for new ones even when the Supream Powers endeavoured to hinder them And no man shall save thee This was so remarkably fulfilled in these parts of the World that the Magistrates who had a mind in many places to preserve them from such Outrages as none but Jews can justifie durst not venture to appear for their Rescue And those that did take them into their Protection were the Instruments of their further Wrongs by grievous exactions for the maintenance of the War undertaken in their defence So strangely as that excellent Person forenamed speaks Chap. XXIX did the Wisdom of God bring that to pass which his Servant Moses had foretold in this Verse No man shall save thee For even succour it self turned into their sorrow and it is hard to say whether mens purposes for their good or for their evil brought greater plagues upon them Thus it was before their first Captivity Pharaoh King of Egypt came to help them but was not able XXXVII Jerem. 7. XLVI 17. Verse 30 Ver. 30. Thou shalt betroth a wife and another man shall lie with her Take her away from thee before thou canst consummate the Marriage This was a sore Affliction for all Nations accounted it a singular blessing to compleat a Marriage and on the contrary a Curse to be defeated of such delightful hopes Whence Callimachus in his Hymn to Apollo promising many Blessings to the Youths who sung and danced before his Altar mentions this in the first place verse 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That he would be with them and prosper them if they were to be married Thou shalt build an house and thou shalt not dwell therein But another take possession of it Zephan I. 13. Thou shalt plant a vineyard and shalt not gather the grapes thereof So we rightly translate the Hebrew word which as the Margin notes is thou shalt not prophane or make common the Grapes thereof which was not to be done till the fifth year after the Plantation Before which time God threatens another should enter into it and enjoy the Fruits thereof Ver. 31. Thine Ox shall be slain before thine eyes and Verse 31 thou shalt not eat thereof thine Ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face and shall not be restored to thee c. All these are but particular Instances of their grievous Oppressions in all Countries where their Goods have been confiscated the Bills of Debts owing to them all cancelled Of which the same pious and learned Person Dr. Jackson gives several Instances in the forenamed Chapter Ver. 32. Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given Verse 32 unto another people This was literally fulfilled when the Jews were banished out of Portugal in the time of King Emanuel who ordered their Children under Nineteen years of Age to be taken from them and brought up in the Christian Religion When In ants also were torn from their Mothers Breasts with far more grief and sorrow than they had at their coming out of their Womb and many hundred years before that when the Goths were Lords of Spain and suffered no Parents to have any Commerce with their Children after the seventh year of their Age but by publick Decree they were committed to Christians to be educated by them who married them to their own Sons and Daughters See the same Dr. Jackson Chapt. XXVIII Paragr 1 2. And thine eyes shall look and fail with longing for them all the day long Their Women filling the Heavens with more hideous shrieks than the Egyptians did when all their First-born were slain in the night For these were bereft at once of all their dear Children in the open Sun in vain begging to have them restored to them And to increase their Calamity as that excellent Person observes Chap. XXIX Paragraph 15. many Moors professing Mahometism were transported out of Portugal the same time without such violence offered to them What was the reason saith he God would have a manifest distinction made between the Jews and other People that this Prophecy might be fulfilled And there shall be no might in thy hand Either to protect or to rescue them from violence Where I cannot but take notice with the same Doctor that the Moors then had some power in their hand which moved the Portugals perhaps to abstain from such usage of them lest the report of it coming to the African Mahometans they might attempt to avenge their wrongs But these wretched Jews had no power any where none to avenge their Injuries which God had ordained they should suffer at all times and in all places wheresoever they came without redress Ver. 33. The fruit of thy Land and all thy labours shall a Nation which thou knowest not eat up This was remarkably fulfilled when Salmaneser came and dispossessed the Ten Tribes and when Nebuchadnezzar Verse 33 carried the other two Tribes away and placed other People in their room There were many strange People also among the Romans who devoured their Labours before their last destruction by Titus And ever since they have been subject to depredations of various sorts having scraped up Riches with great Care which have often faln into the hands of Strangers Particularly in the time of the famous Crusado's when divers Nations marched in great numbers to recover the Holy Land from Infidels their business was in their way to rob and spoil the Jews and to make great slaughter of them as both Jewish and Christian Writers witness Particularly the Author of Schalscheleth Hakkabala and our Matthew Paris And thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway That they should not only sometimes or in some Ages or in some one or few Kingdoms but always in every Kingdom whither they removed as he speaks v. 25. suffer such violence and wrong as no other People hath done must needs be thought to proceed rather from Divine Justice than Mens inclination to Injustice Which could not but have varied with the diversity of Times and Places and the several Dispositions of Parties among whom they have been dispersed And yet the brief enumeration of their particular Spoils and hard Usage which Dr. Jackson makes in the forenamed Chapter whose words these are in the beginning of it throughout the most Civil and best govern'd States of Europe will abundantly confirm the truth of Moses his words in this place Thou shalt never but suffer wrong and violence alway as our old Translation hath it The same is lately observed by an eminently learned Person J. Wagenseil in his Confutation of R. Lipman's Carm. Memoriale p. 241. where he takes notice that the Jews no sooner have grown rich and by degrees become considerable in any Country but some great Calamity hath befaln them This the attentive consideration of their History will justifie particularly as he observes in France Spain and England God not suffering them to be quite destroyed like the Amalekites Jebusites and Philistims of whom no Foot-steps remain but be scattered and tossed about
forth out of Egypt This seems to belong to the Ammonites who had no Compassion towards the Israelites when they were distressed in the Wilderness but though they were near of kin to them did not show them that Civility which is commonly expressed to meer strangers in their Travels XIV Gen. 18. XVIII 2 31. XIX 1 2. We do not find any mention of this barbarity of theirs in the foregoing History but we read how kind God ordered the Israelites to be to them in not medling with them much less distressing them as they passed by their Country II Deut. 19. Which aggravated their Inhumanity in not vouchsafing this common kindness to the Israelites of giving them the Refreshment of Bread and Water as they went by them And because they hired against thee Balaam the Son of Beor of Pethor of Mesopotamia to curse thee As the foregoing passage peculiarly refers to the Ammonites so this doth to the Moabites who with the Assistance of the Midianites invited Balaam by the Promises of a great Reward to come from the Eastern Country and curse the Israelites See XXII Numb 5 6 7. For these two Reasons God laid this Prohibition upon his People in which Maimonides observes the Divine Justice in proportioning Punishments to Offences For Amalek coming out against the Israelites when they were newly come forth from Egypt to cut them off with the Sword God commanded their Memory to be blotted out XXV 19. but the Ammonites being only basely covetous and the Moabites acting against them only by Craft and not by Force God inflicted no other Punishment upon them but this That his People should avoid all Affinity with them and show no love to them More Nevochim P. III. Cap. XLI And the MS. Author of Etz-Hachajim mentioned by Wagenseil in the place forenamed makes this the ground of the distinction mentioned before between the Males and the Females of those Countries Their Males saith he might never marry with an Israelitish Woman but by a Tradition delivered down to us from Moses in Mount Sinai we hold that the Women of those Countries if they embraced the Jewish Religion might be married to a Man of Israel For the Women must be thought in all reason not to have been guilty as the Men were of that which was the reason of this Law it not being the Custom for Women to bring out Bread and Water to Travellers nor did they send Ambassadors to hire Balaam to come and curse the Israelites Accordingly we find Ruth who was a Moabitess married to Boaz the Ancestor of David Verse 5 Ver. 5. Nevertheless the LORD thy God would not hearken unto Balaam but the LORD thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee because the LORD thy God loved thee Balaam indeed did not Curse the Israelites as the Moabites desired and he intended but no Thanks was owing to him for that but it was to be ascribed to the Love of God to his People who constrained him against his will to Bless them Verse 6 Ver. 6. Thou shalt not seek their peace nor their prosperity all thy days for ever By entering into any League with them much less by taking them into Conjugal Society but on the contrary they were to look upon them as dangerous Enemies who being their near Neighbours would watch all Opportunities to ensnare or disturb them Some of the Jews would have this to be an Exception to the General Rule XX. 10. that they might not offer them Terms of Peace as they were bound to do to all Men but the Seven Nations of Canaan though if they desired Peace they were bound they say to grant it See Schickard in his Mischpat Hammelech p. 118. But Grotius hath well observed upon V Matth. 43. that God did not give the Jews any Right to their Country as appears from I Deut. 19. and therefore the meaning here is that they should not make any League with them of mutual Assistance which they called foedera 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Verse 7 Ver. 7. Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite So as never to enter into the Society of Marriage with them they being a circumcised People For he is thy brother Nearer of kin to them than the Ammonites and Moabites Esau their Father being the Twin-brother of Jacob. And so Moses calls them when he delivers God's Command to the Israelites not to meddle with them II Deut. 8. We passed by from our Brethren the Children of Esau c. Here it may be observed that the word Brother comprehended more than the Israelites as our Saviour shows the word Neighbour did X Luke 29 c. Thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian because thou wast a stranger in his Land That is the Egyptians in a sore Famine sustained them their Children Flocks and Herds very kindly the memory of which benefit God would not have forgotten though in future Generations they were cruelly oppressed by them Ver. 8. The Children that are begotten of them shall Verse 8 enter into the Congregation of the LORD in the third Generation When they had been Proselytes for three Generations it was lawful to marry with them Nay some of the Jews are so liberal here of their kindness as to understand by banim not Children in general but Sons with whom only Marriage is forbidden till the third Generation Marriage with their Daughters being lawful as they think as soon as they turned compleat Proselytes Upon which account Solomon took Pharaoh's Daughter to Wife See Selden Lib. V. de Jure Nat. Gent. Cap. XIV XV. where he observes that all this held good only till the Captivity of Babylon when all these Nations being confused they might marry with any of them if they became Jews For Wars and Colonies and Deportations had made such a mixture of People that one could not be known from another This Wagenseil hath lately confirmed out of several Hebrew Authors whom Mr. Selden did not trouble himself to mention and particularly out of the MS. Etz-Hachajim which he most highly commends See p. 149. upon Sota They all agree likewise that none of these Laws extended to Proselytes who might marry with any of these Nations See Selden ib. Cap. XVIII Verse 9 Ver. 9. When the host goeth forth against thine Enemy then keep thee from every wicked thing This was a Rule to be observed at all times but then especially when they had the greatest need of the Divine help for which wicked People could not reasonably hope and when there was the greatest danger of being wicked in a time of such licence as Soldiers commonly take There is a Sentence very like this in Agathias Lib. II. mentioned by Grotius towards the conclusion of his Prolegomena to the Book de Jure Belli Pacis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Injustice and neglect of God's Service are ever to be avoided as most pernicious but especially in a time of War and when Men are upon the point of giving battle Which he proves
VIII Eccles 1. All which set forth a People stern fierce undaunted cruel and hard-hearted that had neither mercy nor modesty but inflexibly pursued their designs which is the true Character of the old Romans Which shall not regard the person of the old nor show favour to the young These are wont to be pitied being unable to hurt others but in their Wars with the Jews the Romans spared no body their Rage and fury extinguishing all reverence to grey hairs and all tenderness to young babes Verse 51 Ver. 51. And he shall eat the fruit of thy Cattle and the fruit of thy Land until thou be destroyed For they brought such vast Armies as devoured all the Provisions in the Country Which also shall not leave thee corn wine or oil or the increase of thy kine or flocks of thy sheep until he have destroyed thee He repeats it again in more particular words to set forth the Desolation to be so great that nothing should remain for their support Ver. 52. And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates Verse 52 The Country being wasted the Jews fled into their fenced Cities where they had laid up some Provisions to enable them to hold out a siege Vntil thy high and fenced walls come down wherein thou trustest throughout thy Land This was literally fulfilled by the Romans to whom the best fortified places were forced to yield as may be seen in Josephus his History of the Jewish War which is the best Commentary on this part of the Prophecy The Walls of Jerusalem particularly were razed by Pompey and Sosius took it again by force in the time of Augustus But Tacitus tells us That the Jews took such advantage of the Covetousness of Claudius that they purchased of him the liberty to fortifie their City again Which they did so well that they trusted as Moses here speaks to its strength which was so great that Titus could not take it but by a long siege which concluded in its utter ruin He shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all the Land which the LORD thy God hath given thee He repeats it again that they might not think to find security in any place whatsoever though never so strongly fortified and well provided with all things necessary for its defence Ver. 53. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body Verse 53 the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters which the LORD thy God hath given thee in the siege and in the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee This was fulfilled to a tittle by Vespasian and his Son Titus who after they had vanquished them in the Field begirt them so close in Jerusalem that they could not stir out and rather than Surrender perished by a lamentable Famine For there were vast Multitudes of People shut up in the City which run thither from all parts for safety Who brought the Famine sooner upon them and made it more severe when it came If we may believe R. David Ganz it was further'd also by a Fire which the seditious People kindled whereby Fourteen hundred Magazines were consumed stored with Provisions to serve two hundred thousand People for twenty years For this he quotes Josephus though no such thing is to be found in him Verse 54 Ver. 54. So that the man that is tender and very delicate among you The two Hebrew words for tender and delicate signifie a Man that had lived in pleasure and fared daintily like the rich Man in the Gospel His eye shall be evil toward his brother and towards the wife of his bosom c. Grutch every bit which he sees his nearest Relations eat being ready to snatch it out of the Mouth of his dear Consort and Children and put it into his own For this is the effect of a ravenous hunger And toward the remnant of his Children which he shall have This imports that they should see many of them die in the siege For Famine forced them to feed on bad Food and that bred Pestilential Diseases which swept away many and increased still more by the Carcases of those that were famished If any credit may be given to one of their own Authors David Ganz there were above an hundred and sixteen thousand dead Bodies of the rich and honourable Men of Jerusalem carried out at one Gate of the City which was that of the Brook Kedron besides those which were carried out at other Gates and thrown over the Walls And this he pretends to have out of Minchas the Son of Seruk who was a faithful Register in that City Josephus mentions almost the same number Lib. VII de Bello Judaico cap. ult Ver. 55. So that he shall not give to any of them of Verse 55 the flesh of his Children whom he shall eat This is a description of the sorest Famine which forced them after they had eaten up their Horses Dogs Cats and such like Creatures and their very Belts and Shoes to eat even their own Children Which Fathers who used to live deliciously Moses prophecies should eat up themselves privately and let none share with them Because he hath nothing left in the siege and in the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates They were so sorely pincht with Famine in a long siege that they had nothing else remaining but their own Off-spring and one another wherewith to satisfie their hunger Josephus observes Lib. VII de Bello Judaico Cap. 18. that Jerusalem had been taken five times before this but never suffered so dreadfully as by Titus whom the Talmudists therefore call by the name of impious Which Epithet belonged rather to themselves who having with wicked hands as St. Peter speaks crucified and slain their Redeemer were by the just Judgment of God upon them for their Infidelity hardned in an obstinate belief and expectation of a Deliverer from the Romans till they were reduced to those Extremities Verse 56 Ver. 56. The tender and delicate Women among you that would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness A description of the greatest softness and delicacy which both the Chaldees express by a word that signifies the nicest motion and going so slow a pace as if they were loth to touch the ground See Bochartus in his Phaleg Lib. IV. Cap. XIX Her eye shall be evil toward the Husband of her bosom and toward her son and toward her daughter This is only an higher instance of the cruel Effects of their Distress by Famine For Women especially of the better sort are naturally more tender and pitiful than Men and have the most passionate Love to their Children which Moses here prophecies should be quite extinguished by hunger And it was literally fulfilled both in the siege of Samaria wherein a Woman boiled her Son 2 Kings V. 28 29. as a Man did in the first siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians II Baruch 3. and see
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
that this Nation is thy People And see v. 15 16. CHAP. X. Verse 1 Verse 1. AT that time the LORD said unto me Hew the two Tables of Stone like unto the first and come up unto me into the Mount After his Anger was something appeased he ordered Moses to come up to him where he had been before and bring with him two Tables of Stone like those he had broke that God might renew his Covenant with them But there was this difference as I observed XXXIV Exod. 1. that God himself made the former Tables but he bad Moses make these which signifies some Abatement of his Favour And make thee an Ark of Wood. This Command was given at his first going up into the Mount XXV Exod. 10. and perhaps was renewed again now upon the occasion of making these new Tables which were to be put into it Ver. 2. And I will write on the Tables the words that were in the first Tables which thou brakest So we read he told him XXXIV Exod. 1. And thou shalt put them in the Ark. As soon as it Verse 2 was made to receive them Ver. 3. And I made an Ark of Shittim-wood This Verse 3 looks as if he made an Ark before he made the Tables that when he brought them down it might be ready to receive them And it hath given some ground to the Jewish Doctors to say that there were two Arks one made by Moses wherein he put the Tables of Stone that were broken and those that were renewed until the others was made by Bezaleel For we read expresly that Bezaleel made the Ark XXXVII Exod. 1. and here it is said that Moses made it So that they conclude there were two made and this made by Moses they fancy was the Ark that went before them in their Marches and Battles which the other never did by God's order but only when they entred into Canaan III Josh for when of their own selves they carried it forth in the days of Eli God was angry with them and delivered it into the Enemies hand 1 Sam. IV. 3 4 11. But Aben-Ezra Nachmanides and Abarbinel have confuted this by strong Reasons to the contrary as may be seen in Buxtorf's Histor Arcoe p. 35 36 c. And as to this place they are of Opinion that Moses speaks of the Ark made afterwards by Bezaleel which Moses is said to have made because he commanded him to make it Just as Solomon is said to have built the Temple because he caused it to be built Or if it be granted that Moses made an Ark before he went the second time into the Mount which this Verse seems to Countenance it will not follow that there were two Arks in use among the Israelites for this Ark now made was of meer Wood not overlaid with Gold and designed only as a Chest wherein to keep the Tables handsomely till the Ark could be made by Bezaleel and then the Tables were translated into that and this Chest of Moses laid aside And hewed two Tables of Stone like unto the first and went up into the Mount c. See XXXIV Exod 4. Verse 4 Ver. 4. And he wrote on the Tables according to the first writing the Ten Commandments XXXIV Exod. 28. Which the LORD commanded you in the Mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the Assembly When the whole Congregation was gathered together at the foot of the Mount See IX 10. And the LORD gave them unto me To carry down to the People Verse 5 Ver. 5. And I turned my self From the Divine Presence where he had been supplicating for Mercy and had received from thence the Tables of the Covenant And came down from the Mount At the end of Forty Days and Nights XXXIV Exod. 28 29. And put the Tables in the Ark which I had made Which he commanded to be made by Bezaleel XXXVII Exod. 1. and put into the Tabernacle as soon as it was built with these Tables in it XL Exod. 20 21. And there they be as the LORD commanded me Though Moses mention his making the Ark before his hewing the Tables and going up into the Mount v. 3. yet these words seem to determine that he speaks of the Ark made by Bezaleel according to his directions For now that they were going over Jordan the Tables were in the Ark which he is said here to have made Which was certainly the Ark of the Covenant not that Chest which some suppose Moses to have made to keep the Tables in till the other could be sitted for their Reception Ver. 6. And the Children of Israel took their journey Verse 6 from Beeroth of the Children of Jaakan to Mosera Not immediately but after they had passed through several other places and made some stay in them For they went from Bene-Jaakan to Gudgodah or Hor-hagidgad and so to Jotbath and the rest of the Mansions mentioned XXXIII Numb 32 33 c. until they came to Mount Hor. There Aaron died and there he was buried At Mosera or the top of Mount Hor which was another part of the same Mountain as Horeb was of Sinai And Eleazar his Son ministred in the Priests Office in his stead The greatest difficulty is to give an account how this comes in here and what connexion this and the following Verse have with what went before All the satisfaction that I can give to it is this that Moses having told them that he put the Tables of the Testimony or Covenant into the Ark as a Token God was reconciled to them and that there they still were as the LORD commanded he puts them out of all doubt of it by telling them that though Aaron who had the special Care of the Holy Place and all things in it committed to him was dead yet Eleazar his Son was still alive who could testifie those Holy Things remained as when Moses first placed them there he being Consecrated to the Priests Office instead of Aaron and in this very Mount XX Numb 25 26 c. which is the occasion of mentioning this Station here when most of the rest are omitted Verse 7 Ver. 7. And from thence Not from Mosera but from Bene-jaakan as appears from XXXIII Numb 32. where a full Account is given of their Removals which are but just touched here They journeyed to Gudgodah Called in the Book of Numbers by the Name of Hor-hagidgad And none will think it strange that there is such variation in the proper Names of Places and of Men in Profane Writers as well as the Scriptures who considers as Conradus Pellicanus here notes how differently the Names of Places are pronounced now from what they were in former Ages and how much one Nation differs from another when they speak of them and what Alterations are made from the first Founders of Nations and Cities by those that conquer them and change all Names to their own Glory See how Names were changed among the Israelites in
without repeating them all again In every place that thou seest To be beautiful lovely and inviting by its situation and shady Trees and Fountains c. Such as are mentioned v. 2. Which the Gentiles chose perhaps wherein to Sacrifice because they were more delightful or solemn than other Whence Ezekiel VI. 3. mentions Rivers and Valleys together with Mountains where there were fine Pastures and Springs of Water which were so pleasant and refreshing in those Countries that they fancied the gods delighted in them So St. Hierom notes upon VII Jerem. that this Gentile Error omnes provincias occupavit c. spread it self in all parts of the World That they should offer their Sacrifices at the heads of Fountains and delightful Groves Verse 14 Ver. 14. But in the place which the LORD shall chuse in one of thy Tribes there shalt thou offer thy Burnt-offerings This he had said before v 5 6 11. but repeats it again because of the great importance of it to prevent all strange Worship Elijah indeed offered upon Mount Carmel after the Temple was built but it was by a Prophetical Inspiration and if any one at that time had askt him if they might take that liberty he would have answered by no means but he that offers out of Jerusalem shall be cut off XVII Levit. 4. As for what I do now it is an extraordinary Case to convince the lying Prophets of Baal c. Thus Maimonides in Geder Zeraim And there thou shalt do all that I command thee Bring their Tithes and First-fruits before-mentioned v. 6. and eat and rejoyce before the LORD v. 7. Ver. 15. Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat Verse 15 flesh For common Food In all thy Gates In any City Town or House While they were in the Wilderness indeed they might not kill their Beasts but only at the Door of the Tabernacle and consequently they eat nothing but Peace-offerings which had been first presented unto God and part of them burnt at his Altar XVII Levit. 3 4 c. But when they went into Canaan they were freely indulged to kill their Beasts in any place without bringing any part of them to the Altar Whatsoever thy Soul lusteth after Of all sorts of Creatures not prohibited in the XIth of Leviticus According to the Blessings of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee Suitable to every Man's Estate and Condition The unclean and the clean may eat thereof They who were under any Legal Uncleanness might not eat of the Sacrifices but of common Food at their ordinary Tables they might as well as others As of the Roe-buck and as of the Hart. He instances in these because there was great plenty of them in that Country as Aelian observes in the end of his fifth Book Where he saith they were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the highest Mountains of Amanus Libanus and Carmel These Creatures might not be sacrificed to God but they might eat of others which were used in Sacrifice Sheep Goats Oxen as freely as of these which were not Verse 16 Ver. 16. Only ye shall not eat the Blood But of the Blood of those Creatures they might no more eat than of those that were sacrificed at the Altar But as there it was to be sprinkled upon the Altar and then poured out at the foot of it so here it was to be poured on the Earth Ye shall pour it upon the Earth as water So that it might sink into the Ground and disappear as Water doth when it is poured on the Earth Which is so strictly enjoyned though it was not the Blood of an Oblation to prevent those Superstitions which were exercised by the old Idolaters about the Blood of their Sacrifices In which they thought their Daemons delighted and by eating of which they hoped to have Communion with them as Maimonides observes in his More Nevochim P. III. Cap. XLVI Verse 17 Ver. 17. Thou mayest not eat within thy Gates In their own private Habitations The Tithe of thy Corn or of thy Wine or of thy Oil. This cannot be meant of the Tithe paid to the Levites which the People might not eat any where being appropriated to the Levites alone He speaking therefore of a Tithe which the People might eat though not at home yet in the place where the Sanctuary was it must be meant of that which the Hebrews call the second Tithe which was set out after that to the Levites was paid Concerning which he speaks XIV 22 23 c. Or the firstlings of the Herds or of thy Flock These were entirely the Priests Portion by an express Law XVIII Numb 15 17 18. and therefore could not lawfully be eaten by the People either at home or at the Sanctuary Which makes it necessary to understand this of some other Firstlings and it is not improbable that it is meant of the Females which opened the Womb. For the Males only were the LORD's as appears from XIII Exodus and other places who gave them to his Priests but he would have the First-born Females also to be in some sort Sacred by requiring them to be eaten at his Sanctuary where his Priests had their share of them For I see no ground to think that as there was a secondary Tithe so there was a secondary Firstling set apart by every Man to this use Nor any of thy Vows which thou vowest c. All such things were also wholly the LORD's XXVII Levit. 28. and given by him to his Priests XVIII Numb 14. But that is only to be understood of what was vowed to God absolutely without mentioning any particular use to which it was designed Besides which they might vow what they pleased to be spent in Solemn Feasts with the Levites the Widows the Fatherless and other poor People and of such Moses here speaks Or Heave-offerings of thine hand These were First-fruits of Corn Wine and Oil as I said upon v. 6. which were also the Priests Portion XVIII Numb 12. Therefore this can be meant of no other First-fruits but such as Men freely offered without any obligation to it to be spent in this fashion for he was speaking before of such kind of things Unless we will understand this of the First-fruits of young Trees which might not be eaten in three Years after they were planted but in the fourth Year were to be holy to praise the LORD withal XIX Levit. 24. which as Josephus saith were spent in these Sacred Feasts See there Verse 18 Ver. 18. But thou must eat them before the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD thy God shall chuse thou and thy Son and thy Daughter c. See before v. 11 12. Verse 19 Ver. 19. Take heed to thy self that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the Earth He gives this Caution lest Covetousness should make them defraud the Levites of their Tithes and not let them have convenient Habitations or prophaneness make them not invite
comes that the Physician hath obtained his end he changes the Diet and permits his Patient what he formerly forbad and prohibits that which he formerly permitted Which exactly agrees to what our blessed Saviour hath done CHAP. XIII Chapter XIII Verse 1. IF there arise among you In future Verse 1 times A Prophet One that pretends to have a Message from God delivered to him in a Vision or by the Word of the LORD For there was a constant Succession of Prophets to whom God revealed his mind several ways among the Jews to preserve them in the true Worship of God and instruct them in their Law and admonish them on some occasions of things to come Which was the more necessary because there were such kind of Persons among the Gentiles Or a dreamer of Dreams Who pretended God had appeared to him in a Dream as he did unto Jacob XXVIII Gen. 11. and revealed his mind to him Such there were in Jeremiah's time XXIX Jerem. 8. And give thee a sign Foretell something Or a wonder By what follows one would think this belongs to the foregoing words which are to be understood as if he had said If he foretell some wonderful thing which shall shortly come to pass Or it may be interpreted shall work a miracle unto which the Heathen did not so much pretend as they did to Predictions which were common among them Ver. 2. And the sign or the wonder come to pass whereof Verse 2 he spake unto thee The Event confirm the Prediction so that he seem a true Prophet Saying Let us go after other gods which thou hast not known and let us serve them And consequently he perswade you to worship other gods which he pretends is demonstrated to be lawful by the fulfilling of his Sign and Wonder Verse 3 Ver. 3. Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that Prophet or dreamer of Dreams Notwithstanding look upon him as a Lyar and not as a true Prophet For God cannot contradict himself nor do any thing to perswade Men to forsake him and give his Worship to another This shows that he still pursues his intention in this Chapter as well as all the foregoing to establish them in the Belief and Worship of one God according to the first Commandment From which nothing was more likely to seduce them than false Prophets who were the great Instruments of establishing the foulest Idolatry in Israel As appears from 1 Kings XVIII 19. where we read of no less then Four hundred Prophets of Baal and Four hundred and fifty Prophets of the Groves that is of other false gods particularly Astarte as Mr. Selden conjectures in his Syntagma II. de Diis Syris Cap. II. And there could not be a plainer Demonstration that a Man was a false Prophet than if he endeavoured to draw them to the Worship of other gods or if he pretended to speak in the Name of any other god XVIII Deut. 20. or if he commanded them to offer such Sacrifices as God abhorred Thus Aristander as David Chytraeus notes discovered himself to be a false Prophet though he foretold the destruction of Babylon for he required Humane Sacrifices to be offered As Tiresias also predicted Victory to the Thebans provided Creon's Daughter was offered up in Sacrifice and Chalcas the time of the Siege of Troy but together therewith commanded the Sacrifice of Iphigenia These and such like things plainly discovered they were not inspired by God who is the lover of Mankind and cannot delight in their Blood For the LORD your God proveth you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your Soul That there might be an open and publick discovery made whether they sincerely loved God or no or were stedfast in their Religion So Maimonides in his More Nevochim P. III. Cap. XXIV God would make known to the Nations of the World the measure of your Faith in the Truth of his Law and of the Approbation wherewith you apprehend it c. For it had been a great weakness to suffer even a Miracle to shake their Faith after it had been confirmed by so many Miracles Ver. 4. Ye shall walk after the LORD your God Verse 4 Follow the Will of God as Maimonides interprets it declared by himself More Nevochim P. I. Cap. XXXVIII Which is a plainer and more genuine Interpretation than that of the Gamera of Sota Cap. I. Sect. 52. where R. Chama expounds it of imitating God in cloathing the Naked visiting the Sick burying the Dead c. For Beneficence is the beginning and the end of the Divine Law Which is a pious sense but not here intended And fear him Worship him alone VI. 2. And keep his Commandments The greatest of which is this XI 13. And obey his voice Which you heard from Mount Sinai saying Thou shalt have no other gods but me And ye shall serve him and cleave unto him Stedfastly adhere unto his Service and not be drawn from it by any perswasion Verse 5 Ver. 5. And that Prophet or dreamer of Dreams These two signifie Persons who pretended to different sorts of Revelations by Visions or by Dreams Shall be put to death This the Jews interpret to signifie Strangulation unto which upon good proof of the Fact he was to be Sentenced by the great Sanhedrim For that was a received Maxim among them That a lying Prophet was to be judged no where but by the Council of LXX See Selden Lib. III. de Synedriis Cap. VI. N. I. Because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God who brought you out of the Land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the House of Bondage Perswaded you to forsake your God and his Service to whom you owe your Liberty and all your Possessions in the Land of Canaan To thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in These words express how zealous such Impostors were in their Importunities and how restless in their Endeavours to draw Men to Idolatry pressing them so earnestly as if they would force them to it So shalt thou put the Evil away from the midst of thee i. e. The danger of Idolatry by taking away the Life of him that would have seduced others unto it Verse 6 Ver. 6. If thy Brother the Son of thy Mother Who lay in the same Womb with him Or thy Son or thy Daughter Who were dearer than a Brother Or the Wife of thy bosom Who was still dearer sleeping in the same Bed with him as the Hierusalem Targum expounds it Or thy Friend which is as thine own Soul Whom thou lovest as thou dost thy Life He puts a Friend in the chief place as the Son of Sirach also doth XXXIII Ecclus. 19. which their Wives by the ill choice they made of them had not always in their Affection Here is no mention of Father or Mother because a Child as the Hebrews fancy was to have
were to make a spacious place into which all the Spoil and the Housholdstuff was to be brought and fire set to it to consume it as an Anathema or cursed thing What temperaments as they called them there were to mitigate the Severity of this Sentence see Mr. Selden in the place forenamed Sect. VII And shalt burn with fire the City and all the spoil thereof every whit for the LORD thy God For the Vindication of God's Honour and preserving Men in their Allegiance to him R. Simeon in the Title Sanhedrim interprets it in this manner Sect. VI. Thus saith the LORD if you do justice upon a City full of Idolatry I will account it as if you had offered an whole Burnt-offering unto me And it shall be an heap for ever it shall not be built again The Hebrew Doctors do not intirely agree in the Interpretation of these words For some of them say in that place of the Sanhedrim now named that they were not so much as to make a Garden or Orchard in that place Others of them say though it might not be restored into the form of a City yet they might employ the Ground in Plantations of Trees But there are those who interpret the words so rigidly that they think it was not lawful to erect any Building there not so much as a Dove-house but it was to lye waste See Selden Sect. VIII If any Man did attempt to build such a City he was to be beaten as the same great Man observes Lib. I. de Synedriis Cap. XIII p. 558. Verse 17 Ver. 17. And there shall cleave nothing of the cursed thing to thine hand They were not to take the smallest part of the Spoil to their own use For as long as the Wicked are in the World say the Jews in the forenamed Title Sanhedrim the fierce Anger of God will remain in the World but when they are removed the Wrath of God also will cease Now the wickedness of purloyning any thing that was a Cherem as the Hebrews call it or an accursed thing appears in the story of Achan who brought all Israel into danger by it as we read in the Seventh of Joshua And Saul is an eminent Example of it also for he lost his Kingdom for this Sin 1 Sam. XV. 3 9 19 26 c. That the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger This explains in part what he means in the former Verse when he bids them burn the City and the Spoil for the LORD their God i. e. To pacifie the Divine Majesty who was highly incensed by such a wickedness The punishment of which was indeed very terrible but very necessary because the Crime was of so high a nature that it struck at the very Foundation of their Religion and Government And shew thee mercy and have compassion upon thee Chapter XIV God promises to deal the better with them for executing this Judgment upon such dangerous Offenders And multiply thee as he hath sworn unto thy Fathers They were not to fear any want of People by cutting off such a Multitude for God promises to increase them by this loss Ver. 18. When thou shalt hearken to the voice of the Verse 18 LORD thy God to keep all his Commandments which I command thee this day c. It was not sufficient that they kept themselves from Idolatry unless they also executed his Vengeance upon Idolaters For the inflicting the Punishment before-named was as right in his eyes as the observance of any other of his Precepts CHAP. XIV Verse 1. YE are the Children of the LORD your Verse 1 God So the LORD had owned them to be when he sent Moses unto Pharaoh to command him to dismiss Israel telling him he was his Son even his First-born IV Exod. 22 23. This was a good Reason therefore why they should own no other God but him and consequently follow none of the Customs of Idolatrous People but be wholly governed by his Laws Ye shall not cut your selves This might seem to forbid the making any Incisions in their Body as the Heathen did at least in future times who marked themselves thereby to belong to such and such gods for the Israelites had received the Mark of God in their Flesh by Circumcision which obliged them to receive no other if the following words did not plainly determine this to their cutting themselves for the dead which hath been sufficiently explained in XIX Levit. 28. yet it is fit to note that the Hierusalem Targum expounds this of Incisions here and there for Idolatry And it may be further observed that the Heathen were wont to cut themselves in pangs of Devotion as appears by the Priests of Baal 1 Kings XVIII 28. as well as when they were full of Sorrow and Grief for the dead XVI Jerem. 6. and in all Publick Calamities XLI Jerem. 5. XLVII 5. All which arose from an opinion they had that the more they afflicted themselves the less they should be afflicted by God Nor any baldness between your eyes for the dead Some of the Heathen saith Theodoret Quoest XIII upon this Book cut off all their Hair and offered it to the Dead others shaved their Beards and others their Eye-brows and Eye-lids or which some think is the meaning of between their eyes the Hair in the fore-part of their Head or near their Temples as R. Solomon interprets it Which seems to be the meaning of the Hierusalem Targum which translates it Ye shall not make any baldness in the house of your Countenance And whether it were done with a Rasor or they used any Art by Plaisters or Ointments to make the Hair fall off it was the same Crime as Maimonides saith that is a piece of Idolatry For this was practised not meerly to make themselves look rufully but there was some respect to their gods in it which is the reason it is here prohibited Certain it is that in after times the Gentiles pulled off their Hair or cut it off and laid it upon the Face or the Breast of the Dead or in their Sepulchres to pacifie the Infernal gods We find Instances of it in Homer And likewise they made Incisions in their Flesh and spilt their Blood at Funerals with the same intention to appease the gods below and make them kind to the dead See our Learned Dr. Spencer Lib. II. Cap. XII Sect. 2 3. All which shows that Moses still pursues the Argument which he begun at the Sixth Chapter and hath continued ever since to press upon them the strict observance of the first Commandment Insomuch that he would not have them use any of the Rites which were used at their Funerals by those that worshipped other gods Ver. 2. For thou art an holy People unto the LORD Verse 2 thy God and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar People unto himself above all the Nations that are on the Earth The very same words in a manner we had before
that Moses should admonish the Israelites so often diligently to pay their Tithe And the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks See concerning these XII 6. That thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always This justifies what I said that the design of this was to preserve them stedfast in their Religion by having Communion with him in so solemn a manner every year For that is meant by fearing the LORD alway continuing in the Worship and Service of him alone See VI. 1. Ver. 24. And if the way be too long for thee so that Verse 24 thou art not able to carry it or if the place be too far off from thee which the LORD thy God shall chuse c. If they lived at so great a distance from the Sanctuary or the way was so bad that it would be very troublesome and chargeable to carry those Tithes in kind here they have a liberty granted them to make Money of them and with that to buy Provision for the Feast at the Sanctuary when they came thither as it follows in the next Verse All things likewise which would not keep so long as till they could go to the House of God they were to turn into Money but things that were not perishable they were to carry in kind if they did not dwell too far off from it Ver. 25. Then shalt thou turn it into Money Adding a fifth part to it as the Law is XXVII Levit. 31. And bind up the money in thine hand and shalt go unto Verse 25 the place which the LORD thy God shall chuse Put it into a Bag by it self and not mix it with other Money but keep it bound up till the next Feast and then carry it in their hand to the place where God's House was settled God would not have them excused from going to that place with these things in kind upon every slight reason and therefore made it something chargeable to exchange them into Money by requiring a fifth part to be added And besides the Elders made a Constitution That this liberty should be allowed to none but those who lived above a days Journey from Jerusalem which at last was the fixed place of God's Worship And that it might be known certainly what was a days Journey the places at that distance were fixed from every Quarter viz. Lydda on the West the River Jordan on the East Aarabatta on the North and Elath on the South as J. Wagenseil hath observed in his Confutation of that blasphemous Book called Toldos Jeschu pag. 22. Verse 26 Ver. 26. And thou shalt bestow that Money for whatsoever thy Soul lusteth after for Oxen or for Sheep c. Purchase such Provision as they most delighted in of all Meats that God's Law allowed And thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God Make an holy Entertainment at the House of God And thou shalt rejoyce thou and thine Houshold Men-servants and Maid-servants as well as Sons and Daughters XII 18. together with the Levites Widows Orphans and Strangers Ver. 27. And the Levite that is within thy Gates thou shalt not forsake him They were always to be invited to these Feasts See XII 19. For he hath no part nor inheritance with thee They Verse 27 being wholly devoted to the Worship of God and the Study of the Law as Maimonides observes in his More Nevochim P. III. Cap. XXXIX See XII 19. Ver. 28. At the end of three year thou shalt bring forth Verse 28 all the Tithe of thine Increase The Opinion of the Hebrew Doctors is that this was not a distinct Tithe from that which they call the second Tithe paid every year but the very same which every third year was not to be carried to the Sanctuary but to be employed to the Comfort of the Poor in their own Cities and Houses For thus they explain it That in the third year after the Year of Release and in the sixth year the Tithe that was wont to be carried to the place where the Sanctuary was and there spent in Feasts before God was to be spent upon the Poor in every Town where they that paid the Tithe lived But every first second fourth and fifth year from the Year of Release it was spent in holy Entertainments at the House of God In the Year of Release it self which was every seventh year no Tithes at all were paid of any kind because all lay common So that every year the owner of the Ground set out a second Tithe but he was not bound to carry it every year to Jerusalem for in the compass of seven years four of those years only were appointed for their journey thither and two they staid at home See Selden of Tithes and Lib. VI. de Jure Nat. Gent. p. 693. But this is contradicted by other great Men particularly by Bishop Mountagu who asserts these to be two distinct Tithes See p. 332 c. especially p. 346. and those that follow And Josephus seems plainly to be of his mind p. 349. Old Tobit calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the third Tithe I. 8. The Tithe of thine increase the same year i. e. Of the third year And shall lay it up within thy Gates It was not to be carried to the place where God's House was but to be spent at home Verse 29 Ver. 29. And the Levite because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee See v. 37. And the Stranger and the Fatherless and the Widow which are within thy Gates shall come and shall eat and be satisfied This Tithe was not spent in Joy and Gladness as the second Tithe was v. 26. when they went to God's dwelling place but meerly in the Relief and Comfort of the poorer sort of People who otherwise might have been forced to beg or to serve Strangers and thereby be in danger of being perverted from their Religion That the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest This Tithe the Jews say was called the Consummation of Tithes because herein the love of their Neighbours was most eminently apparent For it is likely they themselves had no share in this as they had at the Feasts upon the second Tithe but is wholly spent upon the Persons here named Whose hearts could not but be moved to pray to God for his Blessing upon them in all their Labours which he here promises to bestow CHAP. XV. Chapter XV. Verse 1. AT the end of every seventh year It Verse 1 appears from v. 9. that this Phrase signifies as much as every seventh year Thou shalt make a release Perfectly free their Brethren from all their Debts which they owed to their Creditors This year was famous not only for this but for letting Servants go free as some think XXI Exod. 2. and for letting their Ground rest XXV Levit 34. and for reading this Law publickly to all the People XXXI Deut. 10. Ver. 2. And this is the manner
was but till they had eaten the Paschal Lamb after which they might return home if they pleased So Bochartus who from hence proves that the most Solemn Days of the Feast of unleavened Bread were not observed like a Sabbath because Men might travel home upon the first Day of unleavened Bread as the whole Nation travelled out of Egypt on this day from Rameses to Succoth Yet pious People who were able to bear so great a Charge were wont no doubt to stay the whole seven Days before they returned home because the first and last Days of the Feast were great Solemnities So they did in the Passover of Hezekiah and Josiah 2 Chron. XXX 21. XXXV 17. And there being special Sacrifices to be offered every day during this Festival as was before said Solomon ben Virgoe observes that all the Country thereabouts brought their Oxen and their Sheep to be sold at this time to those who came from far so that the Mountains round about Jerusalem were covered with them and not a bit of Grass to be seen He adds also That whosoever did not come up to this Feast all his Goods were forfeited and converted to Sacred Uses Shebet Jehuda p. 378. Ver. 8. Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread and Verse 8 on the seventh day shall be a solemn Assembly unto the LORD thy God This is to be understood as if he had said that after they had eaten unleavened Bread six days they should conclude the Solemnity upon the seventh day with a Solemn Assembly or as it is in the Hebrew with a restraint but still continue also on this day to eat unleavened Bread For this Feast was to last seven days and in all the foregoing Books they are expresly required to ear unleavened Bread seven days XII Exod. 15. XXIII Levit. 6. XXVIII Numb 17. A Solemn Assembly Which the Hebrews call Atzereth of the meaning of which see XXIII Lev. 36. Thou shalt do no work therein That is no Servile Work as it is explained XXVIII Numb 25. but they might dress their Meat which the LXX seems to mean by those words which they add 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 save only such things as shall be done to preserve life Verse 9 Ver. 9. Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee From the morrow after the Sabbath when they brought the Sheaf of the Wave-offering as it is explained in XXIII Levit. 15. See there Begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the Corn. For they began to cut Barley at the Passover as is manifest from hence that Joshua passed over Jordan to enter into Canaan in the time of Harvest III Josh 15. and this was in the month of Nisan when they kept the Passover as appears from V Josh 10. Which Month could not be called Abib or the Month of New Fruits if some Corn was not then ripe viz. Barley This Josephus confirms Lib. III. Antiq. Cap. X. Which must be understood as Hermannus Conringius observes in his Treatise de Initio Anni Sabbatici c. of that sort of Barly which was sown in Autumn as it is this day in Frisia which required a stronger Soil than that sown in the Spring and produced a much richer Crop See Mr. Mede's Works p. 355. who observes how very different their Climate was from ours Ver. 10. And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto Verse 10 the LORD thy God The reason of this Name is given in the foregoing Verse And see XXXIV Exod. 22. It was called also the Feast of Harvest See XXIII Exod. 16. With a Tribute of a Free-will-offering of thine hand which thou shalt give unto the LORD thy God c. Besides those Offerings which are prescribed XXIII Levit. 17 18. XXVIII Numb 27 c. The quantity is not directed but left to every Man's Piety And whatsoever it was he brought it was wholly given to God and he that brought it had no share in it but God gave it to his Priests According as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee Though no quantity was prescribed yet God expected every Man should offer proportionably to his Estate and they who had a religious sense of God's goodness in blessing their Labours no doubt acknowledged it by a Liberal Tribute Ver. 11. And thou shalt rejoyce before the LORD thy Verse 11 God thou and thy son and thy daughter and thy Man-servant and thy Maid-servant and the Levite that is within thy gates c. This Feast was made of such Offerings as are mentioned XII 7 17 18 19. Ver. 12. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a Verse 12 bondman in Egypt They are often put in mind of this as an Argument to Charity particularly towards their Servants See XV. 15. And thou shalt observe and do these Statutes There was a particular reason for keeping this Feast because it was in remembrance of God's giving them his Law from Mount Sinai where he spake with them himself Ver. 13. Thou shalt observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days after that thou hast gathered in thy Corn and Verse 13 thy Wine This is the third great Feast at which all their Males were bound to appear every year as we read XXIII Exod. 16 17. XXXIV 22 23. Of which he puts them in mind again XXIII Levit. 34 35 36. and here v. 16. Verse 14 Ver. 14. And thou shalt rejoyce in thy Feast thou and thy son and thy daughter and thy Man-servant and thy Maid-servant c. There was the like Law at Athens where King Cecrops ordained as Macrobius tells us Lib. I. Saturnal Cap. X. the Master of every Family should after Harvest make a Feast for his Servants and eat together with them who had taken pains with him in tilling his Ground Delectari enim Deum honore Servorum contemplatu laboris for God delighted in the honour done to Servants in consideration of their Labour This it 's likely he learnt from Moses for he reigned at Athens much about the same time that Israel came out of Egypt and was the first as Eusebius saith who taught the Greeks to call God by the Name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lib. X. Proepar Evangel which we may interpret the Living God Though therein he seems to be a little mistaken For Pausanias saith more than once both in his Arcadia and his Attica That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He was the first that called Jupiter by the name of the Most High or Supream And the same we read in St. Cyril against Julian Lib. I. See Joh. Meursius de Regibus Atheniensium Lib. I. Cap. IX Verse 15 Ver. 15. Seven days shalt thou keep a Feast unto the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD thy God shall chuse In order to which that it might be kept the more Solemnly it is once more enjoyned and all the Sacrifices that were to be offered in each of the seven days appointed in XXIX Numb from v.
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
his People by a gentle Government which is far better than to rule Tyrannically by Force and Violence For to what purpose is it to have possession of their Bodies when the true possession is to be Master of their Hearts Get possession of their Hearts by Clemency and that will draw their Bodies along with them CHAP. XVIII Verse 1. THE Priests the Levites and all the Verse 1 Tribe of Levi. Or even the whole Tribe of Levi. See XVII 9. They shall have no inheritance with Israel As had been said XVIII Numb 20. and here in this Book X. 7. Which made it the more necessary Moses should remind the People of that maintenance God had appointed for them Which unless it was duly given them Religion could not be supported and consequently the Government of which he had been speaking would be quite confounded They shall eat the Offerings of the LORD made by fire Not the Burnt-offerings which were wholly Gods but all other Offerings of which a share was appointed for the Priests the Sons of Aaron XVIII Numb 9 10 11 18 19. And his inheritance That is the Inheritance of the LORD of whom he spoke before who had reserved certain Oblations to himself and bestowed them upon the Priests They are mentioned XVIII Numb 8 9. and v. 12 13 14 15. where he first speaks of the First-fruits and the First-born which were all brought unto the LORD and by him given to them In like manner all the Tithes of the Land are said to be an Heave-offering unto the LORD v. 24. where he saith I have given them to the Levites to inherit So these two The Offerings of the LORD made by fire and his Inheritance comprehend all that belonged to his Ministers whether Priests or Levites Verse 2 Ver. 2. Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren the LORD is their inheritance as he hath said unto them The LORD had given them that part and portion of the Offerings which were peculiarly his own And therefore is said to be their Inheritance because they enjoyed his inheritance as these holy things are called in the foregoing words See XVIII Numb 20 24. and XIII Josh 14 33. Verse 3 Ver. 3. And this shall be the Priests due from the people Besides those things that God gave them which peculiarly belonged to him From them that offer a Sacrifice Of Peace-offerings which are sometimes called simply a Sacrifice XVII Levit. 5 8. XV Numb 3. in which the People had a considerable Interest Whether it be Ox or Sheep Under Sheep are comprehended Goats also as I have observed See III Levit. And they shall give unto the Priest the shoulder Together with the Breast as we read VII Lev. 32 33 34. And the two cheeks and the maw These were not given to the Priests before but were now added to their Portion being accounted the best part of the Beasts For as the Cheeks were the best part of the Head and the Shoulder and Breast the best of the other Members of the Body so the Maw was the principal part of the Entrails as Maimonides observes P. III. More Nevochim Cap. XXXIX By the Maw is meant the Stomach and in Beasts that chew the Cud who have four Stomachs that which is called by the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 viz. the lowest of them Which had this name because the digestion which is begun in the other is here perfected and compleated And it appears that this part of the Entrails was accounted by the Ancients a great dainty as Bochartus proves out of Aristophanes in his Hierozoicon P. I. Lib. II. Cap. 45. p. 505. Ver. 4. The first-fruits also of thy Corn of thy Wine Verse 4 and of thy Oyl See XVIII Numb 12. To which it may be useful to add this out of Maimonides who hath distinctly represented the order wherein all Oblations were made that after the Fruits of the Earth were gathered every Man was bound to bring a fiftieth part of them as a First-fruits to the Priests which was called Trumah gedolah the great Oblation of which Moses speaks in this place And next of all he separated a tenth part of the whole from the rest which was Maaser Rishon the first Tithe and given to the Levites XVIII Numb 24. Then out of what remained another tenth part was taken called Maaser Sheni the second Tithe which was every third year given to the Poor and in the two intermediate years spent in Feasting at the House of God XIV Deut. 28. So that for instance if a Man had pressed out an Hundred and two Logs of Oyl he sent two of them as First-fruits to the Priest and then ten more as Tythe to the Levites and deducted nine parts more out of the residue for the Poor by which it appears that One and twenty parts of an Hundred and two that is a fifth part of the whole was separated for pious and charitable uses See Schickard in his Jus Regium Cap. IV. Theorem XV. And the first of the fleece of thy Sheep shalt thou give him This is comprehended under First-fruits but never particularly mentioned before now And tho' the quantity is not mentioned yet the Jews have adventured to determine that less than one Fleece in sixty was not accepted For so they say of all other First-fruits that a sixtieth part of the whole was the least that any Man gave and he was accounted a covetous Man if he gave no more they that were indifferently good giving a fiftieth part and liberal Persons the fortieth By this means the Priests were provided with Clothes as by other Offerings with Food And the Wooll also as they call it of Goats which were shorn in these Countries is comprehended under the Fleece of Sheep Verse 5 Ver. 5. For the LORD thy God hath chosen him out of all thy Tribes to stand to minister in the name of the LORD This was the Office of a Priest to offer Sacrifices unto God and to bless the People in his Name Him and his sons for ever The Family of Aaron of which he is principally speaking Who when they were few in number all ministred unto God but afterward they took their Courses of Attendance And as the Jews say there were eight Courses before Moses died four of the Family of Eleazar and as many of Ithamar's which in David's time were enlarged into Four and twenty Courses See Selden Lib. I. de Succession in Pontificat Cap. I. Ver. 6. And if a Levite By a Levite he seems here to mean a Priest See v. 1. For they only could minister Verse 6 unto God and the Levites ministred unto them Come from any of thy Gates out of all Israel From any City in any Tribe of Israel Where he sojourned i. e. Leave the Country where he hath been wont to live And come with all the desire of his mind unto the place which the LORD shall choose With a sincere Affection to devote himself to
accounts of the word are better than that of Manasseh ben Israel who derives it from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a field because they frequent desert places But then they should have been called Sedim not Schedim as he must needs know who was a great Master in the Hebrew Learning The LXX call them here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and so doth the Apostle 1 Corinth X. 19. because the Daemons led Men into the impiety of worshipping other gods either themselves or other beings which they perswaded simple People had some Divinity in them And that not only the Stars but even Beasts here upon the Earth nay Onions and Garlick Which they did not take to be gods but things by which as intermediate Causes their gods were pleased or offended with them and therefore worshipped them To gods whom they knew not Or as the words may be translated gods that knew not them that is had never bestowed any benefits upon them For as it follows they were new gods never before heard of by their Ancestors New gods that newly came up Such as Jeroboam's Calves invented out of his own Brain and the gods of other Nations Moloch and Baal which were new to the Israelites and had not been known among them For the doemon gods were of no great antiquity Bel or Baal as he is called in the Chaldee Dialect the first King of Babel after Nimrod being the first that was ever deified as Mr. Mede observes or reputed a god after his death whence all other Daemons were called Baalim as all the Roman Emperors were called Caesars from the first Emperor of that Name See p. 776. Besides which the Heathens had another higher sort of Daemons which had never been linked to a Mortal Body viz. those we call Angels who the Israelites were taught to be but Ministers unto their God and therefore not to be worshipped Whom your Fathers feared not That is did not worship This was a great aggravation of their guilt that when they would have other Objects of Worship they did not return unto those whom their Ancestors had reverenced the Teraphim for instance which were the gods of Laban and Rachel for whose worship they might have pretended Tradition but chose gods whom their Fore-fathers were not acquainted withal which was a token of a strange proneness to Idolatry And Maimonides mentioning this Verse observes that they worshipped not only things that had a being but meer imaginations For which he quotes these words of the Book Siphri It was not enough that they worshipped the Sun Moon and Stars and Caelestial Signs but they worshipped their Shadow More Nevochim P. III. Cap. XLVI Ver. 18. Of the Rock that begat thee God the Verse 18 Author of thy being See v. 4. Thou art unmindful Being wholly intent to Idols which they themselves had made And hast forgotten God that formed thee Into a Kingdom of Priests making them his peculiar People XIX Exod. 5 6. Ver. 19. And when the LORD saw it he abhorred Verse 19 them Cast them off as they had done him Because of the provoking of his Sons and of his Daughters For so they were till they corrupted themselves and thereby highly incensed him against them For nothing can be so provoking as the Rebellion of Children against a most indulgent Parent Maimonides translates it By reason of his Anger against his Sons and his Daughters P. I. More Nevochim Cap. XXXVI where he observes we never find the word Caas which is here used signifying indignation in Scripture applied to God but only when it speaks of Idolatry Ver. 20. And he said Resolved I will hide my face from them See XXXI 17 18. I will see what their end shall be Not cease my Judgments till I have brought the sorest Calamities upon them and made an end of them that is of their Polity and Government For they are a very froward Generation Incorrigibly wicked Children in whom there is no faith Who had broken their Covenant with him XXXI 16. so often that they were not to be trusted when they made profession of Repentance The Book of Judges and indeed their whole History testifies to the truth of this Verse 21 Ver. 21. They have moved me to jealousie See v. 16. With that which is not God By worshipping God's Creatures or the Work of their own Hands They have provoked me to anger with their vanities The same thing in other words all the gods of the Nations whom the Israelites imitated being meer Vanities or things of naught as the Hierusalem Targum hath it as hath been often observed And I will move them to jealousie He threatens to be even with them and serve them in their kind With those that are not a People Who either were not a Nation in being at this time or so obscure base and ignoble that they were not worthy the name of a Nation The Jews interpret it of the Chaldaeans whom God raised up on a sudden when no Body would believe it I Habak 5 6 c. to be a terrible Scourge to them See XXIII Isa 13. And I will provoke them to anger with a foolish Nation The Jews thought all Nations so except themselves And in one sense all the Gentiles were really so for nothing was more foolish than to Worship Creatures meaner than themselves X Jerem. 8. The Apostle applies this unto the bestowing the Blessing of the Messiah whom the Jews refused upon the Gentile World X Rom. 19. which strangely inraged the Jews as we see when our Saviour first mentioned it XXI Matth. 43 44 c. and when St. Paul did but speak of going to preach unto them XXII Acts 21 22. And see 1 Thess II. 15 16. And through all Ages since it hath made them gnash their Teeth to see so many Nations subject unto our Saviour and honour him as God whom they rejected as the vilest of Men. Ver. 22. For a fire is kindled in mine anger Great Verse 22 and sore Calamities are compared to fire in Scripture XXX Ezek. 8. which God here threatens to send upon them as the woful Effects of his heavy displeasure And shall burn unto the lowest hell Never cease till they have destroyed them For Hell and Destruction seem to be the same XV Prov. 11. And therefore the lowest Hell signifies the depth of Misery And shall consume the Earth with her increase Make an utter desolation in the Country I Isa 7. And set on fire the foundations of the Mountains Subvert the strongest Fortresses which were accounted impregnable Such as Jerusalem which Rasi thinks is here meant in whose last destruction this was perfectly fulfilled as it was in part at the first 2 Kings XXV 9. For Titus himself as Josephus relates Lib. VII de Bello Judaico Cap. 43. observing the vast height of the Walls the bigness of every Stone the exact order wherein they were laid and compacted c. cried out God was with us in this War he drove the Jews from
knew face to face Or as de Dieu thinks it should be translated who knew the LORD face to face This was one Preheminence of Moses above all the Prophets that he conversed more familiarly with God than any of them did See XII Numb 8. which place explains this for to know him face to face was to speak familiarly to God and to hear God speaking in like manner unto him And so the Hierusalem Targum expounds these words only instead of the LORD he saith Who knew the WORD of the LORD talking with him and delivering to him most excellent Laws for the good government of his People In which Laws he still lives they all remaining upon Record to this day when the Laws of all the famous Lawgivers whom the Gentiles honoured as gods are obliterated But it must be observed that in this wherein Moses excelled all the Prophets our blessed Saviour far transcended him For he was in the bosom of the Father I Joh. 18. and spake what he saw and heard c. III Joh. 11 32. Verse 11 Ver. 11. In all the signs and the wonders which the LORD sent him to do The Hierusalem Targum hath it Which the WORD of the LORD sent him to do in the Land of Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his Servants and to all his Land See IV. 34. VI. 22. VII 19. In these signs and wonders Moses excelled all the Prophets doing more Miracles than all that succeeded him as Maimonides observes More Nevochim P. II. Cap. XXXV But our blessed Saviour excelled him in this as well as them doing more wonders than all the Prophets put together had done from the beginning of the World and far greater also than theirs XXI Joh. ult Ver. 12. And in all that mighty hand and in all that great terror which Moses showed As the former Verse relates to what he did in Egypt so this hath respect unto their passing through the Red Sea and to all that befel them in the Wilderness both at the giving of the Law and afterward till this time So the Hierusalem Targum expounds these words In all that strong hand and in all those great Visions which Moses managed And Onkelos to the same purpose In the sight of all Israel In the place forenamed Maimonides insists much upon this that Moses wrought all his Miracles publickly the whole Congregation being Witnesses of them And so our Saviour commonly wrought his till they sought to kill him in their Synagogues at their Publick Feasts when there was the greatest Concourse of the People of Israel So that in this he was a Prophet like unto Moses though infinitely superiour which some of the old Jews could not but discern as I observed upon Chap. XVIII when upon these words of Isaiah LII 13. He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high they thus gloss in Tanchuma which is an ancient Book among them This is the King MESSIAS who shall be exalted above Abraham extolled above Moses and be very high above the Angels of the Ministry Upon which Conradus Pellicanus thus glosses and concludes his Commentary as I shall do mine with these words What is it to be above the Angels let the Jews explain we can understand nothing by it but the very WORD of God which was in the beginning with God and was God by whom all things were made and without him nothing was made viz. the LORD God of Hosts to whom in perfect Vnity God the Father Son and Holy Spirit be all Honour and Glory for ever Amen Thus ends the Pentateuch which as our great Primate of Ireland computes contains the History of Two thousand five hundred and fifty two years and an half from the beginning of the World to the death of Moses FINIS By reason of the Distance of the Author this Omission hapned which the Reader is desired to insert in its proper place At the end of Page 511. Line ult after three hundred years add these words But if any one think good thus to apply the words of this Verse unto Vespasian they must not take this for the literal meaning of them because it is evident that by the Stranger is to be understood those of other Nations who lived among them Particularly those Gentiles who were brought into their Country by the Assyrians instead of the Ten Tribes as some of the best of the Jewish Writers expound it What the Doctor also saith concerning their advancing Vespasian to the Imperial Dignity cannot be maintain'd ERRATA Page 21. Line 24. read their Cities Page 30. Line 14. r. Elate Page 39. Line 18. r. faith Page 43. Line 17. r. Ammonites Page 67. Line 15. r. Atargatis Page 85. antepen r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Page 86. Line 11. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Page 90. Line 24. r. even before Page 116. Line 2. r. Melech Page 145. Line 13. r. until the other Page 174. Line 5. for notion r. reason Page 183. Line 10. for Geder r. Seder Page 194. Line 18. r. Author of Sepher Ikkarim Page 220. Line 20. r. Acra-batta Page 242. Line 20. r. Arcadica * Page 264. Line 24. blot out but as the persons concerned in the Controversie brought it and read But whoever brought the Controversie before this Court when the Inferiour could not determine it they gave the sentence Page 269. Line 10. r. Cunaeus Lib. II. Page 290. Line 29. r. had her first Page 323. Line 15. r. Chillel Page 332. Line 20. r. was so setled Page 348. Line 2. r. slake Page 358. Line 24. r. both Sexes Page 365. Line 6. r. whom all that Page 372. Line 1. r. make thee Page 382. Line 31 32. r. paid to her father Page 408. Line 20. for inherent r. indigent Page 420. Line 28. r. Chasidah Page 428. Line 2. r. remember it Page 438. Line 16. r. of no consequence Page 439. Line 26. r. as a reason Page 442. Line 28. r. Dr. Pocock Page 488. Line 19. r. would furnish Page  Line 20. r. that should further Page 507. Line 9. r. strangeness Page 599. Line 16. r. retained the manner Page 612. Line 1. r. Olive Tree thrives Page 617. Line 27. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a field Page 641. Line 12. r. Mountain Page 650. Line 22. r. he speaks of himself Page 652. Line penult r. staid behind them Page 663. Line 20. r. Gazellas Page 665. Line 5. r. great numbers Page  Line 25. r. IV Gen. 10. Page 668. Line 17 18. r. He came the Heads of the People Page 685. Line 12. r. he having BOOKS Printed for Richard Chiswell BIshop Patrick's Commentary on the First Book of Moses called Genesis The Second Edition 4 to 1698. His Commentary on the Second Book of Moses called Exodus 4 to 1697. His Commentary on the Third Book of Moses called Leviticus 4 to 1698. His Commentary on the Fourth Book of Moses called Numbers 4 to 1699. His Commentary on the Fifth Book of Moses called Deuteronomy 4 to 1700. His Hearts Ease or a Remedy against all Troubles A Consolatory Discourse directed to those who have lost their Friends and dear Relations To which is added Two Papers printed in the time of the late Plague The Seventh Edition 120. 1699. The Life of Henry Chichele Archbishop of Canterbury In which there is a particular Relation of many remarkable Passages in the Reigns of Henry the Fifth and Sixth Kings of England Written in Latin by Arthur Duck LLD. Chancellor of the Dioscess of London and Advocate of the Court of Honour Now made English And a Table of Contents annexed Archbishop Tollotson of Sincerity and Constancy in the Faith and Profession of the True Religion Being the First Volume Published from the Originals by Dr. Barker Chaplain to his Grace His Second Volume Containg Sixteen Sermons on several Occasions His Third Volume Containing Sixteen Sermons on several Subjects His Fourth Volume Containing several Discourses on Natural and Instituted Religion The Nature and Necessity of Regeneration the Danger of all known Sin c. His Fifth Volume Proving Jesus to be the Messiah the Son of God The Danger of Apostacy from Christianity c. His Sixth Volume Being the First part of his Discourses on the Divine Attributes 1699. His Seventh Volume Being the Second or Remaining Part of his Discourses on the Divine Attributes 1700. A Discourse of the Government of the Thoughts By George Tullie Sub-Dean of York The Third Edition Corrected 120. 1699. Preparation for Death Being a Letter sent to a young Gentlewoman in France in a dangerous Distemper of which she died By William Wake D.D. The Sixth Edition 120. Private Devotions digested into Six Litanies with Directions and Prayers By Hen. Valentine The Bishop of Sarum's Exposition of the 39 Articles of the Church of England in Folio 1700. The Life of John Whitgift Archbishop of Canterbury in the Times of Queen Elizabeth and King James the First Written by Sir George Paul Comptroller of his Graces Houshold To which is added a Treatise intituled Conspiracy for Pretended Reformation Written in the Year 1591. By Richard Cosin LLD. Dean of the Arches and Official Principal to Archbishop Whitgift 80. 1699.