no long time XXVI Numb 15 16 17 23 24 35 38 39 c. And from Gudgodah to Jotbath And so to the rest of the Places mentioned XXXIII Numb 34 35 36. till they came to Mount Hor. A Land of Rivers of Waters A place where there was plenty of Water which he mentions I suppose that they might reflect upon their foul distrust of God's Providence a little after when they murmured for want of Water at Kadesh XX Numb 3 4 c. Verse 8 Ver. 8. At that time Not long after Moses came down from the Mount the second time of which he had been speaking v. 5. The LORD separated the Tribe of Levi. To his own special Service as we read III Numb Some think that God renewed his Choice of them to the Employment here mentioned after Aaron's death when he confirm'd them in their Office But we read of no such thing and it cannot be inferred meerly from these words at that time which may well relate to the time mentioned v. 5. To bear the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD Here are three parts of their Office mentioned in these and the following words The first of which was to carry the Ark which peculiarly belonged to the Kohathites III Numb 27 31. when the Camp removed from one place to another Who were good Witnesses that the same Ark still remained at that day wherein Moses first placed the Tables of the Covenant for it never stirred but by their means To stand before the LORD This is a Phrase used of Servants that wait upon their Masters before whom they are said to stand Thus Gehazi attended the Prophet Elisha 2 Kings V. 25. And the Prophets tnemselves are thus said to stand before the LORD 1 Kings XVII 1. XVIII 15. Therefore here signifies that the Levites were separated to be God's Ministers as it follows To minister unto him As Assistants to the Priests in the Tabernacle III Numb 6. and as a guard to the Tabernacle v. 7 8. Which was the second part of their Office And to bless in his Name unto this day This was the greatest thing of all and was peculiar to the Priests who were a part of the Tribe of Levi but had the sole Priviledge among them to bless in the Name of the Lord as we read expresly VI Numb 23 24. If indeed it could be made out that by blessing in the Name of the LORD is meant only to bless the Name of the LORD that was common to all the Levites who sang Praises and gave Thanks continually to him in the Temple as I suppose they did in the Tabernacle But I find no Example of the use of this Expression in this sence And therefore it must be restrained to the Priests who were Sons of Levi as well as the rest and are so called when Moses mentions this part of their Office XXI Deut. 5. Verse 9 Ver. 9. Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his Brethren Because God would have them only attend to this Service and not look after other Affairs Particularly of guarding the Sanctuary and keeping constant watch there to secure all the Holy Things especially the Ark which they took care none should meddle withal And therefore the People might be sure it remained as Moses left it when he put it into the Tabernacle with the Tables of the Covenant in it The LORD if his Inheritance according as the LORD thy God promised him He took care to provide for the Levites without having any Land to plough or sow c. See XVIII Numb 20. Verse 10 Ver. 10. And I stayed in the Mount according to the first time forty days and forty nights This doth not signifie that after the separation of the Levites he went up again into the Mount but having confirmed what he said concerning his putting the Tables of Stone in the Ark which he made after he came the second time down from the Mount v. 5. he returns to what he was speaking of in the beginning of the Chapter and had begun to say before IX 25. how he prayed to God for them when he went to carry the Tables he had hewn up unto God in the Mount that now he might relate to them the Success of his Prayers which follows in the next words And the LORD hearkened unto me at that time also and the LORD would not destroy thee As he feared he would because he had so threatned IX 15. Ver. 11. And the LORD said unto me Arise take Verse 11 thy journey before the People that they may go in and possess the Land c. This cannot refer to what he said unto him after the making the Golden Calf as I find some take it from XXXIII Exod. 1. for that was before he went up into the Mount again But to what he said at the Conclusion of their Removals from place to place some of which he mentions here v. 6 7. for then he orders them what to do when they entred into Canaan which he saith I have given you to possess it XXXIII Numb 51 52 53. Ver. 12. And now Israel what doth the LORD thy Verse 12 God require of thee Unto whom he hath given Tables wherein he himself hath wrote his Will with his own Hand v. 4 5. and hath graciously pardoned your foul Breach of his Covenant upon my Intercession v. 10. But to fear the LORD thy God The Fear of God sometimes includes in it all Religion but here seems to signifie one of the great Principles of Obedience See VI. 2. And to walk in all his ways Unto which the Fear of God inclines Men when their Hearts are possessed with it And to love him Especially if the Love of God be in them which is still a stronger Principle of Obedience VI. 1. And to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul Being constant in his Worship and Service and worshipping him alone VI. 13. XIII 3. For loving him with all the Heart and Soul seems here to have particular respect to their having no inclination to serve other Gods 1 Kings VIII 23 48. Which the Jews after they had smarted for their Idolatry understood to be the great Commandment As their Father Jacob they say taught his Twelve Sons when they came about him on his Death-bed saying to them Ye perhaps worship the Idols which Terah the Father of Abraham worshipped or those which Laban my Mother's Brother worshipped or ye worship the God of Jacob. To whom they all made this Answer with a perfect Fear Hear O Israel our Father THE LORD OVR GOD IS ONE LORD Whereupon Jacob said LET HIS GREAT NAME BE BLESSED FOR EVER Thus the Hierusalem Targum upon VI. 4. of this Book Verse 13 Ver. 13. To keep the Commandments of the LORD and his Statutes which I command this day for thy good Self-love should have inclined them to obedience to God's Commands which he gave them for their good though he
for instance in III Galat. 21. asks this question Do you not hear the Law and then quotes what we read in XVI Gen. 21. And so Nehemiah saith X. 34 35. that they brought First-fruits unto God as it is written in the Law viz. XIII Exod. 12. XXIII 19. And Josiah put away the workers with familiar Spirits c. that he might perform the words of the Law 2 Kings XXIII 24. which we find XIX Levit. 30. XX. 6 27. And Ezekiah also 2 Chron. XXXI 3. appointed the daily Oblations and those required at stated times to be offered as it is written in the Law of the LORD which plainly refers to the XXVIIIth and XXIXth of Numbers And Joshua built an Altar on Mount Ebal VIII 30 31. as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses which we find no where but in this Book of Deuteronomy XXVII 4. And delivered it unto the Priests the sons of Levi. Concerning this form of Speech the Priests the sons of Levi see XVII 9. It is probable Moses had wrote most of these Five Books some time ago and so the foregoing words may be translated Moses had wrote this Law but did not finish them till a little before his death and then delivered them to the Priests But there is no necessity thus to understand it for he might have had time enough between this and his death to write the whole Pentateuch It being only said v. 14. Thy days approach that thou must die which doth not imply he was to die in a day or two but there might be some weeks before his departure Which bare the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD It was most proper to deliver it unto them who alone might touch the Ark in which this Law was to be laid v 26. The Kohathites who were mere Levites and not Priests did carry the Ark in their Travels through the Wilderness after the Priests had covered it and put in the Staves thereof as I have shown IV Numb 5 6 c. but it is evident they served only as Ministers to the Priests who upon great occasions bare the Ark themselves As when they passed over Jordan III Josh 3 6. when they compassed Jericho VI Josh 6. and when the Temple of Solomon was dedicated and the Ark brought into it 1 Kings VIII 3 4 6. When David indeed brought the Ark to Jerusalem it is said the Levites bare it but at the same time the Priests also were summoned to take care of it which shows the Levites bare it as their Servants 1 Chron. XV. 2 11 13 14 15. And unto all the Elders of Israel As he delivered this Book of the Law that is the whole Pentateuch as Abarbinel and others of the Jews understand it unto the Priests commanding them to preserve it safe near the Ark v. 24. so he delivered another Copy of this Book to the Elders of every Tribe as the Jews affirm in Debarim Rabba Where they say and it is highly probable that Moses before his death wrote Thirteen Copies of the Law with his own hand as they add and having delivered one unto the Priests to be preserved in the holy Place gave one to each Tribe which he committed to the care of the Elders of it Thus Maimonides also in his Preface to Jad Chazakah as Buxtorf observes in his Histor Arcae Foederis Cap. 5. The intent of which was I suppose that all the People of each Tribe might resort to it as the whole Nation were to resort to that in the Sanctuary if they doubted of any thing which might be thought to be amiss by the errors of Transcribers Ver. 10. And Moses commanded them Both the Verse 10 Priests and the Elders to take care of what follows At the end of every seventh year in the solemnity of the year of release Mentioned XV. 1 c. In the Feast of Tabernacles When they had gathered in all the Fruits of the Earth and thereby had greater leisure to attend to the hearing of the Law read to them Which when Mens minds were also freed from Cares by the Release of their Debts was likely to make a greater impression upon them Ver. 11. When all Israel is come to appear before the Verse 11 LORD thy God in the place which he shall chuse As they were bound to do at this Feast and at Pentecost and the Passover XVI 16. Thou shalt read this Law before all Israel in their hearing This Order being directed not to all Israel but to a particular Person plainly imports that the Supream Governour whosoever he was had this charge laid upon him to take care these Laws should be read at this Solemn Time that all the People might hear them And therefore I think the Jews rightly say that their Kings when they had them were bound not only to look after this matter but to read the Law themselves to as many that is as could hear them appointing the Priests and the Levites to read it in as many other Assemblies of the People as were necessary for the fulfilling of this Precept In order to which a Pulpit was set up in the Court of the Men of Israel on the very first day of the Feast for they did not think fit to defer it till the last because it is here said when Israel is come to appear before the LORD not when they were ready to depart as the Jews observe the King going up into it the Minister took the Book of the Law and delivered it to the Ruler of the Synagogue who gave it to the Sagan or Vicar of the High Priest who delivered it to the High Priest and he to the King who stood up to receive it and then sâ—t down to read All this expresses the reverence with which this holy Book was delivered and likewise the reverence with which they approached to the King Who they say began to read at this Book of Deuteronomy which is a Compendium of the Law and proceeded before he stopt to those words VI. 4. Hear O Israel c. which having also read he omitted the rest till he came to Chap. XI 13. And it shall come to pass if thou wilt hearken diligently c. reading on to the 22d Verse And then skipt to XIV 22. And thou shalt truly tithe c. reading on to the Section concerning the King XVII 14. and then the Cursings and Blessings out of the XXVIIth and XXVIIIth Chapter till he had ended all that Section of the Law Thus the Mischna in the Title Sota Cap. VII Sect. VIII which Wagenseil hath lately illustrated with most Learned Annotations and our Dr. Lightfoot also hath given an account of it long ago in his Temple Service Chap. XVII Sect. I. where he saith the King might sit down if he pleased when he read but it was esteemed more honourable if he stood as King Agrippa did when he performed this Office And before he began to read he made a Prayer to God
and Dizabah There was a place called Hazeroth where they had encamped a long time ago XI Numb 35. XXXIII 17. but it was in another Wilderness far from this place as appears by the account Moses gives of their Removals from that place to this where they now lay XXXIII Numb 17 48 49. And therefore I take this and the other three places here mentioned to have been frontier Towns in the Country of Moab which lay upon the borders of this Plain The last of which Dizabah is translated by the LXX and the Vulgar as if it signified a place where there were Mines of Gold Onkelos and the Hierusalem Targum who take Suph to signifie the Red Sea and Paran for the Wilderness through which they had come many years ago c. are forced to add several words to make out the sense of this Verse in this manner These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan c. reproving them because they sinned in the Desert and provoked God in the Plain over against the Red Sea and murmured in Paran about Manna and at Hazeroth for Flesh c. And so they proceed to mention other Sins committed in other places but not in these here named which they force from their natural sense to comply with this Conceit Verse 2 Ver. 2. There are eleven days journey from Horeb c. Or eleven days we were a coming from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir unto Kadesh-Barnea Which cannot be understood of the whole time they spent between these two places but only of the time they spent in travelling For they stayed a Month at Kibroth-Hattaavah and a Week more at Hazeroth XI Numb 21. XII 15 16. before they came to Kadesh-Barnea This he represents to them to make them sensible they had been kept in the Wilderness so many years as had passed since they came out of Egypt not because it was a long way to Canaan but for the reason mentioned in the XIVth of Numbers For from Horeb whither he order'd them to go when they came out of Egypt they came in eleven days and took no long Journeys to the borders of the Land of Canaan where Kadesh-Barnea lay So Maimonides the way was plain and known between Horeb whither God brought them on purpose to serve him and Kadesh which was the beginning of an habitable Country according to what he saith XX Numb 16. See More Nevochim P. III. Cap. L. See XIII Numb 26. By the way of Mount Seir. The Country of the Edomites Chapt. II. v. 12. Vnto Kadesh-Barnea How they were ordered to come hither and what they did here he relates v. 6 19. and so proceeds to give an account of several remarkable things which befell them unto the time when he wrote these things which he sets down in the next Verse Ver. 3. And it came to pass in the fortieth year Verse 3 After they came out of Egypt In the eleventh month on the first day of the month In the first Month of this fortieth Year they came into the Wilderness of Zin unto another Kadesh XX Numb 1. From whence they removed to Mount Hor where Aaron died on the first Day of the fifth Month of this Year See there v. 28. Where it appears v. 29. they mourned for him thirty days that is till the beginning of the sixth Month. In which they fought with King Arad XXI Numb and from Mount Hor travelled from place to place as we read there and XXXIII Numb till they came to these Plains of Moab In which Journeys and in the rest of the Transactions mentioned in the latter end of the Book of Numbers they spent the other five Months of this Year as I have observed in their proper places And now began the eleventh Month when Moses being to leave the World before the end of this Year spake all that follows in this Book And this Speech which he begins v. 6. and continues to the fortieth Verse of the fourth Chapter the great Primate of Ireland thinks he made to the People on the twentieth of February and on the Sabbath-day as the Reader may find in his Annals That Moses spake unto the Children of Israel according unto all that the LORD had given him in Commandment unto them Made a Rehearsal of all that at several times he had received from the LORD and delivered unto them Ver. 4. After he had slain Sihon the King of the Amorites Verse 4 which dwelt at Heshbon About five Months ago for it was after Aaron's death which was the first Day of the fifth Month XXXIII Numb 38. and they mourned for him all that Month. See XXI Numb 21 c. And Og the King of Bashan which dwelt at Astaroth This was a City in the Country of Bashan XIII Josh 31. and a City it was of very great Antiquity as appears from XIV Gen. 5. See there From whence some think the famous Goddess Astarte had her Name being here worshipped But whether that Goddess took her Name from this City or the City from the Goddess is not certain as Mr. Selden observes in his Syntagma II. de Diis Syris cap. 2. But that the Heathen Deities were wont to have their Names from the Groves Mountains Cities and Caves where they were worshipped is as certain as it is uncertain from whence Astarte or Astoreth as the Scripture Name is was so called In Edrei His Royal Palace was at Astaroth as Sihon's was at Heshbon but he was slain in Edrei XXI Numb 33. Verse 5 Ver. 5. On this side Jordan in the Land of Moab In the Plains of Moab before they passed over Jordan See v. 1. Began Moses to declare this Law saying To call to remembrance that which any one had forgotten and to explain that which any one did not understand So Maimonides expounds these words in Seder Zeraim In the end of the fortieth Year in the beginning of the Month Shebat Moses called the People together saying The time of my Death draws near if any one therefore hath forgot any thing that I have delivered let him come and receive it or if any thing seem dubious let him come that I may explain it And so they say in Siphri If any one have forgotten any Constitution let him come and hear it the second time if he need to have any thing unfolded let him come and hear the Explication of it For which he quotes this Verse and says that Moses spent all his time in this from the beginning of the Month Shebat to the seventh day of Adar And what he now said was likely to be the more regarded because these were in a manner his dying words for he lived but till the seventh day of the next Month and seems to have composed this Book as a Compendium of his whole Law for the familiar use of the Children of Israel from whence it is called Deuteronomy i. e. a second Law See Huetius in his Demonstr Evang.
desist from the Doctrine of the Law Verse 4 Ver. 4. Moses commanded us a Law He commanded them to observe that Law which God had given them when he was about to depart from them This he did in this very Book I. 3. V. 1. VI. 1. VIII 1 c. He spake of himself in the third Person which is very usual throughout all this Book Even the Inheritance of the Congregation of Jacob. As a peculiar Blessing which God had bestowed on them and on their Posterity above all other Nations in the World IV Deut. 8. Who as they had not this Law given to them so they were not bound to observe it as the Jews themselves conclude from this very place Nor did they force any Body to embrace this Law when they made a Conquest of a neighbouring Country but left them to their liberty provided they would become Proselytes of the Gate that is forsake Idolatry and keep the common Precepts enjoyned to all Mankind Thus Maimonides interprets the word Inheritance See Schickard in his Jus Regium Cap. V. Theorem XVII and Grotius de Jure Belli Pacis Lib. I. Cap. I. Sect. XVI The Author of Ez Hachajim a MS. highly valued by the famous Wagenseil saith that when a Child began to speak the Father was bound to teach him this Verse In which instead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hereditary some of the Jews read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 espoused as if the Law were espoused to the Jewish Nation See Wagenseil on Sota p. 519 520. Ver. 5. And he was King in Jeshurun Or For he Verse 5 was King that is under God the Supreme Ruler and Governour of Israel and therefore in his Name and by his Authority required them to observe these Laws Which plainly shows him to have had the Supream Power in all things both Civil and Sacred Which is excellently expressed by our Mr. Thorndike in his Review of the Rights of the Church c. p. 68. where he observes That the Israelites being made a free People by the Act of God bringing them out of Egypt and intitling them to the Land of Canaan upon the Covenant of the Law had Moses not only for their Prophet and their Priest for by him Aaron and his Successors were put into the Priesthood the Tabernacle and all belonging to it consecrated but also for their King their Lawgiver their Judge and Commander in chief of their Forces under God if not rather God by Moses For we find that after Moses his decease either God by some extraordinary signification of his Will and Pleasure stirred up some Man in his stead for the time or if there was none such ruled their proceedings himself by Vrim and Thummim answering their Demands and directing what to do and what course to follow in all the Publick Affairs that concerned the State of that People Whereupon when they required Samuel to make them a King he declared it was not Samuel but himself whom they had rejected Because they had rejected him whom God had immediately set over them in his own stead by whose death the power returned to God as at the beginning Concerning the word Jeshurun see XXXII 15. and Selden Lib. II. de Synedr Cap. II. N. 2. When the Heads of the People and the Tribes of Israel were gathered together To renew their Covenant with God and to receive his last Commands See XXIX 1 2 9 10. XXXI 28 29. Verse 6 Ver. 6. Let Reuben live and not die and let not his Men be few In the last Clause of this Verse we repeat the word not which is wanting in the Hebrew without any necessity For the words may be thus translated exactly Let Reuben live and not die though his Men be few Which seems to be a confirmation of the Prophecy of Jacob XLIX Gen. 4. That he should not excel and yet should live and not perish That is be in some measure a flourishing Tribe though not so numerous as some others See there And possibly it may be here suggested that though they passed armed over Jordan before their Brethren to settle them there according to their engagement XXXII Numb 27. IV Josh 12 13. yet none of them should perish but both they and their Wives and Children that stand behind them should be all preserved Ver. 7. And this is the blessing of Judah As much as to say Judah shall be remarkably blessed For these words this is the blessing are used of none of the rest of the Tribes either of Reuben which went before Verse 7 or the others that follow after Here is no mention made of Simeon who was next to Reuben because that Tribe was included in Judah with whom their Possessions were mixed XIX Josh 1. and therefore they went together to make Expeditions I Judg. 3. Judah also is here put before Levi because it was to be the Royal Tribe according to the Prophecy of Jacob which Moses was assured God would fulfil and therefore prays as follows And he said hear LORD the voice of Judah Grant his Petition when he calls for help against his Enemies So Onkelos paraphrases it Hear his Prayer when he goes forth to war And bring him unto his People Return him home in peace unto his People as the same Onkelos expounds it Let his hands be sufficient for him To avenge him of his Enemies as he also explains it And be thou an help to him from his Enemies Suffer them not to prevail over him but give him the victory when he fights with them So the Hierusalem Targum paraphrases these two last passages Let his hands exercise Revenge upon his Enemies in battles and do thou support and sustain him against those that hate him This was notoriously fulfilled in this Tribe which was the most valiant and successful of all other For in all their Wars this Tribe was the principal and the safety of all the rest seems to have depended upon this See I Judg. 1 2 c. XX. 18. And as these places show that this was the most considerable Tribe before they had Kings so after that it was able together with Benjamin to maintain its ground against the other ten Tribes and all other Opposers Ver. 8. And of Levi he said let thy Thummim and Verse 8 thy Vrim be with thy holy one Continue in this Tribe the high dignity of Consulting with thee and receiving Directions from thee by the High Priest concerning the Publick Safety Or as some take it because Thummim is here set before Vrim which is not in any other place make them upright and faithful as well as understanding and knowing in the discharge of their Duty For though by holy One be principally meant the High Priest who was in a peculiar manner anointed to be separated to the Service of God especially in this part of it to approach him with Vrim and Thummim which gave Aaron the name of the Saint of the LORD CVI Psal 16. yet it comprehends