as a Judge or Governour And Jeremiah is acknowledged by Abarbinel himself to be inferiour to Isaiah For though in his Preface to his Commentary upon Jeremiah he mentions Fourteen things wherein he was like unto Moses and saith he prophesied just Forty years as Moses did yet in his Commentary upon the lesser Prophets he prefers Isaiah before them all and Censures the rudeness of Jeremiah's Language in many things preferring Ezekiel to him So little do these Doctors agree in their Interpretation of this Prophecy which can belong to none of their Prophets which succeeded Moses who were all much inferiour to him until He came who perfectly resembled him but was much superior to him See v. 18. And thus the ancient Jews understood this Prophecy For though Maimonides only saith the Messiah should be indued with Wisdom greater than Solomon's and should equal their Master Moses yet those before him proceeded a great deal further This being a common saying among them which Abarbinel himself remembers in his Commentary upon the small Prophets He shall be exalted above Abraham lifted up above Moses and higher than the Angels of the Ministry Nor is the Cabbalistical observation mentioned in Baal-Hatturim to be quite neglected which is that this Verse begins and ends with the Letter Nun which is the numeral Letter for Fifty importing that to the Prophet here promised should be opened the fifty Gates of Knowledge forty nine of which only were opened to Moses And that this Verse also consists of ten words to signifie that they were to obey this Prophet no less than the ten Commandments Which observation it must be confessed is weakly grounded but contains a most illustrious Truth and shows that they believed Moses here speaks of the Messiah Vnto him shall ye hearken As they had engaged themselves to do it will appear from the following words Verse 16 Ver. 16. According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the Assembly saying Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD c. So we read XX Exod. 19. where they made this request unto Moses saying Speak thou with us and we will hear but let not God speak with us lest we die In which words the whole Multitude bound themselves solemnly to hear the words of the LORD being delivered not immediately from his own mouth but by Moses as is more fully expressed in this Book V Deut. 27 28 29. Where God highly commends this good Resolution in them as Moses here observes again in the next Verse Verse 17 Ver. 17. And the LORD said unto me they have well spoken that which they have spoken He approved their desire and resolved not to speak to them any more as he did from mount Sinai with a voice out of the Fire and Cloud but by Moses himself while he lived and afterward by one like to Moses as it here follows Ver. 18. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren These words seem to have been spoken to Moses by God when they desired God would not speak to them any more immediately by himself but by a Mediator Then God was pleased to promise them a great deal more than they desired which was to raise up another Prophet like to Moses who should acquaint them more fully with his Mind and Will in as familiar a manner as Moses did without striking any such terror into them as they were in at the giving of the Law though the words of this Prophet came from the mouth of God himself In which two things the Israelites excelled all other Nations i. e. in that they had such an excellent Law delivered by Moses which was to be bettered by an everlasting Covenant made by this Prince of the Prophets In respect of both as the same Dr. Jackson expresses it the name of Southsayer or Sorcerer was not to be named in Israel as they were in the Nations that knew not God much less expected such a Mediator In whom the Spirit of Life should dwell as plentifully as Splendor doth in the Body of the Sun from whose fulness e're he visibly appeared in the World all other Prophets were illuminated So that Moses himself and all the Prophets that followed him were but as Messengers sent from God to solicit his People to preserve their Allegiance free from all commerce or compact with familiar Spirits until the Prince of Glory came in Person to visit them and dwell among them Like unto thee This is well explained by Eusebius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a second Law-giver as Moses was For in saying not simply he would raise them up a Prophet but like unto thee it must signifie saith he that this Prophet should be a Law-giver as well as Moses which none of the Prophets were till our Saviour came Neither Isaiah nor Jeremiah were the Makers of Laws but only called upon them to observe the Law of Moses Whereas when the LORD Jesus came he gave Laws to all the World and those far superiour to the Laws of Moses Who only said Thou shalt not commit Adultery but our LORD saith I say unto you ye shall not lust And instead of Thou shalt not kill he saith Be not angry with thy brother c. Whence it was that they who heard him were astonished at his Doctrine and said that he spake not as the Scribes who were expounders of the Law but as one that had authority that is power to ordain and enact Laws and not only to explain those that were already written Lib. I. Demonstr Evang. Cap. VII Lib. III. Cap. II. Lib. IX p. 443 c. See also what Joh. Wagenseil hath said upon these words in his Annot. in Lipman Carm. Memoriale p. 548. And will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him Reveal the whole Mind and Will of God XII John 49 50. For he was herein like to Moses though far superiour to him that he was intimately acquainted with God's Counsels being in the bosom of the Father I John 18. And confirmed all that he said to be from God by Miracles and Wonders and Signs far more mighty than those of Moses and more in number than had been wrought by all the Prophets from the beginning of the World Particularly he fed Multitudes with a little Food which made the People cry out This is of a truth that Prophet which should come into the World VI John 14. but above all this gave them that Bread from Heaven of which the Manna which Moses gave them was but a shadow as he took occasion to show the People upon their admiration of that miraculous Feast he had made for them with five Barley Loaves and two small Fishes For he himself was that Bread of Life who nourished Mens Souls with the Word of Eternal Life which he had in himself as he showed by his Resurrection from the Dead which he himself predicted
that if they would not hearken and keep his Precepts the Heavens were forbidden to give them Rain and the Earth to bring forth Fruit. The Gloss also of the Hierusalem Targum is not amiss that Moses being shortly to die calls the Heavens and the Earth which endure through all Ages to be Witnesses against them when he was gone But the following observation is too curious That Isaiah when he prophecied i. e. being far remote from the Heavens and near to the Earth calls upon the Heavens to hear and the Earth to give ear or attend whereas Moses quite contrary approaching now very near to the Heavens calls upon them to attend or give ear and being in Spirit remote from the Earth bids it hear Ver. 2. My doctrine shall drop as the rain my speech shall distil as the dew Or Let my doctrine drop c. For this seems to be a Prayer that his words which were sent from Heaven to them might sink into their hearts and soften them as the drops of Rain and the dew do the Earth and produce such Fruits of Obedience as might make them happy As the small rain upon the tender herb and as the showers upon the grass The aforesaid Targum thus paraphrases this whole Verse Let the Doctrine of my Law be as sweet upon the Children of Israel as the Rain and the word of my mouth be received by them as the delectable Dew Let it be as gentle showers refreshing the Grass and as the drops of the latter Rain descending and watering the blades of Corn in the Month of March Verse 3 Ver. 3. Because I will publish the Name of the LORD For my Song shall be concerning the LORD of Heaven and Earth whose glorious Perfections I will proclaim which make him the sole Object of your Worship Ascribe ye greatness unto our God Acknowledge therefore the Infinite Power of our God and his Soveraign Dominion over all and give Honour and Service to none besides him These three first Verses seem to be the Preface to the Song and now follows the Song it self Which Josephus calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Poem in Hexameter Verse Lib. IV. Antiq. Cap. VIII Verse 4 Ver. 4. He is the Rock Always indures and never changes so that in him we may find at all times a sure Refuge His work is perfect Whatsoever he undertakes he perfects and compleats it For all his ways are judgment He doth nothing without the greatest reason and according to the Rules of the exactest Justice A God of truth Who is faithful to his Promises And without iniquity And never deceives or wrongs any Man Just and right is he Nor will he punish any Man without a cause or more than he deserves Maimonides takes the first words of this Verse He is the Rock to signifie the first Principle and the efficient Cause of all things without himself For so the word Rock is used when God bids the Children of Israel Look to the Rock out of which they were hewn LI Isa 1. that is to Abraham their Father from whom they were descended And so he thinks it signifies v. 18. of this Chapter Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful i. e. of God the Author of their being And again v. 30. their Rock i. e. the LORD sold them See More Nevochim P.I. Chap. XVI And then by the next words His way is perfect he thinks is meant that as he is the Creator of all things so there is no defect or superfluity in his Works For he takes these words to be the same with those I Gen. 31. God saw every thing that he had made and behold it was very good See there P. II. Cap. XXVIII and P. III. Cap. XXV And as his Works of Creation are most perfect so are his Works of Providence for he governs the World with the greatest Judgment and Justice So he seems to understand the next words P. III. Cap. XVII all his ways are judgment We are ignorant of the Methods and Reasons of his Judgments yet no injustice or iniquity is to be ascribed to him But all the Evil and all the Good that befals any Man or the whole Church proceeds from the just and equal Judgment of God And more largely Cap. XLIX Our narrow minds cannot apprehend either the Perfection of his Works or the Equity of his Judgments for we apprehend his admirable Works only by parts whether we look upon the Bodies of Animals or the Celestial Spheres and in like manner we apprehend but a little of his Judgments For that of which we are ignorant in both is far more than that which we know of either I conclude this with the words of the Author of Sepher Cosri Part III. Sect. XI He that believes this that all God's Works are perfect and his Ways Judgment will always lead a sweet and pleasant Life All Afflictions will be made light to him nay he will rejoyce that his Iniquities are hereby alleviated and that he shall one day be rewarded for his Patience which he teaches Men by his example and thereby justifies the Judgments of God With respect to which I suppose the Jews now begin the Prayer which they make at the burial of their dead with this Verse of Moses his Song Which Prayer they call Tzidduck haddin i. e. just judgment as Leo Modena observes in his History of the present Jews Part V. Chap. VIII Verse 5 Ver. 5. They have corrupted themselves c. I know not how to justifie this Translation nor that in the Margin He hath corrupted himself Maimonides translates them better making these words a Question and the next words an Answer to them in this manner Did he i. e. God the Rock before spoken of do him any hurt For the Hebrew word Shecheth with lamed after it signifies to hurt or destroy XXXII Numb 15. 1 Sam. XXIII 10. as Joh. Cocceius observes in his Vltima Mosis Sect. 701. And so the meaning is Is God to blame for the Evils that befal him i. e. Israel Unto which the Answer follows in the next words which we thus translate Their spot is not the spot of his Children In the Hebrew the first word of this Sentence is lo i. e. not or no. Which the accent Tipcha as they call it under it shows is not to be joyned with the words that follow banau Mumam but taken by it self being a denial of the foregoing Question And these words are thus to be translated No. His Children are their blot i. e. all the Evil that befals them is the fruit of their Childrens wickedness And so these words are in effect the same with those of Solomon XIX Prov. The foolishness of man perverteth his way and his heart fretteth against the LORD He complains of God when the fault is in himself See More Nevochim P. III. Cap. XII Onkelos translates it thus They corrupted to themselves not to him Children that served Idols i. e. as Paulus Fagius
can tell why yet Diodorus Siculus acknowledges 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be the God from whom Moses pretended to have his Laws i. e. JEHOVAH Ver. 7. For what Nation is there so great who hath Verse 7 God so nigh unto them as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for Both Onkelos and the Paraphrase of Jonathan and likewise the Hierusalem Targum are very significant upon this place What People is there who have a God that approaches to them so as the LORD our God doth to us At whatsoever Hour we cry unto him he answers us It is the manner of other People to carry their Gods upon their Shoulders to shew that they are near to them when alas they are afar off and cannot hear them But the LORD our God sits on his Throne on high and hears our Prayers whatsoever time we call upon him c. To which may be added that they had a Symbol of God's Presence continually among them in the Holy Place where he dwelt with them and Moses whensoever he pleased consulted him in all difficult Affairs as their High-Priest might do with the Vrim and Thummim in all times to come Ver. 8. And what Nation is there so great that hath Verse 8 Statutes and Judgments so righteous as all this Law which I set before you this Day The true Greatness of a Nation it appears by this and the foregoing Verse consists in the sincere Worship of God and in the upright Administration of Justice Both which were so provided for by the Divine Laws among the Jews that no Nation could compare with them or was really so great as they were For though their Country was but small and they were often oppressed by several cruel Enemies who desired their Extirpation yet they recovered themselves and kept their Laws in their worst Condition when commonly they best observed them Insomuch that as a very learned Person of our own Church long ago observed After so many Changes and Alterations as there were in their State from better to worse and back again after so many Victories got by them over others and so many Captivities of their Persons and Desolations of their Country as others had wrought they continued still one and the same People governed by the same Laws under several great and potent Monarchies The successive Rise and Fall of Three of which they were preserved to behold and in their declining State able to stand out a great while against the Fourth the mightiest that ever was on Earth and that when this Monarchy was in its full strength This is a plain Demonstration of the Truth of these Words of Moses That no Nation was so great as they See Dr. Jackson's First Book upon the Creed Chap. XXI Maimonides observes That the word Zaddikim which we translate righteous signifies as much as equal and proportionate Such saith he were all these Laws of God in which there was no excess by the prescription of long Pilgrimages or severe Fastings nor any defect which might open the Window to any Vice or make them careless in the Practice of Vertue More Nevochim P. II. Cap. XXXIX Verse 9 Ver. 9. Only take heed to thy self and keep thy Soul diligently lest thou forget the things which thou hast seen c. Their only danger was lest they should grow careless and unmindful of all the wonderful Things that God had done for them Which he therefore exhorts them to think of frequently and to keep in Memory and lay to Heart so that they might preserve the Sence of them as long as they lived and likewise teach all Posterity to be mindful of them Ver. 10. Especially the Day that thou stoodest before Verse 10 the LORD thy God in Horeb. But above all that memorable Day when the LORD delivered his Law to them from Mount Sinai at which the oldest of them were present and had seen and heard what he said and how it was delivered When the LORD said unto me Gather me the People together Unto the foot of Mount Sinai where they stood at such a distance from it as God prescribed XIX Exod. 10 11 12 13. And I will make them hear my Words XIX Exod. 9 c. XX Exod. 1 c. That they may learn to fear me all the Days that they shall live upon the Earth c. For those Words which they heard were pronounced in so terrible a manner as to make them dread to offend his Majesty and to instruct their Children to stand in awe of him Ver. 11. And ye came near and stood under the Verse 11 Mountain XIX Exod. 17. And the Mountain burnt with Fire XIX Exod. 16 18. Into the midst of Heaven Into the middle of the Air which is frequently called Heaven in Scripture as the Fouls of Heaven are the Fouls of the Air But whether the Fire flamed up precisely into the very midst of the lower Region of the Air or only a great height is not material either way the Expression is proper enough Ver. 12. And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the Fire XIX Exod 20. XX. 1 22. Ye heard the Voice of the Words XX Exod. 19. Verse 12 But saw no Similitude Tho' sometimes the Divine Majesty seems to have appeared in a visible Shape VII Dan. 9 10. yet when he came to give them his Law he would not appear in the Figure of a Man or any other thing that might seem to represent him to their outward Senses or their Imagination For it had been dangerous then to manifest himself under any Resemblance when he forbad them to make any Resemblance of him They would have thought he forbad them to make any other Resemblance but that wherein he shewed himself to them in which they would have concluded it was lawful to represent him Only ye heard a Voice From hence some of the Jews would gather that the People only heard the Sound of God's Words when he spake the Ten Commandments but not the Distinction of the Sound so as to understand the Sense of what he said Thus Maimonides in his More Nevochim P. 2. Cap. XXXIII Which is manifestly false as appears from Ver. 10. and 13. and XX Exod. 22. For therefore the Day wherein he spake to them in Horeb was so remarkable as never to be forgotten because he made them hear his Words so that they might learn to fear him c. For tho' he did not appear in the likeness of any thing to them yet he vouchsafed to speak to them plainly in their own Language that they might be instructed in their Duty both which was to keep them from Idolatry He did not let them see any Shape that they might not make any Image of him to worship it or him by it after the manner of the Heathens but he let them hear his Voice that they might not go and worship any other Gods which the Heathens pretended spake to them Ver.
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.
God promises both to fill and to preserve from Fire or Thieves or other Disasters And thy store The LXX and the Vulgar translate it all that was remaining of which they had not present use but kept till they had occasion for it So it is a promise that they should never want but still have something lying by them in Store as we translate it above what they needed Ver. 6. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out This the Hierusalem Targum interprets of their entring into their Schools and going home again But it rather Verse 6 signifies they should have good Journeys when they had occasion to Travel and find all safe when they returned home Or be prosperous both in time of Peace and in time of War when they are said in the Hebrew phrase to go out against their Enemies Or it may signifie in general good success in all their Affairs which is expressed by the phrase of coming in and going out XXXI 2. 2 Sam. III. 25. But I see no ground to think that it relates to Traffick or Manufactures for they were of little use among a People whose plain way of living made few things necessary but what every Man could make himself And therefore we find by Ezekiel who describes Chapt. XXVII the great variety of Merchandize which was brought to the Mart of Tyre that the Israelites carried nothing thither but Wheat and Honey and Oil and Balm v. 17. which are the Commodities the Earth it self produceth Verse 7 Ver. 7. The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face God had promised before that when they went up to serve him at their Solemn Festivals their Enemies should not so much as desire their Land XXXIV Exod. 24. and now he assures them that when they did invade their Country they should not prevail but be overthrown by them They shall come out against thee one way and flee before thee seven ways He not only promises them Victory but a complete Victory For fleeing seven ways i. e. many ways imports a total overthrow which made every Man shift for himself as Souldiers do when they are entirely routed Ver. 8. And the LORD shall command the blessing upon thee Protect them in their Enjoyments by his Verse 8 Soveraign Power and Providence when otherwise they would have been in danger In thy store-houses The LXX translate it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Vulgar Cellaria which signifie places wherein other Goods were laid up within doors as Corn was in Barns without v. 5. And in all that thou settest thine hand unto In all manner of Undertakings and Employments And he shall bless thee in the Land which the LORD thy God giveth thee Make them live long therein Ver. 9. The LORD thy God shall establish thee an holy Verse 9 people unto himself Confirm them in that noble relation wherein they stood to him See VII 6. XIV 2. As he hath sworn unto thee See VII 12. If thou wilt keep the Commandments of the LORD thy God He had separated them from all People by peculiar Laws and Priviledges for this purpose that they should be governed by him and be obedient to him And walk in his ways No body can see any reason to make this a special Precept as the Jews do that we should walk in the ways of the LORD Which contains all the Duty owing to him whether by his ways we understand those Divine qualities of Mercy Holiness Goodness and Truth whereby we approach to him or as the word ways is commonly used in Scripture his Divine Precepts whereby he comes as it were unto us and declares his mind and will towards us by conformity to which we become like him in those Divine qualities for that is the entire meaning of walking in his ways ordering all our Actions according to the Direction of his holy Will whereby we resemble him Verse 10 Ver. 10. And all the people of the earth Who were round about them or should have any knowledge of them Shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD Be convinced that you are after a peculiar manner the LORD's People XIV 1. XXVI 18. For wheresoever we read that a Person or Thing hath the Name of God called upon it or is called by his Name the meaning is that it is his As the City called by God's name XXV Jerem. 29. is the City of God where he dwelt viz. Jerusalem And thus the Ark is said to have the Name of God called on it 1 Chron. XIII 6. i. e. was the LORD's Ark or the Ark of the Covenant And as here the Children of Israel are said to be a People called by his Name so it is said of the Christian Church XV Acts 17. For the very same phrase as Mr. Mede observes is used of the like relation that Men have unto that which is theirs Thus Jacob saith XLVIII Gen. 16. that his Name should be called on the two Sons of Joseph that is they should be his as Reuben and Simeon were Which shows these are words of Adoption See Discourse I. p. 7. And shall be afraid of thee Not dare to do thee any hurt or fear to have thee their Enemy Verse 11 Ver. 11. The LORD thy God shall make thee plenteous in goods Bestow on them abundance of all good things that their hearts could desire In the fruit of thy body By giving them a numerous and healthy Issue whereby they should be multiplied like the Stars of Heaven or the Sand on the Sea-shore According to the Promise made to Abraham XV Gen. 5. XXII 17. And in the fruit of thy Cattle Which he promised likewise to increase exceedingly And in the fruit of thy ground Which should afford large Crops of Corn and great store of all other Fruits every year In the Land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee So that they should not need to send unto other Countries to procure Food as they did in the days of their Father Jacob but have enough in their own Land to support them all though never so numerous Ver. 12. The LORD shall open his good Treasure unto Verse 12 thee the Heaven to give thee rain unto thy Land The Heaven or the Air is called the good Treasure of God because there he gathers together great Heaps of Clouds from whence he inriches the Earth with fatning showers of Rain Which when he withholds he is said to shut up this Treasure XI 17. and when he bestows it to open it that his People might be sensible of their dependence upon his Bounty for that Blessing as well as others which he dispenses as he pleaseth In its season The former and the latter Rain as the Scripture calls it The former fell in Autumn after the Seed was sown to make it take root and spring up The latter fell in the Spring time to bring
for new ones even when the Supream Powers endeavoured to hinder them And no man shall save thee This was so remarkably fulfilled in these parts of the World that the Magistrates who had a mind in many places to preserve them from such Outrages as none but Jews can justifie durst not venture to appear for their Rescue And those that did take them into their Protection were the Instruments of their further Wrongs by grievous exactions for the maintenance of the War undertaken in their defence So strangely as that excellent Person forenamed speaks Chap. XXIX did the Wisdom of God bring that to pass which his Servant Moses had foretold in this Verse No man shall save thee For even succour it self turned into their sorrow and it is hard to say whether mens purposes for their good or for their evil brought greater plagues upon them Thus it was before their first Captivity Pharaoh King of Egypt came to help them but was not able XXXVII Jerem. 7. XLVI 17. Verse 30 Ver. 30. Thou shalt betroth a wife and another man shall lie with her Take her away from thee before thou canst consummate the Marriage This was a sore Affliction for all Nations accounted it a singular blessing to compleat a Marriage and on the contrary a Curse to be defeated of such delightful hopes Whence Callimachus in his Hymn to Apollo promising many Blessings to the Youths who sung and danced before his Altar mentions this in the first place verse 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That he would be with them and prosper them if they were to be married Thou shalt build an house and thou shalt not dwell therein But another take possession of it Zephan I. 13. Thou shalt plant a vineyard and shalt not gather the grapes thereof So we rightly translate the Hebrew word which as the Margin notes is thou shalt not prophane or make common the Grapes thereof which was not to be done till the fifth year after the Plantation Before which time God threatens another should enter into it and enjoy the Fruits thereof Ver. 31. Thine Ox shall be slain before thine eyes and Verse 31 thou shalt not eat thereof thine Ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face and shall not be restored to thee c. All these are but particular Instances of their grievous Oppressions in all Countries where their Goods have been confiscated the Bills of Debts owing to them all cancelled Of which the same pious and learned Person Dr. Jackson gives several Instances in the forenamed Chapter Ver. 32. Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given Verse 32 unto another people This was literally fulfilled when the Jews were banished out of Portugal in the time of King Emanuel who ordered their Children under Nineteen years of Age to be taken from them and brought up in the Christian Religion When In ants also were torn from their Mothers Breasts with far more grief and sorrow than they had at their coming out of their Womb and many hundred years before that when the Goths were Lords of Spain and suffered no Parents to have any Commerce with their Children after the seventh year of their Age but by publick Decree they were committed to Christians to be educated by them who married them to their own Sons and Daughters See the same Dr. Jackson Chapt. XXVIII Paragr 1 2. And thine eyes shall look and fail with longing for them all the day long Their Women filling the Heavens with more hideous shrieks than the Egyptians did when all their First-born were slain in the night For these were bereft at once of all their dear Children in the open Sun in vain begging to have them restored to them And to increase their Calamity as that excellent Person observes Chap. XXIX Paragraph 15. many Moors professing Mahometism were transported out of Portugal the same time without such violence offered to them What was the reason saith he God would have a manifest distinction made between the Jews and other People that this Prophecy might be fulfilled And there shall be no might in thy hand Either to protect or to rescue them from violence Where I cannot but take notice with the same Doctor that the Moors then had some power in their hand which moved the Portugals perhaps to abstain from such usage of them lest the report of it coming to the African Mahometans they might attempt to avenge their wrongs But these wretched Jews had no power any where none to avenge their Injuries which God had ordained they should suffer at all times and in all places wheresoever they came without redress Ver. 33. The fruit of thy Land and all thy labours shall a Nation which thou knowest not eat up This was remarkably fulfilled when Salmaneser came and dispossessed the Ten Tribes and when Nebuchadnezzar Verse 33 carried the other two Tribes away and placed other People in their room There were many strange People also among the Romans who devoured their Labours before their last destruction by Titus And ever since they have been subject to depredations of various sorts having scraped up Riches with great Care which have often faln into the hands of Strangers Particularly in the time of the famous Crusado's when divers Nations marched in great numbers to recover the Holy Land from Infidels their business was in their way to rob and spoil the Jews and to make great slaughter of them as both Jewish and Christian Writers witness Particularly the Author of Schalscheleth Hakkabala and our Matthew Paris And thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway That they should not only sometimes or in some Ages or in some one or few Kingdoms but always in every Kingdom whither they removed as he speaks v. 25. suffer such violence and wrong as no other People hath done must needs be thought to proceed rather from Divine Justice than Mens inclination to Injustice Which could not but have varied with the diversity of Times and Places and the several Dispositions of Parties among whom they have been dispersed And yet the brief enumeration of their particular Spoils and hard Usage which Dr. Jackson makes in the forenamed Chapter whose words these are in the beginning of it throughout the most Civil and best govern'd States of Europe will abundantly confirm the truth of Moses his words in this place Thou shalt never but suffer wrong and violence alway as our old Translation hath it The same is lately observed by an eminently learned Person J. Wagenseil in his Confutation of R. Lipman's Carm. Memoriale p. 241. where he takes notice that the Jews no sooner have grown rich and by degrees become considerable in any Country but some great Calamity hath befaln them This the attentive consideration of their History will justifie particularly as he observes in France Spain and England God not suffering them to be quite destroyed like the Amalekites Jebusites and Philistims of whom no Foot-steps remain but be scattered and tossed about
till they had brought them to utter ruin Which is so evidently fulfilled that would but the Atheists consider it and lay it to heart it would wring from them a Confession of the truth of what these Divine Oracles have uttered That this was a People who had been appointed to destruction For though there be a great many of them remaining in several parts of the World yet they have never been suffered to grow into a Nation but in that sense are utterly destroyed as Moses here prophesied Because thou hearknedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God to keep his Commandments and his Statutes which I commanded thee this day It hath manifestly appeared the hand of God is very heavy upon them for their Disobedience to him there being no other reason why they who were once so favoured by him should be so long as they have been more miserable than any other People Verse 46 Ver. 46. And they shall be upon thee That is the Curses before-mentioned should remain fixed upon them and continue unremoved from Age to Age. For a sign and for a wonder That all Men may take notice of them and look upon them as extraordinary Tokens of God's high displeasure and take warning thereby to beware of their Infidelity and Disobedience For as that great Man often saith No sign can be given equivalent to the desolatiqn of the Jewish Nation and their continuing still banished from their own Land and miserably treated in all other Countries And upon thy seed for ever All the World may clearly see to use his words again that the God of their Fathers hath cast them off they having no signs or badges of his ancient wonted favours whilst innumerable Marks and Scars of his fearful Indignation against their Fathers remain unhealed in their Children after more Generations than their Ancestors had of Prosperity in the promised Land Ver. 47. Because thou servedst not the LORD thy Verse 47 God with joyfulness and gladness of heart for the abundance of all things Or In the abundance of all things for this is opposed to the hunger and thirst in which he saith in the next Verse they should serve their Enemies as a punishment for their wanton abuse of God's Mercies Which being so exceeding great justly required not only their obedience but cheerfulness and delight therein Ver. 48. Therefore shalt thou serve thine Enemies Verse 48 which he shall send against thee He doth not call the LORD their God as he did before now they were abandon'd by him for their sins In hunger and thirst and nakedness and in want of all things This shows what he meant before by abundance of all things plentiful provision of Food and Raiment and all other things belonging to the Comfort of Life And he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck The loss of Liberty was as great a Misery as any other which ended also in hard Servitude And it was but just that they should be Slaves in the Land of their Enemies to cruel Masters who would not in their own Country serve so gracious and loving a Father as the LORD their God A yoke of iron Signifies an unsupportable Yoke which could not be broken See XXVIII Jerem. 13 14. Verse 49 Ver. 49. And the LORD shall bring a Nation against thee from far This evidently belongs to the Romans as Manasseh ben Israel acknowledges who thinks that at this Verse begins his Prophecy of their Calamities under the second Temple as in the foregoing he describes their Calamities under the first And in this I think he saith right That there is scarce any thing mentioned in the following part of this Chapter but what relates to what they suffered under the second Temple as he speaks and since its destruction though I cannot say as he doth of the foregoing part of it that it was fulfilled in the Calamities which befel them under the first Temple for many things were never so compleatly fulfilled as since they crucified our Saviour From the end of the earth This shows he speaks of the Romans rather then of the Chaldaeans who did not come from far much less from the end of the earth but out of the North Country which was not very far distant from Judaea Whereas the Romans by whom they were last destroyed came literally from far and from the end of the earth Particularly Julius Severus was called by the Emperour Adrian to their destruction out of this Island of Britain Wherein Vespasian also had given great proof of his Conduct And Adrian himself and Trajan by whom they were still more crushed after Vespasian had destroyed their City and Temple were both Spaniards by birth And therefore Manasseh ben Israel says peremptorily in his Book de Termino Vitae Lib. III. Sect. III. this is to be understood of the Souldiers in Vespasian's Army which he brought out of England France and Spain and other remote parts of the World As swift as the Eagles Which every one knows the Romans carried in their Ensigns And these Birds are observed to fly upon their Prey with great force and violence to whom therefore fierce Souldiers such as the Romans were are compared when they set upon their Enemies So Homer describes Achilles falling upon the Trojans 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Iliad Φ. where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 furious assaults as the Scholiast interprets it And so he speaks concerning Hector Iliad X. As David also speaks of Saul and Jonathan 2 Sam. 1.23 and the Chaldaeans are so described coming against Jerusalem IV Jerem. 13. XLVIII 40. XLIX 22. I Lament 19 XVII Ezek. 3. and see VII Daniel 4. and Bochartus in his Hierozoicon Pars I. Lib. II. Cap. IX P. II. Lib. II. Cap. II. A Nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand The Roman Tongue was more strange to them than the Chaldaean especially the Language of many Nations of which the Roman Army was composed And being a People whom their Ancestors perhaps never heard of Dr. Jackson justly looks upon the Destruction and general Desolation of their Country made by the Romans and their Tributaries in these Western Parts of the World as an Everlasting Monument of the truth of Moses his Prophecy in this and in the following Verses Verse 50 Ver. 50. A Nation This word Nation being used thrice in this and the foregoing Verse Manasseh ben Israel in the place forenamed is so critical as to observe that this Repetition shows Jerusalem was to suffer thrice by the Roman power First In the time of Pompey and secondly when Sosius came to the assistance of Herod against Antigonus and thirdly when it was besieged and overturned by Vespasian and his Son Titus Of a fierce countenance So we translate this Phrase VIII Daniel 23. which in the Hebrew is a strong or hard face Accordingly we translate it impudent or in our language brazen-faced VII Prov. 13. and hard XXI Prov. 29. and bold of face
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
of Syria XXXII Gen. 10. where he was so cruelly used by his Uncle Laban XXXI 7 39 40 41. that Onkelos takes these words which we translate ready to perish in an active sense for him that destroys another For by the Syrian here he understands Laban who is so called as I noted before XXVIII Gen. 5. as if the meaning were the Syrian that is Laban sought to destroy my father For as he used him barbarously when he was with him so he followed after him when he went away with a mind to ruin him And thus Manasseh ben Israel understands it and many others mentioned by Fesselius which is the sense also of the Vulgar Latin Syrus persequebatur patrem meum And he went down into Egypt Though he brought him from Laban with great Substance yet as he was still but a Sojourner in the Land of Canaan so he was forced by Famine to go down into Egypt for Sustenance And sojourned there with a few They were but seventy Persons and lived there as Strangers All which they now were bound to commemorate for their Humiliation before God which I observed before out of Maimonides which might move them the more to exalt and magnifie the Mercy of God to them who had made them as it follows a mighty Nation For this Confession consists of these two parts their own Unworthiness and God's great Goodness And became there a Nation great mighty and populous See I Exod. 7. Ver. 6. And the Egyptians evil entreated us and afflicted Verse 6 us and laid upon us hard bondage The goodness of God unto them in making them so numerous was the occasion of sorer Affliction than either they or their Fathers had indured See I Exod. v. 9 10 c. The remembrance of this was exceeding useful to stir up their gratitude to God not only for their deliverance from the Egyptian slavery but bringing them into a Country of their own most plentifully stored with all manner of good things Ver. 7. And when we cried unto the LORD God of Verse 7 our fathers the LORD heard our voice and looked upon our affliction c. Having acknowledged their low and poor and distressed Condition now they proceed to an acknowledgment of God's wonderful goodness which appeared the more in relieving them when they were utterly helpless See II Exod. 23 24 25. III. 7 8. Ver. 8. And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt Verse 8 with a mighty hand and with a stretched out arm and a great terribleness c. See IV. 34. and VII 19. This is so vehemently inculcated upon them as Maimonides speaks in the place forenamed that they should remember the day they came out of Egypt all the days of their life XVI 3. X Exod. 2. Which it became them especially to remember at this time that they might demonstrate the truth of Prophecy both concerning Punishments and Rewards Verse 9 Ver. 9. And hath brought us into this place and given us this Land even a Land flowing with milk and honey As they remember the terrible Plagues upon Egypt in the foregoing Verse so they commemorate the singular Blessings bestowed upon them in this Verse 10 Ver. 10. And now behold I have brought the First-fruits of the Land which thou O LORD hast given me Thus they concluded this Solemn Rite as they began it v. 3. with an acknowledgment that they held this Land of God as the Supream LORD and that by his free gift And thou shalt set it before the LORD thy God Having said these words they left the Basket by the Altar as the Jews say where it had been placed v. 4. and then the Priest set it before the Sanctuary where God dwelt by his special Presence there And worship before the LORD thy God They made a profound Reverence towards the most Holy Place by bowing their Bodies as low as they could and so went out of the Temple So the Hebrew word imports and this outward Act of Worship no doubt was accompanied in all good Men with humble Thanks to God for his Benefits and Prayer for the continuance of them Verse 11 Ver. 11. And thou shalt rejoyce in every thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee and unto thy house thou and the Levite and the Stranger that is among you They were to make a Feast at the time of offering these First-fruits and there to entertain the Levites and the Strangers as well as their own Family These Feasts were made out of the Provision mentioned XII 6 7. XVI 10 11 12. Besides which the Bullock which went before them when they carried up the First-fruits from their several Cities was offered for a Peace-offering when they came to the Sanctuary as Mr. Selden observes in the place above-mentioned Lib. III. de Synedr Cap. XIII p. 203. Ver. 12. When thou hast made an end of tithing all Verse 12 the tithes of thine increase For there was a second Tithe to be paid after the first to the Levites as was observed above XII 6. and is plainly spoken of XIV 22 23 c. Which the Jews call the consummation or finishing of tithing as I observed there v. 29. And so these words may be translated When thou hast finished all the tithes of thine increase The third year which is the year of tithing Every third year the second Tithe before-mentioned was to be employed to a peculiar use See XIX 28 29. as it follows here in the next words So the Jews expound it whose sense our Mr. Mede expresses in a few words For two years together they paid the Levites Tithe and the Festival Tithe but in the third year they paid the Levites Tithe and the Poor-man's Tithe That is what was wont in other years to be spent in Feasting was wholly spent every third year upon the Poor B. I. Discourse XXXII p. 228. But there are some that think they were bound every third year to pay this poor Man's Tithe besides that to the Levites and the Festival Tithe about which I shall not here dispute And hast given it to the Levite the stranger the fatherless and the widow that they may eat within thy gates and be filled According to the Commandment XIV 29. See there Verse 13 Ver. 13. Then thou shalt say As they were every year to make the foregoing Profession when they brought their First-fruits so they were to make another Profession which here follows every third year when the course of all manner of tithing as Mr. Mede there expresses it was come about Before the LORD This sounds as if they were to make this Profession before the most Holy Place at the Sanctuary Which seems to confute the common Exposition of the Jewish Doctors that this Tithe of the third year was not to be spent there but at home within their own Gates But it may be supposed that every Man was privately to make this Solemn Profession as in the Presence of God who knew the truth
of what he said Or rather that the next time he went up to worship at God's House he was bound to make this declaration before the Divine Majesty Which is the most likely Interpretation because these words before the LORD are always so used in these Books And unless they had been obliged to this their covetous and cruel disposition might have inclined them to defraud the Poor which by this means was prevented For though Men might have satisfied themselves in omitting this Profession if it had been left meerly to their own private Consciences yet when they were bound to come and make it publickly at God's own House as they could not avoid it so few would be found so impudently prophane as solemnly to tell a lye to God himself I have brought away the hallowed things Things separated by the Divine Commandment from their own private use for the use of the Poor Out of my house From the rest of the Fruits of the Earth which they had gathered And also I have given them unto the Levite and unto the stranger to the fatherless and to the widow That is unto the Refreshment of the Poor So the Hierusalem Targum paraphrases v. 2. which is worth the mentioning In the third year which is the year of tithing for the Poor ye shall give the first Tithes to the Levites and then the Tithes of the Poor to the Strangers Fatherless and Widows that they may eat in their Cities and be filled According to all thy Commandments which thou hast commanded me According to the direction before-mentioned XIV 29. I have not transgressed thy Commandments neither have I forgotten them Neither done contrary to God's Precepts nor forgotten to perform them either by keeping these Tithes to themselves or by bestowing them otherwise than God appointed Ver. 14. I have not eaten thereof in my mourning Verse 14 After the general Profession mentioned in the Verse foregoing that they had brought all hallowed things out of their Houses and employed them as God directed they were to make three particular Professions which are mentioned in this Verse and it is probable they have respect to some idolatrous Customs which were in those days The first of them is that they had not eaten thereof in mourning or in lamentation For so the Hebrew word Oni signifies very bitter grief and sore mourning Such the Egyptians made in Harvest time when they offered the First-fruits of the Earth and kept the Feast of Isis with doleful Lamentations So Diodorus Siculus and other Authors tell us particularly Julius Firmicus who severely reproves their folly or madness rather saying Cur plangitis fruges terrae c. Why do you bewail the Fruits of the Earth why weep you at the growth of your Seed c. you should rather give thanks for these things to the most high God whose Bounty is not to be lamented but bewail rather your own Error c. If there was such a Custom in the World when Moses lived it may very well be thought that he taught the Israelites to disclaim such sensless and impious practices And as the Egyptians by this mourning acknowledged Isis that is the Earth to be the giver of all these good things so he required God's People to bring in their Harvest with the greatest Joy and Thanks unto the most High For there was no Joy so great as that of Harvest and Vintage directly opposite to the Heathen who kept the Feast of Bacchus also with Lamentations See our Learned Dr. Spencer Lib. II. de Ritual Hebr. Leg. Cap. XXIV Sect. I. Nor taken ought thereof for any unclean use As some of the old Idolaters were wont to do who separated some part of the First-fruits for Magical purposes and some times for carnal and filthy So Julius Firmicus informs us who immediately after the mention of their Lamentations when they gathered the Fruits of the Earth asks this question Quid addis incestum adulterium Which shows that there were unclean Rites which accompanied their Offerings and that they made them minister unto Venus See the same Learned Author in the same place Sect. III. Nor given ought thereof for the dead If this be the right Translation of the last words for the dead St. Austin hath given us a likely reason of this Clause which was to profess they had not imitated the Gentiles who were wont to set Meat and Drink upon the Graves of the Dead as he tells us Serm. XV. de Sanctis But it doth not appear that they set any part of their Tithe or First-fruits upon them nor that they did it only in Harvest time but rather common Bread and Wine which at all times they set upon their Graves when they were interred and therefore it may be translated to the dead as the same excellent Person observes Sect. III. And so it is a profession they had not offered any of the Fruits of the Earth to Heroes after the manner of the Gentiles particularly to Osiris For that they honoured them with their First-fruits appears by a passage in Porphyry Lib. IV. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sect. XXII where he mentions three Laws made by Triptolemus an ancient Lawgiver among the Athenians One of which is this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to worship the gods with the Fruits of the Earth Which Draco thus expounds as he shows in the Conclusion of that Book 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. To honour the Gods and the Heroes of their Country publickly according to the Laws of the Nation and privately as much as they were able with speaking well of them and with the First-fruits and the Annual Offerings See Meursius in his Themis Attica Lib. I. Cap. I. But however we take this the giving any part of the Tithe either for the dead or to the dead shows there was such a Superstitious Custom unto which this Clause having a manifest respect we have reason to think the two former have so likewise But I have hearkned to the voice of the LORD my God and done according to all that thou hast commanded me Performed all that God required and done nothing contrary to it All these words from v. 13. to this place were to be spoken with a low and humble voice because they are a sort of Commendation of themselves and of their own Integrity which is not to be proclaimed aloud But when they made the foregoing Profession at the presenting of their First-fruits v. 5 6 c. they being an acknowledgment of their own meanness and poor beginnings and of God's infinite goodness in their advancement they were to lift up their voice and say aloud My Father was a Syrian ready to perish c. Thus the Doctors resolve in the Gemara of Mischna Sota Cap. VII in the beginning of it Verse 15 Ver. 15. Look down Have a gracious regard From thy holy habitation from heaven This is an humble acknowledgment of the Infinite Majesty of God who though he was graciously