to deliver what follows Verse 14 Ver. 14. And now behold I go to my People And now I will obey thee as well as God and be gone to my own Country Come therefore and I will advertise thee c. But before I go permit me to give thee some Advice So the Hebrew word Jaatz constantly signifies to give Counsel And so the Vulgar here translates it but took it for the wicked Advice which we read in the next Chapter was executed after Balaam's departure and of which he was certainly the Author XXXI 16. and therefore thus translates the next words What thy People shall do unto this People But the Hebrew Text and the LXX are directly contrary unto this being as we translate the words What this People shall do to thy People Therefore Onkelos to take in the foregoing sence without altering the latter part of the verse puts in one word and makes the whole run thus I will give thee counsel what to do and will show thee what this People shall do to thy People in the latter days And the Hierusalem Targum more largely and plainly I wll advise thee what thou shalt do to this People make them to sin Otherwise thou shalt not have dominion over them but this People shall domineer over thy People in the latter end of days In the latter days In future Ages This shows the foregoing words do not speak of what Moab should do to Israel by his Advice for that was done as soon as he was gone Ver. 15. And he took up his Parable and said Balaam Verse 15 the Son of Beor hath said c. This was the Preface to his foregoing Prophecy See v. 3. Ver. 16. He hath said who heard the words of God Verse 16 c. This verse also is the same with the fourth only a few words added And knew the knowledge of the most High Which he adds to show his intimate acquaintance with the Supreme LORD of the World For he speaks of God in the very same stile which Moses doth calling him both El and Schaddai and Eljon and Jehovah Which demonstrates that he was not a Stranger to the true God though corrupted with bad Affections and addicted also to foul Superstitions Verse 17 Ver. 17. I shall see him Or I do see him for the Future Tense is often used for the Present that is he saw the Person of whom he was going to speak represented to him in a Vision But not now He saw him not as in being now at present but to come in future times I shall behold him but not nigh The same thing in other words but more plainly telling them they must not expect this Person in their time nor in the next Generation but in remoter Ages There shall come a Star out of Jacob. A Star denotes a great Person and being understood to be spoken of Christ it denotes his Caelestial Original And both Onkelos and Jonathan and the Hierusalem Targum take the Messiah to be here meant and so doth R. Moses Haddarsan and Bereschith Rabbath and a great many Christian Interpreters as Huetius observes in his Demonstr Evang. Propos VII sect 9. particularly Eusebius and Cyril of Alexandria Who in his VIIIth Book against Julian confutes his Exposition of these words which is this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That this belongs to David and to his Successors is sufficiently manifest To which St. Cyril replies That if Balaam had spoken of David and the Kings of Israel he would have said There shall arise Stars out of Jacob c. whereas he speaks of one alone 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as very illustrious among the Stars which it is evident can be none but Christ Unto which I shall add the words of a later Writer of the Jewish Nation R. Isaac in his Illumin Fidei set forth not long ago by the learned Wagenseil Where he argues this cannot be understood of David or any other King of Israel because none of them ever reigned over all the Earth i. e. over all the Children of Seth whom none of them destroyed but it is meant he concludes of the MESSIAH who is compared to a Star because of the perennity of his Kingdom and the splendor of his Dominion and his great Acts throughout the World p. 72 and 80. Where he makes this a Prophecy of one Kingdom alone to be in the World viz. that of the Israelites who are called the People of the Saints of the most High VII Dan. 27. Which is true enough if he had understood the right meaning of Israelites who are those not after the Flesh but after the Spirit It is not fit to conclude this without one Observation more that so long ago as the time of the Emperour Adrian this was understood by the generality of the Jews to be a Prophecy of the Messiah For they followed one whose Name was Chocab i. e. a Star to whom the famous R. Akiba a Doctor who they say had Four and twenty thousand Scholars applied these words of Balaam and calling him Barchoceb i. e. the Son of a Star anointed him their King and carried a Sword before him crying Behold the very King Messiah This is reported by the Jews themselves in Tzenach David and several other Books All which I think doth not hinder but that King David may be hereby signified in the first sence though as a Type of the MESSIAH the great Son of David in whom it was compleated And a Scepter shall rise out of Israel This some think may first have a respect to David and then to the MESSIAH the King of Israel But the Chaldee paraphrast refers the whole to Christ whose words are these A King shall arise out of the House of Jacob and the Messiah shall be anointed of the House of Israel Nor is it any wonder that Balaam should prophesie of him so many years before he was born and so plainly that Moses himself doth not speak in plainer terms but it is to be lookt upon as the effect of God's infinite Goodness who would not have those that were not of the Seed of Abraham to be wholly ignorant of what he intended to do for all Mankind And this was necessary to be plainly told them because otherwise they would not have understood it And shall smite the Corners of Moab The latter part of this Prophecy Huetius thinks belongs to David as the former part to Christ. Which was the opinion of Maimonides who divided the Prophecy between them And this was indeed literally fulfilled in David who subdued the Moabites intirely as we read 2 Sam. VIII 8. LX Psal 8. CVIII 9. Some translate these words He shall smite through the Princes of Moab So the LXX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which doth not alter the sence And it is no unusual thing with the Prophets when they intend to speak of something nearer to them to be transported by the Spirit of God to speak of things a great deal more
its eminency or height above the rest So the Vulgar translates it reading I suppose the Hebrew not Hor hahar i. e. Hor the Mountain but Har hahar the Mountain of Mountain i. e. the highest Mountain The Jews generally by this Mount Hor understand Amanus which is a part of Taurus as Mr. Selden observes in the place before-named which the Hierusalem Targum calls more briefly Manus Verse 8 Ver. 8. From Mount Hor ye shall point out your border to the entrance of Hamath There were two Hamaths one called by the Greeks Antiochia the other Epiphania The former called Hamath the Great VI Amos 2. to distinguish it from the latter which is the City that is always meant when we read the Bounds of Judaea were to the entrance of Hamath Northward as here and XIII 21. For it is certain as Bochartus observes they did not reach to Antiochia but came near to Epiphania Lib. IV. Phaleg cap. 36. And this makes it probable that Hor as I said before may be a Promontory of Libanus because in XIII Josh 5. Hermon is joyned with the entrance of Hamath as Hor is here Now Hermon was certainly a part of Libanus by some called Sirion by others Senir III Deut. 9. and by others Sion IV Deut. 48. And the goings forth of the border shall be to Zedad Which in Ezekiel's time was reckoned the Northern Border together with Hamath from the great Sea just as it is here XLVII Ezek. 15 16. Ver. 9. And the border shall go on to Ziphron Another Town in those parts of which I find no mention any where else And the goings out of it shall be at Hazar-Enam Verse 9 Here it ended which was a place that retained its name till Ezekiel's time XLVII 17. David Chytraeus seems to have given a full account of this Northern Border in a few words It extended saith he from the Mediterranean by the Mountains of Libanus to the Fountain of Jordan In which Tract are the Towns of Hamath Zadad in the Tribe of Naphthali Ziphron in the same Tribe at the foot of Libanus and Hazar-Enan which he takes to signifie a Village at the Fountain viz. of Jordan Ver. 10. And ye shall point out your East border from Verse 10 Hazar-Enan From the Fountain of Jordan as was said before To Shepham A place not far from thence for the River Jordan was certainly the Eastern Limits Ver. 11. And the Coast. The Limits or Bounds Verse 11 Shall go down from Shepham to Riblah A place no doubt near to Jordan with which River the Eastern Limits go along St. Hierom takes Riblah to be Antiochia but that was in Syria to which the promised Land did not reach On the East side of Ain The Vulgar reads it the Fountain of Daphne And indeed Ain signifies a Fountain and both Jonathan and the Hierusalem Targum take Riblah for Daphne as they do Shepham before-mentioned for Apamia But this is only a vain Conceit of the Jews who would extend their Bounds beyond what God gave them For it is certain the Land of Canaan never extended to these places as Bochartus observes Lib. I. Canaan cap. 16. And therefore Daphne which was in the Suburbs of Antiochia cannot be here meant unless we understand another place mentioned by Josephus Lib. IV. de Bello Judaico cap. 1. which lay near the Lake of Semechonites through the middle of which Jordan ran And then Ain must signifie another Fountain of Jordan for it had more than one And thus David Chytraeus explains this part of the verse and the fore-going The Eastern Bounds were the River Jordan near to which were these places Enan which had its name from the Fountain of the River and Shepham not far from thence and Riblah which was also near to Jordan lying between the Lake of Semechonites and Genesaret And the border shall descend and shall reach unto the side of the Sea of Cinnereth Eastward To the East side of this Sea or Lake which had its name from a City so called XIX Josh 35. and a Country 1 Kings XV. 20. or else it gave them their names For David Chytraeus will have it called Cinnereth from the Hebrew word Cinnor which signifies an Harp or Lute the Lake being of that shape and figure about four German Miles long and two and a half broad It is called the Sea of Galilee or Tiberias in the Gospel Verse 12 Ver. 12. And the border i. e. this Eastern Border Shall go down to Jordan That is to the River which was eminently so called and was on the East part of Canaan XIII Gen. 11. for it was very small till it came to the Lake of Genesaret before-mentioned From whence being augmented by several Torrents and Rivulets it ran in a wider Stream till it fell into the Salt or Dead-Sea See Bonfrerius out of Josephus Lib. IV. de Bello Judaico cap. 1. And its goings out shall be at the Salt-Sea There was the end of this Border where it met with the Southern as was observed above v. 3. This shall be your Land with the Coasts thereof round about As was said before v. 2. therefore they were not to extend their Right any farther this being the Country he promised Abraham when he bad him lift up his Eyes and look from the place where he was Northward and Southward and Eastward and Westward and walk through the length of the Land and breadth of it which he assures to his Posterity XIII Gen. 14 15 16 17. which now he lays out for them with the exact Limits of it in all those four quarters Ver. 13. And Moses commanded the Children of Israel Verse 13 saying This is the Land which ye shall inherit by lot He repeats it so often that they might know what People they were to dispossess and with whom they might make Friendship and not extend their Desires beyond the bounds of Gods gracious Grant to them By which they were placed in a very fertile and pleasant Country bounded as appears by the foregoing description on the South v. 4 5. by great Mountains which sheltred them from the burning Air of the Desarts of Arabia on the West by the Midland Sea which sent to them refreshing Breezes and on the North by Mount Libanus which kept off the colder Blasts from that quarter and on the East the delightful Plains of Jordan abounding with Palm-trees especially about Jericho which yielded them a great Revenue Which the LORD commanded to give to the nino Tribes and to the half Tribe This he had not said plainly before though it was necessarily inferred from his granting to two Tribes and an half their Inheritance beyond Jordan Ver. 14. For the Tribe of the Children of Reuben Verse 14 according to the House of their Fathers and the Tribe of the Children of Gad c. have received their Inheritance Upon condition they performed their promise to help the rest of their Tribes to win their Inheritance in Canaan So those
mentioned by Mr. Selden L. II. de Synedr Cap. IV. Sect. 2. And indeed the Spirit was not sent upon them to make them Prophets but to make them Governors and Judges And therefore the Gift of Prophecy which God gave them for the present was only to procure them Reverence from the People as an evident Sign that they were chosen by God to be Co-adjutors to Moses in the exercise of his Supream Authority over them And thus I find Theodoret understood it Quaest XX. in Num. The LXX did not prophesie beyond this day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. because God promoted them not to prophesie but to govern Which St. Paul also reckons among other Gifts bestowed upon Christians 1 Corinth XII 26. Now that it might appear God had conferred this Divine Gift of Government upon them they also prophesied the first day that they received it And I do not see why our Translation did not cease may not be interpreted to this sense that is they did not cease all that day while they stood about the Tabernacle Verse 26 Ver 26. And there remained two of the Men. Of the LXX Elders whom Moses ordered to appear and set themselves about the Tabernacle So the Hierusalem Targum these were of the number of the LXX wise Men neither did the LXX wise Men go from the Tabernacle while Eldad and Medad prophesied in the Camp And so R. Levi ben Gersom notes It seems to be plain out of the Text that these two were of the LXX Elders Which our Translators thought necessary to express by adding those words of the For in the Hebrew there is no more said but only there remained two Men. In the Camp Among the rest of the People from whom they would not come Out of Modesty saying They were not equal to such a dignity as the words are in the Gemara Babylonica Tit. Sanhedrin Or perhaps they loved a private life and were afraid of being envied by the People Whom they saw to be so unruly that it made them decline the burden as Saul did when he hid himself among the stuff The name of the one was Eldad and the name of the other Medad We do not find the names of any other of the LXX Elders but only these two who Jonathan saith were Moses his Brothers by the Mother's side And St. Hierom himself mentions such a Tradition that they were his Brethren But there is no certainty of this nor of what others of the Jews say concerning them See Selden Lib. II. de Synedr Cap. 4. Sect. 3. It may be they are mentioned in honour of their vertuous Modesty which made them think themselves unworthy of so high a dignity And the Spirit rested upon them As it did upon those who were about the Tabernacle v. 25. Whereby God marked them out to be in the number of those whom he had chosen to be Assistants unto Moses And they were of them that were written c. Whose Names Moses put into the Summons which he sent to those whom he judged fit to be advanced to this Authority The Jews particularly Solomon Jarchi say they were chosen by the way of casting Lots and according to their manner they tell the Story thus in the place mentioned before in the Gemara Moses say they was in doubt how he should execute God's Command v. 16. because if he did not chuse an equal number out of every Tribe it might be ill taken And if he chose Six out of each of the XII Tribes they would exceed the number of LXX if but five they would fall short of it He resolved therefore at last to chuse VI out of each Tribe which in all were LXXII Persons And in LXX Schedules he wrote the Name of Elder but the other two were Blanks Then mixing all these in an Urn he bad them come and draw And to every one who drew a Schedule that had the Name of Elder in it he said God hath sanctified thee but to him that drew a Blank he said God hath not chosen thee And those two Blanks some of the Jewish Doctors say came into the hands of Eldad and Medad who therefore were left behind in the Camp And this Conceit our very learned Dr. Lightfoot himself entertained saying in his short account of this Chapter That six of a Tribe made up the number of the Sanhedrim which was chosen and two over And those two were Eldad and Medad who were written for Elders but the Lot cast them out that there might be but LXX Yet did the LORD honour them with the Spirit of Prophecy But as this whole Story of the manner of Chusing the Elders is very dubious so other Jews of great Authority say that Eldad and Medad were of the number of the LXX that were chosen Particularly Jonathan saith expresly they were of the number of those whose Schedules came up with the Name of Elder in them But they did not go to the Tabernacle because they had no mind to be Governours Nay the Talmudical Gloss upon the fore-named place of the Gemara saith that when LXX of the LXXII had drawn two of them had Blanks whereby Eldad and Medad knew that the two remaining Schedules had the Name of Elder in them and therefore would not draw them because they were sure not to have Blanks The very same Mr. Selden shows is in other noted Books of theirs So that it is generally received they were in the number of those LXX which were chosen to be joined with Moses in the Government See L. II. de Synedr Cap. 4. Sect. 7. And they prophesied in the Camp Which was a greater thing than if they had prophesied at the Tabernacle Denoting them to be Men so highly in the Favour of God that he would distinguish them from other Men wheresoever they were and not want their Service The Hierusalem Targum relates what each of them foretold for to that he restrains their Prophesying and what they both foretold but it is not worth the mentioning Ver. 27. And there ran a young Man and told Moses Verse 27 and said Eldad and Medad do prophesie tn the Camp The Jews who will seem ignorant of nothing say it was Gershom the Son of Moses who carried these Tydings to his Father Ver. 28. And Joshua the Son of Nun. From Verse 28 whence some conclude that he was none of the LXX Elders though a Man of a most excellent Spirit And indeed this is likely enough he being to succeed Moses and so to become the Head of them The Servant of Moses Who ministred to him as a constant Attendant on his Person XXIV Exod. 13. One of his young Men. The word one is not in the Hebrew which may be translated from among his young Men i. e. The rest of those that waited on him My Lord Moses forbid them Perhaps he thought they could have no Authority not being at the Tabernacle Or rather that their Prophesying too much lessened the Authority
bring forth a plentiful Crop XXXII Isa 20. There are those who refer both these to their numerous Posterity Procreation of Children being sometimes expressed in Scripture by the Metaphors of Waters and Fountains and Cisterns as every one knows And both the LXX and Onkelos interpret this of one particular Person that should arise of their Seed For thus the former of them renders this part of the verse There shall come a Man out of his Seed who shall rule over many Nations And the latter of them paraphrases in this manner There shall be a great King who shall be anointed of his Children and shall have Dominion over many People which the Hierusalem Targum saith expresly is Christ For thus this verse begins in that Paraphrase A King shall arise out of his Sons and their Redeemer from among them c. and thus concludes it and the Kingdom of the King Messias shall be magnificently exalted And his King shall be higher than Agag This seems to have been the Name of all the Kings of the Amalekites for we read of one called Agag long after this time 1 Sam. XV. 8 9. as Abimelech was the Name of the Philistine Kings and Pharaoh of the Egyptian And at this time no Nation thereabouts was in greater Reputation than the Amalekites v. 20. who thought themselves able to obstruct the Israelites passage into Canaan and gave a very early proof of the high opinion of their own Power and Prowess by attacking the Israelites as soon as they came out of Egypt Balaam therefore foretels the King of Israel should be the greatest of all other for he was acquainted with none higher than Agag which some think hath a peculiar respect to their first King Saul who subdued the Amalekites and took Agag captive But his Successor was far greater than he and the Jews themselves think this hath its full completion in the LORD Christ And his Kingdom shall be exalted They shall increase and multiply till their Kingdom be greatly enlarged as it was in the days of David and Solomon who were but Shadows of the great King MESSIAH Ver. 8. God brought him out of Egypt he hath as it Verse 8 were the strength of an Vnicorn All the power of Egypt could not detain them in slavery but they came out from thence with a strong and high hand XIII Exod. 9. XIV 8. and are grown a mighty People See the foregoing Chapter v. 22. where this hath been explained He shall eat up the Nations his Enemies Utterly destroy the seven Nations of Canaan And shall break their bones So that they shall never recover their Strength And pierce them through with his Arrows Having given them their deadly wound Or as some translate the Hebrew words break their Arrows in pieces i. e. quite disarm them Verse 9 Ver. 9. He couched he lay down He prophesies that the Israelites having conquered the Canaanites should settle in their Land and take their rest and live securely Which he speaks of with such confidence as if it were already done As a Lion and as a great Lion See XXIII 24. the signification of Ari and Labi Who shall stir him up Give them any disturbance It is observed of Lions that they do not betake themselves to remote or secret places when they go to sleep but lye down any where as Oppianus describes them Lib. III. as if they understood that let them sleep where they pleased no Body durst meddle with them See Bochartus in his Hierozoicon P. I. Lib. III. cap. 2. And therefore being applied to the Israelites signifies such an absolute and secure possession of the Land of Canaan that none should have the boldness to assault or give them any disquiet Which came to pass chiefly in the days of David and Solomon Blessed be he that blesseth thee and cursed is he that curseth thee These are the very words wherewith Isaac concluded his blessing of his Son Jocob XXVII Gen. 29. Which God now confirmed from the Mouth of one of their Enemies who spake at this time by his Spirit Ver. 10. And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam Verse 10 He could no longer forbear to express his Indignation to be thus treated by Balaam whom he had sent for a great way and entertained for some time and therefore stopt him from proceeding for the present any further in his Prophecy And smote his hands together A token of vehement Anger XXI Ezek. 17. And Balak said unto Balaam It is likely he was so full of Wrath that he could not speak presently but expressed it only in his Looks and Actions I called thee to curse mine Enemies and thou hast altogether blessed them Thou hast not said one word to my purpose but all quite contrary These three times Though I have been at great expence and built Altars and offered many Sacrifices in three several places But at what distance of time one from another doth not appear Ver. 11. Therefore now flee thou unto thy place Get Verse 11 thee home immediately and stay not a Moment longer here For that is imported in the word flee which indicates that he could not indure the sight of him while he remained thus angry And as he banished him his Presence so he commanded him to make all possible haste out of his Country I thought to promote thee to great honour And to bestow as much Wealth upon him as he desired which is included in the word honour XXII 17. But lo the LORD Whom thou pretendest to obey Hath kept thee back from honour By not permitting thee to comply with my desire It is uncertain whether these words were spoken in anger and scorn or seriously and in good earnest believing he was hindred by the LORD's will and pleasure from cursing Israel Which he had more reason to believe than he had to hope he might obtain liberty to curse them XXIII 27. and therefore was without all reason in this Passion against Balaam Verse 12 Ver. 12. And Balaam spake unto Balak Prayed Balak to hear him patiently a few words before he departed Spake I not also to thy Messengers which thou sentest unto me saying Did I not before I saw thee tell those that came to invite me to thee the very same which I told thee afterwards Verse 13 Ver. 13. If Balak would give me his House full of Gold and Silver I cannot go beyond the commandment of the LORD to do more or less So he told his Messengers XXII 18. Of my Mind According as I please But what the LORD saith that will I speak So he told Balak himself XXII 38. All which he recalls to his Mind to show him that there was no Cause for his Anger he having performed as much as he undertook which was to follow God's directions as he had done strictly And it is likely that by this just Representation of what had passed between them he brought Balak to a cooler temper so that he suffered him to go on
remote As Balaam here foretelling a great Ruler should come out of Jacob first speaks of the greatest of all above Fourteen hundred years after his time and then of David who reigned about Four hundred years after this And destroy all the Children of Sheth They who interpret this of David take Sheth to have been some great Person in that Country or some Place of great note the Inhabitants of which are here threatned to be destroyed But these are mere conjectures which have no foundation in History whereas if we understand it of Christ and translate the first word not he shall destroy but as Castalio and others do he shall rule over the sence is very remarkable It being a Prophecy that in the times of the MESSIAH there shall be no longer such a distinction as God now made between the Israelites and other Nations by the peculiar Laws he gave them at their entrance into Canaan but all Mankind who are equally descended from Seth shall be united under his Government And thus not only Lyranus and Abulensis and others interpret it but Onkelos also whose words are He shall have dominion over all the Sons of Men. For he thought it reasonable by the Children of Seth to understand all Mankind who were propagated from him who succeeded in the place of Abel that was killed all the Seed of Cain perishing in the Flood Ver. 18. And Edom shall be a possession So it was Verse 18 in the days of David 2 Sam VIII 14. And Seir shall be a possession This was a famous Mount in the Country of Edom XXXVI Gen. 8. and being the strongest part of the Country may signifie here that no place should be able to hold out though never so strongly fortified by Nature or Art And so we read they all became David's Servants 2 Sam. VIII 14. 1 Chron. XVIII 13. For his Enemies i. e. For the Israelites And Israel shall do valiantly For they subdued in those days many other Countries as we read in the forenamed Chapters 2 Sam. VIII I Chron. XVIII Verse 19 Ver. 19. Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion This may relate to Christ as well as to David in whom it was literally fulfilled And so Baal-Hatturim observes that v. 16. it is said of Balaam that he knew the Mind of the most High for he prophesied of the Messiah when he said Out of Jacob shall one come that shall have dominion The word jerd as the Masora notes is used only here and in LXXII Psal 8. where the Psalmist describes the Universal Kingdom of Christ in these words He shall have dominion from Sea to Sea and from the Rivers unto the end of the Earth And shall destroy him that remains in the City Not only rout them in the Field but take their defenced Cities And it is likely he particularly aims at some great City and best fortified which was the Metropolis and the strongest hold in the Kingdom Such a one there was in Edom as the Psalmist suggests LX. 9. Verse 20 Ver. 20. And when he looked on Amalek On the Country which the Amalekites inhabited He took up his Parable and said See v. 3. Amalek was the first of the Nations The most eminent among the neighbouring Nations or one of the most noble as Bochart renders it Gens una è nobilissimis But his latter end shall be that he perish for ever This God commanded Saul to execute 1 Sam. XV. 3. according to the doom passed upon them after their fight with Israel XVII Exod. 14 16. and he lost his Kingdom for doing his Work imperfectly Which the Vulgar Latin takes to be the meaning of the seventh verse of this Chapter Onkelos paraphrases the whole verse in this manner Amalek was the beginning of the Wars with Israel therefore his end shall be to perish for ever The Targum Hieros more plainly The Amalekites were the first People that made War against Israel and in the latter days they shall make War against them c. Ver. 21. And he looked on the Kenites He standing Verse 21 now upon the top of Peor which was it is likely the highest place of the Country for which reason Balak brought him thither after he had tried other high places XXIII 28. might see a great way and possibly behold the very Rocks wherein the Kenites dwelt But what People are meant by this name is not clearly evident For there were a People called Kenites who were a part of the Nations that inhabited the Land of Canaan XV Gen. 19. these cannot be here intended for they were too far off from this place And as for the Kenites mentioned in I Judges 16. IV. 11. who dwelt among the Israelites when they came into Canaan they had as yet no fixed state but were with them in the Wilderness Therefore it is likely they were some of the Kindred of Jethro originally derived from the same Family that he was of who remained in Midian and adjoyned so close to the Country of the Amalekites that they are said to dwell among them 1 Sam. XV. 6. For it is plain the word Keni in Hebrew is the Name of a People not of a particular Person and there might be a great many of them some in Canaan others in Midian and of these latter some went with the Israelites into Canaan when they conquered it and others remained still in their own Country They seem all to have been descended from one Ken or Kain mentioned IV Judges 11. as Scaliger conjectures in his Elenchus Trihaeres cap. 23. Jethro's Posterity being but one Family of this People Strong is thy dwelling-place They were but a small People who dwelt upon steep Mountains And puttest thy Nest in a Rock This is but a further description of their Country in other words For Nest signifies their Habitation only it seems to import that their dwelling was little in craggy Mountains where they lookt upon themselves as very safe and secure the access to them being very difficult And from hence I suppose they were called Shelamites as both the Hierus Targum and Onkelos here term them instead of Kenites i. e. peaceable People because no body medled with them nor they with any body Verse 22 Ver. 22. And the Kenite shall be wasted By little and little diminished Vntil Ashur shall carry thee away captive Till at last they were all carried away by the Assyrians when they over-ran Syria 2 Kings XVI 9. Verse 23 Ver. 23. And he took up his Parable and said Having rested a while he sighed and said aloud See v. 3. Alas who shall live when God doth this What miserable times will those be when the Assyrians shall over-run a great part of the World How few will escape their Devastations Or who would not desire rather to die than live in those days But some I observe refer this not to what goes before but to what follows which relates to the Desolations made by the following
War and of those who staid at home but were able to go to War who were above Six hundred thousand XXVI 2 51. of which Twelve thousand who were employed in this Expedition were the fiftieth part And give them to the Levites Who were far more numerous than the Priests and therefore had a greater proportion of the Tribute Which keep the charge of the Tabernacle of the LORD See I. 50. III. 6 7 8. Ver. 31. And Moses and Eleazar the Priest did as Verse 31 the LORD commanded Moses This Command is peculiarly to Moses v. 25. but Eleazar was to assist him in the execution of it v. 26. and accordingly they took the Sum of the Prey both of Man and Beast and divided them between the Souldiers and People and levied a Tribute upon each for the LORD who ordered them to his Ministers Ver. 32. And the booty being the rest of the prey which the Men of Israel had caught i. e. Besides what was necessarily spent for their Subsistence during the War and while they lay out of the Camp v. 19. Was six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thousand sheep A vast stock far exceeding the number of Men of War which were in Israel Verse 33 Ver. 33. And threescore and twelve thousand beeves It seems their Country had good Pasture in it as well as Sheep-walks For as Arabia Foelix it is certain had agros latissimos fertilissimos as Pliny speaks Lib. VI. cap. 28. most spacious and Fertile Fields so Arabia Petraea in which Midian was did not wholly want them Verse 34 Ver. 34. And threescore and one thousand Asses The Countries about Judea abounding with Camels also particularly Arabia in which Job had a great number it may seem strange that we read of none here especially since they had vast numbers in following times VI Judges 5. VII 12. and the Ishmaelites with whom they were Associates in Trade had them long before this time XXXVII Gen. 27 36. But it is likely they did not yet find it for their profit to feed Camels of which they learnt to make a Trafick afterward no more than Mules of which we read nothing here nor indeed in Judea till the times of David It may be supposed that if they had Camels they were of that kind called Dromedaries which were famous in this Country in after Ages LX Isa 6. and that the People who escaped the slaughter fled away upon them And that there were other Beasts in this Country besides Beeves and Asses and Sheep and Goats seems to be plain from v. 30. where after the mention of these he adds of all manner of Beasts he should take a Portion for the Levites But of Camels or Dromedaries I suppose none were found Ver. 35. And thirty two thousand persons in all of women that had not known Man c. It appears by this to have been a very populous Country in which were so many Virgins Verse 35 Ver. 36. And the half which was the portion of them Verse 36 that went out to war was in number three hundred and seven and thirty thousand and five hundred Sheep There is no difficulty in this or in the following verses this being exactly the half of the whole number of Sheep mentioned v. 32. Ver. 37. And the LORD's Tribute of the Sheep Verse 37 was six hundred and threescore and fifteen Which is exactly one in five hundred out of this half of the Booty as God ordered v. 28. Ver. 38. And the Beeves were thirty and six thousand Verse 38 whereof the LORD's Tribute was threescore and twelve The very same proportions are observed here as in the Sheep which appears by comparing this verse with v. 33. And the two next verses 39 40. give the same account of the Asses and the Persons which were as exactly divided and the LORD had the same portion of them as v. 34 35. compared with these demonstrate Ver. 41. And Moses gave the Tribute which was the Verse 41 LORD 's Heave-offering unto Eleazar the Priest c. This is recorded to show how faithful Moses was in performing obedience to God's Commands v. 29. and far from desiring the smallest Portion for himself out of so great a Booty Which if he had acted by his own private Spirit he would scarce have avoided Ver. 42. And of the Children of Israel's half which Verse 42 Moses divided from the Men that warred There is nothing here nor in the following verses to v. 48. but a Repetition of what was said concerning the other half before-mentioned to show that the same exactness was observed both in the Division of the Prey among the People and in taking out of it such a Portion as God assigned to the Levites which was one out of fifty as out of the Men of Wars part one out of five hundred v. 28 30. Verse 48 Ver. 48. And the Officers which were over thousands of the Host the Captains of thousands and Captains of hundreds came near unto Moses The first words of this verse seem to suppose that there were other great Officers as well as the General who were above the Captains over thousands and the Captains over hundreds which is very probable Verse 49 Ver. 49. And they said unto Moses thy Servants c. The greatest Men speak with the greatest Reverence to Moses who was in the place of God Have taken the sum of the men of war which are under our charge Made a muster of them as we now speak at our return from the War And there lacketh not one man of us A wonderful Victory which shows the War was the LORD's v. 3. Who struck such a Terror into them that one would think they turn'd their backs and did not strike a stroke against the Israelites Verse 50 Ver. 50. We have therefore brought an Oblation for the LORD For the Uses of the Sanctuary either in purchasing Sacrifices or maintaining God's Ministers c. For KORBAN signifies every thing that is given to God though not sacrificed upon the Altar What every man hath gotten All of them offered something to the LORD out of the Spoil he had gotten according to the Piety of ancient Times XIV Gen. 20. For we find no Precept in the Law for this and yet it was constantly practised by David in after times 2 Sam. VIII 11 12. and by the Officers of his Army 1 Chron. XXVI 26 27. and by other Men Samuel Saul Abner c. v. 28 c. Jewels of Gold Vessels as the Hebrew word signifies or all manner of Ornaments made of Gold the Particulars of which follow viz. Chains Bracelets c. But the Hierusalem Vaâ—gum takes these Jewels as we translate it to have been the golden Attire about the Heads of their Women Chains These are commonly thought to have been the Ornaments or their Arms. But they may as well be thought to have been used about their Legs or their Necks Bracelets These it is apparent were Ornaments about
threatned the same before he died XXIII 13. Of which an Angel or Messenger of the LORD minded them II Judges 3. And so it came to pass as we read there v. 14. and throughout that whole Book And shall vex you in the Land wherein ye dwell Make you very uneasie nay sigh and groan in the good Land which God gives you by reason of their oppression II Judg. 18. IV. 3. VI. 6 c. Ver. 56. Moreover I will do unto you as I thought Verse 56 to do unto them As I purposed to do unto them i. e. make you their Slaves as they were to several People whom they served many years III Judg. 8 14. VI. 2. and many other places Or make you flee before them and at last expel you from the Land I give you CHAP. XXXIV Chapter XXXIV Verse 1 Ver. 1. AND the LORD spake unto Moses saying In the same place where they were when he last spake to him for they made no other Removals till they marched for Canaan Verse 2 Ver. 2. Command the Children of Israel Charge them to take notice of this And say unto them when ye come into the Land of Canaan this is the Land that shall fall unto you for your Inheritance Having spoken to them concerning their dispossessing the Canaanites and dividing their Land among their Tribes it was fit to describe the Bounds of their Country that they might know whom they were to destroy and into whose Possessions they were to enter Even the Land of Canaan and the Coasts thereof The Land beyond Jordan and the Limits or Bounds thereof Verse 3 Ver. 3. Then your South quarter shall be from the Wilderness of Zin Mentioned in the foregoing Chapter v. 36. Along by the Coast of Edom. Which bordered upon this Wilderness XX. 1 14. And your South border shall be the utmost Coast of the Salt Sea From the very tongue of it as it is expressed XV Josh 2. where it appears this was the Portion of the Tribe of Judah The Salt-Sea is that which is called sometimes the Dead-Sea and in other Authors Lacus Asphaltites See XIV Gen. 3. The Hebrews call all great Lakes by the Name of Seas and this is called the Salt-Sea because the Water of it is very Salt or as some express it bitter and the Dead-Sea propter aquae immobilitatem as Justin speaks Lib. XXXVI because of the immoveableness of the Water which is never stirred by the greatest Winds See Vossius de Orig. Progr Idolal Lib. II. cap. 68. Eastward Where the Eastern and the Southern Border meet Ver. 4. And your Border That is this South Verse 4 Border Shall turn Not go on in a strait Line but bending toward the West From the South to the ascent of Akrabbim Or to Maale-Akrabbim a Mountain on the South-end of the Dead-Sea XV Josh 3. I Judg. 36. So called as Bochartus conjectures from the vast multitude of Scorpions found here From which Mountain also it is probable the Region called Acrabatena near to Idumaea had its name 1 Maccab. V. 3. See Hierozoicon P. II. Lib. IV. cap. 29. And pass on to Zin Either to a place called Zin or part of the Wilderness of Zin which lay on the South of the Land of Canaan XIII 21. And the going forth thereof shall be from the South That is still on towards the South as appears from what goes before and follows after To Kadesh-barnea From whence the Spies were sent to search out the Land and are said expresly to have gone up by the South XIII 22 26. And shall go on to Hazar-Addar Or to the Village of Addar as the Vulgar Latin renders it which seems to be justified by XV Josh 3. where it is simply called Addar There is indeed a place called Hezron joyned with it which may be thought to be the same with Hazar But so is another place also called Karkaa both which may as well be thought to be here omitted for brevities sake And pass on to Azmon A place lying on the West-end of the Mount of Edom. Verse 5 Ver. 5. And the border shall fetch a compass There shall be a greater turn than that mentioned v. 4. bending still more Westward From Azmon unto the River of Egypt By the River of Egypt is properly understood Nile and so Jonathan here renders the Hebrew word Nahal River by Nilus Which may seem to have taken its name from the word Nahal which the Ancients did not pronounce as we now do but called it Neel as we find in Epiphanius From whence Nilus was very easily made as Bochartus observes Hierozoic P. II. Lib. V. cap. 15. But if Nile be here meant it must be the more Northerly mouth of it where Pelusium stood See XV Gen. 18. And the goings out of it shall be at the Sea This Border ended at the Sea called the Great Sea in the next verse Verse 6 Ver. 6. And as for the Western border ye shall have even the great Sea That is the Mediterranean or midland Sea which lay on the West of Judaea And is called by the Hebrews the Great Sea in comparison with the Lake of Genesaret and Aspaltites which they also called Seas For your border On the West as it here follows This shall be your Western border From the River of Egypt as far as Zidon which was a part of the promised Land as appears from XIII Josh 6. I Judg. 31. All the Cities indeed on the shore of this Sea were held by the Philistines and others till the time of David but the Israelites had a right to them And the famous Rabbi Juda understands these words as if they should have the Western Ocean it self for their Portion as well as the Land adjacent to it For so he expounds these words as if Moses had said this shall be your Western Border viz. The Border of the Sea and the Isles near unto it And the Hierusalem Targum more plainly And let the great Sea be your Border i. e. the Ocean and the Isles thereof and the Cities and the Ships with the ancient Waters that are in the midst of it See Selden in his Mare Clausum Lib. I. cap. 6. where he alledges this as a proof that Men anciently thought they might have a Dominion over the Sea as well as the Land Ver. 7. And this shall be your Northern border from Verse 7 the great Sea From the Mediterranean which lay on the West Ye shall point out for you Mark out for your Direction Mount Hor. Not that Mount where Aaron died for that was on the South of the Land of Canaan towards Edom but this was diametrically opposite on the North of it And therefore must in all likelyhood be some part of Mount Libanus which with Antilibanus more towards the great Sea bounded the promised Land on the North. But there were several parts of Mount Libanus which were called by several Names and probably one of them was called Hor because of