13. And cut down their Groves There is the same mention of Asherim which we translate Groves in the place last named only another word for cut down See there But Mr. Selden both there and here understands by Asherim wooden Images of Astarte a great Goddess worshipped in that Country For which among other Reasons he gives this that Gideon is said to have thrown down the Altar of Baal and cut down the Grove that was by it So we translate it VI Judg. 25 28. where in the Hebrew the last word is Alau which signifies upon it and not by it And so the LXX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And therefore the Asherah which is said to be upon the Altar must not signifie a Grove but an Image and none more likely than that of Astarte See De Diis Syris Syntagm 2 Cap. 2. and 2 Kings XXIII 6 7. And burn their graven Images with Fire As he was commanded to destroy their molten Images XXXIII Numb 52. that so no sort of Image nor any Monument of their Worship might be left in the Country but all so entirely abolished that they might have no Incentive to Idolatry This was the work of the Supreme Governour as Grotius prudently observes For tho' out of private places it belonged to the Lord of the place or if he were negligent to the King to remove Idols yet none but the Supreme Power might remove them out of publick places or such Persons who were delegated thereby to that Office See L. de Imper. Sum. Potest circa Sacra Cap. VIII Sect. 3. Ver. 6. For thou art an holy People unto the LORD Verse 6 thy God This is an Argument frequently used particularly in the Book of Leviticus why they should cleave to God alone because he had separated them to himself by many peculiar Laws which no other People had but they XI Levit. 44 45. XIX 2. XX. 7 26. The LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all People that are upon the face of the Earth As he had distinguished them from all other People by peculiar Laws so by special Favours and singular Priviledges which no other Nation whatsoever enjoyed See XIX Exod. 5 6. Some interpret the Words special People to signify that they belong'd to none but him and he had no other People but they whom he had espoused to himself From whence it is that as the Israelites are called God's People so that Country is called his Land LXXXV Psal 1. for there he dwelt by his special Presence And the King of that Country is called God's King XVIII Psal 50. and he is said to sit on God's Throne and to be Nelech le Jehovah King for the LORD 2 Chron. IX 8. and the Kingdom is called the Kingdom of the LORD XIII 8. and therefore with this Argument Asa addresses himself to God in the next Chapter XIV 11. for Help in time of Distress because he was their God and would not he hoped let their Enemies prevail against himself And accordingly these Enemies are said to be destroyed before the LORD and before his Host v. 13. Jehoshaphat also exhorts the Judges in that Book to great Caution 2 Chron. XIX 6. because they judged not for Man but for the LORD And the Prophet exhorts in the following Chapter XX. 15. not to be afraid of a mighty Host which came against him because the Battle is not yours but Gods the Cause in which they fought being his more than their own Verse 7 Ver. 7. The LORD did not set his Love upon you nor choose you To be his special People as he calls them in the foregoing Verse Because ye were more in Number than any People for ye were the fewest of all People When God declared his Love first to Abraham and his Posterity he had no Child XII Gen. 1 2 3. XV. 1 2. And when he had his Family continued so small after there were XII Heirs of the Promise that in the space of Two Hundred Years they were but LXX Persons XLVI Gen. 27. Nor do we read of any great increase of them till after the Death of Joseph which was near Fourscore Years more I Exod. 7 8 c. So St. Steven observes VII Acts 17. When the time of the Promise drew nigh which God had sworn to Abraham the People grew and multiplied in Aegypt Ver. 8. But because the LORD loved you Because it was his good Pleasure to single them out from all other People to receive special Tokens of his Favour to them Verse 8 And because he would keep the Oath which he had sworn unto your Fathers hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand c. Not for any desert of theirs but to make good his Promise confirmed with an Oath did he work their wonderful Deliverance out of Egypt XV Gen. 13 14. XXII 16 c. Ver. 9. Know therefore that the LORD thy God he Verse 9 is God He exhorts them therefore to preserve this Sense in their Mind that their God is the only God The faithful God which keepeth Covenant and Mercy with them that love him and keep his Commandments c. Who will not only faithfully keep his Word and make good his Promises but do abundantly more than he hath promised to those that cleave unto him alone and serve no other God For it appears by the Second Commandment that is peculiarly meant by loving him To a thousand Generations See XX Exod. 6. Ver. 10. And repay them that hate him Punish all Verse 10 Idolaters who are peculiarly called haters of God as I have often observed See XX Exod. 5. To their Face They themselves should live to see and feel the Punishment of their Idolatry So the Chaldee Paraphrases it Becajehon in their Life He will not be slack to him that hateth him he will repay him to his Face Though he do not punish him immediately yet he will not defer it long but be avenged of him before he die Therefore when he threatens to punish them to the Third and Fourth Generation the meaning is not that he will only punish their Posterity but them with their Posterity whom they shall see destroyed before their Face For the Fourth Generation as Maimonides observes is as much as the oldest Men commonly live to see Verse 11 Ver. 11. Thou shalt therefore keep the Commandments and the Statutes and the Judgments which I command thee this day to do them All the Laws of God see VI. 1. especially this great Commandment to have no other God but him Verse 12 Ver. 12. Wherefore it shall come to pass if ye hearken to these Judgments and keep and do them that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the Covenant and Mercy which he sware unto thy Fathers As faithfully fulfil his Promises to them as he did to their Fathers Verse 13 Ver. 13. And he will love thee Continue his Love to them And bless thee and multiply thee
observes they hurt themselves not God when leaving him the true God they turned to Idols For the word corrupt is commonly used in Scripture where it speaks of the sin of Idolatry The Hierusalem Paraphrast aims at the same sense They are a perverse and crooked Generation The whole Body of them are untoward and untractable walking contrary to God in all their ways For there being a gemination as they speak of a syllable in the latter of these words Pethalthol it increases the sense and makes it the same with the Superlative Degree among us importing the highest obliquity imaginable And these words were never more exactly fulfilled than in the days of our blessed Saviour who calls them a wicked and adulterous a faithless and perverse Generation XVI Matth. 4. XVII 17. And in the days of the Apostles who call them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an absurd kind of People 2 Thess III. 2. Who pleased not God and were contrary to all men 1 Thess II. 15. Verse 6 Ver. 6. Do ye thus requite the LORD O foolish people and unwise He upbraids them with their senseless folly and foul ingratitude which in the following words he demonstrates by representing the Obligations he had laid upon them Is not he thy father Having adopted them in a peculiar manner to be his Children above all other People Who hath taught thee When he rescued them from the slavery of Egypt Hath not he made thee Advanced them for so the word Asa is translated 1 Sam. XII 6. to be a great and mighty People See C Psal 3. And established thee By settling them in excellent order under the Government of most wise and righteous Laws See Chapter the fourth of this Book v. 7 8. Verse 7 Ver. 7. Remember the days of old Look back as far as you are able Consider the years of many generations Consult the most ancient Records which would inform them how God chose their Father Abraham long ago and promised to bless his Posterity as he did Isaac and Jacob in a most eminent manner and sent Joseph by a wonderful Providence into Egypt to preserve them from starving c. Ask thy Father and he will show thee thy Elders and they will tell thee All this is to express the same thing that they should advise with those that knew more than themselves and particularly with old Men as the word may be understood which we translate Elders who by the benefit of their great Age had heard and seen more than others and could tell them how God had dealt with them ever since he brought them by a wonderful Power out of the Land of Egypt Ver. 8. When the most High divided to the Nations Verse 8 their Inheritance He directs them still to look further back and they would find that long before Abraham's time God had them in his thoughts even when he divided the Earth among the Sons of Noah and their Posterity after the Flood X Gen. 5 25 32. When he separated the sons of Adam Or the sons of Men who were one People till he scattered them into several Parts of the Earth and separated them into divers Nations by confounding their Language XI Gen. 8 9. He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the Children of Israel He had then the Children of Israel in his mind before they were a Nation and made such a distribution to other People particularly to the Seven Nations of Canaan within such bounds and limits as that there might be sufficient room for so numerous a People as the Israelites when they came to take possession of that Country How the Seventy came to translate these words thus He appointed the bounds of the Nations according to the number of the Angels it is hard to say Bochartus hath made the best Conjecture about it which was hinted by de Muis before him Lib. I. Phaleg Cap. XV. that they had a bad Copy before them which left out the three first Letters of Israel and so they read baneel the Children of God meaning the Israelites Instead of which some Transcribers put the Angels of God because they are sometimes called his Sons Which led the ancient Greek Fathers who followed this Translation into great difficulties and it grew a common Opinion that every Nation was under the Government of an Angel which seems to be the meaning also of the Son of Sirach XVII Ecclus. 17. And many others fancying that God divided the Nations according to the number of the Children of Israel when they came into Egypt which was just Seventy they thence gather there were just so many distinct Nations and so many several Languages Which is a Conceit of some of the Jews as Mr. Selden observes Lib. II. de Synedr Cap. IX But Bochart in the place above-named hath given the plain and simple meaning of this place in these words God so distributed the Earth among the several People that were therein that he reserved or in his counsel designed such a part of the Earth for the Israelites who were then unborn as he knew would afford a commodious habitation to a most numerous Nation Verse 9 Ver. 9. For the LORD's portion is his people And not satisfied with this kindness he chose them alone out of all other Nations to be under his special Care and to enjoy singular Priviledges which none other had and therefore they are called his peculiar Treasure XIX Exod. 5. This Origen maintains to be true against all the Cavils of Celsus Lib. V. p. 250. Edit Cantabr where he shows how beneficial their Laws were and that they were taught so early to know God to believe the Immortality of the Soul and Rewards and Punishments in the Life to come as demonstrated they were distinguished from all other People whatsoever See p. 260. Jacob is the Lot of his Inheritance This is the same thing repeated in other words alluding to the manner of measuring and dividing Lands by Cords as the word in the Hebrew is which we translate lot See XVI Psal 6 and Chapt. IV. of this Book v. 20. Ver. 10. He found him in a desert Land There Verse 10 he first took the Israelites to be his peculiar People for so the word we translate found frequently signifies As in Psal CXVI 3. The pains of Hell gat hold upon me where in the Hebrew the words are found me And in the New Testament IV Rom. 1. What shall we say then that Abraham our Father hath found that is attained In the waste-howling wilderness Desolate and void of all Sustenance where nothing was to be heard but the howlings and yellings of wild Beasts VIII Deut. 15. He led him about Conducted the Israelites from place to place XXXIII Numb 1 2 c. He instructed him Gave them his Laws XX Exod. 1 2 c. XXXIV 1 10 c. He kept him as the apple of his eye Protected and defended them from all dangers with extraordinary care for there is
were taken Captive as well as those that fell in the battle From the beginning of revenges upon the Enemy How the Hebrew word Paroth comes to signifie revenges I am not able to give an account but in that sense we take it both here and in V Judges 2. The word Para from whence it seems to be derived signifies to make bare or naked And so the Vulgar Latine here understands it and thence Joh. Forsterus hath given a probable sense of these words taking rosch which we translate beginning for the head as it properly signifies or the King in this manner because of the baring i. e. making bare of the head by the Enemy That is the taking away of the Kingdom and Priesthood from Israel The LXX translate it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the Head of the Princes of the Enemies Which is a sense very agreeable if we could find any word in the Hebrew like to Paroth that signifies Princes or Rulers But I think there is a more simple sense may be given of these words than any of the forementioned only by supposing the Particle Lamed to be omitted as in many other places before paroth Which is this from the King to the Slave of the Enemies For they were wont to shave their Captives as every one knows by way of Contempt and Scorn Which is the reason God threatens baldness so often to the Israelites by his Prophets when he was so angry with them that he gave them up to be Slaves Next to this is the Translation of Onkelos I will take away those words he adds the Crowns from the head of the Enemy Which was the making the King's head bare This universal slaughter is most notably expressed by Jeremiah L. 35 36 37 43. And some think this Prophecy will be then most amply fulfilled when the Jews shall be called and made Members of the Church of Christ See Dr. Jackson Book XI on the Creed Chap. XII Ver. 43. Rejoyce O ye Nations with his People Verse 43 Here the Particle eth is omitted before ammo as I supposed in the foregoing words lamed to be before paroth Which made the Vulgar translate these words O ye Nations praise his People But the LXX discerned the true sense and translate it as we do The Apostle having justified their Translation in XV Rom. 10. where he expresses this word for word as they do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rejoyce ye Gentiles with his People But it must here be noted that before these words the LXX have some other which are very remarkable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rejoyce ye Heavens together with him and let all the Angels of God worship him and then follows Rejoyce ye Gentiles with his People which are not in the Hebrew nor in the Chaldee and yet the latter Clause of them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let all the Angels of God worship him are the very words of the Apostle I Hebr. 6. which seem to have been taken from hence out of the LXX for they are no where else to be found in the Scripture The Margin indeed of our Bibles refers us to XCVII Psalm 7. But there the words of the LXX are otherwise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Worship him all ye his Angels Which are in the second Person whereas here and in the Apostle the words are in the third We may therefore suppose rather that the LXX from ancient Tradition among the Jews added these words before they translated this Verse to declare unto what time the fulfilling of them should principally belong For the XCVII Psalm seems to be but a descant as Dr. Jackson's words are upon this part of Moses his Song from whence the Jews might learn the Scope of it And accordingly the Apostle uses the words of the LXX here in this place rather than those of the Psalmist because he would have the Hebrews understand and consider that Moses himself had predicted the Exaltation of the Son of God as the Psalmist afterwards expounded him There is another Translation of these words of Moses which is very agreeable to the Apostle in XV Rom. 10. Rejoyce ye Nations who are his People See v. 21. of this Chapter Either way this is a plain Prophecy of the Gentiles becoming one Body with the People of Israel And thus Kimchi himself translates it Sing ye Gentiles who are his People which began to be fulfilled after our Saviour's Ascension to the Throne of his Glory in the Heavens when all the Angels of God worshipped him Hitherto Moses had supposed in this Song great Enmity between them and that sometimes they had plagued Israel sorely as at others God rendred to them according to what they had done unto his People But now he breaks out into a rapture of Joy to think that they should one day be reconciled and made one People of God And the LXX thus understanding it might well preface to their Translation of this Verse with the words now mentioned Rejoyce ye Heavens together with him For if there be joy in Heaven as Procopius Gazaeus well glosses at the Repentance of one Sinner how much more for the Salvation of the whole World by destroying the Devil's Tyranny Which being to be performed by the Advancement of the Son of God into the Heavens the next words might well be added Let all the Angels of God worship him Which they had always done the same Procopius observes as their God who created them but now they Praise and Extol his Humanity exalted at the right Hand of God For he will avenge the blood of his Servants These words seem to express some of the Motives that should perswade the Gentiles to become one Body with the Jews for such the Apostles and all the first Converts were God's punishing all those who shed the Blood of his Servants as the Christian Martyrs are called in the Book of the Revelation In which confidence the LXX add another Sentence before these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and let all the Sons of God be strong in him And will render vengeance to his Adversaries To all such as oppose this blessed Union and first to the Jews who set themselves against it more than any others being mad at the Apostles for preaching to the Gentiles and then to the Romans who persecuted all those who embraced Christianity And will be merciful unto his Land This cannot be meant of the Land of Israel which was no longer God's Land than any other but of the whole Earth as Conrad Pellicanus well explains it in which that one People of God dwells reduced as he speaks in the whole Multitude of the Faithful into one Catholick Church For they all acknowledge from the greatest to the least that One only Omnipotent God with no less Devotion and Affection than Abraham Isaac Jacob and Moses did And unto his People The whole World that believe in Christ and are his faithful Servants whose Blood he will avenge XIX Revel 2. and then
can tell why yet Diodorus Siculus acknowledges 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be the God from whom Moses pretended to have his Laws i. e. JEHOVAH Ver. 7. For what Nation is there so great who hath Verse 7 God so nigh unto them as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for Both Onkelos and the Paraphrase of Jonathan and likewise the Hierusalem Targum are very significant upon this place What People is there who have a God that approaches to them so as the LORD our God doth to us At whatsoever Hour we cry unto him he answers us It is the manner of other People to carry their Gods upon their Shoulders to shew that they are near to them when alas they are afar off and cannot hear them But the LORD our God sits on his Throne on high and hears our Prayers whatsoever time we call upon him c. To which may be added that they had a Symbol of God's Presence continually among them in the Holy Place where he dwelt with them and Moses whensoever he pleased consulted him in all difficult Affairs as their High-Priest might do with the Vrim and Thummim in all times to come Ver. 8. And what Nation is there so great that hath Verse 8 Statutes and Judgments so righteous as all this Law which I set before you this Day The true Greatness of a Nation it appears by this and the foregoing Verse consists in the sincere Worship of God and in the upright Administration of Justice Both which were so provided for by the Divine Laws among the Jews that no Nation could compare with them or was really so great as they were For though their Country was but small and they were often oppressed by several cruel Enemies who desired their Extirpation yet they recovered themselves and kept their Laws in their worst Condition when commonly they best observed them Insomuch that as a very learned Person of our own Church long ago observed After so many Changes and Alterations as there were in their State from better to worse and back again after so many Victories got by them over others and so many Captivities of their Persons and Desolations of their Country as others had wrought they continued still one and the same People governed by the same Laws under several great and potent Monarchies The successive Rise and Fall of Three of which they were preserved to behold and in their declining State able to stand out a great while against the Fourth the mightiest that ever was on Earth and that when this Monarchy was in its full strength This is a plain Demonstration of the Truth of these Words of Moses That no Nation was so great as they See Dr. Jackson's First Book upon the Creed Chap. XXI Maimonides observes That the word Zaddikim which we translate righteous signifies as much as equal and proportionate Such saith he were all these Laws of God in which there was no excess by the prescription of long Pilgrimages or severe Fastings nor any defect which might open the Window to any Vice or make them careless in the Practice of Vertue More Nevochim P. II. Cap. XXXIX Verse 9 Ver. 9. Only take heed to thy self and keep thy Soul diligently lest thou forget the things which thou hast seen c. Their only danger was lest they should grow careless and unmindful of all the wonderful Things that God had done for them Which he therefore exhorts them to think of frequently and to keep in Memory and lay to Heart so that they might preserve the Sence of them as long as they lived and likewise teach all Posterity to be mindful of them Ver. 10. Especially the Day that thou stoodest before Verse 10 the LORD thy God in Horeb. But above all that memorable Day when the LORD delivered his Law to them from Mount Sinai at which the oldest of them were present and had seen and heard what he said and how it was delivered When the LORD said unto me Gather me the People together Unto the foot of Mount Sinai where they stood at such a distance from it as God prescribed XIX Exod. 10 11 12 13. And I will make them hear my Words XIX Exod. 9 c. XX Exod. 1 c. That they may learn to fear me all the Days that they shall live upon the Earth c. For those Words which they heard were pronounced in so terrible a manner as to make them dread to offend his Majesty and to instruct their Children to stand in awe of him Ver. 11. And ye came near and stood under the Verse 11 Mountain XIX Exod. 17. And the Mountain burnt with Fire XIX Exod. 16 18. Into the midst of Heaven Into the middle of the Air which is frequently called Heaven in Scripture as the Fouls of Heaven are the Fouls of the Air But whether the Fire flamed up precisely into the very midst of the lower Region of the Air or only a great height is not material either way the Expression is proper enough Ver. 12. And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the Fire XIX Exod 20. XX. 1 22. Ye heard the Voice of the Words XX Exod. 19. Verse 12 But saw no Similitude Tho' sometimes the Divine Majesty seems to have appeared in a visible Shape VII Dan. 9 10. yet when he came to give them his Law he would not appear in the Figure of a Man or any other thing that might seem to represent him to their outward Senses or their Imagination For it had been dangerous then to manifest himself under any Resemblance when he forbad them to make any Resemblance of him They would have thought he forbad them to make any other Resemblance but that wherein he shewed himself to them in which they would have concluded it was lawful to represent him Only ye heard a Voice From hence some of the Jews would gather that the People only heard the Sound of God's Words when he spake the Ten Commandments but not the Distinction of the Sound so as to understand the Sense of what he said Thus Maimonides in his More Nevochim P. 2. Cap. XXXIII Which is manifestly false as appears from Ver. 10. and 13. and XX Exod. 22. For therefore the Day wherein he spake to them in Horeb was so remarkable as never to be forgotten because he made them hear his Words so that they might learn to fear him c. For tho' he did not appear in the likeness of any thing to them yet he vouchsafed to speak to them plainly in their own Language that they might be instructed in their Duty both which was to keep them from Idolatry He did not let them see any Shape that they might not make any Image of him to worship it or him by it after the manner of the Heathens but he let them hear his Voice that they might not go and worship any other Gods which the Heathens pretended spake to them Ver.
a low flat Country like that of Egypt but full of Hills which could not be made fruitful but by Rain from Heaven which seldom fell in Egypt but the Israelites might expect in due season if they were obedient to God Who by this means after they had ploughed their Ground and sowed their Corn made it spring up plentifully without any further Labour or Care of theirs Such a Country also was more pleasant and healthy than that of Egypt whose Ground next to Nile being overflowed more or less every Year by the rising of Nile to the fall of it which was from the Solstice to the Aequinox or as some say an hundred Days See Salmasius upon Solinus p. 427 c. 436 c. they could not walk abroad into their Fields and many times there followed after the Water was gone off great Sicknesses and Diseases by the smell of the Silt which it had left behind Ver. 12. A Land which the LORD thy God careth Verse 12 for Takes care that it want not Water by sending Showers of Rain plentifully from Heaven in their proper Season The Eyes of the LORD thy God That is the Providence of God whose Majesty dwelt in the Sanctuary Are always upon it To see what is wanting and to supply it From the beginning of the Year even unto the end of the Year At all Seasons to give them both the first and latter Rain as he speaks v. 14. and such Weather as might both produce and kindly ripen the Fruits of the Earth This he mentions as an Argument to Obedience in which if they failed he plainly tells them the Land should not yield her Fruit v. 17. For this Country was not so Fertile of it self as by the peculiar Blessing of God upon it whilst they kept his Laws Verse 13 Ver. 13. And it shall come to pass if ye will hearken diligently unto my Commandments which I command you this day To hearken diligently here signifies to consider them seriously and lay them to heart To love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul He repeats this so often because it is the Great Commandment as our Saviour speaks and because nothing is more natural than to love our Benefactors God especially our greatest Benefactor who gave us our being with all our Heart and with all our Soul See X. 12. And being the first and great Commandment it draws along with it Obedience to all the rest and is in effect the whole Duty of Man to God For constant Experience shows us that whosoever gets the firm hold of this Affection governs a Man as he pleaseth .. Ver. 14. That I will give you the Rain of your Land as much as is sufficient for such an hilly Country In his due season At the proper times which Verse 14 here follow The first Rain Before the sowing of their Seed to prepare the Ground and after it was sown that it might take root in the Earth and spring up And the latter Rain When the Corn was grown up towards earing time and after it was eared to make the Ears full and plump This appears from IV Amos 7. where he speaks of with-holding the Rain from them while there were yet three Months to the Harvest Which is meant of this latter Rain whereby their Corn was brought forward when it was but in the Blade to earing and so on to Harvest That thou mayest gather in thy Corn and thy Wine and thine Oil. Till the Corn and all the Fruits of the Earth be brought to maturity Ver. 15. And I will send Grass in thy Fields for Verse 15 thy Cattle To make them fat or to give plenty of Milk That thou mayest eat and be full Eat Flesh if they pleased as well as the Fruits of the Earth in great Plenty Ver. 16. Take heed to your selves that your heart be Verse 16 not deceived By the specious Colours that other Nations put upon their Idolatry as the Antiquity of it Vniversal Consent c. there being no part of the World at that time as Maimonides observes where all were not accustomed to worship Images c. whereby the Israelites were in danger to be seduced into an Imitation of their Neighbours And ye turn aside and serve other Gods and worship them By this it is evident that Moses is still pressing them to Care in observing the first and second Commandment Verse 17 Ver. 17. And then the LORD's wrath be kindled against you For their being deceived into Idolatry by false Reasonings which perswaded them what they did was lawful did not excuse them before God Who expected they should have used greater Caution and governed themselves by his plain and express Commands And he shut up the Heavens that there be no Rain The contrary to this is called opening his good Treasure XXVIII Deut. 12. signifying that they lived upon the Royal Bounty of the King of Heaven which their Sins would hinder from flowing to them That the Land yield not her Fruit and lest ye perish quickly from off the good Land which the LORD giveth you To with-hold Rain from them was a sore Judgment which quickly brought a Famine which was very grievous to those who used to live so plentifully And it was frequently attended with various Diseases whereby they were wasted and consumed Verse 18 Ver. 18. Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul See VI. 6. And bind them for a sign upon your hand that they may be as frontlets between your eyes Always in sight as the Rule whereby they should order their steps lest they trod amiss This is one of the Portions of Scripture from v. 13. to the end of v. 21. which the Jews write in their Tephilim as they call them which they use when they say their Prayers which they fancy are thereby made more acceptable unto God This Conceit began not long before our Saviour's time in the School of Hillel and Schammai and took such Root in the Minds of the most Religious that it hath grown to a great Superstition ever since See upon Chap. VI. v. 8 9. Which is another Portion of Scripture that they wrote in these Parchments though at the first St. Hierom saith upon XXIII Matth. 5. they wrote only the Ten Commandments Ver. 19. And ye shall teach them your Children Verse 19 This is repeated very often IV. 10. VI. 7. And out of this place and V. 1. the Jews have framed this as one of their affirmative Precepts That they ought themselves to learn the Law of God and to teach it unto others And this they do so diligently that as soon as their Children are capable to understand any thing they make them carefully read the Holy Books and instruct them so that before they can be called Youths they are acquainted with the whole Law of God In which we must confess they shame a great many Christians who scarce understand
VII 6. as a Reason why they should destroy the Images of the Heathen c. Which shows he is still speaking of the Idolatrous Customs which they should eschew because they were separated to God as a peculiar People by Laws different from all other Nations The Author of Sepher Cosri speaks not amiss That the People of Israel were call'd God's Segullah because they were elected by him to enjoy special Priviledges above other People and brought by him for that end out of the Land of Egypt in a wonderful manner and then had his Glory dwelling among them From whence it is that he doth not say in the Preface to the Ten Commandments I am the LORD of Heaven and Earth or thy Creator and therefore thou shalt have no other gods but me but I am the LORD thy God that brought thee out of the Land of Egypt c. To shew that this Law was given peculiarly to them and that they were tied to it by virtue of their Deliverance out of Egypt and God's placing his Glory among them Whereas if they had been bound to it by virtue of their Creation it would have belonged to other Nations as well as to them Pars I. Sect. 27. Verse 3 Ver. 3. Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing All the Meats forbidden by God to be eaten are called abominable not meerly because his Prohibition made them so but because the Gentile Superstition had consecrated most of them to their gods See upon XI Levit. 2. However after this Law was given the Jews were to look upon them as abominable by which means they were kept from having such free Conversation as otherwise they would have had with their Idolatrous Neighbours So that this Law also was intended to preserve them in the true Religion Verse 4 Ver. 4. These are the Beasts which ye shall eat The original of the difference of Meats see in the Learned J. Wagenseil in his Tela Ignea p. 553 c. where he shows it was not to continue for ever And it is a rational account of this which I just now gave That hereby they were preserved from common Conversation with other Nations and consequently from their Idolatries But it is a meer fancy and indeed a proud Imagination which some of the Jews have particularly the Author of Schebet Judah that as Men are more excellent than Beasts because they have better Food so Jews are more excellent than all other Men because they do not feed upon all sorts of Animals but only of some certain kinds and that after much preparation by rejecting the Blood and the Fat c. whereby they fancy the Flesh is so much alter'd that it is not so much flesh as some other food The Ox the Sheep and the Goat These were the only Beasts that were offered in Sacrifice to God and therefore are the first that are mentioned as clean for their use Ver. 5. The Hart and the Roe-buck These and Verse 5 the rest that follow in this Verse though they might not be offered in Sacrifice were allowed to be eaten and seem to be mentioned as the principal Food in the Land of Canaan XII 15 22. And the Fallow-deer It is not very material what the word Jachmur signifies because we are not now concerned in this Law about difference of Meats therefore we may follow our Translation as well as any other and the famous Bochartus hath made it probable that it signifies either a kind of Deer or of Goat P. I. Hierozoic Lib. III. Cap. XXII And the wild Goat So the Hebrew word Akko signifies which is no where else to be found the same Author proves in the same Book Cap. XIX And the Pygarg This is also a kind of Doe or Goat as he shows Cap. XX. which the Hebrews call Dison We find mention of Pygargus in Juvenal's Eleventh Satyr where the old Scholiast gives this account of it that it is a kind of Deer quoe retriores partes albas habet whose hinder parts are white From whence it had its Name among the Greeks who call the Buttocks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the wild Ox. So we translate the Hebrew word Theo or Tho. But herein Bochartus dissents because there were no such Creatures in Judaea as he observes there Cap. XXVI which are bred in colder Countries And therefore he reckons this also among the Deer or Goats Cap. XXVIII And the Chamois The Hebrew word Zemer he also thinks signifies as the former a kind of Goat or Hart of which there were great variety in those Countries And this he thinks of all other was maximè 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 remarkable for jumping which is the signification of the word Zemara in the Arabick Language See Cap. XXI Verse 6 Ver. 6. And every Beast that parteth the hoof and cleaveth the cleft into two Claws and cheweth the Cud that shall ye eat He forbears to reckon up any more Particulars and only sets down the general Marks whereby they might be known which he had delivered in XI Levit. 3. See there Verse 7 Ver. 7. Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of those that chew the cud or of them that divide the cloven hoof c. These Exceptions from the general Rule have been explained XI Levit. 4 5 6. Verse 8 Ver. 8. And the Swine because it divideth the hoof yet cheweth not the cud it is unclean to you See upon XI Levit. 7. Ye shall not eat of their flesh nor touch their dead carcase See XI Levit. 8. Verse 9 Ver. 9. These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters all that have fins and scales shall ye eat See XI Lev. 9. Verse 10 Ver. 10. And whatsoever hath not fins and scales c. See XI Levit. 10 11 12. Verse 11 Ver. 11. Of all clean Birds ye shall eat He doth not name any as he did of Beasts but by enumerating those of which they might not eat all the rest were left free to be used for Food Verse 12 Ver. 12. But these are they of which ye shalt not eat the Eagle the Ossifrage and the Ospray All these are mentioned just as they are here in XI Levit. 13. Verse 13 Ver. 13. And the Glead and the Kite and the Vulture after his kind There are only two of these mentioned in XI Levit. 14. the last of them Hadajah being there omitted for it is so near to Haajah which goes before that the Transcriber as Bochart imagines might there leave it out But rather Moses now adds this sort of Bird which was not so like in Nature as in Name otherwise he would not have distinctly forbidden it Ver. 14. And every Raven after his kind The same Verse 14 words with those XI Levit. 15. Ver. 15. And the Owl and the Night-hawk and the Verse 15 Cuckow c. All the Birds mentioned in this and the three next Verses 16 17 18. are the very same which are forbidden in XI Levit. 16 17
12. to v. 35. where he orders also the eighth day to be solemnly observed for a special reason See there Because the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy increase and in all the works of thy hands Thankfulness to God for Blessings bestowed was the way to procure more Therefore thou shalt surely rejoyce In God the giver of all good things whom the whole Nation by the Institution of this Feast were incited to bless and praise for the Fruits of his Bounty to them And Peace-offerings were sacrificed on purpose for this end XXVII 7. From the repetition of this Command Thou shalt rejoyce the Jews infer that though all Festivals were Times of Joy yet the Feast of Tabernacles was to be celebrated with greater Joy than all the rest And accordingly Maimonides tells us the whole Festival was spent in Musick and Dancing and Singing Night and Day Ver. 16. Three times in the year shall all thy Males Verse 16 appear before the LORD thy God in the place c. This is so frequently enjoyned See v. 13. because it was of the greatest Consequence that they should meet as often as they could conveniently at one and the same place to worship the Divine Majesty whereby the Notion of the Unity of God was preserved among them And they shall not appear before the LORD empty This is also frequently repeated where the Feasts themselves are enjoyned XXIII Exod. 15. XXXIV 20. And from these and the following words That every man should give as he was able c. came the pious Custom in the beginning of our Religion that the People when they came to the LORD's Table offer'd Bread and Wine and Corn and Oil and such like things for the Support of God's Ministers and the Relief of the Poor every one according to their Ability Which was done in acknowledgment of God as the Author of Life and of all good Things for which they in this manner shewed their Gratitude to him And the Priests in the presence of all the People lifted them up and gave God thanks and beseeched him to accept them And out of these in many places they made their Agapae or Feasts of Charity for the Poor Mention is made of these Oblations in the Canons ascribed to the Apostles Cap. 3 4. which though not made by them yet contain a great many Apostolical Customs Verse 17 Ver. 17. Every man shall give as he is able according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee It was but reasonable that the more bountiful God had been to them the more liberally they should offer a grateful Acknowledgment to him For all the forenamed three Feasts had relation to the Fruits of the Earth which God had blessed them withal as well as commemorated former great Benefits bestowed on their Fore-fathers The Passover being at the beginning of Barley Harvest Pentecost at the beginning of Wheat-Harvest and the Feast of Tabernacles when they had gathered in all the Fruits of the Earth At which Seasons all Mankind were ever wont to be full of Joy and to offer Sacrifices So Aristotle tells us Lib. VIII ad Nicomachum Cap. II. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. The ancient Sacrifices and Conventions seem to have been after the gathering in of the Fruits of the Earth as a First-fruits at which time chiefly they rested from their labours And so Strabo likewise Lib. X. Geograph p. 467. It is common both to Greeks and Barbarians to offer their Sacrifices with a Festival intermission of their Labours c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and so Nature taught them to do that is to thank God with Rejoycing and Cessation from Labours For which he gives this surprising Reason 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For remission of Labour abstracts the Mind from Humane Affairs and turns it towards God This certainly was the ancient intention of all such Festival Times as the Heathen themselves could discern Ver. 18. Judges and Officers shalt thou make thee Verse 18 To see that these and all other Laws were duly observed Moses de Cotzi upon these words makes this difference between Schofetim and Schoterim that the former viz. Judges were the Senators in the several Courts who decided Causes and the other Officers were no more than Ministers attending the Court to keep the People in order with a Staff and a Whip and to execute the Decrees and Orders of the Judges whom they appointed not only in the Court but in the Streets looking after Weights and Measures in the Market and correcting Offenders Maimonides also makes them the same with our Apparitors or those who in the Roman Law are called Officiales as Constantine L'Empereur observes p. 362. upon Cornelius Bertram who mistook them for a sort of Judges and in the Digests Executores and in the New Testament 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Exactors XII Luke 58. Josephus makes them to have been Publick Criers and so we find them imployed XX. 8. I Josh 11. But then some of them at least seem to have been an honourable sort like our Heralds XXIII Josh 2. and all of them were Men of Authority though but young Men as Maimonides describes them who had not attained the Years and Knowledge of Doctors of the Law and therefore unfit to be Judges But the Jews place them next under their wise Men or Doctors and above their Scribes and Clerks as Mr. Thorndike observes in his Review of the Rights of the Church p. 94. But that they were certainly only under Officers and not Judges there is another Argument which is That Solomon upon this account commends the Ants that they carefully do their business though they have no Schoter set over them VI Prov. 7. no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to force or affright them into it In all thy gates That is in every City as Mr. Selden observes out of the Jewish Writers Lib. VII de Jure Nat. Gent. Cap. V. and more largely L. II. de Synedriis Cap. V. Sect. 1. where he shows they interpret it in all the Cities of Israel both within the Land and without where Israel had any Jurisdiction Which is so true that they had Consistories wheresoever they were dispersed for the determining all Differences arising out of the Law though not as to the power of Life and Death which was seldom granted them by their Soveraigns Thus we learn from Philo that there was such a Consistory at Alexandria and the little Chronicle called Seder Olam Zuta tells us of the like in Babylonia And after the destruction of the Temple it is manifest not only by the Jewish Writings but by Epiphanius and others that there continued a Consistory at Tiberias for many Ages c. See Mr. Thorndike's Rights of the Church p. 56 57. and his Review of it p. 56. But though this be granted yet these words in all thy gates may suggest also the part of the City where they kept
of what he said Or rather that the next time he went up to worship at God's House he was bound to make this declaration before the Divine Majesty Which is the most likely Interpretation because these words before the LORD are always so used in these Books And unless they had been obliged to this their covetous and cruel disposition might have inclined them to defraud the Poor which by this means was prevented For though Men might have satisfied themselves in omitting this Profession if it had been left meerly to their own private Consciences yet when they were bound to come and make it publickly at God's own House as they could not avoid it so few would be found so impudently prophane as solemnly to tell a lye to God himself I have brought away the hallowed things Things separated by the Divine Commandment from their own private use for the use of the Poor Out of my house From the rest of the Fruits of the Earth which they had gathered And also I have given them unto the Levite and unto the stranger to the fatherless and to the widow That is unto the Refreshment of the Poor So the Hierusalem Targum paraphrases v. 2. which is worth the mentioning In the third year which is the year of tithing for the Poor ye shall give the first Tithes to the Levites and then the Tithes of the Poor to the Strangers Fatherless and Widows that they may eat in their Cities and be filled According to all thy Commandments which thou hast commanded me According to the direction before-mentioned XIV 29. I have not transgressed thy Commandments neither have I forgotten them Neither done contrary to God's Precepts nor forgotten to perform them either by keeping these Tithes to themselves or by bestowing them otherwise than God appointed Ver. 14. I have not eaten thereof in my mourning Verse 14 After the general Profession mentioned in the Verse foregoing that they had brought all hallowed things out of their Houses and employed them as God directed they were to make three particular Professions which are mentioned in this Verse and it is probable they have respect to some idolatrous Customs which were in those days The first of them is that they had not eaten thereof in mourning or in lamentation For so the Hebrew word Oni signifies very bitter grief and sore mourning Such the Egyptians made in Harvest time when they offered the First-fruits of the Earth and kept the Feast of Isis with doleful Lamentations So Diodorus Siculus and other Authors tell us particularly Julius Firmicus who severely reproves their folly or madness rather saying Cur plangitis fruges terrae c. Why do you bewail the Fruits of the Earth why weep you at the growth of your Seed c. you should rather give thanks for these things to the most high God whose Bounty is not to be lamented but bewail rather your own Error c. If there was such a Custom in the World when Moses lived it may very well be thought that he taught the Israelites to disclaim such sensless and impious practices And as the Egyptians by this mourning acknowledged Isis that is the Earth to be the giver of all these good things so he required God's People to bring in their Harvest with the greatest Joy and Thanks unto the most High For there was no Joy so great as that of Harvest and Vintage directly opposite to the Heathen who kept the Feast of Bacchus also with Lamentations See our Learned Dr. Spencer Lib. II. de Ritual Hebr. Leg. Cap. XXIV Sect. I. Nor taken ought thereof for any unclean use As some of the old Idolaters were wont to do who separated some part of the First-fruits for Magical purposes and some times for carnal and filthy So Julius Firmicus informs us who immediately after the mention of their Lamentations when they gathered the Fruits of the Earth asks this question Quid addis incestum adulterium Which shows that there were unclean Rites which accompanied their Offerings and that they made them minister unto Venus See the same Learned Author in the same place Sect. III. Nor given ought thereof for the dead If this be the right Translation of the last words for the dead St. Austin hath given us a likely reason of this Clause which was to profess they had not imitated the Gentiles who were wont to set Meat and Drink upon the Graves of the Dead as he tells us Serm. XV. de Sanctis But it doth not appear that they set any part of their Tithe or First-fruits upon them nor that they did it only in Harvest time but rather common Bread and Wine which at all times they set upon their Graves when they were interred and therefore it may be translated to the dead as the same excellent Person observes Sect. III. And so it is a profession they had not offered any of the Fruits of the Earth to Heroes after the manner of the Gentiles particularly to Osiris For that they honoured them with their First-fruits appears by a passage in Porphyry Lib. IV. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sect. XXII where he mentions three Laws made by Triptolemus an ancient Lawgiver among the Athenians One of which is this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to worship the gods with the Fruits of the Earth Which Draco thus expounds as he shows in the Conclusion of that Book 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. To honour the Gods and the Heroes of their Country publickly according to the Laws of the Nation and privately as much as they were able with speaking well of them and with the First-fruits and the Annual Offerings See Meursius in his Themis Attica Lib. I. Cap. I. But however we take this the giving any part of the Tithe either for the dead or to the dead shows there was such a Superstitious Custom unto which this Clause having a manifest respect we have reason to think the two former have so likewise But I have hearkned to the voice of the LORD my God and done according to all that thou hast commanded me Performed all that God required and done nothing contrary to it All these words from v. 13. to this place were to be spoken with a low and humble voice because they are a sort of Commendation of themselves and of their own Integrity which is not to be proclaimed aloud But when they made the foregoing Profession at the presenting of their First-fruits v. 5 6 c. they being an acknowledgment of their own meanness and poor beginnings and of God's infinite goodness in their advancement they were to lift up their voice and say aloud My Father was a Syrian ready to perish c. Thus the Doctors resolve in the Gemara of Mischna Sota Cap. VII in the beginning of it Verse 15 Ver. 15. Look down Have a gracious regard From thy holy habitation from heaven This is an humble acknowledgment of the Infinite Majesty of God who though he was graciously
Hierom's time to expound the words of this Law to signifie not meerly all that is contained in these Blessings and Curses but all things which are written in the Book of the Law So that whether this whole Book i. e. all the Laws contained in it written upon the Pillars or only these Blessings and Cursings the matter comes to the same Issue because all that is contained in this Book is comprehended in this last Curse yea all that is contained in the whole Law of Moses Therefore it is not very material neither whether only these Curses and Blessings were recited upon Mount Gerizim and Ebal or the whole Law of Moses from one end to the other about which the Jews themselves differ But they that are of the latter Opinion think it well grounded upon VIII Josh 33. where we read how Joshua carefully performed what Moses here enjoyned And that his words might not be forgotten Moses seems to have ordered the continuance of this Solemnity every seventh year in the Twenty ninth Chapter of this Book v. 10 11 c. The Misâ—hna in Sota which I have often mentioned concludes this matter with these words When the Blessings and the Cursings were ended they brought Stones and built an Altar which they plaistered over and wrote upon them all the words of this Law in Seventy Languages But I have shown before that the Stones on which the Law was written was different from the Altar and were erected before the building of the Altar The Gemara there adds Cap. VII Sect. XXIV That every one of the Israelites there present stood bound one for another that is for the whole Company that they would observe these Laws Which I know not how they extract out of Moses his words but their Doctors frequently mention it in their Books and make this pious use of it That by virtue of this Security which they gave for each other every Man was bound to reprove his Neighbour if he saw him offend unless he was content to undergo the Punishment which was threatned unto the Breach of God's Laws and come under the Curse XIX Levit. 17. And unto this they apply those words They shall fall one upon another as we truly translate XXVI Levit. 37. as if they signified every one shall fall by his Brother that is by his Brothers Crimes For we all promised say they in the Gemara Sanhedrim Cap. III. Sect. VI. and engaged one for another and so from that time were punished one for another CHAP. XXVIII Chapter XXVIII Verse 1. AND it shall come to pass In this Verse 1 Chapter he repeats with many Enlargements the Rewards and Penalties which he had promised and threatned in the Book of Leviticus unto the Observance or Breach of the Covenant they had made with God And here in this Verse he promises in general the Blessings which are more particularly enumerated in the following Verses If thou wilt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God to observe and do all his Commandments c. See VII 12. Where the same thing is said only here he adds the word diligently to make them attend with the greater seriousness to what he delivered See Chapt. XI 13 22. That the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all Nations of the earth By bestowing on them the following Blessings See VII 14. They were already endued with singular Priviledges above other Nations XIX Exod. 5 6. which by their Obedience would be confirmed continued and augmented in greater plenty of all things Ver. 2. And all these Blessings shall come upon thee Verse 2 and overtake thee Blessings that come unexpectedly and when we are not in pursuit of them are most welcome and highly delight us And such God here promises to bestow on them by his gracious Providence without their laborious and anxious seeking after them By which very thing he set them above all Nations for what they followed after eagerly and many times in vain he undertakes should come to them and prevent their desires If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God So as to observe and do all his Commandments as it is explained in the foregoing Verse Verse 3 Verse 3. Blessed shalt thou be in the City and blessed shalt thou be in the field That is in all their Affairs within doors or without Or whether they lived by Employments in the City or by Husbandry in Tilling the Ground It is not a natural Interpretation of these words which one of the Hebrew Doctors gives of them in Bava Metzia where he expounds blessed shalt thou be in the City thy House shall be so nigh unto the Synagogue that thou needest not be troubled by going a long way to it And blessed in the field thy Ground shall lye so near to the City that thou mayest quickly bring the Fruit it produces to be sold in the Market But if he could have gone on in this manner it had been something tolerable but he expounds what follows in a most undecent manner See Wagenseil upon the Gemara of Sota Cap. III. Sect. IX Annot. 5. Verse 4 Ver. 4. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body This seems to be a Promise of preventing Miscarriages when they were with Child for a numerous Progeny is promised afterwards v. 11. And the fruit of thy ground This signifies they should have seasonable Harvests and Vintages For fruit of the ground comprehends not only all sorts of Corn but Grapes Figs Pomegranates and such like Fruit which grow on Trees And the fruit of thy Cattle By the word Behemah is sometimes meant all sorts of brute Creatures in opposition to Men sometimes tame Creatures in opposition to wild Beasts But here all sorts of Domestick Creatures except Kine Sheep and Goats viz. Asses and Camels Which Jacob brought with him as well as Oxen and Sheep when he came from Laban into Canaan XXXII Gen. 5 7. And the increase of thy kine The breed of these was very profitable being a considerable part of the Riches not only of that but of other Countries as appears by what Pausanias saith of them See Bochartus P. I. Hierozoicon Lib. II. Cap. XL. in the beginning And the flocks of thy sheep Under the name of Sheep in the Hebrew are comprehended Goats also All which God promises to increase that is to make them very wealthy And here it may be observed that the Israelites were generally Husbandmen or Shepherds and did not commonly follow any other Trades and therefore no mention is made of them here unless it be in v. 6. where he seems to speak of all sort of Business Ver. 5. Blessed shall be thy basket The Hierusalem Verse 5 Targum refers this to the Basket wherein they carried up their First-fruits XXVI 2. But the Vulgar Latin translates it thy Barns and so do the LXX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the places where they laid up their Corn and other Fruits of the Earth Which
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