THE FIFTH BOOK OF MOSES, CALLED DEUTERONOMY. INTRODUCTION. THE fifth and last book of the Pentateuch is called "Deuteronomy," a word composed of two Greek words, signifying a repetition of the Law. It contains indeed a compendious repetition of the Law, enlarged with many explanatory additions, and enforced by the strongest and most pathetick exhortations to obedience; as well for the more forcible impression on the Israelites in general, as in particular for the benefit of those, who, being born in the wilderness, were not present at the first promulgation of the Law. It is a kind of manual of Divine wisdom; a commentary on the Decalogue; and contains such laws, as concerned the people in general, as to their civil, military, and religious government, omitting for the most part what related to the Priests and Levites. It was delivered by Moses, a little time previous to his death, to the people whom he had long governed and instructed; and it was bequeathed, with his other writings, to the charge of the Levites, as the most valuable testimony of his regard, in the fortieth year after the departure from Egypt, in the year of the world 2552. The book opens with an interesting address to the Israelites, in which Moses briefly recapitulates the many circumstances in which they had experienced the Divine favour since their departure from Horeb. He describes the success and victories, which had marked their progress; the incredulous murmurs and ingratitude, by which the people had incensed God; and the effects of the Divine wrath; especially in the inexorable decree, by which he himself had been debarred from that land, for the possession of which he had so earnestly toiled. He proceeds with the most animated zeal to exhort them to future obedience: and to rehearse in a discourse, renewed at intervals, the various commandments, statutes, and judgments, which had been delivered to them by God, that they might become “a wise and understanding nation ;" and fulfil the terms of that covenant, which the Lord had made with them in Horeb. Moses, while he intersperses with these laws frequent reproaches for their past misconduct, unfolds the glorious attributes of God, and reiterates every persuasive motive to obedience. He commands them to distinguish their first entrance into Canaan, by a publick display of reverence for God's law by erecting stones on which all its words and precepts might be inscribed. He enters into a new covenant with the people; which not only included that previously made at Horeb, but which renewed also and ratified those assurances of spiritual blessings, long before imparted to Abraham and his descendants. He then, in consistency with the promises and sanctions of both covenants, sets forth for their election, "life and good, and death and evil :" temporal and eternal recompense, or present and future punishment. Deuteronomy contains a period of nearly two months: an history of the conclusion of the life of Moses, whose last days were distinguished by increasing solicitude, and by the most active exertions for the welfare of his people. After a commemorative hymn, in which he particularly exhorts them to "consider their latter end;" and after having uttered his prophetick blessings in solemn and appropriate promises to the several tribes, this great man is represented to have retired, by Divine command, to the top of mount Nebo; from whence he had a prospect of Canaan, and foresaw the speedy accomplishment of God's promises. He then, in the full possession of his powers and faculties, when "his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated," died in the 120th year of his age. This book is cited as the book of Moses in many parts of Scripture, and numberless passages are produced from it in testimony, by Christ and his Apostles. With respect to the prophetick part of Deuteronomy, it should be remarked, that the Messiah is here more explicitly foretold than in the preceding books, and described as the completion of the Jewish economy. "I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth, and He shall speak unto them all that I shall command Him." The prophecies of Moses increase in number and clearness towards the close of his writings. As he approached the end of his life, he appears to have discerned futurity with more exactness. His denunciation concerning the future rewards and punishments, the success, dispersions, and desolations of his people; his prophetick blessings on the tribes; his description of the rapid victories of the Romans; and of the miseries to be sustained by his besieged countrymen; and particularly his prophecies relative to their present condition, as accomplished under our own observation, bear a striking evidence to the truth and inspiration of his writings, and fearfully illustrate the character of the Divine attributes. The book of Deuteronomy brings down the Sacred History to the year of the world 2552, and completes the volume of the Pentateuch, of which every part is uniformly and consistently perfect. Dr. Gray. Chap. I. ver. 1. These be the words which Moses spake &c.] This exordium to Deuteronomy is remarkable. It states that this book is not, like the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, a direct narration or journal of the various events which occurred to the Jewish legislator and nation from the commencement of their deliverance from Egypt; but that it is a recapitulation of every thing, which Moses thought it necessary to notice, in addressing the people shortly before his death, at the close of the forty years, during which he had acted as their lawgiver and judge. Dr. Graves. on this side Jordan] Namely, on the "eastern" side of Jordan, "by the wilderness" that lay on the south-east of the plain of Moab. In this plain the Israelites had been encamped since the time intimated in Numb. xxii. 1, their camp lying, not "over against the Red sea," which the Hebrew word "zuph" sometimes signifies, but from which they were now far distant; but " over against a place called Zuph," as in the margin; and "between the places" last mentioned in this verse, which appear to have been frontier towns of the country of Moab, that lay upon the borders of this plain. Bp. Patrick, Dr. Wells, Pyle. 2. (There are eleven days' journey &c.] This is said to intimate that the tedious tract of time, occupied in coming to this border of Canaan, is not to be ascribed to the length of the way thither from Egypt; there being only eleven days' continued march from Horeb, where the Law was given, to Kadesh-barnea, whence the distance to Canaan is very small; but partly to a design of proving them, and partly as a just punishment upon the infidelity and disobedience of the foregoing generation. See Numb. xiii. and xiv. Pyle. 3.-in the fortieth year,] Moses was the immediate agent of God in all those mighty operations, which took place, during his residence with the Israelites in Egypt, as well as in those which ensued. The destination of this people was to the land of Canaan: and though the history of their journeyings may not be uniformly attended with the same astonishing prodigies as they had experienced in Egypt, yet in every movement, throughout the whole process, there are marks of Divine power and wisdom, by which they were at all times conducted. For no man could have formed such a system, much less have carried it on in the manner, by which we see it at last completed. After the signal deliverance at the Red sea, instead of taking the shortest course to Canaan, Moses sets out in a quite contrary direction, southward towards Paran: and having led the people through one barren wild, he brings them into another, still more barren and horrid. In this desert they reside near forty former things. tieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the LORD had given him in commandment unto them; Before CHRIST 1451. 24. 4 a After he had slain Sihon the a Numb. 21. king of the Amorites, which dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, which dwelt at Astaroth in Edrei: 5 On this side Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying, 6 The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount: 1491. years, where a caravan could not subsist for a month. It is moreover said, that in this state of travel for so many years, their apparel lasted to the very conclusion of their journey, Deut. xxix. 5. It is farther said, that when they were afflicted with thirst, the solid rocks afforded them streams of water, Ps. lxxviii. 16, and that for a long season they were fed with a peculiar food from heaven, Deut. viii. 3. And this must necessarily have been the case: for there was not subsistence in the desert for one hundredth part of their number. In short, it seemed good to Divine wisdom, to bring the Israelites into perils of various kinds, from whence there seemed no opening for escape; no subterfuge, which could avail them. And this was done, that they might manifestly see, that their safety was not effected by any human means: but that it was a far higher power, which both conducted and preserved them. Bryant. 5.- to declare this law,] By way of rehearsal. Dr. Wells. To call to remembrance that which any one had forgotten, and to explain that which any one did not understand. What Moses now said was likely to be the more regarded, because these were, in a manner, his dying words; for he lived but till the seventh day of the next month. This book seems to have been composed by him as a compendium of his whole law, for the familiar use of the children of Israel. Bp. Patrick. The Hebrew words import, that Moses began, or determined to explain the Law; and so the words are rendered in most of the ancient versions, and by several modern commentators, who were eminently skilled in the Hebrew language. This repetition and explanation of the law was a wise and benevolent proceeding in Moses; that those, who were either not born, or were mere infants, when it was first delivered in Horeb, forty years before, might have an opportunity of knowing it; especially as Moses their leader was soon to be taken from them, and they were about to be settled in the midst of nations, given to idolatry, and sunk in vice. Bp. Watson. - 6. Ye have dwelt long enough &c.] It appears by comparing Exod. xix. 1, with Numb. x. 11, 12, that they continued in the wilderness of Sinai for the space of almost a year, in which time they received their law, erected their tabernacle, numbered their people, set up their standards, and encamped by them in the order prescribed; and were therefore sufficiently prepared to march onward in great order. Bp. Kidder. It was God's purpose that the Israelites should enter into the land of Canaan from their encampment at Kadeshbarnea, if they had not hindered it by their unbelief. Dr. Wells. A repetition of Before CHRIST 1451. + Heb. all his neighbours. + Heb. given. CHAP. I. 7 Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 Behold, I have set the land before you go in and possess the land which the LORD Sware unto b Gen. 15. 18. your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them. & 17. 7, 8. + Heb. Give. b 9 ¶ And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone: 10 The LORD your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. 11 (The LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you!) 12 How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife? 13+ Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you. 14 And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do. 15 So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and + Heb. gave. † made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes. 16 And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes c John 7. 24. between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and 11. (The Lord God of your fathers make you &c.] How naturally does the pious legislator in this address to the people, dwell on every circumstance which could improve his hearers in piety and virtue! The multitude of the people was the cause of the appointment of the judges here spoken of, ver. 13. How beautifully is this increase of the nation turned to an argument of gratitude to God! How affectionate is the blessing, with which the pious speaker interrupts the narrative, imploring God that the multitude of his people may increase a thousand-fold! How admirably does he take occasion, from mentioning the judges, to inculcate the eternal principles of justice and piety, which should control their decisions! How remote is all this from art, forgery, and former things. his brother, and the stranger that is with him. Before CHRIST 1451. 1 Sam. 16. 7. 17 Ye shall not + respect persons a Lev. 19. 15. in judgment; but ye shall hear the chap. 16. 19. small as well as the great; ye shall Prov. 24. 23. not be afraid of the face of man; for Heb. acthe judgment is God's: and the cause faces. that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it. 18 And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do. 19¶And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh barnea. 20 And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the LORD our God doth give unto us. 21 Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged. knowledge 1490. 26 Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled against the imposture! Surely here, if any where, we can trace the dictates of nature, truth, and piety. Dr. Graves. 12. - your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife?] How is it possible for one man alone to undergo the labour of hearing all the complaints of such a multitude; and of remedying all their grievances; and of determining all their controversies? Bp. Patrick. 17.-for the judgment is God's:] You are God's ministers, and act by his authority, and therefore may be confident that He will defend you in the discharge of your office. Dr. Wells. 26. Notwithstanding ye would not go up,] Moses, in his recapitulation of his conduct on this occasion, omits altogether the menace of God to disinherit the Jews, A repetition of Before CHRIST 1451. + Heb. melted. God: commandment of the LORD your | thou hast seen how that the LORD 27 And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the LORD hateth us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. 28 Whither shall we go up? our brethren have + discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the g Numb. 13. Anakims there. 29. 29 Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them. 30 The LORD your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes; 31 And in the wilderness, where and raise up a nation from himself in their stead, 28. to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites,] Nothing can be more pernicious, as Grotius here observes, than a persuasion that God doth not love us, but hath a design upon us, to destroy us. Bp. Patrick. the cities are great and walled up to heaven;] If the people of these countries anciently raised up the walls of their cities so high, as not to be liable to be scaled, they thought them safe. The same simple contrivance is to this day sufficient to guard places from the Arabs, who live in the very wilderness, in which Israel was now wandering, and who are a nation more inured to warlike enterprises than the Israelites were. The expression "up to heaven" is a strong eastern way of speaking. Harmer. Before CHRIST 1451. 21. 33 h Who went in the way before h Exod. 13. you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to shew you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day. 34 And the LORD heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying, 29. 35 Surely there shall not one of i Numb. 14. these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers, 36 Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, be to God hands, eyes, and feet, not that He has literally any of these members; but because He has a power of executing all those acts, to which these members in us are made subservient. In the same manner, the Scriptures represent Him, as affected with the like passions, which we feel in ourselves, when we are angry or pleased, when we have our hearts softened, or provoked to revenge. Not that any of these passions belong to the Divine nature: but the meaning is, that God will as certainly punish the wicked, as if He were prompted by the passion of anger or revenge; and as infallibly relieve or reward the good, as we do those, for whom we entertain compassion or affection. So that it is only by way of analogy or comparison, that the nature and passions of men are ascribed to God; and out of a gracious condescension to our faculties: for which therefore we should be grateful, and be cautious to interpret his words in a sense suitable to his Divine Majesty. Stackhouse. and sware,] An oath is a solemn asseveration, made as strong and binding as possible, in order to beget faith and confidence in others, as to the certainty of what is affirmed. When men swear, nothing can make their asseveration so strong and binding, as the invocation of God, to be their witness or avenger. In like manner, when God Himself is said to swear, we are to suppose that He inforces his asseveration, to beget the firmest belief in his revelations, not by invoking a supe 29.-Dread not,] Moses here notices two very power-riour, for that is not in his power, but by condescending ful arguments, which he had used to deliver the Israelites from fear: 1. A promise of Divine assistance; "The Lord your God, which goeth before you, he shall fight for you:"2. The experience of God's mercies towards them in Egypt, and in the wilderness; where God had borne them as a tender father carries an infirm child. Compare Isa. xlix. 22, with Exod. xix. 4. Bp. Kidder. The long experience they had had of God's watchful and indulgent care over them, should have made them confident of his gracious Providence for the future. He does not mention these arguments in the book of Numbers, where we read only of his falling down before God, that he might awaken this generation to a greater confidence in God, and a dread of his judgment. Bp. Patrick. 34.—the Lord—was wroth,] The Scriptures ascribe to make use of human forms of swearing, with such alterations as the case requires. Thus, when God swears by Himself, Gen. xxii. 16; or by his great name, Jer. xliv. 26; or by his life, Jer. li. 14; or by his right hand, Isa. lxii. 8; or by his holiness, Amos iv. 2; or by his truth, Ps. lxxxix. 49; or by his excellency, Amos viii. 7; or by any other of his attributes or perfections: the meaning of these expressions is, that He thereby declares the thing to be as certain and as surely to be relied on, as are his own being and attributes. This is the whole purport of the thing; and God is therefore said to make use of this manner of speaking, because it is more awful and solemn, and consequently fit to make a deeper impression and to produce a firmer confidence in the hearers. Dr. Waterland, Stackhouse. 40. 39 Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it. 40 But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea. 41 Then ye answered and said m Numb. 14. unto me, m We have sinned against the LORD, we will go up and fight, according to all that the LORD our God commanded us. And when ye had girded on every man his weapons of war, ye were ready to go up into the hill. 37.—the Lord was angry with me for your sakes,] When Moses was so provoked by their fresh discontents and mutinous upbraidings of him, that "he spake unadvisedly with his lips," Ps. cvi. 32, 33. This was an high aggravation of their guilt, that they not only ruined themselves, but brought great displeasure upon their worthy leader and governour, whom they wearied with their tumults and rebellions. Bp. Patrick. The story is continued. be 45 And ye returned and wept 46 So ye abode in Kadesh many CHAP. II. 1 The story is continued, that they were not THEN we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea, as the LORD spake unto me: and we compassed mount Seir many days. 2 And the LORD spake unto me, saying, 3 Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward. 4 And command thou the people, saying, Ye are to pass through the coast of your brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir; and they shall be afraid of you take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore: a Before CHRIST 1451. to the tread no, Heb. eren be- ing of the unto sole of the 5 Meddle not with them; for I 6 Ye shall buy meat of them for 7 For the LORD thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy foot. at Kadesh a good while, and much about the same space of time after the mutiny that they had done before it." Pyle. Chap. II. ver. 1.– we compassed mount Seir many days.] We spent near thirty-eight years in the encampments we made in the wilderness, which lies round the west and south borders of the country of Edom. Dr. Wells. "Mount Seir" is put for the rest of the country of the Edomites, of which that mount was a remarkable place. We find that Ezion-gaber, ver. 8, which was on the shore of the Red sea, was in the land of Edom, 1 Kings ix. 26. Bp. Kidder. 38. But Joshua—shall go in thither: &c.] The introduction of this his own rejection, and the substitution of Joshua, as the person destined by God to lead the Jews to conquer the promised land, was here peculiarly natural and useful: lest the people, recollecting their former defeat, in attempting to invade that land, when 4. Ye are to pass through the coast] Or rather, near Moses did not accompany them, should dread a similar or by the coast, as the Hebrew particle may be renderdefeat now, when they were to be entirely deprived of ed. They were not to "meddle with" the Edomites: him. Dr. Graves. 46.- many days, according unto the days that ye abode there.] The most natural sense of these words is that of our learned Bishop Patrick; namely, "that they stayed not because the Edomites were too formidable an enemy; for it is said, "they shall be afraid of you:" but because God had bestowed that land upon Esau, Josh. xxiv. 4, and would not give to the Israelites thereof, |