from Elim, and encamped by the Red Sea.

10. Et profecti ex Elim, castrametati sunt juxta mare Suph.

11. And they removed from the Red Sea, and encamped in the wilderness of Sin.

11. Profecti autem e marl Suph, castrametati sunt in deserto Sin.

12. And they took their journey out of the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah.

12. Et profecti e deserto Sin, castrametati sunt in Dopheah.

13. And they departed from Dophkah, and encamped in Alush.

13. Profecti autem e Dopheal:, castrametati sunt in Alus.

14. And theyremoved from Alush, and encamped at Rephidim, where was no water for the people to drink.

14. Et profecti ex Alus, castrametati sunt in Rephidim, ubi non erant aqum populo ad bibendum.

15. And they departed from Rephidim, and pitched in the wilderness of Sinai.

15. Ideo profecti e Rephidim, castrametati sunt in deserto Sinai.

16. And they removed from the desert of Sinai, and pitched at Kibroth-hattaavah.

16. Profecti autem e deserto Sinai, castrametati sunt in Cibroth-Hathaavah.

17. And they departed from Kibroth-hattaavah, and encamped at Hazeroth.

17. Et profecti ex Cibroth-Hathaavah, castrametati sunt in Haseroth.

18. And they departed from Hazeroth, and pitched in Rithmah.

18. Et profecti de Hastroth, castrametati sunt in Rithmah.

19. And they departed from Rithmah, and pitched at Rimmon-parez.

19. Profecti vero de Rithmah, castrametati sunt in Rimmon Peres.

20. And they departed from Rimmon-parez, and pitched in Libhah.

20. Et profecti e Rimmon Peres, castrametati sunt in Libhah.

21. And they removed from Libhah, and pitched at Rissah.

21. Profecti vero e Libhah, castrametati sunt in Rissah.

22. And they journeyed from Rissah, and pitched in Kehelathah.

22. Et profecti e Rissah, castrametati sunt in Ceheloth.

23. And they went from Kehelathah, and pitched in mount Shapher.

23. Profecti item e Ceheloth, castrametati sunt in monte Sepher.

24. And they removed from mount Shapher, and encamped in Haradah.

24. Profecti quoque e monte Sepher, castrametati sunt in Haradah.

25. And they removed from Haradah, and pitched in Makheloth.

25. Et profecti sunt e Haradah, et castrametati sunt in Macheloth.

26. And they removed from Makheloth, and encamped at Tahath.

26. Et profecti e Macheloth, castrametati sunt in Thahath.

27. And they departed from Tahath, and pitched at Tarah.

27. Profecti autem e Thahath, castrametati sunt in Tharah.

28. And they removed from Tarah, and pitched in Mithcah.

28. Profecti quoque e Tharah, castrametati sunt in Micheah.

29. And they went from Mithcah, and pitched in Hashmonah.

29. Profecti item e Micheah, castrametati sunt in Hasmonah.

30. And they departed from Hashmonah, and encamped at Moseroth.

30. Et profecti sunt de Hasmonah, ct castrametati sunt in Moseroth.

31. And they departed from Moseroth, and pitched in Bene-jaakan.

31. Et profecti de Moseroth, castrametati sunt in Bene-jaacan.

32. And they removed from Bene-jaakan, and eneamped at Horhagidgad.

32. Profectique e Bene-jaacan, castrametati sunt in Hor Gilgad.

33. And they went from Horhagidgad, and pitched in Jotbathah.

33. Et profecti de Hor Gilgad, castrametati sunt in Jothathah.

34. And they removed from Jotbathah, and encamped at Ebronah.

34. Et profecti de Jothathah, castrametati sunt in Abronah.

35. And they departed from Ebronah, and encamped at Ezion-gaber.

35. Profecti vero ex Abronah, castrametati sunt in Esion-gaber.

36. And they removed from Ezion-gaber, and pitched in the wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh.

36. Et profecti ex Esion-gaber, castrametati sunt in deserto Sin, quod est Cades.

37. And they removed from Kadesh, and pitched in mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom.

37. Et profecti sunt e Cades, ct castrametati sunt in Hor monte, in extremo terrae Edom.

38. And Aaron the priest went up into mount Hor, at the commandment of the Lord, and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the first day of the fifth month.

38. Ascendit autem Aharon sacerdos in Hor montem juxta sermonem Jehovae, et mortuus est anno quadragesimo ex quo egressi sunt filii Israel e terra Egypti mense quinto, primo die mensis.

39. And Aaron was an hundred and twenty and three years old when he died in mount Hor.

39. Eratque Aharon natus centum et viginti tres annos quando mortuus est in Hor monte.

40. And king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel.

40. Audivit autem Chenaanaeus rex Arad (is vero habitabat in meridie, in terra Chenaan quum ingrederentur filii Israel.)

41. And they departed from mount Hor, and pitched in Zalmonah.

41. Et profecti de Hor monte, castrametati sunt in Salmonah.

42. And they departed from Zalmonah, and pitched in Punon.

42. Profecti vero ex Salmonah, castrametati sunt in Punon.

43. And they departed from Punon, and pitched in Oboth.

43. Profecti e Punon, castramentati sunt in Oboth.

44. And they departed from Oboth, and pitched in Ije-abarim, in the border of Moab.

44. Profecti item ex Oboth, castrametati sunt in Ije-haabarim in termino Moab.

45. And they departed from Iim, and pitched in Dibon-gad.

45. Et profecti ex Ilim, castrametati sunt in Dibon-gad.

46. And they removed from Dibon-gad, and encamped in Almon-diblathaim.

46. Profecti item ex Dibon-gad,castrametati sunt in Almon-diblat haim.

47. And they removed from Almon-diblathaim, and pitched in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo.

47. Profecti praeterea ex Almon-diblathaim, castrametati sunt in montibus Abarim ante Nebo.

48. And they departed from the mountains of Abarim, and pitched in the plains of Moab, by Jordan near Jericho.

48. Et profecti e montibus Abarim, castrametati sunt in campestribus Moab, juxta Jordanem Jericho.

49. And they pitched by Jordan, from Beth-jesimoth even unto Abel-shittim, in the plains of Moab.

49. Tandem castrametati sunt juxta Jordanem a Beth-jesimoth usque ad Abel-sittim in campestribus Moab.

50. And the Lord spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab, by Jordan near Jericho, saying,

50. Loquutus est autem Jehova ad Mosen in campestribus Moab, juxta Jordanem Jericho, dicendo:

51. Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan;

51. Alloquere filios Israel, et dicas eis, Quum transieritis Jordanem ad terram Chenaan.

52. Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you,

52. Expellite omnes habitatores terrte a facie vestra,

53. And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.

53. Expelletis, inquam, habitatores terrae, et habitabitis in ca, vobis enim dedi terram, ut cant possideatis.

54. And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families; and to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance: every man’s inheritance shall be in the place where his lot falleth; according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit.

54. Possidebitis autem terram illam per sortem, per familias vestras: pluribus multiplicabitis haereditMem eorum, et paucioribus diminuatis haereditatem eorum: in loco in quo egredietur illi sors, erit illis: per tribus patrum vesttorum haereditatem capietis.

55. But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.

55. Quod si non expuleritis habitatores terrae a facie vestra, tum erit ut quos reliqueritis ex eis, sunt in cultros in oculis vestris, et in spinas lateribus vestris, et affligent vos super terram in qua vos habitabiris.

56. Moreover, it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them.

56. Evenietque ut quemadmodum cogitavi facere illis, faciam vobis.

44. And this is the Law. This last passage refers to the same thing, viz., that the Law was promulgated anew when the people had now reached the threshold of the promised land, in order that they might be more disposed to obedience, especially when the two tribes and a half had now, by the conquest of the Amorites, obtained a resting-place and a home; for this is the reason why their habitation is mentioned, because the taste of the favor already received ought to stir up their zeal to proceed more cheerfully. We shall elsewhere remark on the country and names of places. It is sufficient here to recollect, that the memory of the Law was renewed, after their inheritance without the promised land had been obtained by the sons of Reuben and Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, and when their assured possession was before the eyes of the rest. But Moses shews that, although he might explain the Law at fuller length, still nothing had been added to that summary which was originally promulgated; but he rather indicates, that whatever he had taught them during the forty years, had had no other object than that they might more faithfully and exactly keep the Law of God.

THE LAW

The First Commandment

EXODUS 20

Exodus 20:3

3. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

3. Non erunt tibi dii alieni coram facie mea.

A REPETITION OF THE SAME

Deuteronomy 5

Deuteronomy 5:7

7. Thou shalt have none other gods before me.

7. Non erunt tibi dii alieni coram facie mea.

CHAPTER 4

De 4:1-13. An Exhortation to Obedience.

1. hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you--By statutes were meant all ordinances respecting religion and the rites of divine worship; and by judgments, all enactments relative to civil matters. The two embraced the whole law of God.

2. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you--by the introduction of any heathen superstition or forms of worship different from those which I have appointed (De 12:32; Nu 15:39; Mt 15:9).

neither shall ye diminish aught from it--by the neglect or omission of any of the observances, however trivial or irksome, which I have prescribed. The character and provisions of the ancient dispensation were adapted with divine wisdom to the instruction of that infant state of the church. But it was only a temporary economy; and although God here authorizes Moses to command that all its institutions should be honored with unfailing observance, this did not prevent Him from commissioning other prophets to alter or abrogate them when the end of that dispensation was attained.

3-4. Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal-peor ... the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you--It appears that the pestilence and the sword of justice overtook only the guilty in that affair (Nu 25:1-9) while the rest of the people were spared. The allusion to that recent and appalling judgment was seasonably made as a powerful dissuasive against idolatry, and the fact mentioned was calculated to make a deep impression on people who knew and felt the truth of it.

5-6. this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes--Moses predicted that the faithful observance of the laws given them would raise their national character for intelligence and wisdom. In point of fact it did do so; for although the heathen world generally ridiculed the Hebrews for what they considered a foolish and absurd exclusiveness, some of the most eminent philosophers expressed the highest admiration of the fundamental principle in the Jewish religion--the unity of God; and their legislators borrowed some laws from the constitution of the Hebrews.

7-9. what nation is there so great--Here he represents their privileges and their duty in such significant and comprehensive terms, as were peculiarly calculated to arrest their attention and engage their interest. The former, their national advantages, are described (De 4:7, 8), and they were twofold: 1. God's readiness to hear and aid them at all times; and 2. the excellence of that religion in which they were instructed, set forth in the "statutes and judgments so righteous" which the law of Moses contained. Their duty corresponding to these pre-eminent advantages as a people, was also twofold: 1. their own faithful obedience to that law; and 2. their obligation to imbue the minds of the young and rising generation with similar sentiments of reverence and respect for it.

10. the day that thou stoodest before the Lord ... in Horeb--The delivery of the law from Sinai was an era never to be forgotten in the history of Israel. Some of those whom Moses was addressing had been present, though very young; while the rest were federally represented by their parents, who in their name and for their interest entered into the national covenant.

12. ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude--Although articulate sounds were heard emanating from the mount, no form or representation of the Divine Being who spoke was seen to indicate His nature or properties according to the notions of the heathen.

De 4:14-40. A Particular Dissuasive against Idolatry.

15. Take ... good heed ... for ye saw no manner of similitude--The extreme proneness of the Israelites to idolatry, from their position in the midst of surrounding nations already abandoned to its seductions, accounts for their attention being repeatedly drawn to the fact that God did not appear on Sinai in any visible form; and an earnest caution, founded on that remarkable circumstance, is given to beware, not only of making representations of false gods, but also any fancied representation of the true God.

16-19. Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image--The things are here specified of which God prohibited any image or representation to be made for the purposes of worship; and, from the variety of details entered into, an idea may be formed of the extensive prevalence of idolatry in that age. In whatever way idolatry originated, whether from an intention to worship the true God through those things which seemed to afford the strongest evidences of His power, or whether a divine principle was supposed to reside in the things themselves, there was scarcely an element or object of nature but was deified. This was particularly the case with the Canaanites and Egyptians, against whose superstitious practices the caution, no doubt, was chiefly directed. The former worshipped Baal and Astarte, the latter Osiris and Isis, under the figure of a male and a female. It was in Egypt that animal-worship most prevailed, for the natives of that country deified among beasts the ox, the heifer, the sheep, and the goat, the dog, the cat, and the ape; among birds, the ibis, the hawk, and the crane; among reptiles, the crocodile, the frog, and the beetle; among fishes, all the fish of the Nile; some of these, as Osiris and Isis, were worshipped over all Egypt, the others only in particular provinces. In addition they embraced the Zabian superstition, the adoration of the Egyptians, in common with that of many other people, extending to the whole starry host. The very circumstantial details here given of the Canaanitish and Egyptian idolatry were owing to the past and prospective familiarity of the Israelites with it in all these forms.

20. But the Lord hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace--that is, furnace for smelting iron. A furnace of this kind is round, sometimes thirty feet deep, and requiring the highest intensity of heat. Such is the tremendous image chosen to represent the bondage and affliction of the Israelites [Rosenmuller].

to be unto him a people of inheritance--His peculiar possession from age to age; and therefore for you to abandon His worship for that of idols, especially the gross and debasing system of idolatry that prevails among the Egyptians, would be the greatest folly--the blackest ingratitude.

26. I call heaven and earth to witness against you--This solemn form of adjuration has been common in special circumstances among all people. It is used here figuratively, or as in other parts of Scripture where inanimate objects are called up as witnesses (De 32:1; Is 1:2).

28. there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands--The compulsory measures of their tyrannical conquerors would force them into idolatry, so that their choice would become their punishment.

30. in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God--either towards the destined close of their captivities, when they evinced a returning spirit of repentance and faith, or in the age of Messiah, which is commonly called "the latter days," and when the scattered tribes of Israel shall be converted to the Gospel of Christ. The occurrence of this auspicious event will be the most illustrious proof of the truth of the promise made in De 4:31.

41-43. Then Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan--(See on Jos 20:7).

44-49. this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel--This is a preface to the rehearsal of the law, which, with the addition of various explanatory circumstances, the following chapters contain.

Hearken - unto the statutes - Every thing that concerned the rites and ceremonies of religion; judgments - all that concerned matters of civil right and wrong.

Ye shall not add - Any book, chapter, verse or word, which I have not spoken; nor give any comment that has any tendency to corrupt, weaken, or destroy any part of this revelation.

Neither shall ye diminish - Ye shall not only not take away any larger portion of this word, but ye shall not take one jot or tittle from the Law; it is that word of God that abideth for ever.

Keep - and do them; for this is your wisdom - There was no mode of worship at this time on the face or the earth that was not wicked, obscene, puerile, foolish, or ridiculous, except that established by God himself among the Israelites. And every part of this, taken in its connection and reference, may be truly called a wise and reasonable service.

The nations - and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people - Almost all the nations in the earth showed that they had formed this opinion of the Jews, by borrowing from them the principal part of their civil code. Take away what Asia and Europe, whether ancient or modern, have borrowed from the Mosaic laws, and you leave little behind that can be called excellent.

Only take heed to thyself - Be circumspect and watchful.

Keep thy soul diligently - Be mindful of thy eternal interests. Whatever becomes of the body, take care of the soul.

Lest thou forget - God does his work that they may be had in everlasting remembrance; and he that forgets them, forgets his own mercies. Besides, if a man forget the work of God on his soul, he loses that work.

Lest they depart from thy heart - It is not sufficient to lay up Divine things in the memory, they must be laid up in the heart. Thy word have I hidden in my heart, says David, that I might not sin against thee. The life of God in the soul of man can alone preserve the soul to life everlasting; and this grace must be retained all the days of our life. When Adam fell, his condition was not meliorated by the reflection that he had been once in paradise; nor does it avail Satan now that he was once an angel of light. Those who let the grace of God depart from their hearts, lose that grace; and those who lose the grace, fall from the grace; and as some have fallen and risen no more, so may others; therefore, take heed to thyself, etc. Were it impossible for men finally to fall from the grace of God, exhortations of this kind had never been given, because they would have been unnecessary, and God never does an unnecessary thing.

But teach them thy sons - If a man know the worth of his own soul, he will feel the importance of the salvation of the souls of his family. Those who neglect family religion, neglect personal religion; if more attention were paid to the former, even among those called religious people, we should soon have a better state of civil society. On family religion God lays much stress; and no head of a family can neglect it without endangering the final salvation of his own soul. See the note at the conclusion of Gen 18:32 (note), Gen 19:38 (note), and Deu 6:7 (note).

Ye saw no manner of similitude - Howsoever God chose to appear or manifest himself, he took care never to assume any describable form. He would have no image worship, because he is a Spirit, and they who worship him must worship him in Spirit and in truth. These outward things tend to draw the mind out of itself, and diffuse it on sensible, if not sensual, objects; and thus spiritual worship is prevented, and the Holy Ghost grieved. Persons acting in this way can never know much of the religion of the heart.

The likeness of male or female - Such as Baal-peor and the Roman Priapus, Ashtaroth or Astarte, and the Greek and Roman Venus; after whom most nations of the world literally went a whoring.

The likeness of any beast, etc. - Such as the Egyptian god Apis, who was worshipped under the form of a white bull; the ibis and hawk, among the fowls, had also Divine honors paid to them; serpents and the crocodile among reptiles; besides monkeys, dogs, cats, the scarabaeus, leeks, and onions! See this explained at large, Exo 20:4 (note).

When thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars - The worship of the heavenly bodies was the oldest species of idolatry. Those who had not the knowledge of the true God were led to consider the sun, moon, planets, and stars, as not only self-existing, but the authors of all the blessings possessed by mankind. The knowledge of a rational system of astronomy served to destroy this superstition; and very little of it remains now in the world, except among a few Christian and Mohammedan astrologers; those miserable sinners who endeavor, as much as possible, to revive the old idolatry, while vainly professing to believe in the true God! Nor is it to be doubted that God will proceed with them as he has done of old with the worshippers of the host of heaven. Sound philosophy is next in importance to sound divinity; and next to the study of the work of grace is that of the operations of God in nature; for these visible things make known his eternal power and Godhead.

Out of the iron furnace - From this mention of the word iron furnace there can be little doubt that the Israelites were employed in Egypt in the most laborious works of metallurgy. Digging, smelting, and forging of iron in so hot a climate must have been oppressive work indeed.

The Lord was angry with me - And if with me, so as to debar me from entering into the promised land, can you think to escape if guilty of greater provocations?

Thy God is a consuming fire - They had seen him on the mount as an unconsuming fire, while appearing to Moses, and giving the law; and they had seen him as a consuming fire in the case of Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and their company. They had, therefore, every good to expect from his approbation, and every evil to dread from his displeasure.

I call heaven and earth to witness against you - A most solemn method of adjuration, in use among all nations in the world. So Virgil, Aen., lib. xii., ver. 176, etc.

Tum pius Aeneas stricto sic ense precatur:

Esto nunc Sol testis et haec mihi terra vocanti -

Fontesque fluviosque voco, quaeque aetheris alti

Relllgio, et quae caeruleo sunt numina ponto, etc. "Then the great Trojan prince unsheathed his sword,

And thus, with lifted hands, the gods adored:

Thou land for which I wage this war, and thou

Great source of day, be witness to my vow! -

Almighty king of heaven and queen of air,

Propitious now and reconciled by prayer, -

Ye springs, ye floods, ye various powers who lie

Beneath the deep, or tread the golden sky, -

Hear and Attest!"

Pitt.

God and man being called upon to bear testimony to the truth of what was spoken, that if there was any flaw or insincerity, it might be detected; and if any crime, it might not go unpunished. Such appeals to God, for such purposes, show at once both the origin and use of oaths. See the note on Deu 6:13.

The Lord shall scatter you among the nations - This was amply verified in their different captivities and dispersions.

There ye shall serve gods - wood and stone - This was also true of the Israelites, not only in their captivities, but also in their own land. And it may now be literally the case with the ten tribes who were carried away captive by the Assyrians, and of whose residence no man at present knows any thing with certainty. That they still exist there can be no doubt; but they are now, most probably, so completely incorporated with the idolaters among whom they dwell, as to be no longer distinguish able: yet God can gather them.

But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord - God is longsuffering, and of tender mercy; and waits, ever ready, to receive a backsliding soul when it returns to him. Is not this promise left on record for the encouragement and salvation of lost Israel?

When thou art in tribulation in the latter days - Are not these the times spoken of? And is there not still hope for Israel? Could we see them become zealous for their own law and religious observances - could we see them humble themselves before the God of Jacob - could we see them conduct their public worship with any tolerable decency and decorum - could we see them zealous to avoid every moral evil, inquiring the road to Zion, with their faces thitherward; then might we hope that the redemption of Israel was at hand: but alas! there is not the most distant evidence of any thing of the kind, except in a very few solitary instances. They are, perhaps, in the present day, more lost to every sacred principle of their own institutions than they have ever been since their return from the Babylonish captivity. By whom shall Jacob arise? for in this sense he is small - deeply fallen, and greatly degraded.

Did ever people hear the voice of God - It seems to have been a general belief that if God appeared to men, it was for the purpose of destroying them; and indeed most of the extraordinary manifestations of God were in the way of judgment; but here it was different; God did appear in a sovereign and extraordinary manner; but it was for the deliverance and support of the people.

1. They heard his voice speaking with them in a distinct, articulate manner.

2. They saw the fire, the symbol of his presence, the appearances of which demonstrated it to be supernatural.

3. Notwithstanding God appeared so terrible, yet no person was destroyed, for he came, not to destroy, but to save.

From the midst of another nation - This was a most extraordinary thing, that a whole people, consisting of upwards of 600,000 effective men, besides women and children, should, without striking a blow, be brought out of the midst of a very powerful nation, to the political welfare of which their services were so essential; that they should be brought out in so open and public a manner; that the sea itself should be supernaturally divided to afford this mighty host a passage; and that, in a desert utterly unfriendly to human life, they should be sustained for forty years. These were such instances of the almighty power and goodness of God as never could be forgotten.

In this verse Moses enumerates seven different means used by the Almighty in effecting Israel's deliverance.

1. Temptations, מסת massoth, from נשה nasah, to try or prove; the miracles which God wrought to try the faith and prove the obedience of the children of Israel.

2. Signs, אתת othoth, from אתה athah, to come near; such signs as God gave them of his continual presence and especial providence, particularly the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire, keeping near to them night and day, and always directing their journeys, showing them when and where to pitch their tents, etc., etc.

3. Wonders, מופתים mophethim, from יפת yaphath, to persuade; persuasive facts and events, says Parkhurst, whether strictly miraculous, and exceeding the powers of nature, as Exo 7:9; Exo 11:9, Exo 11:10; or not, as Isa 20:3; Eze 12:6, Eze 12:11. It probably means typical representations: in this signification the word is used, Zac 3:8. Joshua, the high priest, and his companions were אנשי מופת anshey mopheth, typical men, raised up by God as types of Christ, and proofs that God would bring his servant The Branch. All the dealings of God with this people, and even the people themselves, were types - present significators of distant facts and future occurrences.

4. War, מלחמה milchamah, hostile engagements; such as those with the Amalekites, the Amorites, and the Bashanites, in which the hand of God was seen rather than the hand of man.

5. A Mighty Hand, יד חזקה yad chazakah; one that is strong to deal its blows, irresistible in its operations, and grasps its enemies hard, so that they cannot escape, and protects its friends so powerfully that they cannot be injured. Neither stratagem nor policy was used in this business, but the openly displayed power of God.

6. A Stretched-Out Arm, זרוע נטויה ,mrA zeroa netuyah; a series of almighty operations, following each other in quick astonishing succession. Let it be noted that in the Scriptures, 1. The finger of God denotes any manifestation of the Divine power, where effects are produced beyond the power of art or nature. 2. The hand of God signifies the same power, but put forth in a more signal manner. 3. The arm of God, the Divine omnipotence manifested in the most stupendous miracles. 4. The arm of God stretched out, this same omnipotence exerted in a continuation of stupendous miracles, both in the way of judgment and mercy. In this latter sense it appears to be taken in the text: the judgments were poured out on the Egyptians; the mercies wrought in favor of the Israelites.

7. Great Terrors, מוראים גדלים moraim gedolim; such terror, dismay, and consternation as were produced by the ten plagues, to which probably the inspired penman here alludes: or, as the Septuagint has it, εν ὁραμασιν μεγαλοις, with great or portentous sights; such as that when God looked out of the cloud upon the Egyptians, and their chariot wheels were taken off, Exo 14:24, Exo 14:25. More awful displays of God's judgments, power, and might, were never witnessed by man.

Then Moses severed three cities - See the law relative to the cities of refuge explained, Num 35:11 (note), etc.

Bezer in the wilderness - As the cities of refuge are generally understood to be types of the salvation provided by Christ for sinners; so their names have been thought to express some attribute of the Redeemer of mankind. See them explained Jos 20:7-8 (note).

I Suppose the last nine verses of this chapter to have been added by either Joshua or Ezra.

The statutes - The laws which concern the worship and service of God. The judgments - The laws concerning your duties to men. So these two comprehend both tables, and the whole law of God.

In the sight of the nations - For though the generality of Heathens in the latter ages, did through inveterate prejudices condemn the laws of the Hebrews, yet it is certain, the wisest Heathens did highly approve of them, so that they made use of divers of them, and translated them into their own laws and constitutions; and Moses, the giver of these laws, hath been mentioned with great honour for his wisdom and learning by many of them. And particularly the old Heathen oracle expressly said, that the Chaldeans or Hebrews, who worshipped the uncreated God, were the only wise men.

So nigh - By glorious miracles, by the pledges of his special presence, by the operations of his grace, and particularly by his readiness to hear our prayers, and to give us those succours which we call upon him for.

So righteous - Whereby he implies that the true greatness of a nation doth not consist in pomp or power, or largeness of empire, as commonly men think, but in the righteousness of its laws.

Thou stoodest - Some of them stood there in their own persons, though then they were but young, the rest in the loins of their parents.

The midst of heaven - Flaming up into the air, which is often called heaven.

No similitude - No resemblance or representation of God, whereby either his essence, or properties, or actions were represented, such as were usual among the Heathens.

Statutes and judgments - The ceremonial and judicial laws which are here distinguished from the moral, or the ten commandments.

In Horeb - God, who in other places and times did appear in a similitude in the fashion of a man, now in this most solemn appearance, when he comes to give eternal laws for the direction of the Israelites in the worship of God, and in their duty to men, purposely avoids all such representations, to shew that he abhors all worship of images, or of himself by images of what kind soever, because he is the invisible God, and cannot be represented by any visible image.

Lest ye corrupt yourselves - Your ways, by worshipping God in a corrupt manner.

Driven - Strongly inclined. Which the Lord hath divided unto all nations - Which are not Gods, but creatures, made not for the worship, but for the use of men; yea, of the meanest and most barbarous people under heaven, and therefore cannot without great absurdity be worshipped, especially by you who are so much advanced above other nations in wisdom and knowledge, and in this, that you are my peculiar people.

A consuming fire - A just and terrible God, who, notwithstanding his special relation to thee, will severely punish thee, if thou provoke him. A jealous God - Who being espoused to thee, will be highly incensed against thee, (if thou follow after other lovers, or commit whoredom with idols) and will bear no rival or partner.

Ye shall serve Gods - You shall be compelled by men, and given up by me to idolatry. So that very thing which was your choice, shall be your punishment: it being just and usual for God to punish one sin by giving men up to another.

If from thence thou seek the Lord - Whatever place we are in, we may from thence seek him. There is no part of the earth which has a gulf fixt between it and heaven.

In the latter days - In succeeding ages.

The one side of heaven - That is, of the earth under heaven. Ask all the inhabitants of the world.

And live - And was not overwhelmed and consumed by such a glorious appearance.

By temptations - Temptations is the general title, which is explained by the following particulars, signs, and wonders, &c. which are called temptations, because they were trials both to the Egyptians and Israelites, whether they would be induced to believe and obey God or no. By terrors - Raised in the minds of the Egyptians, or, by terrible things done among them.

In his sight - Keeping his eye fixed upon him, as the father doth on his beloved child.

This is the law - More punctually expressed in the following chapter, to which these words are a preface.

1 NOW therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes , and unto the judgments which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in, and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you.

The Laws which concerns the worship and service of God.

The Laws concerning your duties to men. So these two comprehend both Tables and the whole Law of God.

2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you , neither shall ye diminish ought from it , that ye may keep the commandements of the LORD your God, which I command you.

By devising other doctrines or wayes of worship than what I have taught or prescribed. See Numb. 15. 39, 40. Deut. 12. 8, 32, 1 King. 12. 33. Prov. 30. 6. Math. 15. 9. For this were to accuse me of want of wisdom or care or faithfulness in not giving you sufficient instructions for my own service.

By rejecting or neglecting any thing which I have commanded, though it seem never so small.

Marginal references: chap. 1[illegible: 1+ letters] ▪ [illegible: 1+ letters]. Josh. 1. 7. Prov. 3[illegible: 1+ letters]. 6. Eccl. 12. 1[illegible: 1+ letters]. Rev. 22. 1[illegible: 1+ letters] ▪ [illegible: 1+ letters].

6 Keep therefore, and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations , which shall hear all these statutes, and say, surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.

For though the generality of Heathen people in the later and degenerate ages of the world did through inveterate prejudices and for their own lusts and interests condemn the Laws of the Hebrews as foolish and absurd, yet it is most certain, that divers of the wisest heathens did highly approve of them so far that they made use of divers of them and translated them into their own Laws and Constitutions; and Moses, the giver of these Laws, hath been mentioned with great honour for his [illegible: 1+ letters] dom and learning by many of them. And particularly the old Heathen Oracle expresly said, that the Chaldeans or Hebrews, who worshipped the uncreated God, were the onely wise men.

Marginal references: Job 28. 2[illegible: 1+ letters]. Psal. 111. 10. Prov. 1. 7.

7 For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them , as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?

By glorious miracles, by the pledges of his special presence▪ by the operations of his grace, and particularly, as it here follows, by his readiness to hear our prayers and to give us those succours which we call upon him for.

Marginal references: 2 Sam. 7. 23.; Heb. a God. S[illegible: 1+ letters] Gr.; Psal. 46. 1. and 145. 18. and 148. 14. [illegible: 1+ letters]a. 55. 6.

8 And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgements so righteous , as all this law which I set before you this day?

Whereby he implies that the true greatness of a nation doth not consist in pomp or power or largeness of empire, as commonly men think but in the righteousness of its Laws.

10 Specially the day that thou stoodst before the LORD thy God in Horeb , when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the dayes that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.

Some of them stood there in their own persons, though then they were but young, the rest stood their in the loins of their Parents▪ in whom they may well be said to stand there, because they are said to have entred into covenant with God because their Parents did so in their n[illegible: 1+ letters]me and for their use.

Marginal references: Exod. 19. 9, 1[illegible: 1+ letters]. and 20. 18. Heb. 12. 18.

11 And ye came near, and stood under the mountain, and the mountain burnt with fire unto the midst of heaven , with darkness, clouds and thick darkness.

Flaming up into the air, which is oft called Heaven, and the midst or the heart of it is not onely that which is strictly and properly the middle part, but that which is within it, though but a little way, in which sense places or persons or things are said to be in the heart of the Sea, Exod. 15. 8. Prov. 23. 34. Ezek. 28. 2. and Christ in the heart of the Earth. Matth. 12. 40.

Marginal references: Exod. 19. 18.; Heb. heart.

12 And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude , onely ye heard a voice.

(i. e.) No resemblance or representation of God, whereby either his essence or properties or actions were represented, such as were usual among the heathens.

Marginal references: Heb. save a [illegible: 1 word].

14 And the LORD commanded me at that time, to teach you statutes and judgments , that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.

(i. e.) The ceremonial and judicial Laws, which are here distinguished from the moral, or the Ten Commandements, ver. 13.

Marginal references: Exod. 21. 1.

15 Take ye therefore good heed unto your selves (for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb m, out of the midst of the fire.)

By which caution he insinuates mans great proneness to the worship of images God, who in other places and times did appear in a similitude, in the fashion of a man, now in this most solemn appearance, when he comes to give eternal Laws for the regulation and direction of the Israelites in the worship of God, and in their duty to men, he purposely avoids all such representations, to shew that he abhors all Worship of images, or of himself by images of what kind soever, as it here follows ver 16, 17, 18, 19▪ because he is the invisible God and cannot be represented by any visible image. See Isa. 40. 18. Act. 17. [illegible: 1+ letters]9.

16 Lest ye corrupt your selves , and make you a graven image , the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female:

(i. e.) Corrupt your minds with mean and carnal thoughts of God. Or, corrupt your ways or courses, by worshipping God in a corrupt manner, or by falling into Idolatry.

To wit, for worship, or for the representation of God, as it is explained ver. 19. for otherwise it was not simply unlawful to draw the picture or make a figure of a man or a beast.

Marginal references: Exod 24. 5.

17 The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air:

Whereby the Heathen nations did represent and worship God some by an Ox, some by a Goat, or an Hen, or a Serpent, or a Fish, &c.

19 And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them , and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.

(i. e.) Strongly enclined, and in a manner constrained partly by the glory of these heavenly bodies, which may seem to be made for higher purposes than to inlighten this lump of earth; partly from that natural propension which is in men to Idolatry. Or, shouldest be driven or thrust, to wit, out of the way of the Lord, (as it is more fully expressed, Deut. 13. 5.) or, be seduced, or led aside, as silly sheep easily are, and worship them. Or, shouldest be cast down, or throw down thy self and worship them, i. e. Worship them by falling down before them.

Which are not Gods, but Creatures, made not for the worship, but for the use of men, yea, of the meanest and most barbarous people under Heaven, and therefore cannot without great absurdity be worshipped, especially by you who are so much advanced above other Nations in Wisdome and Knowledge, and in this, that you are my peculiar people.

Marginal references: Chap. 17. 3. Jo[illegible: 1+ letters] 31. 27.; Gen. 2. 1.; Or, [illegible: 1 word] ▪

20 But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace , even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance , as ye are this day.

(i. e.) The furnace wherein Iron and other Metals are melted, to which Egypt is fitly compared, not only for the Torment and Misery which they there indured, but also because they were throughly tried and purged thereby, as Metals are by the fire.

His peculiar possession from generation to generation, See Exod. 19. 5. Deut. 7. 6. Tit. 2. 14. And therefore for you to forsake God, and worship Idols, will be not only wickedness and madness, but most abominable ingratitude.

Marginal references: 1 King. 8. 51. Jer. 11. 4.

21 Furthermore, the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

God hath granted you the favour which he denyed to me: which greatly increaseth your obligation to God.

Marginal references: Num 20. 1[illegible: 1+ letters].

23 Take heed unto your selves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee .

Or, commanded thee, to wit, not to do, which is easily understood by comparing this place with Exod. 20. 4, 5. and with Gen. 3. 11. where this phrase is fully expressed. See more on Levit. 4. 2. Deut. 3. 37.

Marginal references: Exod. 20. 4, 5.

24 For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire , even a jealous God .

A just and terrible God, who, notwithstanding his special relation to thee, will severely punish and destroy thee, if thou provokest him by Idolatry, or other wayes.

Who being espoused to thee, will be highly incensed against thee, if thou followest after other lover[illegible: 1+ letters], or committest whoredom with Idols, and [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] no rival or partner.

Marginal references: Chap. 9. [illegible: 1+ letters]. Isa. 33. 14. Heb. 12. 2[illegible: 1+ letters].; Exod. 20. 9. Isa. 42. 8.

25 When thou shalt beget children, and childrens children, and shalt have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt your selves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, to provoke him to anger:

Which words are here added either 1. As a caution. Your Idolatry, though possibly secretly and cunningly managed, will not be hid from him▪ he sees it, and he will punish it. Or 2. To aggravate their spiritual Whoredom as being committed in the sight and presence of their Lord and Husband, whose eye is more peculiarly upon them in all their wayes, than it is upon other people. Or, 3. By way of opposition unto mens judgment. Idolatry oft times seems good, and reasonable, and religious in the eyes of men, but, saith he▪ it is evil in the eyes of the Lord, whose judgment is most considerable.

26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your dayes upon it; but shall utterly be destroyed.

Either 1. Figuratively, i. e. God, and Angels, and Men▪ Or rather, 2. Properly; it being usual in Scripture to call in the senceless Creatures as witnesses in such cases, as Deut. 32. 1. Isa. 1. 2. Ier. 2. 12.

28 And there ye shall serve gods , the work of mens hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

(i. e.) Idols. You shall be compelled by men, and given up by me to Idolatry. So that very thing which was your choice, shall be your punishment▪ it being just and usual for God to punish one sin by giving them up to another, as is manifest from Rom. 1. 24, 25.

Marginal references: Ch. 28. 36, 64. Jer. 16. 13.; Psa. 115. 4, 5. and 135. 15. Isa. 45. 20. and 46. 7.

29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart , and with all thy soul.

If thou desirest his help and favour. See Deut. 30. 1. Isa. 55. 6.

(i. e.) sincerely and fervently.

Marginal references: Lev. 26. 40. Chap. 30. 1. Neh. 1. 9.

30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter dayes , if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice:

Either in general, in succeeding Ages and Generations: or particularly▪ in the dayes of the Messias, which are commonly called in Scripture the latter, or last dayes, as Isa. 2. 2. Host. 3. 5. Mich. 4. 1. Dan. 2. 44. Heb. 1. 2. and 9. 26. And so this may respect the conversion and redemption of the Iewish Nation even in those times when their case seems most desperate, when they have forsaken their God, and rejected their Messias for many ages, to wit, towards the end of the World.

Marginal references: Heb. have sound thee.

31 (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers , which he sware unto them.

(i. e.) Made with thy fathers including their posterity, as Gen. 17. 7.

32 For ask now of the dayes that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing, as this great thing is or hath been heard like it:

(i. e.) Of the Earth under heaven. Ask all the Inhabitants of the world. Compare Matt. 24. 31. with Mark 13. 27.

33 Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live ?

(i. e.) And was not overwhelmed and consumed by such a glorious appearance. See Exod. 24. 11. and 33. 20.

34 Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations , by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched-out arm, and by great terrors , according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

By tribulations and persecutions, which are commonly called temptations, which are here fitly mentioned, as one great occasion first of their cryes unto God, and then of Gods coming for their rescue. Or, temptations is the general title, which is explained by the following particulars, signs, and wonders, &c. which are called temptations, because they were tryals both to the Egyptians and Israelites, whether thereby they would be induced to believe and obey God or no.

Raised in the minds of the Egyptians, as the History sheweth: compare Deut. 2. 25. and 34. 12. or, by terrible things done among them.

Marginal references: Chap. 7. 19. and 29. 3.

36 Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire, and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.

(i. e.) Out of the air, above Mount Sinai. See Exod. 19. 9. and 20. 18, 22.

At the top of Mount Sinai.

Marginal references: Exod. 24. 1[illegible: 1+ letters]. Heb. 12. 1[illegible: 1+ letters].

37 And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt;

Keeping his eye fixed upon him, as the Father doth on his beloved child. Or, with his presence. i. e. He did not send them forth by Moses, but he himself was present with them, and as it were marched along with them, in the pillar of cloud and fire.

41 Then Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan toward the sun-rising:

As God had commanded him, Numb. 35. 6, 14.

44 And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel:

Which hath been generally intimated already, but is more particularly and punctually expressed in the following chapter, to which these words are a preface.

Deu 4:1-8

The Israelites were to hearken to the laws and rights which Moses taught to do (that they were to do), that they might live and attain to the possession of the land which the Lord would give them. “Hearkening” involves laying to heart and observing. The words “statutes and judgments” (as in Lev 19:37) denote the whole of the law of the covenant in its two leading features. חקּים, statutes, includes the moral commandments and statutory covenant laws, for which חק and חקּה are mostly used in the earlier books; that is to say, all that the people were bound to observe; משׁפּטים, rights, all that was due to them, whether in relation to God or to their fellow-men (cf. Deu 26:17). Sometimes המּצוה, the commandment, is connected with it, either placed first in the singular, as a general comprehensive notion (Deu 5:28; Deu 6:1; Deu 7:11), or in the plural (Deu 8:11; Deu 11:1; Deu 30:16); or העדת, the testimonies, the commandments as a manifestation of the will of God (Deu 4:45, Deu 6:17, Deu 6:20). - Life itself depended upon the fulfilment or long life in the promised land (Exo 20:12), as Moses repeatedly impressed upon them (cf. Deu 4:40; Deu 5:30; Deu 6:2; Deu 8:1; Deu 11:21; Deu 16:20; Deu 25:15; Deu 30:6, Deu 30:15., Deu 32:47). ירשׁתּם, for ירשׁתּם (as in Deu 4:22, Jos 1:16; cf. Ges. §44, 2, Anm. 2).

Deu 4:9

“Only beware and take care of thyself.” To “keep the soul,” i.e., to take care of the soul as the seat of life, to defend one’s life from danger and injury (Pro 13:3; Pro 19:16). “That thou do not forget את־הדּברים (the facts described in Ex 19-24), <), and that they do not depart from thy heart all the days of thy life,” i.e., are not forgotten as long as thou livest, “and thou makest them known to thy children and thy children’s children.” These acts of God formed the foundation of the true religion, the real basis of the covenant legislation, and the firm guarantee of the objective truth and divinity of all the laws and ordinances which Moses gave to the people. And it was this which constituted the essential distinction between the religion of the Old Testament and all heathen religions, whose founders, it is true, professed to derive their doctrines and statutes from divine inspiration, but without giving any practical guarantee that their origin was truly divine.

Deu 4:10-12

In the words, “The day (היּום, adverbial accusative) “that thou stoodest before Jehovah thy God at Horeb,” etc., Moses reminds the people of the leading features of those grand events: first of all of the fact that God directed him to gather the people together, that He might make known His words to them (Exo 19:9.), that they were to learn to fear Him all their life long, and to teach their children also (יראה, inf., like שׂנאה, Deu 1:27); and secondly (Deu 4:11), that they came near to the mountain which burned in fire (cf. Exo 19:17.). The expression, burning in fire “even to the heart of heaven,” i.e., quite into the sky, is a rhetorical description of the awful majesty of the pillar of fire, in which the glory of the Lord appeared upon Sinai, intended to impress deeply upon the minds of the people the remembrance of this manifestation of God. And the expression, “darkness, clouds, and thick darkness,” which is equivalent to the smoking of the great mountain (Exo 19:18), is employed with the same object. And lastly (Deu 4:12, Deu 4:13), he reminds them that the Lord spoke out of the midst of the fire, and adds this important remark, to prepare the way for what is to follow, “Ye heard the sound of the words, but ye did not see a shape,” which not only agrees most fully with Ex 24, where it is stated that the sight of the glory of Jehovah upon the mountain appeared to the people as they stood at the foot of the mountain “like devouring fire” (Deu 4:17), and that even the elders who “saw God” upon the mountain at the conclusion of the covenant saw no form of God (Deu 4:11), but also with Exo 33:20, Exo 33:23, according to which no man can see the face (פּנים) of God. Even the similitude (Temunah) of Jehovah, which Moses saw when the Lord spoke to him mouth to mouth (Num 12:8), was not the form of the essential being of God which was visible to his bodily eyes, but simply a manifestation of the glory of God answering to his own intuition and perceptive faculty, which is not to be regarded as a form of God which was an adequate representation of the divine nature. The true God has no such form which is visible to the human eye.

Deu 4:13

The Israelites, therefore, could not see a form of God, but could only hear the voice of His words, when the Lord proclaimed His covenant to them, and gave utterance to the ten words, which He afterwards gave to Moses written upon two tables of stone (Exo 20:1-14 [17], and Exo 31:18, compared with Exo 24:12). On the “tables of stone,” see at Exo 34:1.

Deu 4:14

When the Lord Himself had made known to the people in the ten words the covenant which He commanded them to do, He directed Moses to teach them laws and rights which they were to observe in Canaan, viz., the rights and statutes of the Sinaitic legislation, from Ex 21 onwards.

Deu 4:15-16

As the Israelites had seen no shape of God at Horeb, they were to beware for their souls’ sake (for their lives) of acting corruptly, and making to themselves any kind of image of Jehovah their God, namely, as the context shows, to worship God in it. (On pesel, see at Exo 20:4.) The words which follow, viz., “a form of any kind of sculpture,” and “a representation of male or female” (for tabnith, see at Exo 25:9), are in apposition to “graven image,” and serve to explain and emphasize the prohibition.

Deu 4:17-18

They were also not to make an image of any kind of beast; a caution against imitating the animal worship of Egypt.

Deu 4:19

They were not to allow themselves to be torn away (נדּח) to worship the stars of heaven, namely, by the seductive influence exerted upon the senses by the sight of the heavenly bodies as they shone in their glorious splendour. The reason for this prohibition is given in the relative clause, “which Jehovah thy God hath allotted to all nations under the whole heaven.” The thought is not, “God has given the heathen the sun, moon, and stars for service, i.e., to serve them with their light,” as Onkelos, the Rabbins, Jerome, and others, suppose, but He has allotted them to them for worship, i.e., permitted them to choose them as the objects of their worship, which is the view adopted by Justin Martyr, Clemens Alex., and others. According to the scriptural view, even the idolatry of the heathen existed by divine permission and arrangement. God gave up the heathen to idolatry and shameful lusts, because, although they knew Him from His works, they did not praise Him as God (Rom 1:21, Rom 1:24, Rom 1:26).

Deu 4:20

The Israelites were not to imitate the heathen in this respect, because Jehovah, who brought them out of the iron furnace of Egypt, had taken them (לקח) to Himself, i.e., had drawn them out or separated them from the rest of the nations, to be a people of inheritance. They were therefore not to seek God and pray to Him in any kind of creature, but to worship Him without image and form, in a manner corresponding to His own nature, which had been manifested in no form, and therefore could not be imitated. בּרזל כּוּר, an iron furnace, or furnace for smelting iron, is a significant figure descriptive of the terrible sufferings endured by Israel in Egypt. נחלה עם (a people of inheritance) is synonymous with סגלּה עם (a special people, Deu 7:6 : see at Exo 19:5, “a peculiar treasure”). “This day:” as in Deu 2:30.

Deu 4:21-24

The bringing of Israel out of Egypt reminds Moses of the end, viz., Canaan, and leads him to mention again how the Lord had refused him permission to enter into this good land; and to this he adds the renewed warning not to forget the covenant or make any image of God, since Jehovah, as a jealous God, would never tolerate this. The swearing attributed to God in Deu 4:21 is neither mentioned in Num 20 nor at the announcement of Moses’ death in Num 27:12.; but it is not to be called in question on that account, as Knobel supposes. It is perfectly obvious from Deu 3:23. that all the details are not given in the historical account of the event referred to. כּל תּמוּנת פּסל, “image of a form of all that Jehovah has commanded,” sc., not to be made (Deu 4:16-18). “A consuming fire” (Deu 4:24): this epithet is applied to God with special reference to the manifestation of His glory in burning fire (Exo 24:17). On the symbolical meaning of this mode of revelation, see at Exo 3:2. “A jealous God:” see at Exo 20:5.

To give emphasis to this warning, Moses holds up the future dispersion of the nation among the heathen as the punishment of apostasy from the Lord.

Deu 4:25-26

If the Israelites should beget children and children’s children, and grow old in the land, and then should make images of God, and do that which was displeasing to God to provoke Him; in that case Moses called upon heaven and earth as witnesses against them, that they should be quickly destroyed out of the land. “Growing old in the land” involved forgetfulness of the former manifestations of grace on the part of the Lord, but not necessarily becoming voluptuous through the enjoyment of the riches of the land, although this might also lead to forgetfulness of God and the manifestations of His grace (cf. Deu 6:10., Deu 32:15). The apodosis commences with Deu 4:26. העיד, with בּ and the accusative, to take or summon as a witness against a person. Heaven and earth do not stand here for the rational beings dwelling in them, but are personified, represented as living, and capable of sensation and speech, and mentioned as witnesses who would raise up against Israel, not to proclaim its guilt, but to bear witness that God, the Lord of heaven and earth, had warned the people, and, as it is described in the parallel passage in Deu 30:19, had set before them the choice of life and death, and therefore was just in punishing them for their unfaithfulness (cf. Psa 50:6; Psa 51:6). “Prolong days,” as in Exo 20:12.

Deu 4:27

Jehovah would scatter them among the nations, where they would perish through want and suffering, and only a few (מספּר מתי, Gen 34:30) would be left. “Whither” refers to the nations whose land is thought of (cf. Deu 12:29; Deu 30:3). For the thing intended, see Lev 26:33, Lev 26:36, Lev 26:38-39, and Deu 28:64., from which it is evident that the author had not “the fate of the nation in the time of the Assyrians in his mind” (Knobel), but rather all the dispersions which would come upon the rebellious nation in future times, even down to the dispersion under the Romans, which continues still; so that Moses contemplated the punishment in its fullest extent.

Deu 4:28

There among the heathen they would be obliged to serve gods that were the work of men’s hands, gods of wood and stone, that could neither hear, nor eat, nor smell, i.e., possessed no senses, showed no sign of life. What Moses threatens here, follows from the eternal laws of the divine government. The more refined idolatry of image-worship leads to coarser and coarser forms, in which the whole nature of idol-worship is manifested in all its pitiableness. “When once the God of revelation is forsaken, the God of reason and imagination must also soon be given up and make way for still lower powers, that perfectly accord with the I exalted upon the throne, and in the time of pretended 'illumination' to atheism and materialism also” (Schultz).

Deu 4:29

From thence Israel would come to itself again in the time of deepest misery, like the prodigal son in the gospel (Luk 15:17), would seek the Lord its God, and would also find Him if it sought with all its heart and soul (cf. Deu 6:5; Deu 10:12).

Deu 4:30-31

“In tribulation to thee (in thy trouble), all these things (the threatened punishments and sufferings) will befall thee; at the end of the days (see at Gen 49:1) thou wilt turn to Jehovah thy God, and hearken to His voice.” With this comprehensive thought Moses brings his picture of the future to a close. (On the subject-matter, vid., Lev 26:39-40.) Returning to the Lord and hearkening to His voice presuppose that the Lord will be found by those who earnestly seek Him; “for (Deu 4:31) He is a merciful God, who does not let His people go, nor destroy them, and who does not forget the covenant with the fathers” (cf. Lev 26:42 and Lev 26:45). הרפּה, to let loose, to withdraw the hand from a person (Jos 10:6).

Deu 4:32-34

But in order to accomplish something more than merely preserving the people from apostasy by the threat of punishment, namely, to secure a more faithful attachment and continued obedience to His commands by awakening the feeling of cordial love, Moses reminds them again of the glorious miracles of divine grace performed in connection with the election and deliverance of Israel, such as had never been heard of from the beginning of the world; and with this strong practical proof of the love of the true God, he brings his first address to a close. This closing thought in Deu 4:32 is connected by כּי (for) with the leading idea in Deu 4:31. “Jehovah thy God is a merciful God,” to show that the sole ground for the election and redemption of Israel was the compassion of God towards the human race. “For ask now of the days that are past, from the day that God created man upon the earth, and from one end of the heaven unto the other, whether so great a thing has ever happened, or anything of the kind has been heard of:” i.e., the history of all times since the creation of man, and of all places under the whole heaven, can relate no such events as those which have happened to Israel, viz., at Sinai (Deu 4:33; cf. Deu 4:12). From this awfully glorious manifestation of God, Moses goes back in Deu 4:34 to the miracles with which God effected the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt. “Or has a god attempted (made the attempt) to come and take to himself people from people (i.e., to fetch the people of Israel out of the midst of the Egyptian nation), with temptations (the events in Egypt by which Pharaoh’s relation to the Lord was put to the test; cf. Deu 6:22 and Deu 7:18-19), with signs and wonders (the Egyptian plagues, see Exo 7:3), and with conflict (at the Red Sea: Exo 14:14; Exo 15:3), and with a strong hand and outstretched arm (see Exo 6:6), and with great terrors?” In the three points mentioned last, all the acts of God in Egypt are comprehended, according to both cause and effect. They were revelations of the omnipotence of the Lord, and produced great terrors (cf. Exo 12:30-36).

Deu 4:35

Israel was made to see all this, that it might know that Jehovah was God (האלהים, the God, to whom the name of elohim rightfully belonged), and there was none else beside Him (cf. Deu 4:39, Deu 32:39; Isa 45:5-6).

Deu 4:36

But the Lord had spoken to Israel chiefly down from heaven (cf. Exo 20:19 [22]), and that out of the great fire, in which He had come down upon Sinai, to chastise it. יסּר does not mean “to instruct the people with regard to His truth and sovereignty,” as Schultz thinks, but “to take them under holy discipline” (Knobel), to inspire them with a salutary fear of the holiness of His ways and of His judgments by the awful phenomena which accompanied His descent, and shadowed forth the sublime and holy majesty of His nature.

Deu 4:37-38

All this He did from love to the fathers of Israel (the patriarchs): “and indeed because He loved thy fathers, He chose his seed (the seed of Abraham, the first of the patriarchs) after him, and brought thee (Israel) out of Egypt by His face with great power, to drive out...and to bring thee, to give thee their land...so that thou mightest know and take to heart...and keep His laws,” etc. With regard to the construction of these verses, the clause כּי ותחת (and because) in Deu 4:37 is not to be regarded as dependent upon what precedes, as Schultz supposes; nor are Deu 4:37 and Deu 4:38 to be taken as the protasis, and Deu 4:39, Deu 4:40 as the apodosis (as Knobel maintains). Both forms of construction are forced and unnatural. The verses form an independent thought; and the most important point, which was to bind Israel to faithfulness towards Jehovah, is given as the sum and substance of the whole address, and placed as a protasis at the head of the period. The only thing that admits of dispute, is whether the apodosis commences with ויּבחר (“He chose,” Deu 4:37), or only with ויּוצאך (“brought thee out”). Either is possible; and it makes no difference, so far as the main thought is concerned, whether we regard the choice of Israel, or simply the deliverance from Egypt, in which that choice was carried into practical effect, as the consequence of the love of Jehovah to the patriarchs. - The copula ו before תהת is specially emphatic, “and truly,” and indicates that the sum and substance of the whole discourse is about to follow, or the one thought in which the whole appeal culminates. It was the love of God to the fathers, not the righteousness of Israel (Deu 9:5), which lay at the foundation of the election of their posterity to be the nation of Jehovah’s possession, and also of all the miracles of grace which were performed in connection with their deliverance out of Egypt. Moses returns to this thought again at Deu 10:15, for the purpose of impressing it upon the minds of the people as the one motive which laid them under the strongest obligation to circumcise the foreskin of their heart, and walk in the fear and love of the Lord their God (Deu 10:12.). - The singular suffixes in זרעו (his seed) and אחריו after him) refer to Abraham, whom Moses had especially in his mind when speaking of “thy fathers,” because he was pre-eminently the lover of God (Isa 41:8; 2Ch 20:7), and also the beloved or friend of God (Jam 2:23; cf. Gen 18:17.). “By His face” points back to Exo 33:14. The face of Jehovah was Jehovah in His personal presence, in His won person, who brought Israel out of Egypt, to root out great and mighty nations before it, and give it their land for an inheritance. “As this day” (clearly shows), viz., by the destruction of Sihon and Og, which gave to the Israelites a practical pledge that the Canaanites in like manner would be rooted out before them. The expression “as this day” does not imply, therefore, that the Canaanites were already rooted out from their land.

Deu 4:39-40

By this the Israelites were to know and lay it to heart, that Jehovah alone was God in heaven and on earth, and were to keep His commandments, in order that (אשׁר) it might be well with them and their descendants, and they might have long life in Canaan. כּל־היּמים, “all time,” for all the future (cf. Exo 20:12).

Deu 4:41-43

Selection of Three Cities of Refuge for Unintentional Manslayers on the East of the Jordan. - The account of this appointment of the cities of refuge in the conquered land on the east of the Jordan is inserted between the first and second addresses of Moses, in all probability for no other reason than because Moses set apart the cities at that time according to the command of God in Num 35:6, Num 35:14, not only to give the land on that side its full consecration, and thoroughly confirm the possession of the two Amoritish kingdoms on the other side of the Jordan, but also to give the people in this punctual observance of the duty devolving upon it an example for their imitation in the conscientious observance of the commandments of the Lord, which he was now about to lay before the nation. The assertion that this section neither stood after Num, nor really belongs there, has a little foundation as the statement that its contents are at variance with the precepts in Deut 19. “Toward the sunrising” is introduced as a more precise definition; היּרדּן עבר, like מזרחה in Num 32:19 and Num 34:15. On the contents of Deu 4:42, comp. Num 35:15. The three towns that were set apart were Bezer, Ramoth, and Golan. “Bezer in the steppe, (namely) in the land of the level” (The Amoritish table-land: Deu 3:10). The situation of this Levitical town and city of refuge, which is only mentioned again in Jos 20:8; Jos 21:36, and 1Ch 6:63, has not yet been discovered. Bezer was probably the same as Bosor (1 Macc. 5:36), and is possibly to be seen in the Berza mentioned by Robinson (Pal. App. p. 170). Ramoth in Gilead, i.e., Ramoth-Mizpeh (comp. Jos 20:8 with Jos 13:26), was situated, according to the Onom., fifteen Roman miles, or six hours, to the west of Philadelphia (Rabbath-Ammon); probably, therefore, on the site of the modern Salt, which is six hours’ journey from Ammân (cf. v. Raumer, Pal. pp. 265, 266). - Golan, in Bashan, according to Eusebius (s. v. Gaulon or Golan), was still a very large village in Batanaea even in his day, from which the district generally received the name of Gaulonitis or Joan; but it has not yet been discovered again.

Second address, or expostion of the Law Deut 4:44-26:19

This address, which is described in the heading as the law which Moses set before the Israelites, commences with a repetition of the decalogue, and a notice of the powerful impression which was made, through the proclamation of it by God Himself, upon the people who were assembled round Him at Horeb (Deut 5). In the first and more general part, it shows that the true essence of the law, and of that righteousness which the Israelites were to strive after, consisted in loving Jehovah their God with all their heart (Deut 6); that the people were bound, by virtue of their election as the Lord’s people of possession, to exterminate the Canaanites with their idolatrous worship, in order to rejoice in the blessing of God (Deut 7) ; but more especially that, having regard on the one hand to the divine chastisement and humiliation which they had experienced in the desert (Deut 8), and on the other hand to the frequency with which they had rebelled against their God (Deut 9:1-10:11), they were to beware of self-exaltation and self-righteousness, that in the land of Canaan, of which they were about to take possession, they might not forget their God when enjoying the rich productions of the land, but might retain the blessings of their God for ever by a faithful observance of the covenant (Deut 10:12-11:32). Then after this there follows an exposition of the different commandments of the law (Deut 12—26).

Deu 4:44-49 Announcement of the Discourse upon the Law. - First of all, in Deu 4:44, we have the general notice in the form of a heading: “This is the Thorah which Moses set before the children of Israel;” and then, in Deu 4:45, Deu 4:46, a fuller description of the Thorah according to its leading features, “testimonies, statutes, and rights” (see at Deu 4:1), together with a notice of the place and time at which Moses delivered this address. “On their coming out of Egypt,” i.e., not “after they had come out,” but during the march, before they had reached the goal of their journeyings, viz., (Deu 4:46) when they were still on the other side of the Jordan. “In the valley,” as in Deu 3:29. “In the land of Sihon,” and therefore already upon ground which the Lord had given them for a possession. The importance of this possession as the first-fruit and pledge of the fulfilment of the further promises of God, led Moses to mention again, though briefly, the defeat of the two kings of the Amorites, together with the conquest of their land, just as he had done before in Deu 2:32-36 and 3:1-17. On Deu 4:48, cf. Deu 3:9, Deu 3:12-17. Sion, for Hermon (see at Deu 3:9).

Exhortations and Arguments. (b. c. 1451.)

1 Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you. 2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. 3 Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal-peor: for all the men that followed Baal-peor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you. 4 But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day. 5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. 6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. 7 For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for? 8 And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? 9 Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons; 10 Specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children. 11 And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. 12 And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. 13 And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. 14 And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it. 15 Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: 16 Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, 17 The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, 18 The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth: 19 And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven. 20 But the Lord hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day. 21 Furthermore the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance: 22 But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over, and possess that good land. 23 Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee. 24 For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. 25 When thou shalt beget children, and children's children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord thy God, to provoke him to anger: 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. 27 And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you. 28 And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. 29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. 30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; 31 (For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them. 32 For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it? 33 Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live? 34 Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 Unto thee it was showed, that thou mightest know that the Lord he is God; there is none else beside him. 36 Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he showed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire. 37 And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt; 38 To drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day. 39 Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else. 40 Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, for ever.

This most lively and excellent discourse is so entire, and the particulars of it are so often repeated, that we must take it altogether in the exposition of it, and endeavour to digest it into proper heads, for we cannot divide it into paragraphs.

I. In general, it is the use and application of the foregoing history; it comes in by way of inference from it: Now therefore harken, O Israel, v. 1. This use we should make of the review of God's providences concerning us, we should by them be quickened and engaged to duty and obedience. The histories of the years of ancient times should in like manner be improved by us.

II. The scope and drift of his discourse is to persuade them to keep close to God and to his service, and not to forsake him for any other god, nor in any instance to decline from their duty to him. Now observe what he says to them, with a great deal of divine rhetoric, both by way of exhortation and direction, and also by way of motive and argument to enforce his exhortations.

1. See here how he charges and commands them, and shows them what is good, and what the Lord requires of them.

(1.) He demands their diligent attention to the word of God, and to the statutes and judgments that were taught them: Hearken, O Israel. He means, not only that they must now give him the hearing, but that whenever the book of the law was read to them, or read by them, they should be attentive to it. "Hearken to the statutes, as containing the great commands of God and the great concerns of your own souls, and therefore challenging your utmost attention." At Horeb God had made them hear his words (v. 10), hear them with a witness; the attention which was then constrained by the circumstances of the delivery ought ever after to be engaged by the excellency of the things themselves. What God so spoke once, we should hear twice, hear often.

(2.) He charges them to preserve the divine law pure and entire among them, v. 2. Keep it pure, and do not add to it; keep it entire, and do not diminish from it. Not in practice, so some: "You shall not add by committing the evil which the law forbids, nor diminish by omitting the good which the law requires." Not in opinion, so others: "You shall not add your own inventions, as if the divine institutions were defective, nor introduce, much less impose, any rites of religious worship other than what God has appointed; nor shall you diminish, or set aside, any thing that is appointed, as needless or superfluous." God's work is perfect, nothing can be put to it, nor taken from it, without making it the worse. See Eccl. iii. 14. The Jews understand it as prohibiting the alteration of the text or letter of the law, even in the least jot or tittle; and to their great care and exactness herein we are very much indebted, under God, for the purity and integrity of the Hebrew code. We find a fence like this made about the New Testament in the close of it, Rev. xxii. 18, 19.

(3.) He charges them to keep God's commandments (v. 2), to do them (v. 5, 14), to keep and do them (v. 6), to perform the covenant, v. 13. Hearing must be in order to doing, knowledge in order to practice. God's commandments were the way they must keep in, the rule they must keep to; they must govern themselves by the moral precepts, perform their devotion according to the divine ritual, and administer justice according to the judicial law. He concludes his discourse (v. 40) with this repeated charge: Thou shalt keep his statutes and his commandments which I command thee. What are laws made for but to be observed and obeyed?

(4.) He charges them to be very strict and careful in their observance of the law (v. 9): Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently; and (v. 15), Take you therefore good heed unto yourselves; and again (v. 23), Take heed to yourselves. Those that would be religious must be very cautious, and walk circumspectly. Considering how many temptations we are compassed about with, and what corrupt inclinations we have in our own bosoms, we have great need to look about us and to keep our hearts with all diligence. Those cannot walk aright that walk carelessly and at all adventures.

(5.) He charges them particularly to take heed of the sin of idolatry, that sin which of all others they would be most tempted to by the customs of the nations, which they were most addicted to by the corruption of their hearts, and which would be most provoking to God and of the most pernicious consequences to themselves: Take good heed, lest in this matter you corrupt yourselves, v. 15, 16. Two sorts of idolatry he cautions them against:—[1.] The worship of images, however by them they might intend to worship the true God, as they had done in the golden calf, so changing the truth of God into a lie and his glory into shame. The second commandment is expressly directed against this, and is here enlarged upon, v. 15-18. "Take heed lest you corrupt yourselves," that is, "lest you debauch yourselves;" for those that think to make images of God form in their minds such notions of him as must needs be an inlet to all impieties; and it is intimated that it is a spiritual adultery. "And take heed lest you destroy yourselves. If any thing ruin you, this will be it. Whatever you do, make no similitude of God, either in a human shape, male of female, or in the shape of any beast or fowl, serpent or fish;" for the heathen worshipped their gods by images of all these kinds, being either not able to form, or not willing to admit, that plain demonstration which we find, Hos. viii. 6: The workman made it, therefore it is not God. To represent an infinite Spirit by an image, and the great Creator by the image of a creature, is the greatest affront we can put upon God and the greatest cheat we can put upon ourselves. As an argument against their making images of God, he urges it very much upon them that when God made himself known to them at Horeb he did it by a voice of words which sounded in their ears, to teach them that faith comes by hearing, and God in the word is nigh us; but no image was presented to their eye, for to see God as he is is reserved for our happiness in the other world, and to see him as he is not will do us hurt and no good in this world. You saw no similitude (v. 12), no manner of similitude, v. 15. Probably they expected to have seen some similitude, for they were ready to break through unto the Lord to gaze, Exod. xix. 21. But all they saw was light and fire, and nothing that they could make an image of, God an infinite wisdom so ordering his manifestation of himself because of the peril of idolatry. It is said indeed of Moses that he beheld the similitude of the Lord (Num. xii. 8), God allowing him that favour because he was above the temptation of idolatry; but for the people who had lately come from admiring the idols of Egypt, they must see no resemblance of God, lest they should have pretended to copy it, and so should have received the second commandment in vain; "for" (says bishop Patrick) "they would have thought that this forbade them only to make any representation of God besides that wherein he showed himself to them, in which they would have concluded it lawful to represent him." Let this be a caution to us to take heed of making images of God in our fancy and imagination when we are worshipping him, lest thereby we corrupt ourselves. There may be idols in the heart, where there are none in the sanctuary. [2.] The worship of the sun, moon, and stars, is another sort of idolatry which they were cautioned against, v. 19. This was the most ancient species of idolatry and the most plausible, drawing the adoration to those creatures that not only are in a situation above us, but are most sensibly glorious in themselves and most generally serviceable to the world. And the plausibleness of it made it the more dangerous. It is intimated here, First, How strong the temptation is to sense; for the caution is, Lest thou shouldest be driven to worship them by the strong impulse of a vain imagination and the impetuous torrent of the customs of the nations. The heart is supposed to walk after the eye, which, in our corrupt and degenerate state, it is very apt to do. "When thou seest the sun, moon, and stars, thou wilt so admire their height and brightness, their regular motion and powerful influence, that thou wilt be strongly tempted to give that glory to them which is due to him that made them, and made them what they are to us—gave them their beings, and made them blessings to the world." It seems there was need of a great deal of resolution to arm them against this temptation, so weak was their faith in an invisible God and an invisible world. Secondly, Yet he shows how weak the temptation would be to those that would use their reason; for these pretended deities, the sun, moon, and stars, were only blessings which the Lord their God, whom they were obliged to worship, had imparted to all nations. It is absurd to worship them, for they are man's servants, were made and ordained to give light on earth; and shall we serve those that were made to serve us? The sun, in Hebrew is called shemesh, which signifies a servant, for it is the minister-general of this visible world, and holds the candle to all mankind; let it not then be worshipped as a lord. Moreover, they are God's gifts; he has imparted them; whatever benefit we have by them, we owe it to him; it is therefore highly injurious to him to give that honour and praise to them which is due to him only.

(6.) He charges them to teach their children to observe the laws of God: Teach them to thy sons, and thy sons' sons (v. 9), that they may teach their children, v. 10. [1.] Care must be taken in general to preserve the entail of religion among them, and to transmit the knowledge and worship of God to posterity; for the kingdom of God in Israel was designed to be perpetual, if they did not forfeit the privilege of it. [2.] Parents must, in order hereunto, particularly take care to teach their own children the fear of God, and to train them up in an observance of all his commandments.

(7.) He charges them never to forget their duty: Take heed lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, v. 23. Though God is ever mindful of the covenant, we are apt to forget it; and this is at the bottom of all our departures from God. We have need therefore to watch against all those things which would put the covenant out of our minds, and to watch over our own hearts, lest at any time we let it slip; and so we must take heed lest at any time we forget our religion, lest we lose it or leave it off. Care and caution, and holy watchfulness, are the best helps against a bad memory. These are the directions and commands he gives them.

2. Let us see now what are the motives or arguments with which he backs these exhortations. How does he order the cause before them, and fill his mouth with arguments! He has a great deal to say on God's behalf. Some of his topics are indeed peculiar to that people, yet applicable to us. But, upon the whole, it is evident that religion has reason on its side, the powerful charms of which all that are irreligious wilfully stop their ears against.

(1.) He urges the greatness, glory, and goodness, of God. Did we consider what a God he is with whom we have to do, we should surely make conscience of our duty to him and not dare to sin against him. He reminds them here, [1.] That the Lord Jehovah is the one and only living and true God. This they must know and consider, v. 39. There are many things which we know, but are not the better for, because we do not consider them, we do not apply them to ourselves, nor draw proper inferences from them. This is a truth so evident that it cannot but be known, and so influential that, if it were duly considered, it would effectually reform the world, That the Lord Jehovah he is God, an infinite and eternal Being, self-existent and self-sufficient, and the fountain of all being, power, and motion—that he is God in heaven above, clothed with all the glory and Lord of all the hosts of the upper world, and that he is God upon earth beneath, which, though distant from the throne of his glory, is not out of the reach of his sight or power, and though despicable and mean is not below his care and cognizance. And there is none else, no true and living God but himself. All the deities of the heathen were counterfeits and usurpers; nor did any of them so much as pretend to be universal monarchs in heaven and earth, but only local deities. The Israelites, who worshipped no other than the supreme Numen—Divinity, were for ever inexcusable if they either changed their God or neglected him. [2.] That he is a consuming fire, a jealous God, v. 24. Take heed of offending him, for, First, He has a jealous eye to discern an affront; he must have your entire affection and adoration, and will by no means endure a rival. God's jealousy over us is a good reason for our godly jealousy over ourselves. Secondly, He has a heavy hand to punish an affront, especially in his worship, for therein he is in a special manner jealous. He is a consuming fire; his wrath against sinners is so; it is dreadful and destroying, it is a fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries, Heb. x. 27. Fire consumes that only which is fuel for it, so the wrath of God fastens upon those only who, by their own sin, have fitted themselves for destruction, 1 Cor. iii. 13; Isa. xxvii. 4. Even in the New Testament we find the same argument urged upon us as a reason why we should serve God with reverence (Heb. xii. 28, 29), because though he is our God, and a rejoicing light to those that serve him faithfully, yet he is a consuming fire to those that trifle with him. Thirdly, That yet he is a merciful God, v. 31. It comes in here as an encouragement to repentance, but might serve as an inducement to obedience, and a consideration proper to prevent their apostasy. Shall we forsake a merciful God, who will never forsake us, as it follows here, if we be faithful unto him? Whither can we go to better ourselves? Shall we forget the covenant of our God, who will not forget the covenant of our fathers? Let us be held to our duty by the bonds of love, and prevailed with by the mercies of God to cleave to him.

(2.) He urges their relation to this God, his authority over them and their obligations to him. "The commandments you are to keep and do are not mine," says Moses, "not my inventions, not my injunctions, but they are the commandments of the Lord, framed by infinite wisdom, enacted by sovereign power. He is the Lord God of your fathers (v. 1), so that you are his by inheritance: your fathers were his, and you were born in his house. He is the Lord your God (v. 2), so that you are his by your own consent. He is the Lord my God (v. 5), so that I treat with you as his agent and ambassador;" and in his name Moses delivered unto them all that, and that only, which he had received from the Lord.

(3.) He urges the wisdom of being religious: For this is your wisdom in the sight of the nations, v. 6. In keeping God's commandments, [1.] They would act wisely for themselves; This is your wisdom. It is not only agreeable to right reason, but highly conducive to our true interest; this is one of the first and most ancient maxims of divine revelation. The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, Job xxviii. 28. [2.] They would answer the expectations of their neighbours, who, upon reading or hearing the precepts of the law that was given them, would conclude that certainly the people that were governed by this law were a wise and understanding people. Great things may justly be looked for from those who are guided by divine revelation, and unto whom are committed the oracles of God. They must needs be wiser and better than other people; and so they are if they are ruled by the rules that are given them; and if they are not, though reproach may for their sakes be cast upon the religion they profess, yet it will in the end certainly return upon themselves to their eternal confusion. Those that enjoy the benefit of divine light and laws ought to conduct themselves so as to support their own reputation for wisdom and honour (see Eccl. x. 1), that God may be glorified thereby.

(4.) He urges the singular advantages which they enjoyed by virtue of the happy establishment they were under, v. 7, 8. Our communion with God (which is the highest honour and happiness we are capable of in this world) is kept up by the word and prayer; in both these Israel were happy above any people under heaven. [1.] Never were any people so privileged in speaking to God, v. 7. He was nigh unto them in all that they called upon him for, ready to answer their enquiries and resolve them by his oracle, ready to answer their requests and to grant them by a particular providence. When they had cried unto God for bread, for water, for healing, they had found him near them, to succour and relieve them, a very present help, and in the midst of them (Ps. xlvi. 1, 5), his ear open to their prayers. Observe, First, It is the character of God's Israel that on all occasions they call upon him, in every thing they make their requests known to God. They do nothing but what they consult him in, they desire nothing but what they come to him for. Secondly, Those that call upon God shall certainly find him within call, and ready to give an answer of peace to every prayer of faith; see Isa. lviii. 9, "Thou shalt cry, as the child for a nurse, and he shall say, Here I am, what does my dear child cry for?" Thirdly, This is a privilege which makes the Israel of God truly great and honourable. What can go further than this to magnify a people or a person? Is any name more illustrious than that of Israel, a prince with God? What nation is there so great? Other nations might boast of greater numbers, larger territories, and more ancient incorporations; but none could boast of such an interest in heaven as Israel had. They had their gods, but not so nigh to them as Israel's God was; they could not help them in a time of need, as 1 Kings xviii. 27. [2.] Never were any people so privileged in hearing from God, by the statutes and judgments which were set before them, v. 8. This also was the grandeur of Israel above any people. What nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous? Observe, First, That all these statutes and judgments of the divine law are infinitely just and righteous, above the statutes and judgments of any of the nations. The law of God is far more excellent that the law of nations. No law so consonant to natural equity and the unprejudiced dictates of right reason, so consistent with itself in all the parts of it, and so conducive to the welfare and interest of mankind, as the scripture-law is, Ps. cxix. 128. Secondly, The having of these statutes and judgments set before them is the true and transcendent greatness of any nation or people. See Ps. cxlvii. 19, 20. It is an honour to us that we have the Bible in reputation and power among us. It is an evidence of a people's being high in the favour of God, and a means of making them high among the nations. Those that magnify the law shall be magnified by it.

(5.) He urges God's glorious appearances to them at Mount Sinai, when he gave them this law. This he insists much upon. Take heed lest thou forget the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, v. 10. Some of them were now alive that could remember it, though they were then under twenty years of age, and the rest of them might be said to stand there in the loins of their fathers, who received the law and entered into covenant there, not for themselves only, but for their children, to whom God had an eye particularly in giving the law, that they might teach it to their children. Two things they must remember, and, one would think, they could never forget them:—[1.] What they saw at Mount Sinai, v. 11. They saw a strange composition of fire and darkness, both dreadful and very awful; and they must needs be a striking foil to each other; the darkness made the fire in the midst of it look the more dreadful. Fires in the night are the most frightful, and the fire made the darkness that surrounded it look the more awful; for it must needs be a strong darkness which such a fire did not disperse. In allusion to this appearance upon Mount Sinai, God is said to show himself for his people, and against his and their enemies, in fire and darkness together, Ps. xviii. 8, 9. He tells them again (v. 36) what they saw, for he would have them never forget it: He showed thee his great fire. One flash of lightning, that fire from heaven, strikes an awe upon us; and some have observed that most creatures naturally turn their faces towards the lightning, as ready to receive the impressions of it; but how dreadful then must a constant fire from heaven be! It gave an earnest of the day of judgment, in which the Lord Jesus shall be revealed in flaming fire. As he reminds them of what they saw, so he tells them what they saw not; no manner of similitude, from which they might form either an idea of God in their fancies or an image of God in their high places. By what we see of God sufficient ground is given us to believe him to be a Being of infinite power and perfection, but no occasion given us to suspect him to have a body such as we have. [2.] What they heard at Mount Sinai (v. 12): "The Lord spoke unto you with an intelligible voice, in your own language, and you heard it." This he enlarges upon towards the close of his discourse, v. 32, 33, 36. First, They heard the voice of God, speaking out of heaven. God manifests himself to all the world in the works of creation, without speech or language, and yet their voice is heard (Ps. xix. 1-3); but to Israel he made himself known by speech and language, condescending to the weakness of the church's infant state. Here was the voice of one crying in the wilderness, to prepare the way of the Lord. Secondly, They heard it out of the midst of the fire, which showed that it was God himself that spoke to them, for who else could dwell with devouring fire? God spoke to Job out of the whirlwind, which was terrible; but to Israel out of the fire, which was more terrible. We have reason to be thankful that he does not thus speak to us, but by men like ourselves, whose terror shall not make us afraid, Job xxxiii. 6, 7. Thirdly, They heard it and yet lived, v. 33. It was a wonder of mercy that the fire did not devour them, or that they did not die for fear, when Moses himself trembled. Fourthly, Never any people heard the like. He bids them enquire of former days and distant places, and they would find this favour of God to Israel without precedent or parallel, v. 32. This singular honour done them called for singular obedience from them. It might justly be expected that they should do more for God than other people, since God had done so much more for them.

(6.) He urges God's gracious appearances for them, in bringing them out of Egypt, from the iron furnace, where they laboured in the fire, forming them into a people, and then taking them to be his own people, a people of inheritance (v. 20); this he mentions again, v. 34, 37, 38. Never did God do such a thing for any people; the rise of this nation was quite different from that of all other nations. [1.] They were thus dignified and distinguished, not for any thing in them that was deserving or inviting, but because God had a kindness for their fathers: he chose them. See the reasons of free grace; we are not beloved for our own sakes, but for his sake who is the great trustee of the covenant. [2.] They were delivered out of Egypt by miracles and signs, in mercy to them and in judgment upon the Egyptians, against whom God stretched out his arm, which was signified by Moses's stretching out his hand in summoning the plagues. [3.] They were designed for a happy settlement in Canaan, v. 38. Nations must be driven out from before them, to make room for them, to show how much dearer they were to God than any other people were. Egyptians and Canaanites must both be sacrificed to Israel's honour and interest. Those that stand in Israel's light, in Israel's way, shall find it is at their peril.

(7.) He urges God's righteous appearance against them sometimes for their sins. He specifies particularly the matter of Peor, v. 3, 4. This had happened very lately: their eyes had seen but the other day the sudden destruction of those that joined themselves to Baal-peor and the preservation of those that clave to the Lord, from which they might easily infer the danger of apostasy from God and the benefit of adherence to him. He also takes notice again of God's displeasure against himself: The Lord was angry with me for your sakes, v. 21, 22. He mentions this to try their ingenuousness, whether they would really be troubled for the great prejudice which they had occasioned to their faithful friend and leader. Others' sufferings for our sakes should grieve us more than our own.

(8.) He urges the certain advantage of obedience. This argument he begins with (v. 1): That you may live, and go in and possess the land; and this he concludes with (v. 40): That it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee. He reminds them that they were upon their good behaviour, that their prosperity would depend upon their piety. If they kept God's precepts, he would undoubtedly fulfil his promises.

(9.) He urges the fatal consequences of their apostasy from God, that it would undoubtedly be the ruin of their nation. This he enlarges upon, v. 25-31. Here, [1.] He foresees their revolt from God to idols, that in process of time, when they had remained long in the land and were settled upon their lees, they would corrupt themselves, and make a graven image; this was the sin that would most easily beset them, v. 25. [2.] He foretells the judgments of God upon them for this: You shall utterly be destroyed (v. 26), scattered among the nations, v. 27. And their sin should be made their punishment (v. 28): "There shall you serve gods, the work of men's hands, be compelled to serve them, whether you will or no, or, through your own sottishness and stupidity, you will find no better succours to apply yourselves in your captivity." Those that cast off the duties of religion in their prosperity cannot expect the comforts of it when they come to be in distress. Justly are they then sent to the gods whom they have served, Judg. x. 14. [3.] Yet he encourages them to hope that God would reserve mercy for them in the latter days, that he would by his judgments upon them bring them to repentance, and take them again into covenant with himself, v. 29-31. Here observe, First, That whatever place we are in we may thence seek the Lord our God, though ever so remote from our own land or from his holy temple. There is no part of this earth that has a gulf fixed between it and heaven. Secondly, Those, and those only, shall find God to their comfort, who seek him with all their heart, that is, who are entirely devoted to him, earnestly desirous of his favour and solicitous to obtain it. Thirdly, Afflictions are sent to engage and quicken us to see God, and, by the grace of God working with them, many are thus reduced to their right mind, "When these things shall come upon thee, it is to be hoped that thou wilt turn to the Lord thy God, for thou seest what comes of turning from him;" see Dan. ix. 11, 12. Fourthly, God's faithfulness to his covenant encourages us to hope that he will not reject us, though we be driven to him by affliction. If we at length remember the covenant, we shall find that he has not forgotten it.

Now let all these arguments be laid together, and then say whether religion has not reason on its side. None cast off the government of their God but those that have first abandoned the understanding of a man.

41 Then Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan toward the sunrising; 42 That the slayer might flee thither, which should kill his neighbour unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live: 43 Namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, of the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, of the Manassites. 44 And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel: 45 These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt, 46 On this side Jordan, in the valley over against Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, after they were come forth out of Egypt: 47 And they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, which were on this side Jordan toward the sunrising; 48 From Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even unto mount Sion, which is Hermon, 49 And all the plain on this side Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.

Here is, 1. The nomination of the cities of refuge on that side Jordan where Israel now lay encamped. Three cities were appointed for that purpose, one in the lot of Reuben, another in that of Gad, and another in that of the half tribe of Manasseh, v. 41-43. What Moses could do for that people while he was yet with them he did, to give example to the rulers who were settled that they might observe them the better when he was gone. 2. The introduction to another sermon that Moses preached to Israel, which we have in the following chapters. Probably it was preached the next sabbath day after, when the congregation attended to receive instruction. He had in general exhorted them to obedience in the former chapter; here he comes to repeat the law which they were to observe, for he demands a universal but not an implicit obedience. How can we do our duty if we do not know it? Here therefore he sets the law before them as the rule they were to work by, the way they were to walk in, sets it before them as the glass in which they were to see their natural face, that, looking into this perfect law of liberty, they might continue therein. These are the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments, the moral, ceremonial, and judicial laws, which had been enacted before, when Israel had newly come out of Egypt, and were now repeated, on this side Jordan, v. 44-46. The place where Moses gave them these laws in charge is here particularly described. (1.) It was over-against Beth-peor, an idol-temple of the Moabites, which perhaps Moses sometimes looked towards, with a particular caution to them against the infection of that and other such like dangerous places. (2.) It was upon their new conquests, in the very land which they had got out of the hands of Sihon and Og, and were now actually in possession of, v. 47. Their present triumphs herein were a powerful argument for obedience.

CHAP. IIII.

AND now Israel, hearken thou unto the statutes, and unto the judgments which I teach you for to doe; that ye may live, and goe in, and possesse the land, which Iehovah the God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not adde unto the word which I command you, neither shall yee diminish from it, for to keepe the commandements of Iehovah your God, which I command you. Your eies have seene that which Iehovah did, because of Baal-peor: for every man which went after Baal-peor, Iehovah thy God hath destroyed him from the middest of thee. But yee that did cleave unto Iehovah your God, are alive all of you, this day. Behold, I have taught you statutes, and judgments, as Iehovah my God commanded me, for to doe so, within the land, whither ye are going, to possesse it. And ye shall keepe and doe them: for this is your wisdome, and your understanding, in the eies of the peoples, which shall heare all these statutes, and say, Surely, this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, which hath God nigh unto the same, as Iehovah our God is, in all that wee call upon him for. And what nation is there so great, which hath just statutes, and judgments, as all this law which I set before you this day. Onely take heed to thy selfe, and keepe thy soule diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eies have seen, and lest they depart from thine heart, all the daies of thy life: but thou shalt make them knowne to thy sonnes, and to thy sons sons. The day that thou stoodst before Iehovah thy God in Horeb, when Iehovah said unto me, Gather together the people unto mee, and I will make them heare my words, that they may learne to feare mee, all the daies that they live upon the earth, and that they may teach their sonnes. And ye came neare, and stood under the mountaine: and the mountaine b[illegible: 2 letters]ed with fire, unto the heart of the heavens; with darknesse, cloud, and thicke darknesse. And Iehovah spake unto you out of the middest of the fire: you heard a voice of words, but saw no similitude, save a voyce.

And hee declared unto you his covenant, which hee commanded you to doe; the ten Words: and hee wrote them upon two tables of stone. And Iehovah commanded mee at that time, to teach you statutes and judgments, that yee may doe them in the land whither ye are going over to possesse it.

And take yee heed diligently unto your soules; for yee saw not any similitude, in the day that Iehovah spake unto you in Horeb, out of the middest of the fire. Lest ye corrupt your selves, and make unto you a graven thing, the similitude of any figure: the likenesse of male or female. The likenesse of any beast that is on the earth: the likenesse of any winged fowle, that flieth in the heavens.

The likenesse of any thing that creepeth on the ground: the likenesse of any fish that [illegible: 1 word] in the waters beneath the earth. And lest thou lift up thine eies to the heavens, and seest the Sunne, and the Moone, and the Startes, all the Host of the heavens; and beest driven away, and bowest downe thy selfe unto them, & servest them: them which I[illegible: 1 span] thy God hath imparted to all peoples under all the heavens. But Iehovah hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the furnace of it on, out of Egypt, to bee unto him a people of inheritance, as this day.

And Iehovah was angry with me, for your sakes; and sware, that I should not goe over Iordan, and that I should not goe in into the good land, which Iehovah thy God giveth th[illegible: 2 letters], for an inheritance. For I must die in [illegible: 2 words], I must not goe over Iordan: but ye shall goe over and possesse that good land.

Take heed unto your selves, lest yee forget the covenant of Iehovah your God, which hee stroke with you, and make to you a [illegible: 1 word] thing, the likenesse of any thing, which Iehovah thy God hath charged thee.

For Iehovah thy God, hee is a consuming [illegible: 1 word] ▪ [illegible: 1 span]alous God.

When thou shalt beget children, and childrens children, and ye shall have waxen old in th[illegible: 1 letter] land, and shall corrupt your selves, and make a graven thing, the likenesse of any thing; and shall doe evill in the eyes of Iehovah thy God, to provoke him to anger. I call the heavens & the earth to witnesse against you, this day, that perishing ye shall perish soone, from off the land, whereunto you passe over Iordan to possesse it; yee shall not prolong your [illegible: 2 letters]ies upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. And Iehovah will scatter you among the peoples; and yee shall be left few men in number, among the heathens, whither Iehovah shall lead you. And there ye shall serve Gods, the worke of mens hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor heare, nor eat, nor smell. But if from thence ye shall seeke Iehovah thy God, then thou shalt find him: if thou shalt seeke him with all thy heart, and with all thy soule. When tribulation shall be on thee, and all these things shall finde thee, in the latter daies, and thou shalt turne to Iehovah thy God, and hea[illegible: 1 letter]ken unto his voice. For Iehovah thy God, is a mercifull God; he will not leave thee, neither destroy thee: neither will he forget the covenant of thy fathers which hee sware unto them. For aske now of the daies [illegible: 1 letter]orepast, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth; and (aske) from the utmost part of the heavens, and unto the (other) utmost part of the heavens, whether there hath beene (any such thing) as this great thing is; or hath beene heard like it. Hath a people heard the voyce of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and lived? Or, hath God assayed to come to take him a nation, from the middest of a nation, by tentations, by signes, and by wonders, and by war, and by a strong hand, and by a stretched-out arme, and by great terrours, according to all that Iehovah your God did for you, in Egypt, before your eyes. Thou hast beene made see to know, that Iehovah he is God: there is none else besides him. Out of the heavens hee made thee to heare his voyce, to instruct thee; and upon the earth he made thee to see his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the middest of the fire. And because hee loved thy fathers, therefore hee chose his seed after him; and he brought thee out, in his sight, with his great power, out of Egypt. To drive out nations greater and mightier than thou, from before thee; to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day. And thou shalt know this day, and cause it to returne into thy heart; that Iehovah, hee is God, in the heavens above, and on the earth beneath: there is none else. And thou shalt keepe his statutes & his commandements, which I command thee this day, that it may be well with thee, and with thy sonnes after thee; and that thou maiest prolong thy daies upon the land, which Iehovah thy God giveth thee, all daies.

Then Moses separated three Cities on this side Iordan, towards the Sunne rising. For the man-flayer to flee thither, which should kill his neighbour unwittingly, and he hated him not in times past: and that hee might flie unto one of these cities and live. Bezer in the wildernesse, in the plaine countrey of the Reubenites: and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites: and Golan in Basan, of the Manassites. And this is the law, which Moses set before the sonnes of Israel. These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spake unto the sonnes of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt.

On this side Iordan, in the valley over against Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon: whom Moses and the sonnes of Israel smote, after they were come forth out of Egypt.

And they possessed his land, and the land of Og, king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, which were on this side Iordan, toward the Sunne rising. From Aroer, which is by the banke of the river Arnon, and unto mount Sion, that is Hermon. And all the plaine of this side Iordan, Eastward, and unto the Sea of the plaine, under Ashdoth Pisgah.

Annotations[illegible: 1 letter] STatutes] or, Ordinances, which taught the service of God, (Heb. 9. 1.) as the next word judgments, are for duties towards men, and punishments of transgressours. These are often joyned together: see Deut. 5. 1. and 6. 1. and 12. 1. Mal. 4. 4. And that Statutes meane the legall services, appeareth by the continuall use of this word, as in Exod. 12. 24. 43. and 27. 21. and 29. 9. and 30. 21. teach] or, am teaching: this sheweth the worke of the law, still urging the conscience to d[illegible: 2 letters]] for, not the hearers of the Law are just before God, but the d[illegible: 1 letter]ers of the Law shallbe justified, Rom. 2. 13. may live] Moses describeth the justice which is of the law, that the man which doth those things shall live by them, Rom. 10. 5. possesse] or, in[illegible: 1 letter]erit the land; which was a figure of our heavenly inheritance (Gen, 12. 5.) proposed to them that do the Law, but given to them that are of the faith of Christ, Ioh. 1. 17. Rom. 4. 13.—16. and 6. 23. Vers. 2. not adde] Hereby all doctrines of men are condemned, Matt. 15. 9. and the all-sufficiency and authority of Gods word, stablished for ever, Gal. 3. 1[illegible: 1 letter]. 2 Tim. 3. 16, 17. Adde thou not unto his words, lest hee reprove thee, and thou be found a lier, Prov. 30. 6. diminish] for every word of God is pure, Prov. 30. 5. and profitable for doctrine, for reproofe▪ for correction, for instruction in righteousnesse, 2 Tim. 3. 16. Till heaven and earth passe, one jot, or one tittle shall in no wise passe from the Law, Matt. 5. 18. for to keepe] that is, that you may keepe; understanding the persons forementioned: so in vers. 5. see the notes on Gen. 6. 19. Vers. 3. Baal-peor] in Greeke, Beel-phegor, the Idoll of the Moabites, unto which many of Israel declined, by the counsell of Balaam: see Num. 25. 1, 2.—18. and 31. 16. Psal. 106. 28. The Chaldee translateth, against them that served Baal-peor. destroyed] or, abolished: by sending a plague, to the death of twenty foure thousand, Num. 25. 9. This judgment was remembred after, in Ios. 22. 17. Have wee too little for the wickednesse of Peor? &c. Vers. 4. unto Iehovah] the Chaldee saith, unto the feare (or religion) of the Lord. Thus they that keepe themselves pure in generall defections, are saved from the common destruction, Ezek. 9. 4, 6. 2 Tim. 2. 19. Rev. 20. 4. Vers. 6. wisdome] Hereupon the Oracles of God are often commended, as making wise the simple, Psal. 19. 8. making us wiser than ou[illegible: 1 letter] enemies, and to have more understanding than all our teachers, Psal. 119. 98, 99. and able to make us wise unto salvation, through the faith which is in Christ Iesus, 2 Tim. 3. 15. On the contrary it is said, They have rejected the word of the Lord, and what wisdome is in them? Ier. 8. 9. Surely] or, Onely. The Greeke turneth it, Behold. Vers. 7. what nation is there so great] or, what other great nation is there? meaning, there is not any. So in vers. 8. God nigh] or, Gods [illegible: 1 letter]igh. The Hebrew words are both of the plurall number, yet meaning one God in the plurality of persons; as the like is in Deut. 5. 26. Ios. 24. 19. The Greeke and Chaldee here translate it singularly, God. And he is said to be nigh us, specially when he heareth, and granteth our requests, Psal. 145. 18. So the Chaldee here paraphraseth, nigh unto the same, toreceive the prayer thereof, in the time of the tribulation thereof. Wee likewise are said to draw nigh unto God, when wee call upon him in faith, Psal. 73. 28. Heb. 7. 19. Esa. 58. 2. and both are conjoyned in Iam. 4. 8. Vers. 9. thy soule] that is, thy selfe: the soule is often put for the whole man. So where one Evangelist saith, lose his soule, Matth. 16. 26. another saith, Iose himselfe, Luk. 9. 25. diligently] or, vehemently; so vers. 15. and often. The word implieth strength as well as diligence. See Deut. 6. 5. things] Hebr. words, which the Greeke also and Chaldee here keepeth. lest] or, that they depart not: in Greeke, Let them not depart from thy heart. Compare Prov. 3. 1. 3. and 4. 21. Vers. 10. Horeb] or, Choreb, called also Sina[illegible: 1 letter]: see Exod. 19. Paul calleth it, The mount that might be touched, Heb. 12. 18. Vers. 11. heart] that is, the midst: as the heart of the Sea is the midst thereof, Exod. 15. 8. So here, the heart of heaven is the middest of the ai[illegible: 1 letter]e. thicke darknesse] or, tempestuous darknesse, gloc[illegible: 4 letters] [illegible: 1 word], as the Greeke version, and the holy Ghost in Heb. 12. 18. implieth. See Exod. 20. 21. Vnto this [illegible: 3 letters]ible mount where the Law was given, Paul opposeth mount Sion, or the state of grace by the Gospell, Heb. 12. 18▪22. It noteth the hidden glory of Gods kingly administration in his Church, Psal. 97. 1, 2. Vers. 12. voice of words] This also Paul mentioneth, Heb. 12. 19. In the next verse Moses calleth them ten words, that is, ten commandements, whereof see the notes on Exod. 34. 28. no similitude] to wit, of God: so after, save a voice, that is, the voice of God, as in verse 33. Hereupon it is said, To whom then will yee liken God, or what liken[illegible: 1 letter]sse will yee compare unto him? Esa. 40. 18. Vers. 13. of stone] signifying the perpetuity of these words, and also the stoninesse of mens hearts, as is noted on Exod. 31. 18. Vers. 14. statutes] for the worship of God, as judgments were for the repressing and punishing of vice, Exod. 21. 1. These were spoken to Moses only, and by him written to Israel: but the ten words were spoken to all the people, and written by the singer of God. Vers. 19. the sunne] It was a common corruption, not onely amongst the heathens, but in Israel, to worship the Sunne, and Starres, and host of heaven, 2 King. 21. 3. and 17. 16. Amos 5. 25, 26. of which sinne Iob cleareth himselfe, Iob 31. 26, 27. driven away] or thrust, to wit, out of the [illegible: 1 letter]ay, as is after expressed in Deut. 13. 5. which is meant by the seduction of others, or of their own hearts. Therefore the Greeke and Chaldee here [illegible: 1 word] translate it, beest deceived, or made to erre and [illegible: 2 words], which the Hebrew word implyeth, being after used for the straying of cattell, Deut. 22. 1. Imparted] or, divided, distributed as a port[illegible: 2 letters]. It noteth Gods bountie in giving all peoples the use of those creatures, (as on the contrary false gods are said to divide or impart nothing unto them Deut. 29. 26.) and the base minde of men, to worship such things as are given for servants unto all men. Vers. 20. fornace of iron] that is, fornace wherein [illegible: 1 word] melted: so Egypt is called for the cruell op [illegible: 1 span] Israel: likewise in 1 King. 8. 51. Ier. 11. 4. people of inheritance,] that is, whom God shall [illegible: 1 word], & take for his possession: the Greeke [illegible: 1 word] and inheritance. as this day] under [illegible: 1 span] [illegible: 1 word] yee are, or, as yee see this day. Vers. 21. your sakes] or, your words: as the Greek [illegible: 1 word], the things spoken by you: meaning [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 span]ring words, Num. 20. 3, 4, 5. where [illegible: 1 span] [illegible: 1 word] being grieved, obeyed not the comman [illegible: 1 span] God, Num. 20. 12. Psal. 106. 32, 33. [illegible: 1 word] spake of before, Deut. 3. 26. and now a [illegible: 1 span], to shew Gods severity against all [illegible: 1 span]. Vers. 23. stroke] or cut, that is, covenanted or [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 3 letters]es doth often speake of the covenant first [illegible: 1 word] betweene God and them, as that which was [illegible: 2 words] of all religion, to them and their seed after them: and whatsoever men added, altered, [illegible: 1 word] diminished from it, was to be reputed evill. So Paul reforming abuses in the Churches, calleth them to the first institution, 1 Cor. 11. 23, 24. charged thee] or, commanded thee, that is, commanded thee not to doe, or, forbidden thee: so in Deut. 2. 37. for Gods precepts in the Decalogue, are for the most part for bods, or prohibitions; yet usually called commandements. The whole phrase is expressed in Ge. 3. 11. which I commanded thee not to eat of it, that is, which I forbade thee to eat of. Vers. 24. fire] to consume all his enemies; and thine, if thou obey him, as Deut. 9. 3. and thee thy selfe, if thou disobey him; as Zeph. 1. 18. Heb. 12. 29. See also Exod. 24. 17. The Chaldee addeth, his word is a consuming fire: which is also true, Ier. 23. 29. Deut. 33. 2. jealous] the former word signified Gods power, this his will: hauing a jealous affection, whereby he will not spare; as Prov. 6. 34, 35. See Exod. 20. 5. Vers. 25. waxen old] that is, continued long, as the Greeke explaineth it, and become ancient inhabitants. Gods blessings were by Israel abused to sin, as is here foretold, and againe in Deut. 32. 15. Vers. 26. perishing yee shall perish] that is, surely and speedily perish: in Greeke, perish with perdition: so in Deut. 30. 18, 19. where againe hee calleth heaven and earth to witnesse. Vers. 27. few men] Hebr. men of number; that is, soone numbred for your fewnesse; as the Greeke translateth, few in number; and in Iob 16. 22. yeeres of number, are a few yeares: see Gen. 34. 30. This is contrary to that promised blessing in Gen. 15. 5. Vers. 28. serve gods] being given over to your owne lusts, as it is written, God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, Act. 7. 42. This same God threatned afterward, in Ier. 16. 13. But the Chaldee here turneth it, yee shall serve peoples that serve Idols, the worke of mens hands. nor smell] the vanity of Idols is after this sort described in Psal. 115. 4.—7. Ier. 10. 3.—9. Vers. 29. seeke Iehovah] the Chaldee translateth, seeke the feare of the Lord; meaning his true service. Here Moses annexeth promises, to comfort repentant sinners: as also in Deut. 30. 1, 2, 3, &c. all thy heart] see an example of this in 2 Chron. 15. 15. Vers. 30. finde thee] that is, come upon, or befall thee, as the Chaldee explaineth it. Vers. 31. thy fathers] Abraham, Isaak, and Iacob. See Levit. 26. 42. &c. Vers. 32. of the heavens] that is, from one utmost part of the world unto the other. By the heavens are meant the parts of the world under the heavens: and the holy Ghost openeth this phrase; for in Mat. 24. 31. it is written, from the utmost parts of the heavens, unto the utmost pa[illegible: 1 letter]ts of them: for which in Mark. 13. 27. is said, from the utmost part of the earth, unto the utmost part of the heavens. By which it is evident, that the heavens in this speech, is put for the earth under the heavens; for heavens comprehendeth the Aire also, wherein wee breath, as is noted on Genesis 1. 8. great thing] Hebr. great word. Moses hereby would teach, that Gods words and works unto his Church are more great and marvellous than all his actions to other peoples whatsoever; and therfore ought the more seriously to be considered. Verse 33. voice of God] the Chaldee saith, the voice of the word of the Lord: the Greeke, of the living God. and lived] As at the apparitions of God, men were wont to feare they should die, Iudg. 13. 22. and 6. 22. So at the giving of the law, all Israel desired that they might heare the voice of God no more, lest they died, Exod. 20. 19. Deut. 18. 16. which manifested the power of the law, and the weaknesse of men, Heb. 12. 19. So no man can see the face of God, and live, Exod. 33. 20. when God giveth his voice the earth melteth, Psal. 46. 7. Verse 34. hath God] or, hath any God; speaking of the true God, and his workes unto Israel, above all other people: or of the reputed gods of the Gentiles, none of which ever did such a thing. assaied] or, tempted. This is spoken not of God trying his owne strength, but proving the obedience of his people, and trying the strength of his adversaries. The Chaldee translateth, Or the tentations, (or signes) which the Lord hath made to reveale himselfe, &c. tentations] Moses here reckoneth seven things, about Israels deliverance; Tentations, whereby God, propounding his will, tried their obedience: (as when God tempted Abraham, Gen. 22. 1.) Signes, which many times are of ordinary workes and naturall, as Exod. 3. 12. Wonders, which are of extraordinary, and supernaturall workes, as Exod. 4. 21. and 7. 9. Warre, upon the refusall and resistance of the enemie, Exod. 8. 1, 2. Strong hand, not by cunning policies and stratagems, as men often use in wars; but by force, compelling the enemie to yeeld, Exod. 6. 1. Stretched out arme, by open manifesting his power, and plagues continually upon the resisters, Esay 9. 12, 17. Exod. 6. 6. and Great terrours, which wounded the hearts of the very enemies, Exod. 9. 20, 27, 28. and 10. 7. and 12. 30. terrours] or feares, the Greek and Chaldee translate, visions, or, sights, which are oftentimes fearefull; but the Hebrew for fears and visions, are one much like another, which might cause the mistaking. So in Deut. 26. 8. Vers. 35. so know] that is, that thou mightest know, and acknowledge. The end of all Gods workes was the manifesting of his glory, to the information and salvation of his people. This Moses often urgeth in this booke. Vers. 36 to instruct] or, to nurture, chastise: by restraining from vice. So Gods chastening, and teaching out of his law, are joyned together, in Ps. 94. [illegible: 1 letter]2. Though chastening bee often with workes (as Levit. 26. 18, 28. Deut. 8. 5.) yet is it also with words: is here, (where the Chaldee translateth it teach) and Prov. 9. 7. and 31. 1. Ezek. 23. 48. Iob 4. 3. the fire] before, he said, out of heaven; and now, out of the middest of the fire: for though the voice came out of heaven, Israel perceived it not, but onely out of the fire, saith R. Menachem on Deut. 4. Vers. 37. therefore he chose] or, and chose (that is, loved) his seed after him, therefore he brought thee out. Gods love, and election out of love, is the cause of mans redemption and salvation. his seed] that is, the seed of thy fathers, every one particularly; as the promise was made to Abraham, then to Isaac, and after that to Iacob severally. The Greeke and Chaldee translate it plurally, their seed (or sonnes) after them. in his sight] or, with his face (or presence) The Greeke saith, he brought thee out himselfe; the Chaldee, he brought thee out by his word. Thus the face or presence of God, may imply Christ, the Word, the Angell of Gods face, Esa. 63. 9. He it was that brought Israel out, as 1 Cor. 10. 1, 9. and the signe of his presence was in the pillar of the cloud and fire, Exod. 13. 21. and 14. 19, 20. Vers. 38. to drive out] to wit, out of possession (as the originall word implyeth) or, to disinherit; the Greeke saith, to destroy, (or, root out.) as it is] the Greek addeth, as thou hast this day. Meaning of the land of Sihon and Og, which they had now in possession, a signe of further victorie, Deut. 3. 21. Vers. 39. And thou shalt know] or, know (and acknowledge) therefore: see vers. 35. The knowledge of, and obedience unto God, is continually urged, upon the remembrance of his former mercies. So 1 Chron. 28. 9. cause it to returne] or, bring againe, reduce, that is, call to minde, and consider, that not onely for the present, but alwaies after, Gods true feare might continue in them. So in Deut. 30. 1. where this phrase is used: see the annotations there. Vers. 40. all daies] this may be referred both to the latter, the possessing of the land; and to the former, the welfare and length of life. In Mat. 28. 20. all daies, is explained, unto the end of the world. Vers. 42. unwittingly] or, without knowledge therof, unawares. See the law for this, in Num. 35. 9, 10, &c. and after in Deut. 19. 2. in times past] or, in former daies; Hebr. from yesterday, and the third day. See Gen. 31. 2. Vers. 43. Bezer] in Greeke, Bof[illegible: 1 letter]r: see Ios. 20. 8. and 21. 36. 38. 27. 1 Chron. 6. 78, 80. Golan] in Greeke, Gaulon. Vers. 44. this is] He meaneth, that which hereafter followeth; so this belongeth to the next chapter, where the repetition of the lawes beginneth. Vers. 45. after they came forth] Hebr. in their comming forth: but In is often used for After, as is noted on Exod. 2. 23. so againe, in vers. 46. Vers. 46. Beth-peor] in Greeke, the house of Phogor, an Idoll Temple: see Deut. 3. 29. Amorites] Hebr. Amorite: in Greeke, Amorreans. smote] that is, killed, as is noted on Gen. 14. 17. This victorie is here again touched, the more to stir up the hearts of the people, to obey Gods law, who had begun to shew them his power and goodnesse. Vers. 48. banke] Hebr. lip. Sion] in Greeke, Seon. This is not that which usually the Scripture calleth mount Zion, in Ierusalem; but otherwise written, and called Hermon: see Deut. 3. 9. Vers. 49. sea of the plaine] the sea of salt, Deut. 3. 17. the lake of Sodome, or dead sea. Ashdoth Pisgah] or, the springs of Pisgah: see the notes on Deut. 3. 17.