4. By Signs Which are mentioned IV Exod. 9. VII 9 10. And by Wonders This signifies all the Ten Plagues of Egypt For Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go till God had multiplied his Wonders on the Land of Egypt as we read VII Exod. 3. X. 1 2. XI 9 10. And by War This seems to relate to the Overthrow of Pharaoh in the Red Sea where the LORD is said to fight for Israel XIV Exod. 14. XV. 3. while they which is the greatest Wonder of all were delivered without striking a stroke And by a mighty Hand and a stretched-out Arm. These are Phrases which we often meet withal when Moses speaks of their Deliverance out of Egypt III Exod. 19. VI. 6. XV. 12. and many other places And the Hebrews think that his mighty Hand particularly refers to the grievous Murrain and the Pestilence which are called the Hand of the LORD X Exod. 3 15. And his stretched-out Arm to have a particular respect to the killing of the First-born the Angel that was going to smite Jerusalem appearing with a drawn Sword and his Hand stretched out I Chron. XXI 16. And by great Terrors Wherewith the Minds of those were stuck who heard of these things XV Exod 14 15 16. Or else he means the Frights in which the Egyptians were while they remained three Days in most dismal Darkness X Exod. 23. for the conclusion of this Verse signifies that he speaks of all that the LORD their God did for them in Egypt before their Eyes Verse 35 Ver. 35. Vnto thee it was shewed This was a particular kindness to the Israelites which God never before manifested to any other Nation That thou mightest know that the LORD he is God there is none else besides him That they might believe him to be the only true God and worship none but him Which two Articles saith Maimonides More Nevochim P. II. Cap. XXXIII that God is and that he is but One are Fundamentals of Religion which were known not only by Prophets but by every Body else Verse 36 Ver. 36. Out of Heaven he made thee to hear his Voice See XX Exod. 22. That he might instruct thee Teach them his Will which was chiefly declared in the Ten Commandments And upon Earth he shewed thee his great Fire He means either that they saw it as they stood upon the Earth or that it burnt upon the top of the Mount in their sight XXIV Exod. 17. And thou heardest his Words out of the midst of the Fire Ver. 11 12. and XX Exod. 18 19. Verse 37 Ver. 37. And because he loved thy Fathers therefore he chose their Seed after them See XV Gen. 5 6 7. And many other Places in that Book III Exod. 15 16 17. And brought them out in his sight with a mighty power For as he led them the way out of Egypt in a Pillar of Cloud and of Fire XIII Exod. 21. So when they were in danger by Pharaoh's pursuit of them he came behind them and they marched in his sight XIV Exod. 19. Out of Egypt This is mentioned in Scripture as the highest Benefit never to be forgotten by them So G. Sckickard observes in his Mischpat Hamelek Cap. III. Theorem X. That they are put in Mind of this in the Frontispiece of the Decalogue XX Exod. 2. in the Institution of Sacrifices XXII Levit. 33. in the Promise of a Blessing XXVI 13. and here in the enumeration of God's wonderful Works and afterwards in the commendation of his Love VII Deut. 8. in his Dehortation from Ingratitude VIII 14. in his Institution of the Passover XVI 6. in the Speech which the reproving Angel made to them II Judges 1. in the hope he gave them of Victory over the Midianites VI. 9. in his Answer to their Petition for a King I Sam. X. 18. and on a great many other occasions For this was Velut Fundamentum initium Reipublicae c. as another learned German speaks Gierus on IX Dan. 15. the Foundation as we may call it and the Beginning of their Commonwealth founded by God which comprehended in it abundance of Miracles far exceeding all the Power of Nature Ver. 38. To drive out Nations before thee greater Verse 38 and mightier than thou art So mighty that they frighted their Fathers from attempting the Conquest of them XIII Numb 28 29 31. To bring thee in to give thee their Land for an Inheritance as it is this day That is as he had given them a late Experiment by overthrowing the two Kings of the Amorites and giving them their Land for a possession Verse 39 Ver. 39. Know therefore this day and consider it in thy Heart that the LORD he is God in Heaven above and upon the earth and there is none else Be sensible therefore and settle this Belief in thy Heart that the LORD is the sole Governour of the whole World Verse 40 Ver. 40. Thou shalt therefore keep his Statutes and his Commandments which I command thee this day c. Worship and obey him as the only way to make them and their Posterity live happily in the Land which God was about to give them That it may be well with thee and with thy Children after thee and that thou mayst prolong thy days upon the earth c. Tho' Moses speak of their long Life upon Earth yet the better sort of Jews did not set up their rest here but from this word prolong extended their hope as far as the other World For thus Maimonides saith in his Preface to Perek Chelek they were taught by Tradition to expound these Words That it may be well with thee in the World which is all good and mayest prolong thy days in the World which is all long i. e. never ends Verse 41 Ver. 41. Then Moses severed three Cities I observed in the Preface to this Book that Moses did not deliver all that is contained in this Book in one continued Speech but at several times as appears even by the beginning of the next Chapter where it is said He called all Israel and said unto them c. Which supposes that after this Preface in these four Chapters he dismissed them to consider what he had said and then some time after assembled the People again to put them in Mind of the Laws which he so earnestly pressed them to observe But between these two times after he had spoken all that is contained in these four Chapters and before he rehearsed the Decalogue he put in execution the Command of God lately given to set apart three Cities of Refuge on this side Jordan Which he here relates in the order I suppose wherein it was done On this side Jordan towards the Sun-rising On the East-side of Jordan according to what was ordered XXXV Numb 14. Ver. 42. That the Slayer might flee thither which Verse 42 should kill his Neighbour unawares c. See there v. 11 12 c. Ver. 43. Namely Bezer in the Wilderness in
nor the likeness of any thing c. The Second Principle That God's Nature is invisible is contained in this Second Commandment Being the Ground of this Prohibition to make any Image of him Which the best of the Heathen forbad also for this very reason 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Because it is impossible to conceive God otherwise but by the Mind alone as Plutarch reports the sence of Numa among the Romans And we find the same as plainly said by Antisthenes among the Greeks in Clemens Alexandrinus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He is not seen by the Eyes nor is like to any thing and therefore none can learn any thing of him by an Image Nor could the Vulgar I am apt to think have been kept so long and so generally as they were to the worship of them if it had not been by bold Fictions that some of them were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Faln down from Heaven and that all of them were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Divine Things and full of a Divine Communication as Jamblichus speaks And to make them more reverenced while some of them were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 conspicuous to all the People others were kept secret in the inmost part of their Temple as having hidden in them a Symbolical Presence of God as Proclus speaks upon Timaeus Which Ezek Spanhemius justly thinks was done in imitation of what Moses saith concerning God's Presence upon the Mercy-Seat in the Holy of Holies Observationes in Callimachum p. 586 c. See upon these three Verses my Annotations on XX Exod. 4 5 6. Verse 11 Ver. 11. Thou shalt not take the Name of the LORD thy God in vain c. This contains the Third Principle before-mentioned that God takes Notice of all things even of our Thoughts and governs all our Affairs For it is the Foundation of an Oath that God knows our very Hearts and is Witness to our Meaning as well as our Words and will if we swear falsly punish us for it Which is an acknowledgment also both of the Justice and the Power of God See upon XX Exod. 7. Ver. 12. Keep the Sabbath-day to sanctifie it They were to keep it in Memory that they might sanctifie it as it is XX Exod. 8. see there And it was sanctified Verse 12 or set apart for special Ends and Purposes that they might give to the blessed God the seventh part of the Week as Abarbinel speaks upon these Words and might learn the Divine Law together with the Kabalah or Traditional Exposition of the Words and mark well the Niceties of it For which he quotes a Saying out of the Gemara of the Hierusalem Talmud Sabbaths and Feasts were not given but to learn the Law upon them Which is the reason he saith of another Speech of theirs in their Midrasch or Allegorical Exposition upon Exodus That the Sabbath weigheth against all the Commandments Because it was a principal means to make them known and observed There is not much said indeed in express Words concerning this End of the Rest of the Sabbath But common Reason told the Jews it could not be intended meerly as a Day of Ease from Labour but for the solemn Service of God and Instruction in their Duty to him As the LORD thy God commanded thee At Marah say the Jews commonly where he gave them a Statute and an Ordinance See XV Exod. 25. But one of them saith better At Marah it was designed and at Sinai it was commanded But they do not look back far enough for the Original of this Commandment For there being two Things in this Day the Rest of it and the Religion the Rest of it was in Remembrance of their Deliverance out of Egypt and the Overthrow of Pharaoh in the Red Sea which compleated their Deliverance immediately after which they kept their first Sabbatical Rest The Religion was in Remembrance of the Creation of the World and so this Day had been observed from the beginning by the Patriarchs tho' we find no mention made of their Resting And that may possibly be the meaning of these Words As the LORD thy God commanded thee That is immediately after he had finished the Creation of the World Verse 13 Ver. 13. Six Days shalt thou labour and do all thy Work See upon XX Exod. 9. Verse 14 Ver. 14. But the Seventh Day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God in it thou shalt not do any Work c. The reason why they might not do any Work on this Day is given in the XX Exod. 11. which is wholly omitted here because Moses had another Reason to add for the Inforcement of this Precept And refers them in the foregoing Words v. 12. As the LORD thy God hath commanded thee to what he had said in the Book of Genesis and Exodus where he had set down the Reason which God himself gave with his own Mouth for the Religious Observation of this Day because in Six Days the LORD made Heaven and Earth c. So that this Commandment was designed to establish the Fourth Principle I mentioned that God is the Maker of all Things To preserve the Memory and Sence of which as the Author of the Answer Ad Orthodoxos observes LXIX this Rest was instituted to be observed with a more than ordinary Sanctity It being of such great moment that the first Sabbath-breaker was punished with Death because the voluntary Violation of it contained in it a Denial that the World was created by God That thy Man-servant and thy Maid-servant may rest as well as thou Mercy towards Men as well as Piety towards God was a Reason for the observation of this Sabbatical Rest Ver. 15. And remember that thou wast a Servant in Verse 15 the Land of Egypt and that the LORD thy God brought thee from thence c. therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath-Sabbath-day This is a new Ground for the observation of the Sabbath because God had given them rest from their hard Labour in Egypt Which obliged them to keep that Seventh Day which God appointed at the giving of Manna being the Day on which he overthrew Pharaoh in the Red Sea as the Memory of the Creation of the World obliged them to keep one Day in seven So our Mr. Mede hath explained it See my Annotations on XIV Exod. 30. And Maimonides hath something to the same purpose in his More Nevochim P. II. Cap. XXXI See upon XX Exod. 11. Ver. 16. Honour thy Father and thy Mother as the Verse 16 LORD thy God hath commanded thee In the Twentieth of Exodus v. 12. See there To which I shall here add That the Laws of Solon made those Children infamous who did not afford Sustenance to their Parents and provide them an Habitation And by the ancient Law of Athens he that reproached his Parents was disinherited if he struck them his Hand was cut off if he left them unburied he lost their Estate and was banished his
and Dizabah There was a place called Hazeroth where they had encamped a long time ago XI Numb 35. XXXIII 17. but it was in another Wilderness far from this place as appears by the account Moses gives of their Removals from that place to this where they now lay XXXIII Numb 17 48 49. And therefore I take this and the other three places here mentioned to have been frontier Towns in the Country of Moab which lay upon the borders of this Plain The last of which Dizabah is translated by the LXX and the Vulgar as if it signified a place where there were Mines of Gold Onkelos and the Hierusalem Targum who take Suph to signifie the Red Sea and Paran for the Wilderness through which they had come many years ago c. are forced to add several words to make out the sense of this Verse in this manner These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan c. reproving them because they sinned in the Desert and provoked God in the Plain over against the Red Sea and murmured in Paran about Manna and at Hazeroth for Flesh c. And so they proceed to mention other Sins committed in other places but not in these here named which they force from their natural sense to comply with this Conceit Verse 2 Ver. 2. There are eleven days journey from Horeb c. Or eleven days we were a coming from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir unto Kadesh-Barnea Which cannot be understood of the whole time they spent between these two places but only of the time they spent in travelling For they stayed a Month at Kibroth-Hattaavah and a Week more at Hazeroth XI Numb 21. XII 15 16. before they came to Kadesh-Barnea This he represents to them to make them sensible they had been kept in the Wilderness so many years as had passed since they came out of Egypt not because it was a long way to Canaan but for the reason mentioned in the XIVth of Numbers For from Horeb whither he order'd them to go when they came out of Egypt they came in eleven days and took no long Journeys to the borders of the Land of Canaan where Kadesh-Barnea lay So Maimonides the way was plain and known between Horeb whither God brought them on purpose to serve him and Kadesh which was the beginning of an habitable Country according to what he saith XX Numb 16. See More Nevochim P. III. Cap. L. See XIII Numb 26. By the way of Mount Seir. The Country of the Edomites Chapt. II. v. 12. Vnto Kadesh-Barnea How they were ordered to come hither and what they did here he relates v. 6 19. and so proceeds to give an account of several remarkable things which befell them unto the time when he wrote these things which he sets down in the next Verse Ver. 3. And it came to pass in the fortieth year Verse 3 After they came out of Egypt In the eleventh month on the first day of the month In the first Month of this fortieth Year they came into the Wilderness of Zin unto another Kadesh XX Numb 1. From whence they removed to Mount Hor where Aaron died on the first Day of the fifth Month of this Year See there v. 28. Where it appears v. 29. they mourned for him thirty days that is till the beginning of the sixth Month. In which they fought with King Arad XXI Numb and from Mount Hor travelled from place to place as we read there and XXXIII Numb till they came to these Plains of Moab In which Journeys and in the rest of the Transactions mentioned in the latter end of the Book of Numbers they spent the other five Months of this Year as I have observed in their proper places And now began the eleventh Month when Moses being to leave the World before the end of this Year spake all that follows in this Book And this Speech which he begins v. 6. and continues to the fortieth Verse of the fourth Chapter the great Primate of Ireland thinks he made to the People on the twentieth of February and on the Sabbath-day as the Reader may find in his Annals That Moses spake unto the Children of Israel according unto all that the LORD had given him in Commandment unto them Made a Rehearsal of all that at several times he had received from the LORD and delivered unto them Ver. 4. After he had slain Sihon the King of the Amorites Verse 4 which dwelt at Heshbon About five Months ago for it was after Aaron's death which was the first Day of the fifth Month XXXIII Numb 38. and they mourned for him all that Month. See XXI Numb 21 c. And Og the King of Bashan which dwelt at Astaroth This was a City in the Country of Bashan XIII Josh 31. and a City it was of very great Antiquity as appears from XIV Gen. 5. See there From whence some think the famous Goddess Astarte had her Name being here worshipped But whether that Goddess took her Name from this City or the City from the Goddess is not certain as Mr. Selden observes in his Syntagma II. de Diis Syris cap. 2. But that the Heathen Deities were wont to have their Names from the Groves Mountains Cities and Caves where they were worshipped is as certain as it is uncertain from whence Astarte or Astoreth as the Scripture Name is was so called In Edrei His Royal Palace was at Astaroth as Sihon's was at Heshbon but he was slain in Edrei XXI Numb 33. Verse 5 Ver. 5. On this side Jordan in the Land of Moab In the Plains of Moab before they passed over Jordan See v. 1. Began Moses to declare this Law saying To call to remembrance that which any one had forgotten and to explain that which any one did not understand So Maimonides expounds these words in Seder Zeraim In the end of the fortieth Year in the beginning of the Month Shebat Moses called the People together saying The time of my Death draws near if any one therefore hath forgot any thing that I have delivered let him come and receive it or if any thing seem dubious let him come that I may explain it And so they say in Siphri If any one have forgotten any Constitution let him come and hear it the second time if he need to have any thing unfolded let him come and hear the Explication of it For which he quotes this Verse and says that Moses spent all his time in this from the beginning of the Month Shebat to the seventh day of Adar And what he now said was likely to be the more regarded because these were in a manner his dying words for he lived but till the seventh day of the next Month and seems to have composed this Book as a Compendium of his whole Law for the familiar use of the Children of Israel from whence it is called Deuteronomy i. e. a second Law See Huetius in his Demonstr Evang.
into the Wilderness out of which I have brought you XIV Numb 25. By the way of the Red-Sea Thus they had their desire in some part of returning into Egypt XIV Numb 4. which was not far from the Red-Sea Verse 41 Ver. 41. Then you answered and said unto me We have sinned against the LORD They repented when it was too late to do them any good See XIV Numb 40. We will go up and fight according to all that the LORD our God commanded us Now they resolve to encounter those Enemies of whom they were before so afraid as to speak of stoning those who exhorted them not to fear them XIV Numb 9 10. And when you girded on every Man his Weapons of War ye were ready to go up into the Hill They not only made a stout Resolution but actually prepared themselves for the Onset as if there were no difficulty in that which a little before they dreaded to think of So de Dieu translates the last words Ye thought it an easie matter to ascend the Hill or ye despised going up the Mountain in our Language made nothing of it Ver. 42. And the LORD said unto me say unto Verse 42 them Go not up XIV Numb 41 42. Neither fight Much less think of fighting For I am not among you By my powerful Presence to subdue your Enemies or to defend you from them so the Phrase is often used for the Ark of the Covenant the Token of God's Presence did not go with them XIV Numb 44. Lest ye be smitten before your Enemies Which would be a far greater Disgrace than marching away from them Ver. 43. So I spake unto you XIV Numb 42 43. Verse 43 And ye would not hear No more than before when he bad them go up And rebelled against the Commandment of the LORD For now it was against his will as before it was his will that they should go up And went presumptuously up into the Hill Would venture against the express command of God which was the highest presumption Ver. 44. And the Amorites which dwelt in that Mountain Verse 44 came out against you As soon as they saw the Israelites ascend to assault them they came down upon them XIV Numb 45. And chased you as Bees do Which pursue those that disturb their Hives in great swarms and with great fury CXVIII Psalm 12. For though Bees have very small Bodies yet they have great Spirits and a vast Force as Bochart observes in many instances to make out the aptness of this Comparison in his Hierozoicon P. II. Lib. IV. Cap. X. And destroyed you in Seir. It seems they fled toward that part of Idumaea where Mount Seir was which they afterwards compassed many days II. 1. when they removed from Kadesh-Barnea And there some of them fell by the Sword of the Amorites who were the fiercest of all the People of Canaan and might on that account be well compared to Bees who cease not their pursuit till they have fixt their stings Even unto Hormah See XIV Numb 45. Verse 45 Ver. 45. And ye returned After the Amorites retreated And wept before the LORD Beseeching him to go along with you and assist you to conquer the Land But the LORD would not hearken to your voice nor give ear unto you To consent that they should now go and possess the promised Land or stay near to it but remained sixt in his resolution that they should go back again and wander in the Wilderness as long as they lived Verse 46 Ver. 46. So ye dwelt in Kadesh many days God had commanded Moses to lead them into the Wilderness by the way of the Red-Sea the very next Morning after their mutiny upon the return of the Spies XIV Numb 25. But they prevented this by their early rising next Morning to Assault the Amorites in the Mountain v. 40. After which they being discomfited he permitted them to stay some time here to bemoan themselves But how long is not certain for sometime the Cloud stayed but two days sometime a month sometime a year before it stirred from the Tabernacle which was the sign of their removal X Numb 22. And in some Stations it 's likely they stayed several Years for from the time of their removal from Kadesh-Barnea till they came to Mount Hor which was thirty seven Years we find but Nineteen Stations See XXXIII Numb from v. 18. to v. 37. According to the days that ye abode there Some expound it as long as they did in all the rest of their Stations i. e. nineteen Years as the Jews compute in Seder Olam But as the learned Dr. Lightfoot thinks it signifies as long as they did at Mount Sinai and so they stayed near a whole Year as they had done at Sinai But the most simple Explication seems to be that they tarried here so long after this as they had done before it at least forty days which was the time the Spies spent in searching out the Land Though there is no necessity to confine it to that number but simply to interpret it that as they stayed there many days before this mutiny so they did as many after it Chapter II. CHAP. II. Verse 1 Verse 1. AND we turned c. From the Borders of the Land of Canaan to go Southward till they came to the very shore of the Red-Sea Which as David Chytraeus computes it was thirty German miles from Kadesh-Barnea As the LORD spake unto me According to the command formerly mentioned XIV Numb 25. And we compassed Mount Seir. The mountainous Country of Edom whereof Mount Seir was but a part For when they came to Ezion-gaber which was upon the Red-Sea they were still in the Country of Edom 1 Kings IX 26. 2 Chron. VIII 17. For it stretched a long way from the Confines of Canaan unto Elato and Ezion-geber on the Red-Sea Many days Some think that they were marching to and fro along the Borders of this Country all the time they spent from this removal till they return'd to go towards Canaan again So that by many days they understand the whole XXXVIII years which passed between their departure from Kadesh-Barnea till they came over the Brook Zered v. 14. For when they were at Ezion-gaber which was farthest from Canaan they were as I said upon the Borders of Edom and so they were when they came back again seven and thirty Years after at Mount Hor XX Numb 23. XXI 4. But this must not be understood as if all the Stations mentioned XXXIII Numb after they left Kadesh-Barnea till they came hither again were near to the Country of Edom Some of them might be remote though they all lay in that Wilderness which reached from one end of Idumaea to the other Ver. 2. And the LORD spake unto me saying This was in the end of the XXXIXth Year after their Verse 2 coming out of Egypt when they had spent XXXVII Years going to and fro since their departure
with us all our Days Or more literally For good to us all our Days That is say our Rabbins they are the Words of Maimonides P. III. More Nevochim Cap. XXVII where he repeats what I observed before upon IV. 40. That it may be well with us in that World which is wholly good and our Days may be prolonged in that World which is wholly long Or in short that thou mayest come into the World which is wholly good and long which is a perpetual Subsistence As for the last Words they belong he thinks to their Corporeal Subsistence here which endures but for a time and therefore he saith As at this Day to shew he speaks of the present World wherein they should live happily by observing his Laws Verse 25 Ver. 25. And it shall be our Righteousness if we observe to do all these Commandments Their Children might say If there be such Benefits in observing the Statutes which lead to the fear of God and to Happiness here and hereafter what need we trouble our selves about the other two Unto which Abarbinel imagines they are taught to give this Answer It is our Righteousness if we observe to do ALL these Commandments i. e. We cannot be righteous before God if we have not respect to all his Precepts whether Testimonies Statutes or Judgments which are all comprehended in this word Mitzvoth or Commandments This is something nice and curious Chapter VII but there is a great deal of Truth in it The word Righteousness also it must be acknowledged often comprehends Mercy in it And thus the LXX and the Vulgar Latin here understand it And to take in this Sence these Words may be thus expounded If we observe to do all these Commandments God will account us a righteous People and be kind to us Before the LORD our God as he hath commanded us Having a sincere Respect to God in all that we do CHAP. VII Verse 1. WHen the LORD thy God shall bring thee Verse 1 into the Land whither thou goest to possess it That is when he had put them into possession of it And hath cast out many Nations before thee the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites c. There were Ten Nations inhabited this Country in the Days of Abraham But Three of them were either worn out since that time or being but a small People were incorporated with the rest For the Kenites and the Kenezites see XV Gen. 19. are not mentioned after that time and the Rephaim possessed but a little part of Canaan the great Body of them being in Bashan on this side Jordan where Moses now was See upon XV Gen. 19. Seven Nations greater and mightier than thou The Amorites alone seem to have been mightier than the Israelites for there were no less than five Kings of them that dwelt in the Mountains X Josh 5 6. besides those in other parts and therefore all the Seven Nations were much superiour to them in strength Verse 2 Ver. 2. And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee thou shalt smite them and utterly destroy them c. He still pursues his Intention to preserve in them a due care to observe the First Commandment of which he began to treat in the foregoing Chapter For that is the Reason why they were to destroy these Seven Nations that they might not be in danger to be seduced by them to serve other Gods v. 1. But whether they were not first to offer them Terms of Peace according to the Directions in the Twentieth Chapter of this Book is a Question which I have endeavoured to resolve in another place upon XXIII Exod. 33. Certain it is that if they refused their Offers there was the greater Reason to be severe to them And without offering them any Terms God might in Justice order the Israelites to destroy them For every King hath Power in his Dominions to cut off Evil-doers and therefore much more the King of Kings Who might order whom he pleased as other Kings do to be Executioners of his Vengeance upon these Seven Nations for their abominable Idolatries beastly Lusts and horrid Cruelties and other such-like Sins of which they were guilty This was a thing of such moment that God ordered Moses to give them this Charge some time ago XXXIII Numb 52. which he now renews Thou shalt make no Covenant with them To suffer them to live with them in the same Country XXXIV Exod. 12. Nor shew Mercy to them For that had been Cruelty to themselves and their Posterity to spare such incurable Idolaters How far the Talmudists extend this see in Dionys Vossius upon Maimonides's Treatise of Idolatry p. 139. and Maimon himself in the following Paragraphs 4 5 6. Ver. 3. Neither shalt thou make Marriages with them Verse 3 thy Daughters thou shalt not give to his Sons nor his Daughters shalt thou take to thy Sons See XXXIV Exod. 15. Some of the Jews think they might marry with them if they became Proselytes of Justice as they called those who received Circumcision and undertook to observe the whole Law and they that think this was not lawful yet think that they might marry with the Children of such Proselytes See Selden Lib. V. De Jure Nat. Gent. c. Cap. XIV XV. And the Talmudists say this Law did not extend to Proselytes who might marry with any of these Nations as he shews there Cap. XVIII Ver. 4. For they will turn away thy Sons from following Verse 4 me that they may serve other Gods c. There was great danger if they loved their Wives that they might draw them to their Idolatry in which they were so rooted that there was little hope of converting them to the true Religion Therefore this is opposed to the Love of the LORD their God for the preserving of which in their Hearts they are forbidden such Marriages XXIII Josh 11.12 And indeed it was but a piece of Natural Equity that they should abstain from such familiarity with those who would certainly undo them Which made Abraham before this Law charge his Son Isaac not to take a Wife from among the Canaanites and the same care was taken of Jacob. And when this Law of Moses was abolished the Apostle warns Christians themselves against such unequal Matches 2 Corinth VI. 14. The danger of which David had noted CVI Psal 35 36. So will the Anger of the LORD be kindled against you c. See VI. 15. Verse 5 Ver. 5. But thus shall ye deal with them Or therefore thus shall ye deal with them That is to prevent the forementioned Mischief he orders them to leave no Relick of their Idolatry remaining Ye shall destroy their Altars The very same Precept XXXIV Exod. 13. And break down their Images The very same words with these are in XXIII Exod. 24. only there it is said quite breaks down and in XXXIV Exod.
make them sensible of the Condition of their Tenure by engaging them in a Solemn Covenant to observe the Laws of God faithfully which was but a renewal of what was made before at Horeb. That ye may prosper in all that you do See IV. 6. The Hebrew word which we translate prosper the LXX translate act prudently for they tanslate it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Vulgar to the same purpose ut intelligatis that ye may understand to manage your selves wisely in all your Concerns by observing the Rules God hath given you Which was the way to prosper Ver. 10. Ye stand this day all of you before the LORD your God The Summons which he sent out v. 2. it seems by this was to appear at the Tabernacle Verse 10 where they now stood and from whence he delivered these words to them by the Priests and Levites XXVII 9 14. Your Captains of your Tribes In the Hebrew your heads of your Tribes who were the greatest Persons in the Nation called sometimes Princes Your Elders These were not only the LXX Elders mentioned XI Numb 16. but all the other Judges in their several Courts who are often called by the Name of Elders in this Book Particularly XIX 12 18. XXI 2 4 6. XXV 8. And the Officers Who attended upon the Judges to execute their Sentence See XVI 18. With all the men of Israel All the Men of their several Tribes Ver. 11. Your little ones your wives Who were Verse 11 all now present or else were represented by the Men of Israel And thy stranger that is in thy camp Whether Egyptians that followed them when they came out of Egypt XII Exod. 38. or other People who had embraced their Religion so far at least as to renounce all Idolatry From the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water The meanest Servant whom they had bought perhaps with their Money either in Egypt or since they came from thence Ver. 12. That thou shouldest enter into Covenant with Verse 12 the LORD thy God In the Hebrew the words are pass into Covenant For so Covenants were anciently made in the Eastern Countries by dividing the Sacrifice and passing between the parts of it as appears from the manner of God's making a Covenant with Abraham in XV Gen. 10 17. whence some derive the Hebrew word Berith which signifies a Covenant from Bara which signifies cutting off because something was always sacrificed at the making Covenants and anciently cut in pieces For the same reason the Romans called a Covenant foedus which they derive à feriendo from striking that is killing some Beast particularly a Swine which was done with many Ceremonies And into his oath The Hebrew word which we translate Oath rather imports a Curse which was annexed to an Oath And so the LXX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For they entred into this Covenant with such Imprecations upon themselves as are mentioned XXVII 15 16 c. Wishing perhaps that they might be cut in pieces as the Sacrifice was between whose parts they passed if they did not faithfully perform their Engagement Which the LORD thy God maketh with thee this day For the Covenant was mutual as appears by the burning Lamp representing the Divine Majesty passing through the pieces of the Sacrifice when God entred into a Covenant with Abraham XV Gen. 17. Verse 13 Ver. 13. That he may establish thee to day a people unto himself Confirm them in all the Priviledges which they had often forfeited by breaking his Covenant of being his peculiarly above all People XIX Exod. 5. XIX Deut. 2. And that he may be unto thee a God as he hath said unto thee Bless them and do them good as he had solemnly promised And sworn unto thy Fathers to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob. XII Gen. 2 3. XVII 7 8. XXII 16 17. XXVI 3 4. XXVIII 13 14. Ver. 14. Neither with you only do I make this covenant Verse 14 and this oath He means those mentioned v. 10 11. Ver. 15. But with him that standeth here with us this Verse 15 day before the LORD our God and also with him that is not here c. I think the Particle ki which begins this Verse should not be translated but for this is the same with what was said before not distinct from it And therefore should be translated thus As with him that standeth here with us before the LORD our God so also with him that is not here with us this day i. e. with all that were absent from the present Assembly and with all future Posterity who were as yet unborn So the Hierusalem Targum understands the latter part of this Verse with all Generations which shall be after us as if they stood here with us to day And so Vzielides as they call him with all Generations to come unto the end of the World as if they stood here with us at this present For perpetual Leagues are sometimes made between whole Nations for whom some contract in the name and place of all the rest and bind not only themselves but their Successors And thus Kings give Feifs to their Subjects upon Conditions which their Families are bound to perform in after Ages or else lose the benefit of them Ver. 16. For ye know how we have dwelt in the Land of Verse 16 Egypt These words and those that follow in this and the next Verse come in as an Argument to move them to enter into this Covenant and to show them the necessity of renewing it For as God had wonderfully multiplied them in the Land of Egypt so he delivered them from thence no less wonderfully when they were miserably enslaved Which was such a Mercy as ought never to be forgotten and therefore frequently mentioned in this Book and laid an obligation upon them to be wholly devoted to him as his redeemed People IV. 20. And how we came through the Nations whom we passed by The Edomites Midianites Ammonites and Moabites through the Skirts of whose Countries they passed and were preserved from receiving any hurt by them Verse 17 Ver. 17. And ye have seen their abominations and their idols They had opportunity in Egypt of seeing too much of their vile Idolatries And so they had as they passed by the Country of Moab and Midian when some of them were seduced to the Worship of Baal-Peor though if they had not been blinded by their Lust they could not but have seen how contemptible an Idol that was and have abominated it All the Idols of the Heathen are frequently called Abominations and in XXVI Levit. 30. they are called as they are here gillulim which we translate in the Margin dunghil gods to express the utmost contempt of them And some think they are so called not only in regard of their matter sed ob formam scarabaei habitantis in stercore but for the form of the Beetle which lives in Dung. For so Isis the great Goddess of the Egyptians was
City that apostatized unto it XIII 5 6 c. 12 13 c. And their negligence in doing their duty in this particular made Idolatry spread among them to their utter ruin But these words may be understood as a further answer to such Enquiries as that v. 24. In which if Men persisted and still askt But why doth God thus punish his own People with such unusual Severity when there are many Idolatrous Nations far worse than they who continue still in their own Land and are not thus rooted out Moses bids them silence such Demands and rest satisfied in this that we cannot give an account of such things as God hath not revealed particularly why he punishes some People when he spares others who are as bad but must mind our own duty which he hath plainly revealed unto us That is as Moses concludes this Chapter to do after all his Commandments which he hath given us in his Law believing he will greatly reward the obedient and terribly punish one time or other all those that transgress it There may be also a more obvious sense of these words if we translate them as some great Men have done The secrets of the LORD our God are revealed to us and to our Children Thus Onkelos whose Judgment is very valuable which Grotius follows and before him Forsterus and Paulus Fagius represents it as a commodious sense and makes it the same with the words of the Psalmist CXLVII 20. He hath not dealt so with any Nation Chapter XXX c. For this was a peculiar favour to the Jews that those things which God before kept secret in his own breast he now manifested to them that they might know how to order their lives so as to please him But this made them liable to be punished more grievously than all other People if they did not observe his Will which he most graciously discovered to them And if we could give any credit to the Jews who say that all words in the Bible that have extraordinary Points upon them of which there are but ten in the Pentateuch and these words lanu ulebenu to us and our Children are the last of them denote something peculiar and extraordinary I should think that they relate to the Revelation to be made by Jesus Christ the great Prophet promised to them Chapt. XVIII unto which if they did not give heed the most dreadful Punishments would be inflicted on them as we see they have been for many Ages and are not yet ended CHAP. XXX Verse 1 Verse 1. AND it shall come to pass when all these things are come upon thee the Blessing and the Curse which I have set before thee God at the first bestowed great and singular Blessings upon them but when they grew so insensible of his Mercy as to violate the Covenant he had made with them then he sent his Curses which he had threatned upon them Which were compleated in their Expulsion out of the good Land which he had given them especially in their last Expulsion by the Romans which was rather an Extirpation And thou shalt call to mind In the Hebrew Bring back to thy heart as we observe in the Margin of 1 Kings VIII 47. where there is the very same phrase and there translated shall bethink thy self that is reflect seriously both upon the Blessings and Curses and consequently consider the truth of God in fulfilling both In which consideration Repentance and Conversion to God begins See XVIII Ezek. 28. Among all the Nations whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee Where they could not chuse but often think of all the Blessings they had enjoyed in their own Land and might have still enjoyed if they had not been disobedient and all the Curses which had befaln them till they were driven from thence and had pursued them ever since See XXVI Levit. 40 c. IV Deut. 29 30 c. Ver. 2. And shall return unto the LORD thy God Verse 2 and shall obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day thou and thy Children with all thine heart and with all thy soul Repentance was compleated by forsaking their Idols and returning to the Worship of the LORD their God alone and by obeying all the rest of his Commands and teaching their Children to do the same and all this with sincerity of heart This they did in some measure after they were carried Captive to Babylon since which time we read nothing of their Idolatry But they fell into other sins which stopt their Ears to that great Prophet the LORD Christ when he came to them for which they are punished to this day and will be till they repent and obey him Ver. 3. Then the LORD thy God will turn thy Captivity That is bring those that were carried Captive back again to their own Land Thus the word Verse 3 Captivity is used XIV Psal 7. IV Ephes 8. And have compassion upon thee These words express the Spring of all their Happiness viz. the Divine Compassion in pardoning their sins which had been very provoking And will return and gather thee This is the effect of his Compassion in their Restitution and Recollection again into one Body after their Dispersion From all the Nations whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee This was fulfilled in part when they returned from Babylon for then they who were scattered in other Countries flockt again to them And will be more compleatly fulfilled when they shall believe on our blessed Saviour Verse 4 Ver. 4. And if any of thine be driven out unto the uttermost parts of Heaven from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee and from thence will he fetch thee Unto this Promise Nehemiah plainly alludes in his Prayer to God to prosper his endeavours for the Restoration of Jerusalem I Nehem. 8 9. And finding the truth of it confirmed by the King 's gracious Concession to him he went about the work though one who was accounted a Prophet yea several of the like quality disswaded him from the Enterprize as likely to prove dangerous to his Person VI. 10 11 12 c. Ezra also tells us how Cyrus made a Proclamation throughout all his Kingdom which was very large That all the Jews might return if they pleased into their own Country I Ezra 1 4. And see VIII Zachariah 7 8. And though in their last dispersion by the Romans they be far more scattered and into more distant Regions than they were in the Babylonian Captivity according to Moses his threatning XXVIII of this Book 64. yet if they did now consider the Cause of it and lay to heart their Sin in crucifying the LORD Christ no doubt God would have Compassion on them and wonderfully restore them For the Jews themselves apply this place and have long done so to their present Condition being of Opinion that God hath appointed a prefixed time in his own mind though he hath not declared it when he