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Cautions against forgetting

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9 A land wherein thou shalt eat | judgments, and his statutes, which
An. Ex. Isr. 40. bread without scarceness, thou I command thee this day:
shalt not lack any thing in it;
a land whose stones are iron, and out of
whose hills thou mayest dig brass.

10. When thou hast eaten and art full, then
thou shalt bless the LORD thy God, for the
good land which he hath given thee.

11 Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his

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12 Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein ;.

13 And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;

14' Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought

Prov. xxx. 9; Hos. xiii. 6.- -4 1 Cor. vi. 7.- Psa. evi. 21. rocks: the rocky mountains of this country, it is well known, produce an abundance of aromatic plants pro

" Ch. xxxiii. 25.0 Ch. vi. 11, 12.—P Ch. xxviii. 47; xxxii. 15;
quantities: Hasselquist, in the progress of his journey
from Acra to Nazareth, tells us that he found "great
numbers of bees, bred thereabouts, to the great ad-per for the purpose. Nor does Asaph, in the close
vantage of the inhabitants." He adds, "they make
their bee-hives, with little trouble, of clay, four feet
long, and half a foot in diameter, as in Egypt. They
lay ten or twelve of them, one on another, on the bare
ground, and build over every ten a little roof." Mr.
Maundrell, observing also many bees in the Holy
Land, takes notice that by their means the most barren
places in other respects of that country become use-
ful, perceiving in many places of the great salt plain
near Jericho a smell of honey and wax as strong as
if he had been in an apiary.

of the eighty-first Psalm, speak, I apprehend, of honey
found in cavities of rocks; nor yet is he there descri-
bing it as collected from the odoriferous plants that
grow in the rocky hills of those countries, if the read-
ing of our present Hebrew copies be right but the
prophet tells Israel that, had they been obedient, God
would have fed them with the fat of wheat, and with
the rock of honey would he have satisfied them, that
is, with the most delicious wheat, and with the richest,
most invigorating honey, in large quantities, both for
eating and making agreeable drink. Its reviving,
By Hasselquist's account it appears, that the pre-strengthening quality appears in the story of Jonathan,
sent inhabitants of Palestine are not strangers to the Saul's son, 1 Sam. xix. 27; as the using the term rock
use of hives. They are constructed of very different to signify strength, &c., appears in a multitude of
materials from ours, but just the same with the Egyp-places. The rock of a sword, Psa. lxxxix. 43, for
tian hives. They seem to be an ancient contrivance; the edge of the sword, in which its energy lies, is,
and indeed so simple an invention must be supposed to perhaps, as strange an expression to western ears.
be as old as the days of Moses, when arts, as appears
from his writings, of a much more elevated nature
were known in Egypt. I cannot then well persuade
myself to adopt the opinion of some of the learned,
that those words of Moses, in Deut. xxxii. 13, He
made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out
of the flinty rock, are to be understood of his causing
Israel to dwell in a country where sometimes they
might find honey-comb in holes of the rock. It is
very possible that in that hot country these insects,
when not taken due care of, may get into hollow places
of the rocks, and form combs there, as they sometimes
construct them in ours in hollow trees, though I do
not remember to have met with any traveller that has
made such an observation. But would this have been
mentioned with so much triumph by Moses in this
place? The quantities of honey produced after this
manner could be but small, compared with what would
be collected in hives properly managed; when found,
it must often cost a great deal of pains to get the
honey out of these little cavities in the hard stone, and
much the greatest part must be absolutely lost to the
inhabitants. The interpretation is the more strange,
because when it is said in the next clause, "and oil
out of the flinty rock," it is evidently meant that they
should have oil produced in abundance by olive trees
growing on flinty rocks; and consequently, the suck-
ing honey out of the rock should only mean their
enjoying great quantities of honey, produced by bees Out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.] As there
that collected it from flowers growing among the is no such thing in fiature as a brass mine, the word

I shall have occasion to speak of the excellence of the grapes of Judea in a succeeding chapter; I may therefore be excused from pursuing the farther examination of the productions of this country, upon giving my reader a remark of Dr. Shaw's to this purpose, that it is impossible for pulse, wheat, or grain of any kind, to be richer or better tasted than what is sold at Jerusalem. Only it may not be amiss to add, with respect to this country's being well watered, that the depth, Dan tehom, spoken of in this passage, seems to mean reservoirs of water filled by the rains of winter, and of great use to make their lands fertile; as the second word 'nyn tealotheiha seems to mean wells, or some such sort of conveniences, supplied by springs; and the first word 'n) naharotheiha rivers or running streams, whether carrying a larger or smaller body of water. What an important part of this pleasing description, especially in the ears of those that had wandered near forty years in a most dry and parched wilderness! I will only add, without entering into particulars, that the present face of the country answers this description.

Verse 9. A land whose stones are iron] Not only meaning that there were iron mines throughout the land, but that the loose stones were strongly impreg-. nated with iron, ores of this metal (the most useful of all the products of the mineral kingdom) being every where in great plenty.

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15 Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; " who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;

16 Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;

And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.

Isa. lxii. 12, 13, 14; Jer. ii. 6.- Numbers xxi. 6; Hos. xiii. 5.- - Num. xx. 11; Psa. Ixxviii. 15; cxiv. 8.- - Ver. 3; Exod. xvi. 15.

nechosheth should be translated נחשת

copper; of which, by the addition of the lapis calaminaris, brass is made. See on Exod. xxv. 3.

Verse 15. Who led thee through that terrible wilderness] See the account of their journeying in the notes on Exod. xvi. 1, &c.; Num. xxi., &c.

Fiery serpents] Serpents whose bite occasioned a most violent inflammation, accompanied with an unquenchable thirst, and which terminated in death. See on Num. xxi. 6.

Verse 16. Who fed thee-with manna] See this miracle described Exod. xvi. 13, &c.

passing over Jordan.

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18 But thou shalt remember the A. M. 2553. LORD thy God for it is he An. Ex. Isr. 40. that giveth thee power to get

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Verse 18. God-giveth thee power to get wealth] Who among the rich and wealthy believes this saying? Who gives wisdom, understanding, skill, bodily strength, and health? Is it not God? And without these, how can wealth be acquired? Whose is providence? who gives fertility to the earth? And who brings every proper purpose to a right issue? Is it not God? And without these also can wealth be acquired? No. Then the proposition in the text is self-evident: it is God that giveth power to get wealth, and to God the wealthy man must account for the manner in which he has expended the riches which God hath given him.

CHAPTER IX.

The people are informed that they shall shortly pass over Jordan, and that God shall go over before them, to expel the ancient inhabitants, 1-3. They are cautioned not to suppose that it is on account of their righteousness that God is to give them that land, 4-6. They are exhorted to remember their various provocations of the Divine Majesty, especially at Horeb, 7-14; and how Moses interceded for them, and destroyed the golden calf, 15-21. How they murmured at Taberah, 22; and rebelled at Kadesh-barnea, 23; and had been perverse from the beginning, 24. An account of the intercession of Moses in their behalf, 25-29.

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HEAR, O Israel: Thou art to whom thou hast heard say, Who pass over Jordan this day, can stand before the children of An. Ex. Isr. 40. go in to possess nations Anak? b greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven;

3 Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is he which

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goeth over before

he shall destroy

2 A people great and tall, the children of thee; as a consuming fire the Anakims, whom thou knowest, and of Josh. iii. 16; iv. 19.- b Chap. iv. 38; vii. 1; Chap. i. 28. Num. xiii. 22, 28, 32, 33.

them, and he shall bring them down before thy

a Chap. xi. 31; xi. 23.

NOTES ON CHAP. IX. Verse 1. Thou art to pass over Jordan this day] D' haiyom, this time; they had come thirty-eight years before this nearly to the verge of the promised land, but were not permitted at that day or time to pass

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Chap. xxxi, 3; Josh. iii. 11. Chap. iv. 24; Heb. xii. 29.
Chap. vii. 23.

over, because of their rebellions; but this time they
shall certainly pass over. This was spoken about the
eleventh month of the fortieth year of their journeying,
and it was on the first month of the following year they
passed over; and during this interim Moses died.

The various provocations and

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DEUTERONOMY.

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rebellions of the Israelites.

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face: so shalt thou drive them words, which the LORD spake An. Ex. Isr. 40. out, and destroy them quickly, with you in the mount, out of the An. Ex. Isr. 40. as the LORD hath said unto thee. midst of the fire, in the day of 4 Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the assembly. the LORD thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the LORD hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD doth drive them out from before thee.

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5 Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, doth thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

6 Understand, therefore, that the LORD thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiffnecked people.

11 And it came to pass, at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the LORD gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant.

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12 And the LORD said unto me, " Arise, get thee down quickly from hence; for thy people which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves; they are quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image.

13 Furthermore the LORD spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people :

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14 Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven: 7 Remember, and forget not, how thou pro-a and I will make of thee a nation mightier vokedst the LORD thy God to wrath in the wil- and greater than they. derness: from the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the LORD.

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10 And the LORD delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the

h Exod. xxiii. 31; chap. vii. 24.- Chap. viii. 17; Rom. xi. 6, 20; 1 Cor. iv. 4. 7. Gen. xv. 16; Lev. xviii. 24, 25; chap. xviii. 12. Tit. iii. 5. m Gen. xii. 7; xiii. 15; xv. 7; xvii. 8; xxvi. 4; xxviii. 13.--" Ver. 13; Exod. xxxii. 9; xxxiii. 3; xxxiv. 9.- 0 Exod. xiv. 11; xvi. 2; xvii. 2; Num. xi. 4; xx. 2; xxv. 2; ch. xxxi. 27.--P Exod. xxxii. 4; Psa. cvi. 19.4 Exod. xxiv, 12, 15.- Exod. xxiv. 18; xxxiv. 28.-Exod. xxxi. 18.

15 So I turned and came down from the mount, and the mount burned with fire: and the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands.

16 And I looked, and, behold, ye had sinned against the LORD your God, and had made you a molten calf: ye had turned aside quickly out of the way which the LORD had commanded you.

17 And I took the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and brake them before your eyes.

18 And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which ye sinned, in doing wick

xx. 1; chap. iv. 10; x. 4; xviii. 16. Chap. xxxi. 29; Judg. ii. 17.w Exod. chap. x. 16; xxxi. 27; 2 Kings xvii. 14. - Chap. xxix. 20; Psa. ix. 5; cix. 13. b Exod. xxxii. 15.- Exod. xix. 18; chap.

Exodus xix. 17;
"Exod. xxxii. 7.-
xxxii. 9.- Ver. 6;
y Exod. xxxii. 10.-
a Num. xiv. 12.-
iv. 11; v. 23.-
cvi. 23.

d Exod. xxxii. 19. Exod. xxxiv. 28; Psa

their wickedness, were afterwards cut off, and the Gentiles grafted in. Let the latter not be high-minded, but fear; if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he spare not thee. But let it be remembered that this land was originally their own, and that the present possessors had no legal right to it.

Verse 5. For the wickedness of these nations] Soites were grafted in; and the Israelites, because of then it was not by any sovereign act of God that these people were cast out, but for their wickedness; they had transgressed the law of their Creator; they had resisted his Spirit, and could no longer be tolerated. The Israelites were to possess their land, not because they deserved it, but first, because they were less wicked than the others; and secondly, because God thus chose to begin the great work of his salvation among men. Thus then the Canaanites were cut off, and the Israel

Verse 10. Tables of stone] See the notes on Exod. xxxi. 18, and xxxii. 15, 16.

Verse 12. Thy people have corrupted themselves}

Moses is commanded to make

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edly in the sight of the LORD, to LORD from the day that I knew An. Ex. Isr. 40. provoke him to anger.

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19 f For I was afraid of the

you.

25 Thus I fell down before

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anger and hot displeasure wherewith the LORD the LORD, forty days and forty nights, as I fell was wroth against you to destroy you. But down at the first; because the LORD had said the LORD hearkened unto me at that time also. he would destroy you. 20 And the LORD was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him and I prayed for Aaron also the same time.

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26 I prayed therefore unto the LORD, and said, O Lord God, destroy not thy people and thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed through thy greatness; which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

27 Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; look not unto the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin: 28 Lest the land whence thou broughtest us out, say, Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land which he promised them, and because he hated them, he hath brought them out to slay them in the wilderness.

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29 Yet they are thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest out by thy

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24 Ye have been rebellious against the mighty power, and by thy stretched-out arm.

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Exod. xxxii. 10, 11.- Exod. xxxii. 14; xxxiii. 17; chap. x. 10; Psa. cvi. 23. h Exod. xxxii. 20; Isa. xxxi. 7. Num. xi. 1, 3, 5.k Exod. xvii. 7. Num. xi. 4, 34.xiii. 3; xiv. 1.- Psa. cvi. 24, 25.- Chap. xxxi. 27. Debased themselves by making and worshipping an patriarchs in behalf of these." Egyptian idol. See on Exod. xxxii.

P Ver. 18.9 Exod. xxxii. 11, &c. Gen. xli. 57; 1 Sam. xiv. 25. Exod. xxxii. 12; Num. xiv. 16.—Chap. iv. 20; 1 Kings viii. 51; Neh. i. 10; Psa. xcv. 7.-" Ver. 26; chap iv. 34; Exod. vii. 8, 9; xiii. 3.

Verse 21. I took your sin, the calf which ye had made] See this fully explained Exod. xxxii. 20. Verse 22. At Kibroth-hattaavah] See the note on Num. xi. 18.

Verse 27. Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob] As if he had said: "These are their descendants, and the covenant was made with those

God bestows many

blessings on comparatively worthless persons, either for the sake of their pious ancestors, or on account of the religious people with whom they are connected; therefore union with the Church of God is a blessing of no common magnitude. The reader will find the grand subject of this chapter explained at large in the notes on Exod. xxxi. and xxxii., to which he is particularly desired to refer.

CHAPTER X.

Moses is commanded to make a second set of tables, 1, 2, He makes an ark, prepares the two tables, God writes on them the ten commandments, and Moses lays them up in the ark, 3-5. The Israelites journey from Beeroth to Mosera, where Aaron dies, 6; and from thence to Gudgodah and Jotbath, 7. At that time God separated the tribe of Levi for the service of the sanctuary, 8, 9. How long Moses stayed the second time in the mount, 10, 11. What God requires of the Israelites, 12-15. Their heart must be circumcised, 16. God's character and conduct, 17, 18. They are commanded to love the stranger, 19;

to fear, love, and serve God, 20, because he had done such great things for them and their fathers, 21, 22.

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AT that time the LORD said and come up unto me into the
unto me, a Hew thee two mount, and make thee an ark An. Ex. Isr. 40.
tables of stone like unto the first, of wood.

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a Exod. xxxiv. 1, 2.

NOTES ON CHAP. X.

b Exod. xxv. 10.

Verse 3. Shittim wood] See the note on Exod.

Verse 1. Hew thee two tables of stone] See the xxv. 5, and succeeding verses, and on the parallel notes on Exod. xxxiv. 1.

places in the margin.

What God requires

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of the Israelites.

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2 And I will write on the tables | minister unto him, and " to bless
the words that were in the first in his name, unto this day,
tables, which thou brakest, and
Wherefore Levi hath no
part nor inheritance with his brethren; the
LORD is his inheritance, according as the LORD
thy God promised him.

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thou shalt put them in the ark. 3 And I made an ark of a shittim wood, and ⚫ hewed two tables of stone, like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand.

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5 And I turned myself, and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; m and there they be, as the LORD commanded me.

6 And the children of Israel took their journey from Beeroth " of the children of Jaakan to Mosera: P there Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest's office,, in his stead. 7 From thence they journeyed unto Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Jotbath, a land of rivers of waters.

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16, 21.- d Exodus xxv. 5, 10; xxxvii. 1. f Exodus xxxiv.-28.- - Heb. words. Exodus xix. 17; chap. ix. 10; xviii. 16. Exodus xl. 20.- m1 Kings viii. 9. Num.xxxiii. 30.-P Num. xx. 28; xxxiii. 32, 33.- Num. iii. 6; iv. 4; viii. 14,; Ch. xviii. 5." Lev. ix. 22; Num. Num. xviii. 20, 24; chap. xviii. L, 2,

e Exodus xxv. • Exodus xxxiv. 4.h Exodus xx. 1. * Exodus xxxiv. 29.Num. xxxiii. 31.38.9 Num. xxxiii. xvi. 9.- Num. iv. 15. vi. 23; chap. xxi. 5.

Verse 4. Ten commandments] See the note on Exod. xx. 1, &c.

Verse 6. And the children of Israel took their journey, &c.] On this and the three following verses see Kennicott's remarks at the end of this chapter.

Verse 12. Now, Israel, what doth the Lord-require of thee] An answer is immediately given. God requires,

1. That ye fear him as Jehovah your God; him who made, preserves, and governs you.

2. That ye walk in all his ways-that, having received his precepts, all of which are good and excellent, ye obey the whole; walking in God's ways, not your own, nor in the ways of the people of the land.

3. That ye love him-have confidence in him as your father and friend, have recourse to him in all your necessities, and love him in return for his love.

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12 And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God, require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, a to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,

13 To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day f for thy good?

14 Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens. is the LORD's thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.

15 Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above. all people, as it is this day. 16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of Ezek. xliv. 28.- w Exod. xxxiv. 28; chap. ix. 18, 25.- Or, former days.- -y Exod. xxxii: 14, 33, 34; xxxiii. 17; chap. ix. 19. Exod. xxxii. 34; xxxiii. 1.-a Heb. go in journey. Mic. vi. 8.- C c Chap. vi. 13.-d Chap. v. 33. Chap. vi. 5; xi. 13; xxx. 16, 20; Matt. xxii. 37. Chap. vi. 24:1 Kings viii.-17; Psa. cxv. 16; cxlviii. 4.- h Gen. xiv. 19; Exod. xix. 5; Psa. xxiv. 1.- Li Chap. iv. 37.kSee Lev. xxvi. 41; chap. xxx. 6; Jer. iv. 4; Rom. ii. 28, 29; Col. ii. 11.

putting forth your whole strength and energy of body and soul in the sacred work.

Verse 14. Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens] All these words in the original are in the

-hen hashshama הן השמים ושמי השמים : plural number

yim, ushemey hashshamayim; behold, the heavens and the heavens of heavens. But what do they mean? To say that the first means the atmosphere, the second the planetary system, and the third the region of the blessed, is saying but very little in the way of explanation. The words were probably intended to point out the immensity of God's creation, in which we may readily conceive one system of heavenly bodies, and others beyond them, and others still in endless progression through the whole vortex of space, every star in the vast abyss of nature being a sun, with its peculiar and numerous attendant worlds! Thus there may be systems of systems in endless gradation up to the

4. That you serve him-give him that worship which he requires, performing it with all your heart-throne of God! the whole of your affections, and with all your soul- Verse 16: Circumcise the foreskin of your heart] your will, understanding, and judgment. In a word, A plain proof from God himself that this precept

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