22 Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the 19 Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye LORD thy God hath made thee as the stars were strangers in the land of Egypt. of heaven for multitude.

Verse 21. He is thy praise] It is an eternal honour to any soul to be in the friendship of God. Why are people ashamed of being thought religious Because they know nothing of religion. He who knows his Maker may glory in his God, for without him what has any soul but disgrace, pain, shame, and perdition? How strange is it that those who fear God should-be ashamed to own it, while sinners boldly proclaim their | but to be the Lord's inheritance; in chap. xx. Aaron relationship to Satan!

Dr. Kennicott's remarks

DEUTERONOMY.

on the preceding chapter.

ten commandments, as written also by God, and depo- | the speech of Moses in this place. And this speech sited by himself in the ark.

"After this we have now four verses, (6, 7, 8, and 9,) which not only have no kind of connection with the verses before and after them, but also, as they stand in the present Hebrew text, directly contradict that very text; and the two first of these verses have not, in our Hebrew text, the least connection with the two last of them. Our Hebrew text, (ver. 6,) says that Israel journeyed from Bene-jaakan to Mosera. Whereas that very text in the complete catalogue, (Num. xxxiii. 31,) says they journeyed from Moseroth to Benejaakan. Again: Aaron is here said to have died at Mosera, whereas he died on Mount Hor, the seventh station afterwards; see Num. xxxiii. 38. And again: they are here said to go from Bene-jaakan to Mosera, thence to Gudgodah, and thence to Jotbath; whereas the complete catalogue says, Moseroth to Bene-jaakan, thence to Hor-hagidgad, and thence to Jotbathah. But if the marches could possibly be true as they now stand in these two verses, yet what connection can there be between JOTBATH and the SEPARATION OF THE TRIBE OF LEVI? It is very happy that these several difficulties in the Hebrew text are removed by the SAMARITAN Pentateuch for that text tells us here rightly that the march was from Moseroth to Benejaakan; to Hagidgad, to Jotbathah, to Ebronah, to Ezion-gaber, to Zin, (which is Kadesh,) and thence to Mount Hor, where Aaron died. Again as the regular deduction of these stations ends with Mount Hor and Aaron's death, we have then what we had not before, a regular connection with the two next verses, and the connection is this: That when Aaron, the son of Amram, the son of Kohath, the son of LEVI, died, neither the tribe of Levi nor the priesthood was deserted, but God still supported the latter by maintaining the former; and this, not by allotting that tribe any one large part of Canaan, but separate cities among the other tribes, and by allowing them to live upon those offerings which were made by the other tribes to God himself. These four verses therefore, (6, 7, 8, and 9,) in the same text, stand thus: (ver. 6,) WHEN the children of Israel journeyed from Moseroth, and encamped in Bene-jaakan; from thence they journeyed and encamped at Hagidgad; from thence they journeyed and encamped in Jotbathah, a land of rivers of water: (7) From thence they journeyed and encamped in Ebronah; in Ezion-gaber; in the wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh; and then at Mount Hor: And AARON DIED THERE, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered as priest in his stead. (8) At that time the Lord HAD separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord, to minister unto him, and to bless in his name unto this day. (9) Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren; the Lord is his inheritance, according as the Lord thy God promised him.

"But however consistent these four verses are now with themselves, it will be still demanded, What connection have they with the fifth verse before them, and with the tenth verse after them? I confess I cannot discover their least pertinency here, because AARON'S DEATH and LEVI'S SEPARATION seem totally foreign to

without these four verses is a regularly connected admonition from Moses to this purpose that his brethren were for ever to consider themselves as indebted to him, under God, for the renewal of the two tables, and also to his intercession for rescuing them from destruction. The words are, these: (chap. x. 4,) The Lord wrote again the ten commandments, and gave them unto me. (5) And I came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark, which I HAD made;— (10) Thus I stayed in the mount according to the first time, forty days and forty nights and the Lord hearkened unto me at that time also; the Lord would not destroy thee. (11) And the Lord said unto me, Arise, take thy journey before the people, that they may go in and possess the land,' &c. But then, if these four verses were not at first a part of this chapter, but are evidently interpolated, there arises another inquiry, Whether they are an insertion entirely spurious, or a genuine part of the sacred text, though removed hither out of some other chapter? As they contain nothing singular or peculiar, are of no particular importance, and relate to no subject of disputation, they are not likely to have arisen from fraud or design; but, perfectly coinciding in sense with other passages, they may safely be considered as another instance of a large transposition [86 words] in the present text, arising from accident and want of care. And the only remaining question therefore is, Whether we can discover, though not to demonstration, yet with any considerable degree of probability, the original place of these four verses, that so they may be at last restored to that neighbourhood and connection from which they have been, for so many ages, separated?

At

"It was natural for Moses, in the course of these several speeches to his brethren in Deuteronomy, to embrace the first opportunity of impressing on their memories a matter of such particular importance as the continuation of the priesthood among the Levites after Aaron's death. And the first proper place seems to be in the second chapter, after the first verse. chap. i. 19 he speaks of their march from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea, whence they sent the spies into Canaan. He then sets forth their murmurings, and God's sentence that they should die in the wilderness, and he ends the first chapter with their being defeated by the Amorites, their weeping before the Lord, and abiding many days in KADESH, which is KADESH-BARNEA, near Canaan.

66

'Chap. ii. begins thus: 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. Now, the many days, or long time, which they spent in compassing Mount Seir, that is, going round on the south-west coasts of Edom in order to proceed north-east from Edom, through Moab to Arnon, must include several of their stations, besides that eminent one at Mount Hor, where Aaron died. And as part of their road, during this long compass, lay through Ezion-gaber, (which was on the eastern tongue of the Red Sea, and the south boundary of Edom,) thence to Zin, (which is KADESH, that is, MERIBAH KADESH,) and thence to Mount Hor, as they marched to the north-east; so it

Obedience enforced by God's

CHAP. XI.

is probable that the five stations preceding that of Ezion-gaber were on the extremity of Mount Seir, to the south-west. And if their first station at entering the south-west borders of Edom, and beginning to compass Mount Seir, was Moseroth, this gives the reason wanted why Moses begins this passage at Moseroth, and ends it with Aaron's death at Mount Hor. And this will discover a proper connection between the four dislocated verses and the context here.-Deut. i. 46: So ye abode in Kadesh (Barnea) many days.' Chap. ii. 1: 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.'

6

"For the children of Israel journeyed from Moseroth, and pitched in Bene-jaakan: from thence they journeyed and pitched in Hagidgad from thence they journeyed and pitched in Jotbathah, a land of rivers of water from thence they journeyed and pitched in Ebronah: from thence they journeyed and

mercies and judgments.

pitched in Ezion-gaber: from thence they journeyed and pitched in the wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh: from thence they journeyed and pitched in Mount Hor, and Aaron died there, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered as priest in his stead. At that time the Lord had separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister unto him, and to bless in his name unto this day. Wherefore, Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren, the Lord is his inheritance, according as the Lord thy God promised him.'

"And this paragraph being thus inserted at the end of the first verse, the second verse begins a new paragraph, thus: And the Lord spake unto me, saying, Ye have compassed this mountain long enough; turn you northward-through the east side of Seir (or Edom) towards Moab on the north. See ver. 4-8." -Kennicott's Remarks, p. 74. These remarks should not be hastily rejected.

CHAPTER XI.

The people are exhorted to obedience from a consideration of God's goodness to their fathers in Egypt, 1–4, and what he did in the wilderness, 5, and the judgment on Dathan and Abiram, 6, and from the mercies of God in general, 7-9. A comparative description of Egypt and Canaan, 10-12. Promises to obedience, 13-15. Dissuasives from idolatry, 16, 17. The words of God to be laid up in their hearts, to be for a sign on their hands, foreheads, gates, &c., 18, taught to their children, made the subject of frequent conversation, to the end that their days may be multiplied, 19-21. If obedient, God shall give them possession of the whole land, and not one. of their enemies shall be able to withstand them, 22-25. Life and death, a blessing and a curse, are set before them, 26-28. The blessings to be put on Mount Gerizim and the curses on Mount Ebal, 29, 30. The promise that they should pass over Jordan, and observe these statutes in the promised land, 31, 32.

A. M. 2553.
B. C. 1451.

An. Ex. Isr. 40.
Sebat.

b

A. M. 2553.
B. C. 1451.

THEREFORE thou shalt love | flow them as they pursued after
the LORD thy God, and keep you, and how the LORD hath An. Ex. Isr. 40.
his charge, and his statutes, and destroyed them unto this day;

Sebat.

5 And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place;

6 And what he did unto Dathan and Abi

his judgments, and his commandments, alway. 2 And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of ram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched-out arm.

d

e

3 And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land;

how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel :

7 But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD which he did.

4 And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots; how 8 Therefore shall ye keep all the commandhe made the water of the Red Sea to over-ments which I command you this day, that ye

a Chap. x. 12; xxx. 16, 20.— Zech. iii. 7.— Chap. viii. 5. d Chap. v. 24. Chap. vii, 19. Psa. lxxviii. 12; cxxxv. 9. 8 Exod. xiv. 27, 28; xv. 9, 10; Psa. cvi. 11.

NOTES ON CHAP. XI.

Verse 1. Thou shalt love the Lord] Because without this there could be no obedience to the Divine testimonies, and no happiness in the soul; for the heart that is destitute of the love of God, is empty of

h-Num. xvi. 1, 31; xxvii. 3;
stance which followed them.
v. 3; vii. 19.

Psa. cvi. 17.—1Or, living sub-
Heb. was at their feet. Chap.

all good, and consequently miserable. See the note on chap. x. 12.

Verse 6. What he did unto Dathan, &c.] See the notes on Num. xvi.

Verse 8. Therefore shall ye keep all the command

The great fertility of

A. M. 2553.

may be strong, and go in and hearken" diligently unto my comAn. Ex. Isr. 40. possess the land, whither ye go mandments which I command

B. C. 1451.

Sebat.

to possess it;

9 And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the LORD Sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, Pa land that floweth with milk and honey.

10 For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs:

r

q

11 But the land, whither ye go to possess

you this day, to love the LORD
your God, and to serve him with all your
heart and with all your soul,

14 That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.

a

15 And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. 16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and

it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinkethe serve other gods, and worship them; water of the rain of heaven :

t

12 A land which the LORD thy God careth for; the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.

13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall

d

17 And then the LORD's wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest f ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you.

18 Therefore shall ye lay up these my

y Psa. civ. 14.- 2 Heb. give.a Chap. vi. 11; Joel ii. 19. 8. Zech. xiv. 18. Chap. viii. 7.b Chap. xxix. 18; Job xxxi. 27.- e Chap. viii. 19; xxx. 17. d Chap. vi. 15.- Le 1 Kings viii. 35; 2 Chron. vi. 26; vii. 13. Chap. iv, 26; vii. 19, 20; xxx. 18; Joshua xxiii. 13, 15, 16. Chap. vi. 6; xxxii. 46.

1 Kings ix. 3.- Ver. 22; chap. vi. 17. w Lev. xxvi. 4; chap. xxviii. 12.- Joel ii.

ments] Because God can execute such terrible judgments, and because he has given such proofs of his power and justice; and because, in similar provocations, he may be expected to act in a similar way; therefore keep his charge, that he may keep you unto everlasting life.

f

they had acquired by their labour.

of water, and causes it to empty itself into the gutter." This, Mr. Ward supposes, illustrates this passage. See Hindoo Customs, &c., vol. iii., p. 104. But after all, the expression, wateredst it with thy foot, may mean no more than doing it by labour; for, as in the land of Egypt there is scarcely any rain, the watering of Verse 10. Wateredst it with thy foot] Rain scarcely gardens, &c., must have been all artificial. But in ever falls in Egypt, and God supplies the lack of it by Judea it was different, as there they had their proper the inundations of the Nile, In order to water the seasons of rain. The compound word a beregel, grounds where the inundations do not extend, water with, under, or by the foot, is used to signify any thing is collected in ponds, and directed in streamlets to dif- under the power, authority, &c., of a person; and this ferent parts of the field where irrigation is necessary. very meaning it has in the sixth verse, all the subIt is no unusual thing in the East to see a man, with stance that was in their possession, is, literally, all the a small mattock, making a little trench for the water substance that was under their feet, phan beragto run by, and as he opens the passage, the water fol-leyhem, that is, in their power, possession, or what lowing, he uses his foot to raise up the mould against the side of this little channel, to prevent the water from being shed unnecessarily before it reaches the place of its destination. Thus he may be said to water the ground with his foot. See several useful observations on this subject in Mr. Harmer, vol. i., pp. 23-26, and vol. iii., p. 411. "For watering land an instrument called janta is often used in the north of Bengal: it consists of a wooden trough, about fifteen feet long, six inches wide, and ten inches deep, which is placed on a horizontal beam lying on bamboos fixed in the bank of a pond or river in the form of a gallows. One end of the trough rests upon the bank, where a gutter is prepared to carry off the water, and the other is dipped into the water by a man standing on a stage near that end, and plunging it in with his foot. A long bamboo, with a large weight of earth at the farther end of it, is fastened to that end of the janta near the river, and passing over the gallows, poises up the janta full

Verse 14. The rain in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain] By the first or former rain we are to understand that which fell in Judea about November, when they sowed their seed, and this served to moisten and prepare the ground for the vegetation of the seed. The latter rain fell about April, when the corn was well grown up, and served to fill the ears, and render them plump and perfect. Rain rarely fell in Judea at any other seasons than these. If the former rain were withheld, or not sent in due season, there could be no vegetation: if the latter rain were withheld, or not sent in its due season, there could be no full corn in the ear, and consequently no harvest. Of what consequence then was it that they should have their rain in due season! God, by promising this provided they were obedient, and threatening to withhold it should they be disobedient, shows that it is not a general providence that directs

A. M. 2553.
B. C. 1451.

An. Ex. Isr. 40.
Sebat.

CHAP. XI.

words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.

19 And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 20 And thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: 21 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

m

1

n

22 For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him;

23 Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves. 24 Every place, whereon the soles of your feet shall tread, shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea, shall your coast be.

25 There shall no man be able to stand before you for the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon

u

Chap. vi. 8.

Chap. iv. 9, 10; vi. 7.

1 Chap: iv. 40; vi. 2; Prov. iii. 2; iv. 10; íx. 11.
lxxii. 5; lxxxix. 29. Ver. 13; chap. vi. 17.-
xxx. 20.- -P Chap. iv. 38; ix. 5.- - Chap. ix. 1.-
i. 3; xiv. 9.

Chap. vi. 9.
Psa.
Chap. x. 20;
Joshua

these things, but that the very rain of heaven falls by particular direction, and the showers are often regulated by an especial providence.

Blessings and curses.

A. M. 2553.
B. C. 1451.

upon,

Sebat.

as he hath said unto you. An. Ex. Isr. 40. Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;

27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day:

28 And a y curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known..

29 And it shall come to pass, when the LORD thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon Mount Gerizim, and the curse upon Mount Ebal.

30 Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh?..

Gen. xv. 18, Exod. xxiii. 31; -Num. xxxiv. 3, &c.- Chap. vii. 24:- "Chap. ii. 25. Exod. xxiii. 27. Chap. xxx. | 1, 15, 19.- Chap. xxviii. 2. - Chap. xxviii. 15.- z Chap. xxvii. 12, 13; Josh. viii. 33. Gen. xii. 6; Judg. vii. 1. Chap. ix. 1; Josh. i. 11.- - Chap. v. 32; xii. 32. the word, have been rewardable for obedience. A STONE is not rewardable because, in obedience to the laws of gravitation, it always tends to the centre; nor is it Verse 18. Therefore shall ye lay up these my punishable because, in being removed from that centre, words] See chap. vi. 4-8, and see on Exod. xiii. 9.in its tending or falling towards it again it takes away Verse 24. From the river] Euphrates, which was the life of a man. on the east, to the uttermost sea-the Mediterranean, That God has given man a free, self-determining which lay westward of the promised land. This pro-WILL, which cannot be forced by any power but that mise, notwithstanding the many provocations of the Israelites, was fulfilled in the time of Solomon, for "he reigned over all the kings from the river (Euphrates) even unto the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt." See 2 Chron. ix. 26, and the note on Num. xxxiv. 12.

Verse 26. Behold, I set before you a blessing and a curse] If God had not put it in the power of this people either to obey or disobey; if they had not had a free will, over which they had complete authority, to use it either in the way of willing or nilling; could God, with any propriety, have given such precepts as these, sanctioned with such promises and threatenings? If they were not free agents, they could not be punished for disobedience, nor could they, in any sense of VOL. I. ( 50 )

which is omnipotent, and which God himself never will force, is declared in the most formal manner through the whole of the sacred writings. No argument can affect this, while the Bible is considered as a Divine revelation; no sophistry can explain away its evidence, as long as the accountableness of man for his conduct is admitted, and as long as the eternal bounds of moral good and evil remain, and the essential distinction's be tween vice and virtue exist. If ye will obey, (for God is ever ready to assist,) ye shall live; if ye will disobey and refuse that help, ye shall die. So hath Jehovah spoken, and man cannot reverse it.

Verse 29. Thou shall put the blessing upon Mount Gerizim, and the curse upon Mount Ebal.] The etymology of these names may be supposed to cast some

-769