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.
to have married her But all this is judged by the famous Abarbinel upon 2 Sam. XIII to be very absurd and neither believes that David would have committed such a Fact as to lie with a Woman in her Gentilism nor if he had that this Child would have been lookt upon as a Gentile since he afterward married her Mother And therefore he takes those words of Tamar v. 13. Speak to the King and he will not withhold me from thee to be a meer put off as we speak to get rid of his Company which Amnon understood very well who knowing he could not have her to Wife proceeded to force her Ver. 14. And it shall be if thou have no delight in Verse 14 her then thou shalt let her go whither she will If at the Months end or before his Mind was changed and he did not like to take her for his Wife then he might neither meddle with her any more as the Hebrew Doctors understand it nor keep her any longer as a Slave nor sell her or make merchandise of her as the Text here expresly orders but give her liberty to go whither she her self thought good This he lost say the Jews by his short pleasure he took at first For other Captives whom a Man had made himself Master of by the Law of War he might imploy in his Work as Slaves or make Money of them but one whom he had lain with he was either to marry or set her a liberty This they ground upon the last words of this Verse which I shall show may have another interpretation And therefore I shall not insist upon their sense which depends upon the same words who think Moses speaks of his not likeing her after she was become his Wife her Humour Manners and Conversation being disagreeable to him in which case he was to give her a Bill of Divorce as he might do another Wife but not keep her as a Slave Because thou hast humbled her It must be acknowledged that this is an usual Phrase for having had Carnal Knowledge of a Woman as the Scripture modestly elsewhere speaks in the like case It signifies so in the very next Chapter of this Book XXII Deut. 29. XIX Judg. 24. XX. 2. and many other places where it is used for Violence offered to a Woman which was the greatest Affliction to her as the Hebrew word properly signifies From which I see no reason why we should depart in this place for it was sufficient Affliction and Humiliation to a Captive Woman as Carpsovius observes in his Annotations upon Schickard's Book which I have so often named that after she had been brought into a Souldiers House and kept there a Month having her Head shaved Garments changed c. in hope of Marriage she was rejected at last when it should have been consummated And thus Abarbinel here understands the word humbled not of his lying with her but of all the forementioned Conditions which were imposed upon her as a preparation for his Bed and of her disappointment after she had submitted to be baptized And indeed the Hebrew word denotes any sort of Affliction See I Exod. 11. LXXXVIII Psal 8. LXXXIX 23. XC 15. XCIV 5 c. Verse 15 Ver. 15. If a Man have two Wives one beloved and another hated That is less loved as the word hated sometimes signifies XXIX Gen. 31. VI Matth. 24. R. Solomon thinks that this Case follows the other because it might so happen that if a Man suffered himself to be carried with too violent a passion towards such a Woman as is before-mentioned it might turn into hatred when he found her not to be agreeable to him And they have born him Children both the beloved and the hated Towards which it was likely he would be affected very differently as he was to his Wives And if the first-born Son be hers that was hated As it fell out in the Case of Leah and Rachel Ver. 16. Then it shall be when he makes his Sons to Verse 16 inherit that which he hath that he may not make the Son of the beloved first-born c. He speaks of Sons for Daughters were not to have a double Portion And he speaks of Sons as the Jews will have it born before the death of their Father to whom he divided his Inheritance For a posthumous Son had not a double Portion as the Gemara upon Bathra saith See Selden de Successionibus Cap. VII p. 29. Ver. 17. But he shall acknowledge the Son of the hated Verse 17 for the first-born Which had his first love and was to enjoy the effects of it By giving him a double portion of all that he hath Of all that he was in possession of when he died but not of that which was his in Reversion after his death as Mr. Selden shows the Opinion of the Jewish Lawyers is Lib. de Success Cap. VI. p. 24. For he is the beginning of his strength See XLIX Gen. 1. The right of the first-born is his By a very ancient Custom antecedent to the Law which made the first-born the Head of the Family and gave him as much more as any of his Brethren of the Estate belonging to it that he might be able to maintain and support the Dignity of it XXV Gen. 31. But if there was no Son and the Inheritance was to be divided among Daughters the eldest Daughter had not a double share of the Estate as Mr. Selden shows in the same Book Cap. VIII Verse 18 Ver. 18. If a Man have a stubborn and rebellious Son By a stubborn Son the Jews understand one that will not do as he is bidden and by a rebellious one that doth what he is forbidden And they imagine this Law is annexed to the foregoing about the marriage of a Souldier to a Captive Woman because the Issue of such Marriages commonly proved refractory or at least gave their Parents great trouble So Schickard observes out of Tanchuma And they confirm it by an Example out of Scripture viz. the two Children of David Absolom and Tamar who were both born of a Captive Woman made a Proselyte the former of which conspired the Death of his Father and the other being ravished by Amnon was the occasion of the Death of some of her Brethren Mischpat Hammelech Cap. V. Theorem XVII Which will not obey the voice of his Father or the voice of his Mother Behaved himself not only undutifully but crosly to them and with such contempt of their Authority as argued he had not only lost all filial Affection and Reverence to them but would if he could undo them And that when they have chastned him will not hearken unto them Is never the better for Admonitions Reprehensions and Corrections which they were bound to give him Verse 19 Ver. 19. Then shall his Father and his Mother lay hold of him It is absurd to say as the Hebrew Doctors do in their qualifications of this Law that his Parents were with
their own hands to apprehend him and bring him before the Court though it seems reasonable enough that both Father and Mother should agree in the Complaint against him and desire Officers might be sent to lay hold of him In which one cannot well suppose that they would consent to have such a Punishment as follows inflicted upon him unless he were intolerable And bring him unto the Elders of his City Who were to examine the proofs and accordingly to pass Sentence upon him Concerning these Elders see v. 3 4. And unto the gate of his place Where the Court of Judgment was wont to sit See XVI 18. The Paternal Power among the ancient Romans was so great that they might put their Children to death as they did their Slaves without any Process before a Magistrate And this some have taken to be a Natural Right and imagined God would not have commanded Abraham to kill his Son but that it was a part of his inherent Power However this be they were not thought fit to be long intrusted with it for God here orders by Moses that it should be committed to the publick Judges as the most disinterested Persons Ver. 20. And they shall say unto the Elders of his City Verse 20 This seems to intimate the Authority of Parents was still so preserved that their Testimony alone was sufficient to convict a rebellious Son without any further proof The Hebrew Doctors indeed are of another mind as I shall show in the Explication of what follows This our Son is stubborn and rebellious he will not obey our voice This is to be understood say they of a Son that was no less then Thirteen years old and a day and so might be presumed to know his Duty and to be capable of being governed by Counsel and good Advice And this is reasonable enough But what they say concerning the time when he became his own Man is monstrously absurd See Selden Lib. II. de Synedr Cap. XIII p. 559 560. What they say of a Daughter not to be comprehended under this Law may be admitted because she was not capable to do so much Mischief in a Family as a rebellious Son He is a glutton and a drunkard These Sins are no where made capital by the Law of Moses but when they were accompanied with rebellious Disobedience to Parents Who were to bring Witnesses as the Hebrew Doctors say that this Son had stoln some of their Goods and sold them that he might spend the Money in these Vices under which others are comprehended which usually attend them And that he had done this after he had been admonished and chastised so that he was not to be punished as this Law at last prescribes till he was grown incorrigible For they say the Court was first to order him to be whipt and not to proceed further till upon a new Complaint it was proved that he had run into the same riotous Courses since that punishment Then upon this second Testimony as they call it the Court gave Sentence against him that he should be stoned to death unless the Parents before the Sentence was pronounced said they gave him their Pardon There are a great many little Niceties about the quantity of Meat and Wine that he eat and drank and other Matters with which I do not think fit to trouble the Reader Verse 21 Ver. 21. And all the Men of his City shall stone him with stones that he die This is such a severe Sentence that it inclines me to think the Parents lookt upon such a Son as so debaucht that he would not only spend all their Estate if he had it but was inclined to kill them that he might get it into his own hands For the Sentence of Death is denounced elsewhere against one that struck his Father or Mother XXI Exod. 15. or that cursed them v. 17. It is not said indeed he should be stoned but put to death which they interpret of strangling this punishment of stoning being appointed for Idolaters and Blasphemers of God Next to whom Parents are to be reverenced being in God's place with respect to their Children See upon the fifth Commandment And therefore other Nations were very severe in their punishment of such Children as are here described and particularly the Romans after the power was taken from Parents to sell them or put them to death and the Censure of them committed to the Magistrates See Hen. Stephen in his Fontes Rivi Juris Civilis p. 18. And among the Athenians Lysias saith in his Oration against Agoratus he that beats his Parents or did not maintain them and provide an habitation for them when they were in want 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 deserved to be put to death The Law indeed did not inflict that punishment but only said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let him be infamous That is as they expound it he might not come into the Publick Assemblies nor enter into their Temples nor wear a Crown in their Publick Festivals and if any such Persons presumed so to do they were brought before the Magistrates who set a Fine upon their Heads and committed them to Prison till they paid it See Sam. Petitus in his Commentary upon the Attick Laws Lib. II. Tit. IV. p. 163. No wonder therefore Moses ordained this punishment when a Son was come to such a degree of profligate wickedness that he indeavoured to undo his Parents Which some States have thought fit to follow in these latter Ages For David Chytraeus saith he himself saw an Example of this Severity at Zurich in the year One thousand five hundred and fifty where a disobedient Son was beheaded who had cursed his Mother and beaten her So shalt thou put evil away from among you and all Israel shall hear and fear See concerning this before upon XIX 20. Verse 22 Ver. 22. If a man have committed a sin worthy of death and he be put to death There were several sorts of Capital Punishments viz. Strangling Burning Cutting off by the Sword and Stoning Now the Hebrew Doctors limit this unto such Offenders as were stoned of which Punishment he speaks in the foregoing Verse But there being Eighteen sorts of Offenders who were to be Sentenced to this Death they put a further limitation upon these words their Tradition being as they tell us the Sin worthy of death or Stoning is only Idolatry or Blasphemy So we read in the Sanhedrim Cap. VI. Sect. IV. All that were stoned were also hanged according to the opinion of R. Eliezer but the wise Men say none were hanged but the Idolater and Blasphemer And they add there that only Men not Women were thus used for which I can see no reason but their sticking to the meer Letter of these words as if the word Man did not comprehend both senses But if we examine the Scripture we shall find this not to be true that no Men were hanged but they that were stoned for the King of Ai
of thy strangers that are in thy Land within thy gates No difference was to be made between a Natural Jew and a Proselyte of the Gate according to the general Law XIX Levit 34. For such oppression might tempt them to do very wicked things for instance expose or kill their Children when they were not able to maintain them after the manner of the Heathen who were frequently guilty of this and thought it no Crime when their Poverty constrained them to it See Petrus Petitus Lib. III. Miscell Observ Cap. XVII where he produces many proofs of it both out of Greek and Roman Authors Verse 15 Ver. 15. At his day thou shalt give him his hire Which was due to him either by Contract or by natural Equity and whether he had agreed to serve him for a Day or a Month or a Year At the time when his Wages was due it was to be punctually paid unless he were willing to have it remain in his hands For this was not an Act of Mercy but of Justice to pay an Hireling his Wages Neither shall the Sun go down upon it for he is poor This shows he speaks particularly of one that served for a days Wages and could not forbear the payment of it because he was so poor as not to be able to provide himself and family Necessaries without it And setteth his heart upon it Eagerly expects it as the Support of his Life So the Vulgar translates it with it he supports his Soul that is his Life Lest he cry unto the LORD Make grievous Complaints to him who made both Rich and Poor And it be sin unto thee God will hear his Cry and severely punish thee See V James 4. Ver. 16. The father shall not be put to death for the Verse 16 children neither shall the children be put to death for the father every man shall be put to death for his own sin This is a Rule of Common Reason which was anciently expressed in this vulgar saying Noxa Caput sequitur And is excellently expressed by Dion Chrysostom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let every Man be the Author of his own Misfortune Which Amaziah King of Judah thought extended to the Children of Traitors unto whom he allowed the benefit of this Law as we read in so many words 2 Kings XIV 6. 2 Chron. XXV 4. And not only Philo but Dionys Hallicarnassaeus condemns the Custom of those Nations who put to death the Children of Tyrants or Traitors See Grotius Lib. II. de Jure Belli Pacis Cap. XXI Sect. XIII XIV where he observes that God indeed threatens to visit the sins of the Fathers upon the Children but in this Case Jure dominij non poenae utitur he uses the Right of Dominion not of Punishment Verse 17 Ver. 17. Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger nor of the fatherless Nor of the Widow who is joyned with them v. 19. For such Persons commonly had none to stand by them and plead their Cause and therefore the Judges were to take the greater Care to see them have Justice done XXII Exod. 21. XXIII 9. Nor take the widows raiment to pledge Which is to be understood of one that is poor as appears from v. 12. See XXII Exod. 21 26 27. Verse 18 Ver. 18. But thou shalt remember that thou wast a bond-man in Egypt and the LORD redeemed thee thence therefore I command thee to do this thing The remembrance of their own miserable Condition in Egypt till God took pity upon them was to work Compassion in them towards others in the like forlorn Estate otherwise they did not remember them as they ought This is often urged as a Reason for showing Mercy to Strangers and such like helpless Persons particularly in XIX Levit. 33 34. and in this Book X. 19 20. XV. 15. Ver. 19. When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field and hast forgot a sheaf in the field thou shalt not go back again to fetch it There are many merciful Laws about the Poor See XIX Levit. 9 10. XXIII 22. They are all put together by Mr. Selden Lib. VI. de Jure Nat. Gent. Cap. VI. where the Exposition the Talmudists give of this Law seems to me to be so strict that it could do little good For they say a Sheaf was not taken to be forgotten unless not only the Owner of the Field but all the Labourers forgot it and if none of them remembred it yet if any Man that passed by that way came and gave them notice of it it was not lookt upon as left by forgetfulness Yet they are so kind as to extend this Law not only to Sheaves of Corn left in the Field but to Bunches of Grapes and other Fruit which was left behind in their Vineyards or Orchards And it seems no unreasonable Interpretation of this Law that if an Owner of a Field or his Workmen called to mind before they were gone quite out of the Field that a Sheaf was left in such a place they might go back and fetch it but not if they did not remember it till they came into the City They that would see more Cases about this matter may look into Maimonides de Donis Pauperum translated by Dr. H. Prideaux Cap. V. and his very learned Annotations upon it Josephus seems to me to have interpreted this Law most charitably Lib. IV. Archaeolog Cap. VIII where he saith they were not only not to go back to fetch what they had forgot but to leave on purpose Corn and Grapes and Olives c. for the benefit of the Poor It shall be for the stranger for the fatherless and for the Widow Who are commonly put together as proper Objects of Charity and are as Mr. Selden speaks a kind of Paraphrase upon the word Poor That the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hand Make their Land still very fruitful which was a reward of their Charity Ver. 20. When thou beatest thine Olive-tree As Verse 20 they were wont to do in those Countries with Sticks to bring down the Olives Thou shalt not go over the boughs again Not search the Boughs after they are beaten whether any be left It shall be for the stranger c. Who might go into the Olive-yards after the Owner had carried out his Fruit and gather what they found still remaining on the Trees Verse 21 Ver. 21. When thou gatherest the grapes of thy Vineyard thou shalt not glean it afterwards By making a new gathering after the first But if the poor themselves left any behind after the usual time allowed for the gathering such Fruits or Corn as were left for them it was lawful for the Owner to take it himself and he was not bound either to pay the Poor the price of it or to leave it for the Beasts and the Birds For the command is say the Jewish Doctors who nicely scan these things that it shall be for the Poor and
said unto their Fathers upon this occasion which he doth not mention in the Book of NUMBERS where we read only of his falling down before God that he might awaken this Generation to a greater confidence in God and a dread of his Judgment Dread not nor be afraid of them Do not consider so much how strong they are as how powerful the LORD your God is who hath promised you this good Land Verse 30 Ver. 30. The LORD your God which goeth before you In a glorious Pillar of Cloud and Fire He shall fight for you As he had done hitherto XIV Exod. 14. XVII 8 c. According to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes Why should you think he is less able to bring you into Canaan than he was to redeem you from Egypt where you were oppressed by very powerful Enemies Verse 31 Ver. 31. And in the Wilderness Ever since they came from thence through the Wilderness of the Red-Sea XIII Exod. 18. and the Wilderness of Sin XVI Exod. 1. and the Wilderness of Sinai XIX Exod. 1 2. and then through that terrible Wilderness of Paran See above v. 19. Where thou hast seen how the LORD thy God bare thee as a Man doth bear his Son The long Experience they had had of his tender care over them which was as indulgent as that of a kind Father towards his only Son when he is a Child whom he carries in his Arms should have made them confident of his gracious Providence for the future In all the way that ye went until ye came to this place He made provision for them in the most desolate places bringing them Water out of a Rock sending Bread down to them from Heaven defending them from wild Beasts and from their fiercer Enemies c. Ver. 32. Yet in this thing ye did not believe the Verse 32 LORD your God He could not prevail with them to trust God and go up as he commanded in his Power and Might to possess the Land Nor could all that Caleb and Joshua said at all move them XIV Numb 7 8 9. Ver. 33. Who went in the way before you Never Verse 33 failed constantly to direct and guide you in your Journeys XIII Exod. 22. To search you out a place to pitch your Tents in But always markt out your Encampments where they should be X Numb 17. In fire by night to shew you by what way you should go and in a cloud by day That they might be able to travel by Night as well as by Day which was most convenient in Summer time when the Sun was very scorching in a Wilderness where there was no shelter XIII Exod. 21. X Numb 16 21. Ver. 34. And the LORD heard the voice of your words They not only distrusted God v 32. but murmured against their Leaders and against God in Verse 34 a mutinous manner consulting to return into Egypt XIV Numb 1 2 3 4. And moreover spake of stoning Caleb and Joshua for their good Advice v. 10. And was wroth and sware saying Which so provoked the Divine Majesty that he irrevocably determined what follows confirming it with an Oath XIV Numb 21. Verse 35 Ver. 35. Surely there shall not one of these Men of this evil Generation see that good Land c. See XIV Numb 21 28 29. Verse 36 Ver. 36. Save Caleb the Son of Jephunneh And Joshua the Son of Nun. See XIV 24 30. and see below v. 38. He shall see it and to him will I give the Land that he hath trodden upon c. This was as exactly fulfilled as their disinheriting was XIV Josh 9 12. Where the particular Portion of Land is mentioned which God promised to him and which Joshua gave him in the Mountain where the Anakims dwelt For such was the wonderful Faith and Courage of Caleb that he doubted not to dispossess those whom the rest of the Israelites dreaded as invincible Verse 37 Ver. 37. Also the LORD was angry with me Not at that time but afterwards when they came into the Wilderness of Zin to another Kadesh XX Numb 1 12. For your sakes By occasion of their fresh discontents and mutinous upbraidings of him XX Numb 2 3 4. which provoked him so that he spake unadvisedly with his Lips as the Psalmist observes CVI Psal 31 32. This was an high aggravation of their guilt that they not only undid themselves but brought great Displeasure upon their worthy Leader and Governour whom they wearied with their Tumults and Rebellions Or the meaning may be which doth not much differ from the account now given that they murmuring in a tumultuous manner when they saw the Water did not flow out of the Rock at the first stroke he himself also was put into such a Commotion that he began to doubt and say God would do nothing for such a rebellious People though he had declared he would If this be true he soon recovered himself and smote the Rock again in confidence God would be as good as his word But God was so angry at the words he had spoken that he so far punished him for them as to deny him entrance into Canaan Saying Thou shalt not go in thither Which threatning is renewed a little before his death XXVII Numb 13 14. and he could not get repealed by any Entreaties as we read in this Book III. 26. Ver. 38. But Joshua the Son of Nun which standeth Verse 38 before thee i. e. Waits upon thee He shall go in thither So God promised when he as well as Caleb indeavoured to put Courage into the People to go and possess the Land XIV Numb 6 7 c. 30. Incourage him for he shall cause Israel to inherit it Not only go thither and have his Portion there but be the Captain of Israel and conquer the Land for them and divide it among them This intimates as if Joshua was afraid he might be excluded as well as his Master being extreamly troubled it is likely that he was not suffered to reap the Fruit of his long Labours Therefore God bids Moses incourage his hope and command him to take heart as we speak for undoubtedly he should do more than go into Canaan Which may be the reason why his Name is not put into the Exception v. 35 36. together with Calebs but they are mentioned separately because there was something to be said peculiar to each of them Verse 39 Ver. 39. Moreover your little ones whom ye said should be a prey See XIV Numb 31. Which in that day had no knowledge of good and evil And consequently did not provoke God by their Disobedience They shall go in thither c. Their innocence moved pity towards them though Children in some cases were cut off for their Fathers sins Verse 40 Ver. 40. But as for you turn you From the Land of Canaan to which they were not permitted to go And take your journey into the Wilderness And get you back again
was when a Cause came before them upon an Appeal for it was not so Criminal to disobey every Sentence of the Supream Court but only such as these or to the place where it was made which was to be no where else but at God's dwelling place or to the things about which the Decree was made which some will have to be only weighty Matters and the act of Contumacy also was considered for he was not put to death they say unless in open Court he declared a contrary Sentence The death he suffered was strangling and he could suffer in no other place but where this High Court sat See Selden of all these in the place before-mentioned N. II III IV V VI. And it may be further observed that the Prophets themselves were subject to the Power and Jurisdiction of this High Court by whom they might be sentenced to Capital Punishment if they taught contrary to the Law of God But our Mr. Thorndike makes a doubt whether the Constitution which the Jewish Writers mention about a Rebellious Elder as they call him who taught any thing contrary to the determination of this Supream Court was ever in force or no For it was made because of the differences between the Schools of Hillel and Sammai who lived not long before our Saviour's time when it appears by the Gospel that Nation had lost the Power of Life and Death See Rights of the Church Chap. V. p. 256. And thou shalt put away the evil from Israel This may refer either to the evil Person or to the great scandal and dangerous Example he gave by resisting the highest Authority and thereby breaking the Bond of Unity and Peace Verse 13 Ver. 13. And all the People shall hear and fear and do no more presumptuously This Punishment was intended to strike a terror into all the People that they should not adventure to oppose the Supream Authority And for this end the Offender was to be kept in custody as R. Aquiba understood this till the next great Feast either of the Passover or Pentecost or Tabernacles and then executed when the whole Nation i. e. all the Males were present This Mr. Selden observes in the forenamed place N. VII is the most received Opinion though R. Jehuda saith they did not make the Sentence sharper by a long delay but executed it presently And for the further publication of it they sent Letters to all the Tribes and Cities of Israel to give notice that such a Man was executed at such a time for this Crime See Selden there N. VIII Verse 14 Ver. 14. And when thou comest into the Land which the LORD thy God giveth thee and shalt possess it and shalt dwell therein When they had conquered the Land of Canaan and were settled in it And shalt say I will set a King over me The Jews commonly from this and the next Verse fancy that God commanded them to make a King when they came to the Land of Canaan and had a quiet possession of it following herein the Gemara of the Sanhedrim Cap. II. Insomuch that they have presumed to make this an affirmative Precept That a King of the People should be chosen and quote this place for it To which some Learned Men among Christians have seemed to incline particularly Petrus Cunaeus Lib. de Republ. Hebr. Cap. XIV and Guil. Schikardus in his Jus Regium Cap. I. Theor. I. But Abarbinel himself contradicts this and so doth Josephus who observes that God intended they should keep their present Government but if they would have a King he should be one of their Brethren For thus he interprets this place Lib. I. Antiq. Cap. VIII that they should not affect any other Government but love the present having the Laws for their Master and living according to them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for it is sufficient that God is your Ruler And then he adds but if you desire to have a King 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let him be one of your own Nation as it here follows in the next Verse Like as all the Nations that are about me Such as the Edomites who had been governed by Kings before the days of Moses See XXXVI Gen. 31. Ver. 15. Thou shalt in any wise set him King over thee Install and receive him into the Throne Whom the LORD thy God shall choose They could not elect whom they pleased but the first King at least was to be appointed oy God himself who was their Supream Governour So the People understood it when they desired Samuel who was their chief Ruler under God to make them a King 1 Sam. VIII 5. but durst not to presume to set one up of themselves And to confirm them in this Opinion Samuel saith to Saul 1 Sam. X. 1. The LORD hath anointed thee to be Captain over his Inheritance and saith to all the People v. 24. See ye him whom the LORD hath chosen And accordingly when the lot was to be cast to show who was to be their King Samuel bids all the Tribes present themselves before the LORD v. 19. And when it fell upon Saul and they could not find him they enquired of the LORD and the LORD answered where he was v. 22. In like manner when Saul was rejected the LORD himself appointed David to be anointed their King and settled that Authority in his Family And to determine which of his Sons should have it God himself appointed his immediate Successor viz. Solomon For so David declares to all the Princes and the great Men whom he assembled before his death Of all my Sons the LORD hath chosen Solomon to sit upon the Throne of the Kingdom of the LORD God of Israel 1 Chron. XXVIII 5. And again XXIX 1. David said unto all the Congregation Solomon my son whom alone God hath chosen is yet young c. But though it was thus in the beginning of this Kingdom yet God intended at length to make it hereditary as appears from v. 20. of this Chapter One from amongst thy Brethren shalt thou set over thee i. e. Saith the Tradition mentioned by the Jews out of Tosiphta the most select and choice Person that could be found not one of mean Extraction or Employment This they fancy is meant by from among thy brethren Thou mayest not set a stranger over thee which is not thy brother This the Jews extend to all Offices whatsoever as Maimonides reports their sense See Selden Lib. VI. de Jure Nat. Gent. Cap. XX. p. 647. And by thy brother some of them understand one that was an Israelite both by Father and Mother though others think it sufficient if a King was an Israelite by the Mother's side See there Cap. XXII Which in his Book de Succession ad Pontificat Lib. II. he shows was sufficient for any Dignity among the Israelites but only the Priesthood See also Lib. III. de Synedr Cap. IX N. VI. where he observes the Talmudists say the great Sanhedrim was
of Israel By which the Israelites should have learnt that as Moses left them short of the promised Land and could not bring them into the possession of it so his Law did not contain a perfect Revelation of God's Will but they were to expect something beyond it CHAP. XXXIII Verse 1 Verse 1. AND this is the blessing As Jacob blessed his Children at his departure out of the World when God had begun to fulfil the promise to Abraham of giving him a numerous Offspring so Moses having seen them vastly increased and ready to enter upon the Land promised to them XV Gen. 18 c. takes his farewel of them with a Blessing pronounced upon the People in general and upon each Tribe in particular Which is in part prophetical as the Blessing of Jacob was and delivered in the prophetick stile which hath some difficulty and obscurity in it on purpose perhaps to excite their diligent study to enquire into the meaning See XLIX Gen. 1 3. Wherewith Moses the Man of God Or the Prophet of the LORD as Onkelos translates it For Prophets are called Men of God in the holy Books 1 Sam. IX 6 7 8. 1 Kings XIII 1. 1 Tim. VI. 11. 2 Tim. III. 17. 2 Pet. I. 21. because in the exercise of their Sacred Function they did not deliver their own sense nor the sense of other Men but the Mind and Will of God who spake by them Blessed the Children of Israel before his death Before he went up into Mount Abarim to die XXXII 49. he prayed God to bless them and also foretold their future State and Condition Such had been the ancient Custom among the holy Patriarchs as we learn from the example of Jacob to admonish their Posterity upon their dying Beds of such things as they thought most imported them For then they could not but be thought to speak most sincerely and their words were apt to be entertained with greater respect and preserved in Mind with greater Care Moses therefore their Deliverer Leader and Law-giver concludes his Life in the same manner and it 's very likely deposited these dying words with them in writing Ver. 2. And he said the LORD came from Sinai And in the first place he endeavours to make them sensible of what God had done already for them and Verse 2 the chief of all his Benefits being the Revelation of his Mind and Will to them he commemorates that as a common Blessing to them all before he begins to speak in particular to each Tribe For that is meant by the LORD came from Sinai where he appeared in a most glorious manner and from thence promulgated his Law with the greatest Solemnity Exod. XX. And thus the Gentiles took an unwonted brightness in any place to be a token of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Appearance or Advent of some of their gods in that place As also a great commotion in any place they took for another token of it See the illustrious Spanhemius in his Annotations upon Callimachus his Hymn to Apollo v. 7. which they seem to have learnt from this appearance of God on Mount Sinai and the quaking of that Mountain when God appeared on it And rose up from Seir unto them and shone forth from Mount Paran There is no difficulty in the foregoing words it being evident that God came down on Mount Sinai and thence delivered his Commands to the Israelites and espoused them for his People But how he rose up from Seir unto them the Country of Edom and shone from Paran the Country of Ishmael is not so easie to understand The Jews indeed who are wont to solve all Difficulties by inventing what they please are not troubled to give an account of these words Which signifie they fancy that the Divine Glory first resided upon Mount Seir where God propounded his Law to the Children of Esau but they would not have it because they found these words in it Thou shalt not kill He went therefore to Paran and offered it to the Children of Ishmael but they refused it also because they found these words in it Thou shalt not Steal So he came to Sinai and gave it to the Israelites who said All the words which the LORD hath said will we do XXIV Exod. 3. Thus the Hierusalem Targum and Pirke Elieser and some other more ancient Authors with this addition That he offered the Law to all the Nations of the World but they rejected it because it is written Thou shalt have none other gods but me But this looks so like a Fable that some of themselves are ashamed of it and have given a better sense of the words though I cannot say the true one For thus Abraham Peritsol expounds them The true Law came out of Sinai to the Israelites by which the Edomites were so inlightned that God might be said to rise up to them also and afterward the Celestial Influence shone out of this Law to the Ishmaelites who were the better for it Thus Const L'Empereur reports his sense in his Annotations upon Bava kama Cap. IV. Sect. III. where he endeavours to make out a plainer sense of these words in this manner Though the Mountain of Paran was nigher to Sinai than Seir was and first occurred to those that went out of Egypt yet there was great reason to mention Seir before it because Moses had respect to the order of their Journeys and not to the Site of the Places And their Journeys were so directed by Divine Providence that fetching a long Circuit forward and backward they should come to Canaan In all which turnings and windings they were marvellously preserved and provided for by the same good Providence which conducted them Of this Moses here makes a thankful Commemoration how he led them from Mount Sinai to the Borders of the Land of Canaan towards Mount Seir as is expresly noted by Moses compare I Deut. 19. with II. 1. and XX Numb 14. From whence by reason of their Infidelity they were led back again towards the Red Sea and incamped in the extremity of the Wilderness XXXIII Numb 35. where Ptolemy places Paran though there was another part of it called Paran near Kadesh XIII Numb 3 27. And from thence they were led back again in a long Circuit to the East part of the Land of Canaan This may be one reason why these two places are mentioned together with Sinai that God who there appeared to them was with them all the time they wandred about in the Wilderness till he brought them to the Borders of Canaan where they now were And another may be because in Mount Seir the brazen Serpent was erected by God's order for the Cure of such as were bitten by Serpents when they looked on it which was an illustrious Type of our blessed Saviour and the Salvation wrought by him XX Numb 4 9. And in the Desert to which Paran gave the name because it overlookt the whole though very large they received the
that they were the chief Support of the Kingdom of Israel Which began in Jeroboam who was King of ten Tribes after whom there followed a long Race of Kings till the Captivity There may be also some respect in these words unto Joshua the first Governour of all the People who was of the Tribe of Ephraim as of Manasseh were Jair Jephthah and Gideon who were famous Men among the Judges It is remarkable also here that Joseph is compared to the Firstling of a Bullock because Reuben being set aside for his Incest Joseph had the Right of Primogeniture in part translated unto him 1 Chron. V. 1 2. and in consequence of it had a double Portion in the Land of Canaan It is to be noted likewise that he is said to be like unto the Firstling of his Bullock because there were not more goodly Bullocks any where than in Bashan IV Amos 1. which fell to the share of some of the Children of Manasseh XVII Josh 5. There have been some great Men who from this place and other Conjectures have fancied that Joseph was worshipped in Egypt after his Death under the form of an Ox by the name of Serapis Which Bochartus hath confuted in the Book forenamed Cap. XXXIV And his horns are like the horns of an Vnicorn This is a further description of the power and strength of the House of Joseph for an Horn is every where an Emblem of mighty Power and Force and an Vnicorn as we translate the word Reem is a very strong as well as stately Creature But Bochartus hath alledged a great many things to prove that Reem is a sort of wild Goat in Arabia as big as a Deer and of the same colour which they now call Gazellus P. I. Hierozoicon Lib. III. Cap. XXVII There were some of them sent lately to the French King by the Divan of Tripoli which had black Horns in shape like those of a Goat only they were round and pointed But the tallness strength and swiftness of this Creature together with its fierce untameable Nature hath made Ludolphus who at first was of Bochart's opinion to conclude upon second thoughts that Reem in Scripture signifies the Rhinoceros as the Vulgar Latin here translates the word See Lib. I. Commentar in Histor Aethiop Cap. X. N. 74. Which seems not so well to agree with these words of Moses which suppose the Creature here spoken of to have two Horns he using the Plural Number with which the two Tribes descended from Joseph are very fitly compared And so David mentions the Horns of the Reem XXII Psal 22. But whatsoever Creature it was Princes and great Men were wont to be compared to it as appears from XXXIV Isa 7. where the Grandees as we now speak of Edom are called Vnicorns as in the following words they are compared to Bullocks and Bulls With them he shall push the people together Throw down all that oppose him particularly the Canaanites For these saith the Hierusalem Targum are the great Men of the Amorites whom Joshua the Son of Nun slew who was of the Tribe of Ephraim and the Captains which Gideon the Son of Joash slew who was of the Tribe of Manasseh To the ends of the Earth Of the Land of Canaan And they are the ten thousands of Ephraim and they are the thousands of Manasseh These things shall be performed by the numerous Armies of Ephraim and Manasseh Or these are the Benedictions of these two Tribes the younger of which he signifies should be more powerful than the elder according to the Prophecy of Jacob XLVIII Gen. 19. Verse 18 Ver. 18. And of Zebulun he said rejoyce Zebulun in thy going out About their business as the Hierusalem Targum expounds it that is their Merchandise which they exercised upon the Sea of Genesaret where they were situated and not far from the Mediterranean In which he prays they might have such good Success as to fill their hearts with joy There are those who understand this of their going out to War against their Enemies which is the Exposition of Onkelos And so this Phrase is often used particularly in XIV Gen. 8. and the Valour of this Tribe is upon one occasion celebrated in V Judges 18. But Jacob's Prophecy determines us rather to the other sense XLIX Gen. 13. where he represents this Tribe as Mariners rather than Soldiers Though it must be acknowledged that there were greater numbers among them in David's time who were expert Warriors 1 Chron. XII 33. and that the Israelites generally were not addicted to Traffick the Sea-coast being possessed by the Philistims and the Canaanites save only what belonged to this Tribe And Issachar in thy Tents The same Hierusalem Targum expounds it Rejoyce ye House of Issachar when ye come into your Schools for this was a Learned Tribe at least in some Ages as appears from 1 Chron. XII 32. But Jacob's Prophecy rather determines us to another sense which is that they should grow rich by feeding Cattle and by Husbandry for which their Country being very proper they chose rather that quiet kind of Life then Merchandise Though they were near Neighbours to Zebulun and for that reason as well as because they were Brethren by the same Mother are here put both together in one Benediction This seems also best to agree with the Phrase of rejoycing in their Tents in which they are said anciently to dwell who fed Cattle IV Gen. 10. And perhaps the Learning that the Children of Issachar are said to have had in 1 Chron. XII 32. which consisted in the understanding of the times was nothing else but their skill in the proper Seasons for Sowing and Planting and Pruning c. to know what Israel ought to do in the management and improvement of their Land which was of great use especially in that Country Ver. 19. They shall call the People unto the Mountain Here Moses predicts the House of God should be set upon a Mountain unto which he saith Zebulun for Verse 19 the latter end of the Verse shows he speaks particularly of them should invite the rest of their Tribes by their forwardness and zeal to go up to worship God at the three great Festivals So the Hierusalem Targum paraphrases Behold the People of the House of Zebulun shall be ready to go to the mount of the holy House of the LORD Or by the People perhaps he means the Gentiles their Neighbours whom they should endeavour to bring to the Service of the true God Which was especially fulfilled when Christ came IV Matth. 15 16. There they shall offer Sacrifices of Righteousness Liberal Sacrifices out of their honest gains by Merchandise For they shall suck of the abundance of the Seas Import abundance of various Commodities and grow rich by their Traffick And of Treasure hid in the Sand. This is a further amplification of the same thing relating particularly to their importation of Gold and Silver and precious Stones which are digged
so much as a wrinkle in his Cheeks So some of the Ancients interpret the last Clause Others He had not lost so much as a Tooth out of his Mouth See Bocharius in his Hierozoicon P. I. Lib. II. Cap. XLV p. 506. Both Onkelos and the Hierusalem Targum refer it to the Splendor of his Countenance which continued to the last From hence it was that the Heathen who were not wholly unacquainted with this Story but had not a perfect knowledge of it imagined that Moses was troubled to die when he was so vigorous For Trebellius Pollio in the Life of Claudius saith that the most learned Mathematicians were wont to say that no Man lived beyond an Hundred and twenty years For though Moses lived an Hundred and five and twenty years so he mistakes being Dei ut Judaeorum libri loquantur familiaris a Man familiar with God as the Books of the Jews tell us yet he complaining that juvenis interiret he died when he was young they say he was told by an uncertain God that no Man should ever live longer This Mistake arose from their misinterpretation of those words VI Gen. 3. Yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years For Huetius well observes that this incertus Deus was the true God the Creator of Heaven and Earth whom St. Paul saith they called also the unknown God Demonstr Evang. Propos IV. Cap. I. N. LVII And I cannot but add that this passage out of Trebellius was taken notice of above an hundred years ago by a learned Man I have often mentioned David Chytraeus to show that these Sacred Books were not unknown to the Heathen and that they had a Reverence for them Verse 8 Ver. 8. And the Children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days The time of Mourning for the Dead was longer or shorter according to the Dignity of the Person And the Jews have a Tradition which distinguishes between the days of Weeping and Mourning The former of which never exceeded a Month which was the time they wept for Moses the latter never lasted more than a year as they gather from the Example of the greatest Doctor they ever had R. Judah who composed the Mischna for whom they mourned Twelve Months See Schickard in his Jus Regium Cap. VI. Theor. XIX and upon L Gen. 3 10. XX Numb 29. So the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended They lamented him compleatly thirty days and no longer By which it seems that weeping and mourning whatsoever difference was between them were anciently of the same length though the Jews in the forenamed Tradition are pleased to make the one last much longer than the other Now by this and what follows in the Book of Joshua we may certainly know the truth of what I said on v. 5. concerning the day on which Moses died For if we add unto these thirty days which followed immediately upon it the three days wherein the Spies lay hid in the Mountain II Josh 22. and allow three or four days more for their going and coming back and then add the three days they lay by Jordan before they passed over III Josh 2. they make just a Month and ten days from the first day of the last Month when I supposed Moses died unto the day they got safe over Jordan which was the tenth day of the first Month. Whereas if we reckon as the Jews do that Moses died on the seventh day of the last Month it would have been the seventeenth day of the first Month before they got over Jordan I observe also that though the Talmudists generally make him to have died on the seventh day of Adar yet there have been some who placed it on the first For the Medrasch Rabbah telling the story of Haman's casting Lots to find the best time to do Execution on the Jews saith he pitched upon the Month ADAR because it had been unlucky to the Jews by the death of their Master Moses therein But he did not consider saith that Medrasch that as Moses died on the first day of this Month so he was born on the same first day Ver. 9. And Joshua the Son of Nun was full of the Spirit of Wisdom To take the Government upon Verse 9 him and manage it prudently as soon as Moses left them Which was necessary to be mentioned that it might not be thought they wanted a Head to conduct them as their Neighbours possibly might imagine when the News came of Moses his death For as the Samaritans tell the story in Hottinger's Smegma Orientale p. 462. when they heard the Lamentations which the whole Congregation made for Moses they began to rejoyce and gather their Forces together to set upon the Israelites as wanting a Leader But they soon found themselves mistaken Joshua having taken the Charge of them and being endued with his Spirit For Moses had laid his hands upon him Whereby he committed to him the Supream Authority after his departure and implored the Spirit of God to qualifie him for it For power to execute any Office among the Jews was given by laying on of hands whereby they were ordained and appointed to it And this was a Rite of Prayer also as many have observed for the obtaining the Gifts of the Spirit which were necessary for the discharge of that Office And though no words of Prayer be mentioned yet the very laying on of hands denotes it as our learned Dr. Outram observes from this very place and from I Tim. V. 22. Lib. I. de Sacrif Cap. XV. N. VIII Of Moses his laying on Hands upon Joshua we read XXVII Numbers 18 c. And he was solemnly also a little before Moses his death presented unto God by his own Command XXXI of this Book 14 c. And the Children of Israel hearkned unto him and did as the LORD commanded Moses Obeyed him as their Supream Governour according to God's Command delivered to Moses XXVII Numb 20. XXXI Deut. 23. See 1 Josh 16 17 c. Ver. 10. And there rose not a Prophet since in Verse 10 Israel like to Moses This is a plain demonstration that the promise God makes by Moses that he would raise up a Prophet like to him XVIII Deut. 15 19 c. was not fulfilled either in Joshua or in Samuel who it is likely wrote this Chapter as I said before and the best of the Jews confess shall not be fulfilled till MESSIAH come Thus the Author of Sepher Ikkarim Lib. III. Cap. XX. It cannot be but that a Prophet shall at last arise like to Moses or greater than he for the King Messiah shall be as great or greater Therefore these words are not to be expounded as if there should never be such a Prophet but that in all the time of the following Prophets till the Cessation of Prophecy none should arise like to Moses But after that there shall be one like him or rather greater than he Whom the LORD