Country And another Law punished this Ingratitude with Death See J. Meursius in his Themis Attica Lib. I. Cap. 2 3. where he shews That by Parents they understood not only Father and Mother but Grand-father and Grand-mother nay 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Great Grand-mother and Great Grand-father if they were yet alive as Isaeus tells us Orat. VII And the Ground of all these Laws was a Sence they had as Aeschines tells us That Men ought to honour their Parents as they did the Gods 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See Sam. Petitus in Leges Atticas Lib. III. Tit. 3. Whence Hierocles calls Parents 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Earthly Gods And Philo upon the Decalogue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Visible Gods who imitate him that is unbegotten by giving Life And accordingly next to the Precepts concerning the Worship of God Moses here places immediately the Duty owing unto Parents That thy Days may be prolonged and that it may go well with thee c. These last Words are added to what God spake XX Exod. 12. as an Explication of the foregoing Whereby they are excited to Obedience by the Promise not only of a long Life but of an happy I say Obedience for that 's included in Honour as the Apostle explains it III Coloss 20. Children obey your Parents in all things Where God that is hath not commanded the contrary and where it is not inconsistent with the Publick Good which is alway to be preferred ever before the Duty that is owing to Natural Parents Insomuch that common Reason taught the Heathen that for the Good of the Society the Son is to lay aside the Reverence he should pay to his Father and the Father to pay it unto the Son that is when he is in Publick Office Thus the famous Fabius Cunctator commended his Son for making him light off from his Horse when he met him in his Consulship as Plutarch tells us And see A. Gellius L. XI Noct. Attic. Cap. I. Lib. XIII Cap. ult Lib. XIV in the beginning Ver. 17. Thou shalt not kill If a Man killed another involuntarily he was banished by the Laws of Athens from his Country for a Year But if he kill'd Verse 17 another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Demosthenes speaks out of forethought and designedly he was put to Death See Sam. Petitus Lib. VII in Leges Atticas Tit. 1. p. 508 512. Yea so detestable was this Sin accounted that even 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Liveless Things such as Wood or Stone or Iron wherewith a Man was killed Draco ordered to be thrown out of their Coasts Ib. p. 523. Ver. 18. Thou shalt not commit Adultery This Verse 18 Crime was also punished with Death by the Laws of Draco Solon indeed left it to the Liberty of the Husband who caught another Man in Bed with his Wife either to kill him if he pleased or to let him redeem his Life with a Sum of Money But if after this he lived with his Wife he was infamous as Demosthenes tells us who saith she might not come publickly into their Temples If she did any Man might treat her as he pleased only not kill her So that she was so odious as to be thrown 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Both out of the House of her Husband and out of Holy Places of the City Nor might she go abroad with any Ornaments 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the Law of Solon If she did any Body might take them away from her and tear her Clothes in pieces and beat her only not maim her in any part of her Body See the same Petitus Lib. VI. Tit. 4. Ver. 19. Neither shalt thou steal The Laws of Verse 19 Draco punished all Theft with Death Which Solon thought too severe and therefore chang'd that Punishment into making Satisfaction by restoring double yet still making it Death if any Man stole above such a Value or took any thing out of the Publick Baths and such-like places tho' of never so little Value See in the same Author Lib. VII Tit. 5. Verse 20 Ver. 20. Neither shalt thou bear false Witness against thy Neighbour There was an Action at Athens lay both against false Witnesses and him that produced them Who had a Fine set upon them and were made infamous And if they were found thrice in the same Fault 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Both they themselves and all their Posterity were made infamous As Andocides speaks See Ib. page 559. Verse 21 Ver. 21. Neither shalt thou desire thy Neighbour's Wife neither shalt thou covet thy Neighbour's House c. It is observed by some that an exact Order is observed in the delivery of these Precepts For first he places such Offences as are consummate and then those that are but begun and not perfected And in the former he proceeds from those that are most heinous unto those that are less grievous For those Offences are the greatest which disturb the Publick Order and consequently do mischief unto a great many Such are those that are committed against Governors and Rulers who are comprehended under the Name of Parents by whose Authority Humane Society is preserved And then among those which are against particular Persons those are the greatest which touch a Man's Life Next those that wrong his Family the Foundation of which is Matrimony Then those that wrong him in his Goods either directly by Stealth or more craftily by bearing False-witness Then in the last place those Sins are mentioned which are not consummate being gone no further than desire which in Exodus XX. 17. are expressed by one and the same word but here by two which we translate desire and covet Between which I know no difference unless they express higher and lower degrees of the same Sin The contrary to which is contentedness with our Portion and thankfulness to God for it which will not let us covet any thing belonging to another Man with his loss and damage Ver. 22. These Words the LORD spake unto all the Verse 22 Assembly in the Mount out of the midst of the Fire of the Clouds and of the thick Darkness XIX Exod. 16. XX. 18. This confutes the foolish Fancy of the Jewish Doctors that the People heard only the first Words of God I am the LORD thy c. thou shalt have no other Gods but me i. e. They heard him declare his Existence and his Unity but all the rest were reported to them by Moses Nothing can be more contrary to what he here saith that all these Words that is the Ten Words before mentioned were spoken to their whole Assembly See More Nevochim P. II. Cap. XXXIII With a great Voice That is so loud that it might be heard by the whole Camp And he added no more All the rest of the Commandments which follow in the XXI XXII and XXIII of Exodus were delivered to Moses alone and by him to the People according to their own desire XX Exod. 19. XXI 1.
more he was accounted a Niggard or as they phrase it a Man of an evil eye But notwithstanding all these Precepts and their Interpretations the Jews so little minded their Poor that their Governors were at last forced as we now alas do to lay a Rate upon the Rich for the Maintenance of the Poor which they enabled their Officers to exact See Selden Lib. VI. de Jure Nat. Gent. Cap. VI. and Maimonides de Donis Pauperum set forth by a very learned Friend of mine Dr. Prideaux Cap. VII who argues from this place that if a poor Man wanted a Wife they were bound to provide him one c. Ver. 9. Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked Verse 9 heart saying The seventh year the year of Release is at hand If such a Thought came into their Mind that they should lose what they lent because the seventh year approached they were bound to stifle it immediately and not suffer it to lodge there And thine eye be evil against thy poor brother This move thee to be unkind and unmerciful to him So a Man of an evil eye signifies in XXIII Prov. 6. one that grudges what another eats at his Table And thou givest him nought Lending was in this case giving when a Man was very poor and the Year of Release so near that he could have no prospect of his being able to repay him And he cry unto the LORD against thee Make his doleful Complaint unto God finding no Relief from Men. And it be sin unto thee God charge it upon thee as an offence against his Majesty yea a great offence For so the word sin sometimes signifies XV John 24. IV James 17. Verse 10 Ver. 10. Thou shalt surely give him Not fail to relieve his Wants And thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him They were not only to relieve him but to do it cheerfully Because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy Works and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto There is no difference between all their work and all that they put their hand unto for all Works are performed by the hand unless one refer to what they did within doors and the other to their Labours in the Field Verse 11 Ver. 11. For the poor shall never cease out of thy Land There would always be some or other among them who stood in need of the forenamed charitable Relief by which they might be preserved from extream Poverty which God intended to prevent as is plain from v. 4. See Grotius upon XXVI S. Matth. 11. The Hierusalem Targum understand this as if there should have been no Poor amongst them if they had been obedient to God's Precepts Therefore I command thee saying Thou shalt open thine hand wide If any one refused to give or gave less than became him Maimonides saith in the forenamed place the Sanhedrim compelled him to it and whipt him with the stripes of rebellion or contumacy i. e. very sorely till he gave as much as they judged he ought to do To thy brother to thy poor and to thy needy in thy Land Here are evidently three different sorts of Persons mentioned as Objects of their Charity which may be lookt upon as directing the excellent order of it For first they were to relieve those that were nearest to them in Blood called here their Brethren Then secondly such as were in great Misery And thirdly such as were low in the World and required some help but not so much as the former sort Some indeed will not admit such a difference between the words poor and needy but think the last signifies such whose Condition was Calamitous About which I think it is not worth the while to dispute I shall rather observe that God took exceeding great care that none should come to very great want by the large Provision he made for the poorer sort of People who had the benefit of the third Tithe mentioned in the foregoing Chapter which was wholly given to them every third year and of the Sabbatical Year when all that grew of it self was common to every Body and of this Release of Debts in the same year and of the large quantity of Corn which they were bound to leave every year in the Corners of their Fields with the Ears that fell and the Sheaf that was left c. Ver. 12. If thy brother an Hebrew man or an Hebrew Verse 12 woman be sold unto thee Whether sold by themselves or by the Court of Judgment for Theft But there was some difference between a Man and a Woman See XXI Exod. 2 3 c. And the same Law they say was to be observed about those who were sold by their Father or were born of Hebrew Slaves And serve thee six years then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free He doth not speak of the Year of Release as if he were then to be set free though he had served but one year or perhaps no more than half a year before that came but of the seventh year from the time of his Sale For he was to serve six compleat years unless the Jubilee hapned to intervene when every one was set free though he had not served so long But such Servants as were taken in the Wars or were sold by Canaanites or born of them might be kept perpetual Slaves unless they were maimed by their Masters with the loss of some Member of their Body Verse 13 Ver. 13. And when thou sendest him out free from thee thou shalt not let him go away empty But bestow something upon him for his more comfortable Subsistence when he was a Free-man And this comprehends Women as well as Men as appears by the foregoing Verse but then it is to be understood of such as went out free by virtue of this Law after they had served six years not of such as were redeemed by their Friends or redeemed themselves with their own Money XXV Levit. 18. For such might be supposed not to need their Masters kindness as they did who had nothing to help them out of their Slavery Verse 14 Ver. 14. Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock and out of thy floor and out of thy Wine-press That they might put themselves in a way of living well in the World which they were not able to do without this Assistance because what they got in their six years Service was wholly for their Master and not for themselves He doth not prescribe a certain measure to their Bounty but leaves every Man to express his Affection freely towards God and towards his Neighbour But the Hebrews say they were bound to give them at least thirty Shekels of Silver Of that wherewith the LORD thy God hath blessed thee that shalt thou give him Considering how God hath inriched thee even by his Service Ver. 15. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a Verse 15 bondman in
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
pleasure of the Conquerour but beg the Punishment may be mitigated by Mercy and Clemency Namely the Hittites and the Amorites the Canaanites and the Perizzites the Hivites and the Jebusites as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee He distinctly mentions the Nations which were to be utterly destroyed that this severity might be extended no further And so he had done before VII 1. where he mentions Seven Nations though here are only Six the Gergasites being omitted The reason of which Maimonides in Hilcoth Melachim thinks to be that they upon the first Summons of Joshua fled the Country into Africa and therefore are not named in IX Josh 1 2. among those that gathered themselves together to fight against Israel But I take the true reason of this to be that the Gergasites were a People mixed among the rest and did not live in a separate part of the Country by themselves but that they opposed Joshua as well as others and were delivered into his hand appears from XXIV Josh 11. Now this looks like a great Cruelty to kill so many Nations till we consider who the People were that God commanded to be utterly extirpated viz. most abominable Idolaters who offered their Children to Moloch as a piece of pious Worship Magicians Witches Necromancers and guilty of all those filthy Lusts mentioned in XVIII Lev. For which Crimes God thought them not fit to live any longer upon the face of the Earth and therefore commanded them to be utterly destroyed in this War which was undertaken by his order and called therefore the War of the LORD And so was that against Sihon and Og who were likewise Amorites and upon that score rooted out by God's order XXI Numb ult II Deut. 34. For it was Mercy to others not to suffer such a wicked Generation to live Verse 18 Ver. 18. That they teach you not to do after all their abominations which they have done unto their gods Here is the great reason given of the forenamed severe Execution that if they had been spared they would have infected the Israelites with their filthy Idolatry Which some make an Argument why Peace was not to be proclaimed to these Nations v. 10. because they were so wicked that on no terms it was fit to suffer them to live But they that object this against what was before said forget or do not consider that the great Condition of Peace with them was that they should renounce their Idolatry and then there was no such danger in sparing them And this so settled in the opinion of the ancient Jews that after they had taken a City they thought upon these terms there was room for Mercy So the Book Siphri upon these very words lest they teach you to do after all their abominations From whence it is to be observed saith that Author if they repented the Israelites might let them live And so R. Solomon himself It is to be understood that if they repented and became Proselytes it was lawful to receive them So should you sin against the LORD your God Both by suffering them to live and imitating them in their wickedness Verse 19 Ver. 19. When thou shalt besiege a City a long time in making war against it to take it thou shalt not destroy the Trees thereof by forcing an Ax against them for thou mayest eat of them and thou shalt not cut them down It is very plain that he speaks of Fruit-trees such as bare Apples Olives Dates c. which were to be preserved both in War and in Peace except in a few Cases In War if the Enemy made advantage of them for their Archers to lurk and shelter themselves behind them by which the Israelites were much annoyed then they think they might be cut down to shorten the Siege And in Peace if they did not bring forth Fruit or if the Fruit would not be so profitable as the Wood would be for building and other uses or if they hindred the growth of better Trees in all these Cases they might be cut down as the Jewish Doctors resolve Who when they please mind the reason of a Law and not the bare words insomuch that they extend this Law to a great many other things which they say might not be destroyed if they were useful and profitable No Houses for Instance nor Garments nor Houshold-stuff nor were they to stop up Fountains c. See Selden Lib. VI. de Jure Nat. Gent. Cap. XV. and Guil. Schickardus in Jus Regium Cap. V. Theorem XVIII For the Tree of the field is man's life The word Life is not in the Hebrew Text but we add it to make out the sense In which we follow many good Authors among the Jews particularly Aben-Ezra who observes many such elliptical i. e. concise Forms of Speech in Scripture As in 1 Sam. XVI 20. where an Ass of Bread is an Ass loaded with Bread So here the Tree is a Man i. e. the Life or Support of Man Just as XXIV 6. it is said a Man should not take the upper or neither Milstone to pledge ki nephesh hu because it is his Life i. e. that whereby he gets his livelyhood But there are a great many who translate the words by way of Interrogation and the Hebrew will bear it and joyning them with those that follow make this the sense Is the Tree of the Field a Man that it should come against thee in the Siege So the Vulgar the Greek and the Arabick Translation and the Chaldee Paraphrast and Josephus as Mr. Selden observes Lib. VI. de Jure Nat. Gent. Cap. XII As much as to say they need not fear any danger from the Trees as if they were Souldiers that could fight against them And if this sense do not seem dilute as some have censured it there is no need of rendring the words by way of Interrogation but only of repeating the word not out of the foregoing words in this manner Thou shalt not cut them down for the Tree of the Field is not a Man c. Of this there are many Examples as Glassius and our Gataker have shown And thus R. Bechai among the Jews expounds these words and the famous Abarbinel who thus glosses upon them It is not decent to make War against Trees who have no hands to fight with thee but against Men only And this sense Grotius follows Lib. III. de Jure Belli Pacis Cap. XII Sect. II. where he produces Philo for this opinion and Josephus who says If Trees could speak they would cry out that it was unjust that they who were no cause of the War should suffer the mischiefs of it And thus Onkelos translates these words and those that follow For the Tree of the Field is not as a Man that it should come against thee in the Siege that is they had no cause to fear Trees and therefore should not hurt them But this is a reason against cutting down any Trees whatsoever whereas Moses
consume and eat up which they did so entirely that they were lookt upon by all People as a Plague sent by God and are therefore called by Joel his Army II. 25. So not only the Hebrews but the Arabians esteemed them who say that some of them on a time fell before their Prophet as he sat at Meat with this Inscription on their Backs I am God and there is none other besides me the LORD of Locusts who nourish them and when I please send them forth that they may be food for the people and when I please that they may be their plague by eating up their food See Bochartus in his Hierozoicon Pars II. Lib. IV. Cap. VI. Verse 39 Ver. 39. Thou shalt plant vineyards and dress them Take a great deal of care and pains about them after they are planted to make them fruitful But shalt neither drink of the wine nor eat the grapes Not enjoy the least benefit by their cost and labour For worms shall eat them The Hebrew word Tholaath is a general name for all Worms whatsoever But there is a peculiar sort that infest Vines which the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Bochartus observes in his Hierozoicon P. II. Lib. IV. Cap. XXVII where he takes notice that the Latines call this Worm Volvox and Convolvulus because it wraps and rolls it self up in the Buds and eats the Grapes up when they grow towards ripeness as the Roman Authors explain it Ver. 40. Thou shalt have Olive-trees through all thy Verse 40 Coasts but thou shalt not anoint thy self with the oil Though the Country abounded with these Trees in all parts of it they produced nothing but Leaves and a show of Fruit which came to no perfection For thy Olive shall cast her fruit Being blasted as the Hierusalem Targum explains it in the very Blossom or the Buds dropping off for want of Rain or the Fruit being eaten with Worms Maimonides observes that the Idolaters in those Countries pretended by certain Magical Arts to preserve all manner of Fruit so that Worms should not gnaw the Vines nor either Buds or Fruit fall from the Trees as he reports their words out of one of their own Books which he names therefore to deterr the Israelites from all idolatrous practices Moses here pronounces that they should draw upon themselves those very Punishments which they studied by such means to avoid More Nevochim P. III. Cap. XXXVII Ver. 41. Thou shalt beget sons and daughters but thou Verse 41 shalt not enjoy them for they shall go into captivity Which is threatned in many places of the Prophets and fulfilled in several Invasions of their Neighbours for the Syrians no doubt carried captive more than that one little Maid who waited on Naaman's Wife 2 Kings V. 2. And in other inroads upon them till the Captivity of the whole Land this we may be confident was a frequent Calamity 2 Kings XIV 26. XV. 37 c. But it was never more remarkably fulfilled than since they crucified our Saviour their Children having been taken from them as I have observed before v. 32 34. and transported sometimes into other places And who knows whether many of their Stock detained by King Emanuel of Portugal before-mentioned have not been transported into America and whether many of the Spanish Colonies have not a mixture of the Jewish Progeny in them as Dr. Jackson observes Manasseh ben Israel I am sure endeavours to prove in his Book called Spes Israelis that some of the Ten Tribes are in America though how they came there he can give no account Verse 42 Ver. 42. All thy trees and the fruit of thy Land shall the Locust consume So Onkelos and the Hebrew Writers generally translate the word tzelatzal which signifies a peculiar sort of Locusts which falls upon Trees as others upon the Fields And it seems to have this name because these Locusts come in such thick Clouds that they darken the Sun the Hebrew word tzalal signifying to over-shadow The Hierusalem Targum translates it All your Trees and the fruits of your Land shall spoilers possess I suppose these several Judgments fell in the order wherein they are here mentioned in v. 38 39 40 41 42. There being first a great Dearth of which we read 2 Kings VIII 1 c. and I Joel 10 11 12 c. then many Invasions of their Country wherein several were carried Captive by the Bands of Moab upon the Israelites 2 Kings XIII 20. and of the Chaldaeans Syrians and Ammonites who came upon Judah XXIV 2. And we read expresly that before this in the days of Ahaz a great Multitude were carried Captive by the Syrians 2 Chron. XXVIII 5. After which more Spoilers came upon them in the days of Jeremiah XII 12. and a new Famine XIV 1 c. in which this 41st verse may be thought to be fulfilled Ver. 43. The stranger that is within thee shall get up Verse 43 above thee very high and thou shalt come down very low There is no sorer Punishment to a proud People than to see those who are not only their Inferiours but much beholden to them as all Strangers were to the Jews among whom they lived meerly by permission get up above them and become their Superiours But so it was that the Jews by their foolish endeavours to advance themselves raised a meer Stranger to the highest Dignity who humbled them into the lowest Condition For this as that excellent Person I have often mentioned observes may be applied to Vespasian who was appointed to command in the Wars against the Jews and being a Person of mean Birth and obscure Family had no thoughts of aspiring to the Imperial Seat but by the unseasonable desire of the Jews to exalt themselves above all Nations they hoised him up to the most sublime pitch of Greatness who was ordained by God to pluck them down from their Seat and bring them beneath all People See Dr. Jackson Book I. on the Creed Cap. XXIII Paragraph 3 4 c. For he quite extinguished their Glory which was their Temple at Jerusalem and likewise shut up and prophaned the Temple which the Egyptian Jews had built in the Country of Heliopolis after it had stood above Three hundred years Ver. 44. He shall lend to thee and thou shalt not lend to him he shall be the head and thou shalt be the tail Thus the Covenant of God to exalt this People Verse 44 and humble their Foes was quite inverted as he also observes See v. 12 13. all the Plagues threatned to those who bare ill-will to Sion lighting on them and their Friends and all the Blessings promised to such as prayed for her Peace being heaped on those that wrought her ruin Verse 45 Ver. 45. Moreover all these Curses shall come upon thee and shall pursue thee and overtake thee till thou be destroyed These Punishments he means should not cease but follow one upon another
was resolved by the common consent of all Christians that no Jew should live in their Territories but be driven out of them throughout all the World By which means the greatest part of them died of several kinds of death or made away themselves so that vix pauci residui fierent in orbe Romano there remained but a very few of them in the Roman World They are the words of Glauber who relates this Lib. III. Cap. VII Verse 63 Ver. 63. And it shall come to pass as the LORD rejoyced over you to do you good and to multiply you so the LORD will rejoyce over you to destroy you and to bring you to nought The state of the Jews from the time of Adrian till the expiration of the Roman Empire cannot be gathered from the Roman Writers but the Fathers of the Church often mention their Miseries and so do their own Authors Particularly the Author of Schebet Jehuda who saith It is not in the power of Man to tell all the Kingdoms and Cities where they were scattered in which they suffered things so horrid that it is fitter to pass them over in silence than to relate them But therein was verified the Divine Prediction XXVI Lev. 38. Ye shall perish among the heathen and the Land of your Enemies shall eat you up Sect. XLIX And Dr. Jackson to explain this hath more particularly observed That as God raised up Cyrus in testimony of his rejoycing to do them good who released them from their Captivity in Babylon so to give the World a proof of his rejoycing to destroy them and bring them to nought he advanced Philip Augustus to the Crown of France about An. 1179. to defeat all the hopes which some kindness shown unto them had put into their hearts For he spoiled their Synagogues of all their Donatives and Ornaments confiscated all their Lands and immoveable Goods and granted a Release of all Debts due unto them from Christians See Book I. upon the Creed Cap. XXVIII Paragr 13. And ye shall be plucked from off the Land whither thou goest to possess it This was wonderfully fulfilled by Adrian who after the strange Desolation before-mentioned prohibited by a Publick Decree ratified with the Senates consent any Jew to come within sight of Judaea This he did out of a politick respect lest the sight of their Native Soil might inspire them with some fresh desperate Resolutions to endeavour their Settlement there again but herein he was unwittingly the Angel of God as the same excellent Person speaks to keep this wicked Race out of that Paradise the good Land out of which he had driven them Verse 64 Ver. 64. And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people That was the effect of Adrian's severe Decree of not coming within view of their own Country which made them disperse all the World over where they could find any admittance From the one end of the earth even unto the other Such as were carried Captive in Adrian's War were transported by his order into Spain his own native Country which was then accounted the End of the World westward And many of them it is evident by their own Books fled to Babylon and the Countries thereabout which was as far as they knew Eastward In Spain they continued many years in great abundance as it were expecting a Wind for their Passage to some place more distant from their ancient Seat And who knows whether many of them have not since the discovery of America been transported thither as I before observed Certain it is that the Jews themselves are sensible this Prophecy was not fulfilled till this their last dispersion after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans For thus R. Isaac who had occasion to mention these words in his Munimen Fidei lately brought to light by Wagenseil Perek VI. glosses upon them In the Roman Captivity the Jews were dispersed and dissipated through all the Regions of the East and of the West For every Nation of which the Roman Army consisted when they returned to their own Countries carried some of them along with them into Greece Germany Italy Spain France and all other Countries which either Christians or Mahometans now possess And there thou shalt serve other gods which neither thou nor thy fathers have known even wood and stone Here that excellent Person I have so often mentioned Dr. Jackson commends it to the Readers consideration whether this part of Moses his Prophecy may not be understood of the Convert Jews throughout the Pope's Dominions who are often urged to commit Idolatry with Stocks and Stones upon more tyrannical terms if they gain-say than their forefathers were either by the Assyrians Chaldaeans Egyptians Romans or any whatsoever that led them Captive out of their Land If it be said There is a great difference between the Heathen Idolatry and the present Image-worship in the Roman Church it is granted the Idolatry is of a divers kind and so it seems Moses meant when he threatens the Jews after their final Transportation into these Western Countries should serve such gods as their fathers had not known for their Fore-fathers before Moses his time and after had known the Heathen gods too well but were perfect Strangers to this Image-worship now in use And to strengthen this interpretation it ought to be observed that these words which neither thou nor thy fathers have known are omitted in the thirty sixth Verse of this Chapter where he speaks of their serving of other gods of wood and stone as he doth here But that part of the Prophecy belongs to what they did in the first Captivity into Babylon as Manasseh ben Israel observes Who understands these words to be a Prophecy of what they have suffered in this last Dispersion For reciting these words Lib. III. de Termino Vitae Sect. 3. p. 131. as containing the greatest Calamity that hath befaln them he saith This we see fulfilled after a singular manner in this present Captivity because of all those Evils wherewith the Hebrews have been afflicted in France and England and Spain For they had been often pressed either to renounce their Religion or to be undone and many times chose rather to comply with the Idolatrous Worship in the Roman Church then be banished and have their Goods confiscated Verse 65 Ver. 65. And among these Nations shalt thou find no rest This was wonderfully fulfilled in the Ages which followed that in which Adrian lived when they both disturbed others and could find no rest themselves For in the third Century they raised Sedition in the Reign of Severus by whom they suffered very much about the Year 202. after our Saviour's Birth And in the next Century we are informed by St. Chrysostom in his second Oration against the Jews Tom. VI. Edit Savil. p. 333. That they rebelled again in the Time of Constantine who causing their Ears to be cropt off dispersed them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as vile Fugitives and
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
Egypt and the LORD thy God redeemed thee And did not bring them empty out of their Slavery but loaded with Silver and Gold and Raiment XII Exod. 35. By which Bounty of God to themselves they might take the best measure of their Duty to their poor Brethren when they were dismissed from Servitude Therefore I command thee this thing to day In remembrance of that great Benefit he enjoyned this Benevolence to poor Slaves Ver. 16. And it shall be if he say I will not go away Verse 16 from thee Refused to enjoy his Liberty when his six years Service was expired Because he loveth thee and thine house The Phrase in Exodus XXI 5. being Saying shall say I love my Master c. Abarbinel from thence gathers that it was necessary he should often profess how loth he was to leave his Master and his Family and make repeated Declarations of his Affection to them Because he is well with thee Lives happily Out of these words Maimonides infers that there was to be reciprocal Love between the Servant and his Master for if the Servant loved his Master yet if his Master did not love him his Ear was not bored for he could not take Content in his staying with him But these words suppose his Master's kindness to him by his good usage of him Ver. 17. Then shalt thou take an Awl and thrust it through his ear unto the door c. But first he was to bring him before the Judges that he might there in Verse 17 open Court profess the same that he had done to his Master and thereby make it appear there was no fraud or deceit in the business and that his Master did not keep him against his will contrary to this Law See XXI Exod. 6. where all this is explained And also unto thy Maid-servant thou shalt do likewise This relates only to the not sending Maid-servants away empty not to the boring their Ears if they had no mind to be freed for that was not used if we may believe the Hebrew Doctors to Maid-servants It was sufficient if they had a mind to stay with their Masters that they addicted themselves in solemn words to their Service for ever But there were many differences between a Man-servant and a Maid-servant at least in some Cases See upon XXI Exod. 7. which are explained with great nicety by the Hebrew Doctors with which I need not trouble the Reader because there is no such Slavery among us in these days Verse 18 Ver. 18. It shall not seem hard unto thee when thou sendest him away free from thee It is plain by this that he returns to what he was speaking of v. 12 13 c. concerning their not letting their Servants go away empty when they had their Freedom For this was the chief thing that could seem hard to them For he hath been worth a double hired Servant to thee Who served at most only for three years and had Wages paid him all the time XVI Isaiah 14. In serving thee six years Twice as long as an hired Servant and for nothing So that considering what Wages he gave the other and how small a price perhaps they paid for him they would find themselves gainers by such Slaves and therefore should not think much to give them a Gratuity when they send them away And the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all that thou doest He incourages them to hope they should be greater gainers otherways by this Charity which would procure God's Blessing upon their future Labours This Argument he had pressed twice or thrice before in this Chapter v. 4 6 10. Ver. 19. All the firstling-males that come of thy herd Verse 19 and of thy flock shalt thou sanctifie unto the LORD thy God All the first-born Males were the LORD's by a Law made at their coming out of Egypt and he gave them to his Priests for their Portion XIII Exod. 2 15. XVIII Numb 15. Thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy Bullock nor shear the firstling of thy Sheep Besides the Firstling-Males which alone were separated to the LORD there were also Firstling-Females which though they were not sanctified to him as the Males were yet were not to be employed by the Owners as the rest of their Cattle but offered as Peace-offerings to God Of which they themselves had a good share though some part of them was given to the Priests Ver. 20. Thou shalt eat it before the LORD thy God Verse 20 It is evident from hence that he speaks of such Female-firstlings as I mentioned in the foregoing Verse for of the Males they might not eat but they belonged entirely to the Priests Year by year At their Solemn Festivals when they were first to offer them unto God and then the Feast upon these Peace-offerings followed In the place which the LORD shall chuse thou and thy houshold With the Levites and Strangers c. whom they were to invite to these Sacred Entertainments For this is but a Repetition of the Law twice or thrice mentioned before XII 6 7 c. 17 18 26. XIV 23. and upon this occasion here again inculcated because it was of exceeding great moment to preserve them in the Worship and Service of God alone Verse 20 Ver. 20. And if there be any blemish therein as if it be lame or blind or have any ill blemish This is another Reason why he mentions these Feasts again that he might admonish them what to do with these First-lings if there were any blemish in them which made them unfit for Sacrifice These blemishes he had spoken of in XXII Levit. 21 22 24. But here adds the Lame to those there named Which the Prophet Malachi also mentions and so do the Heathens as unacceptable unto God I Mal. 8. Thou shalt not sacrifice it to the LORD thy God No not to make such a charitable Feast at the Sanctuary Verse 22 Ver. 22. Thou shalt eat it within thy gates It was free for them to eat it at home though it is very probable God expected they should invite the Levites and the Strangers the Fatherless and Widows to partake of it as they did of the third Tithe XIV 29. because if it had been without blemish it must have been so imployed at the Sanctuary The unclean and the clean person shall eat it alike Whereas if it had been sacrificed at their Feasts only the clean could have eaten of it As the Roe-buck and the Hart. See XII 15 22. Verse 23 Ver. 23. Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water He takes all occasions to mention this because it was designed to preserve them free from Idolatry See XII 16 23 24. CHAP. XVI Chapter XVI Verse 1. OBserve the Month of Abib Which God Verse 1 by a special order made the beginning of their Year See XII Exod. 2. XIII 4. XXXIV 18. And keep the Passover unto the LORD thy
God He now begins in this Chapter to admonish them about their great Feasts which they were to keep whereby the whole Nation was preserved in the Worship of one only God which Mosesstill pursues to press upon them For in the month of Abib the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt In memory of which the Feast of the Passover was ordained By night For then Pharaoh pressed them to be gone when he saw his First-born slain in the Night XII Exod. 29 30 31. and then they immediately prepared themselves for their Journey and borrowed of the Egyptians Jewels of Gold and Silver v. 35. Insomuch that Moses calls this a Night much to be observed unto the LORD and that Night of the LORD to be observed by all the Children of Israel in their Generations XII Exod. 42. though it was Day-light before they began their March as we read there v. 22. So that Moses bids them remember the day when they came out of Egypt XIII Exod. 3. which comprehends both that which is properly called Day and Night Verse 2 Ver. 2. Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the Passover unto the LORD thy God The word Passover signifies here not only the Lamb which was properly called Pesach or Passover which was offered on the Fourteenth day at even but all the Paschal Sacrifices which followed after as appears by the next words of the flock and of the herd Which Sacrifices were appointed for all the seven Days of unleavened Bread XVIII Numb 17 18 19 c. See Bochartus in his Hierezoicon P. I. L. II. Cap. 50. where he shows at large that the word Passover is here a general word comprehending the Particulars after-mentioned p. 565 566. And thus translates these words which he justifies by many like instances Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the Passover unto the LORD thy God viz. of the Flock and of the Herd Which last words are added exegetically to explain what that Passover was which they were to offer unto the LORD Such Sacrifices as were offered in the Solemn Passover of Ezekiah 2 Chron. XXX 22. and of Josiah 2 Chron. XXXV 7 8 9. where it is apparent that the King and the Princes gave to the People and to the Priests Oxen as well as Sheep lepesachim for the Passover-offerings And thus it is used in the New Testament XVIII John 28. where it is said the Jews would not go into the Judgment-Hall lest they should be defiled but that they might eat the Passover i. e. these Passover-Offerings which were holy things of which none might eat in their defilement In the place which the LORD shall chuse to place his Name there At the Sanctuary as hath been often said XII 5 11 c. where all Sacrifices were to be offered Verse 3 Ver. 3. Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it That is with the Passover before-mentioned Which is a Demonstration that all the Sacrifices of the Flock and of the Herd spoken of in the foregoing Verse are comprehended under the Name of Passover For with the Lamb they could not eat unleavened Bread seven days it being to be eaten presently in the Evening when it was offered after which followed the seven days of unleavened Bread which could not be eaten so long with the Passover unless Passover signifie all the seven days Sacrifices Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread therewith See XII Exod. 15. XIII 6 7. Even the bread of affliction So called because it was insipid and also heavy upon the Stomach and not easily digested whence it had the Name of Matzah because it was lumpish and could not rise as leavened Bread doth For thou camest forth out of the Land of Egypt in haste Wanting time to put any leaven to their Dough XII Exod. 34 39. That thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the Land of Egypt all the days of thy life That their Affliction there and their speedy Deliverance from thence might never be forgotten For their eating this Bread seven days together every year one would think could not but make great Impressions on their Mind and the more to imprint the sence of God's Mercy there the Master of every Family when he brake this Bread at the Paschal Feast and gave every one a piece of it said This is the Bread of Affliction which your Fathers did eat in the Land of Egypt So Maimonides and others tell us See XII Exod. 17. Ver. 4. And there shall no leavened bread be seen with Verse 4 thee in all thy coasts seven days See XII Exod. 18 19 20. XIII 3 7. Neither shall there any thing of the flesh which thou sacrificest the first day at even remain all night until the morning This is a plain description of the Paschal Lamb which was to be eaten in the Even wherein it was sacrificed XII Exod. 10. which he forbears here to call the Passover tho' that name properly belong to it because he had called other Sacrifices by that name v. 2. and would not have them confounded Verse 5 Ver. 5. Thou mayest not sacrifice the Passover within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee Not at home as they did when they first came out of Egypt and that because it was a Sacrifice which were now required to be all offered at the Sanctuary as was said before XII 5 11. Verse 6 Ver. 6. But at the place which the LORD thy God shall chuse to place his Name in there thou shalt sacrifice the Passover From whence Maimonides infers that even whilst High-places were allowed the Passover could not be killed any where but at the Sanctuary If any Man did offer it in a private High-place he was beaten as he saith in his Treatise concerning the Passover Cap. I. Sect. 3. At even at the going down of the Sun Between the two Evenings concerning which see XII Exod. 6. After the offering of the Evening Sacrifice they began to kill the Passover and continued this Sacrifice till Sun-set At the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt Then they were preparing themselves for their Journey and had warning to be ready and eat the Lamb with their Staves in their Hands as Men going forth to travel XII Exod. 11. though they did not actually go forth till the next Morning Verse 7 Ver. 7. And thou shalt rost and eat it in the place which the LORD thy God shall chuse See XII Exod. 8 9. And thou shalt turn in the morning and go unto thy Tents Unto their own Habitations which are called Tents because they had no other dwelling when these words were spoken The only doubt is whether he permits them to go home the next Morning after the Even before-mentioned or the Morning after the whole Feast of unleavened Bread was over It seems most reasonable to expound it of the former that if Mens occasions called them home they were not bound to stay any longer at the place where the Sanctuary