DEUTERONOMY. abalo, A repetition of sundry light on this institution. D' gerizzim, from 172 garaz, io cut, cut off, cut down; hence. D'a gerizzim, the cutters down, fellers, and reapers or harvest-men, this mountain being supposed to have its name from its great fertility, or the abundance of the crops it yielded, which is a possible case. Of hay ebal or eybal the root is not found in Hebrew; but in Arabic abala signifies rough, rugged, curled, &c.; and from the same root, signifies white stones, and a mountain in which such stones are found; Jalabalo, the mount of white stones. See Giggeius and Golius. And as it is supposed that the mountain had this name because of its barrenness, on this metaphorical interpretation the sense of the passage would appear to be the following: God will so superintend the land, and have it continually under the eye of his watchful providence, that no change can happen in it but according to his Divine counsel, so that its fertility shall ever be the consequence of the faithful obedience of its inhabitants, and a proof of the blessing of God upon it; on the contrary, its barrenness shall be a proof that the people have departed from their God, and that his curse has in consequence fallen upon the land. See the manner of placing these blessings and curses, chap. xxvii. 12, &c. That Gerizim is very fruitful, and that Ebal is very barren, is the united testimony of all who have laws and ordinances. travelled in those parts. See Ludolf, Reland, Rab. Benjamin, and Mr. Maundrell. Sychem lies in the valley between these two mountains. THAT the land of Judea was naturally very fertile, can scarcely be supposed by any who considers the accounts given of it by travellers; with the exception of a few districts, the whole land is dry, stony, and barren, and particularly all the southern parts of Judea, and all the environs of Jerusalem, most of which are represented as absolutely incapable of cultivation. How then could it ever support its vast number of inhabitants? By the especial providence of God. While God kept that people under his continual protection, their land was a paradise; they lent to all nations and borrowed from none. What has it been since? A demi-solitude, because that especial blessing no longer descends upon it. No land, says Calmet, was more fertile while under the benediction of God; none more barren when under his curse. Its present state is a proof of the declaration of Moses, chap. xxviii. 23: "The heaven over their head is brass; the earth under their feet, iron.". The land itself, in its present state, is an ample proof of the authenticity of the Pentateuch. Should facts of this kind be lost sight of by any who read the sacred writings? CHAPTER XII. All manuments of idolatry in the promised land to be destroyed, 1-3; and God's service to be duly performed, 4-7. The difference between the performance of that service in the wilderness and in the promised land, 8-11. The people are to be happy in all their religious observances, 12. The offerings must be brought to the place which God appoints, and no blood is to be eaten, 13-16. The tithe of corn, wine, oil, &c., to be eaten in the place that God shall choose, 17, 18. The Levite must not be forsaken, 19. All clean beasts may be eaten, but the blood must be poured out before the Lord, and be eaten on no pretence whatever, 20-25. Of vows, burnt-offerings, &c., 26, 27. These precepts are to be carefully obeyed, 28. Cautions against the abominations of the heathen, 29-31. Nothing to be added to or diminished from the word of God, 32. A. M. 2553. B. C. 1451. An. Ex. Isr. 40. . Sebat. : A. M. 2553. B. C. 1451. Sebat. THESE a are the statutes and break their pillars, and burn their judgments which ye shall groves with fire; and ye shall An. Ex. 1st. 40. observe to do in the land which hew down the graven images of the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee to their gods, and destroy the names of them out possess it, all the days that ye live upon the of that place. earth. b 4 h Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God. 5 But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come : Ver. Num. xxxiii. 52; Judg. ñ. 2.- - Heb. break down. 31.- Ver. 11; chap. xxvi. 2; Josh. ix. 27; 1 Kings vm. 29; 2 Chron. vii. 12; Psa. lxxviii. 68. naanitish Venus, whose impure rites were practised in different parts of the inclosures or groves round her temples; and ye shall hew down the graven images, probably implying all images carved out of wood; and destroy the names of them, which were no doubt at first graven on the stones, and carved on the trees, and ( 50* ) Ordinances to be observed A. M. 2553. Sebat. A. M. 2553 Sebat. 6 And thither ye shall bring your God, ye and your sons, and An. Ex. Isr. 40. your burnt-offerings, and your your daughters, and your men- An. Ex. Isr. 40. sacrifices, and your tithes, and servants, and your maid-servants, heave-offerings of your hand, and your vows, and the Levite that is within your gates: forand your freewill-offerings, and the firstlings asmuch as the hath no part nor inheritance of your herds and of your flocks: with you. 7 And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and "ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed thee. 8 Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes. 9 For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which the LORD your God giveth you. 10 But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the LORD your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety; 11 Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heaveoffering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the LORD: 12 And ye shall rejoice before the LORD * Lev. xvii. 3, 4.—Ver. 17; chap. xiv. 22, 23; xv. 19, 20. m Chap. xiv. 26. n Ver. 12, 18; Lev. xxiii. 40; chap. xvi. 11, 14, 15; xxvi. 11; xxvii. 7.- Judg. xvii. 6; xxi. 25.- PChap. xi. 31. - Ver. 5, 14, 18, 21, 26; chap. xiv. 23; xv. 20; xvi. 2, &c.; xvii. 8; xviii. 6; xxiii, 16; xxvi. 2; xxxi. 11; Josh. xviii. u 13 Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt-offerings in every place that thou seest: 14 But in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer, thy burnt-offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee. 15 Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee:" the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart. 16 Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water. 17 Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill-offerings, or heave-offering of thine hand: 18 But thou must eat them before the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD thy God 1; 1 Kings viii. 29; Psa. lxxviii. 68.vows V Heb. the choice of your Ver. 7.- Chap. . 9; xiv. 29. Lev. xvii. 4. Ver. 11. Ver. 21.- x Ver. 22. -y Chap. xiv. 5; xv. 22. Gen. ix. 4; Lev. vii. 26; xvii. 10; chap. xv. 23; ver. 23, 24. a Ver. 11, 12; chap. xiv. 23. Verse 15. Thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates] With the proviso that the blood be poured out on the ground. 1. The blood should not be eaten. 2. It should be poured out by way of sacrifice. I think this is the meaning; and not that they should pour out the blood with as little ceremony and respect as they poured water upon the ground, which is the meaning according to Calmet and others. The roebuck, and—the hart] It is very likely that by tsebi the antelope is meant; and by aiyal, the hart or deer. This is the opinion of Dr. Shaw; and from the report of travellers we learn that both these then applied to the surrounding districts. In various instances the names of whole mountains, valleys, and districts, were borrowed from the gods worshipped there. Verse 14. The place which the Lord shall choose] To prevent idolatry and bring about a perfect uniformity in the Divine worship, which at that time was essentially necessary; because every rite and ceremony had a determinate meaning, and pointed out the good things which were to come, therefore one place must be established where those rites and ceremonies should be carefully and punctually observed. Had it not been so, every man would have formed his worship according to his own mind, and the whole beauty and import-animals are found in that desert to the present day. ance of the grand representative system would have been destroyed, and the Messiah and the glories of his kingdom could not have been seen through the medium of the Jewish ritual. For uniformity in every part of the Divine worship the same necessity does not now exist; because that which was typified is come, and the shadows have all fled away. Yet, when it can be obtained, how desirable is it that all sincere Christians should with one mouth, as well as with one heart, glorify their common Lord and Saviour! See Harmer, vol. iv., p. 25, &c. Of the propriety of eating clean animals there could be no question, but the blood must be poured out; yet there were cases in which they might kill and eat in all their gates, cities, and dwellings—such as the roebuck and the hart, or all clean wild beasts, for these being taken în hunting, and frequently shot by arrows, their blood could not be poured out at the altar. Therefore, the command appears to take in only such tame beasts as were used for food. Against eating blood and A. M. 2553. Sebat. DEUTERONOMY. shall choose, thou, and thy son, An. Ex. Isr. 40. and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite that is within thy gates; and thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God in all that thou puttest thine hands unto. 19 Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth. 20 When the LORD thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh; (because thy soul longeth to eat flesh;) thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after. 21 If the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to put his name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the LORD hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after. 22 Even as the roebuck and the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat them: the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike. e 23 Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: h for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh. following heathen gods A. M. 2553. 26 Only thy 'holy things which thou hast, and m thy vows, thou An. Ex. 1st. 40. shalt take, and go unto the place which the LORD shall choose: Sebat. 27 And thou shalt offer thy burnt-offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the LORD thy God: and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the LORD thy God, and thou shalt eat the flesh. 28 Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God. 29 When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land: 24 Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it which he hateth, have they done unto their upon the earth as water. gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. t P Exod. xxiii. 23; chap. xix. 1; Josh. xxiii. 4.- Heb. inheritest or possessest them. Chap. vii. 16. Heb. after them. Ver. 4; Lev. xviii. 3, 26, 30; 2 Kings xvii. 15. Heb. abe b Chap. xiv. 27; Ecclus, vii. 31. Heb. all thy days. d Gen. xv. 18; xxviii. 14; Exod. xxxiv: 24; chap. xi. 24; xix. 8. e Ver. 15. Ver. 16.- Heb. be strong. h Gen. ix. 4; Lev. xvii. 11, 14. Chap. iv. 40; Isa. iii. 10.- Exod. xv.mination of the. Lev. xviii. 21; xx. 2; chap. xviii. 10; Jer. 26; chap. xiii. 18; 1 Kings xi. 38.- Num. v. 9, 10; xviii. 19. xxxii. 35; Ezek. xxiii. 37.- Chap. iv. 2; xiii. 18; Josh. ì.7; 1 Sam. i. 21, 22, 24. Lev. i. 5, 9, 13; xvii. 11. Ver. 25. Prov. xxx. 6; Rev. xxii. 18. Verse 19. Forsake not the Levite] These had no inheritance, and were to live by the sanctuary: if therefore the offerings were withheld by which the Levites were supported, they of course must perish. Those who have devoted themselves to the service of God in ministering to the salvation of the souls of men, should certainly be furnished at least with all the necessaries of life. Those who withhold this from them sin against their own mercies, and that ordinance of God by which a ministry is established for the salvation of souls. V burnt in the fire] Almost all the nations in the world agreed in offering human victims to their gods on extraordinary occasions, by which it is evident that none of those nations had any right notion of the Divine nature. How necessary, then, was the volume of revelation, to teach men what that religion is with which God can be well pleased! The Hindoos to this day offer human victims to their goddess Cali, and at the temple of Jaggernaut; and yet, notwithstanding this, there are found certain persons who, while they profess Christianity, are absolutely unwilling to send the Hindoos the Gospel of Christ, because they think it would not be politically wise! But the wisdom of this world has ever been foolishness with God; and in spite of all this infidel policy, the word of the Lord shall Verse 31. Their sons and their daughters they have have free course and be glorified. Verse 23. For the blood is the life] And the life being offered as an atonement, consequently the blood should not be eaten. See the notes on Lev. xvii. 11, where the subject, of the vitality of the blood is largely considered. Of false prophets, &c., Of false prophets and their lying signs, 1-6. 7, 8. The punishment of such, 9-11. Of those who endeavour to entice and seduce people to idolatry, Of cities perverted from the pure worship of God, 12-14. How that city is to be treated, 15. All the spoil of it to be destroyed, 16. Promises to them who obey these directions, 17, 18. or thy son, or thy daughter, or of dreamer dreams, and giveth thee a sign 2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; 3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul. 4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and f cleave unto him. 5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath h spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you' out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in, So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee. 6 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, a Zech. x. 2.- b Matt. xxiv. 24; 2 Thess. ii. 9. Chap. xviii. 22; Jer. xxviii. 9; Matt. vii. 22.- -d Chap. viii. 2; see Matt. xxiv. 24; 1 Cor. xi. 19; 2 Thess. ii. 11; Rev. xiii. 14. * 2 Kings xxiii. 3; 2 Chron. xxxiv. 31.- Chap. x. 20; xxx. 20. Chap. xviii. 20; Jer. xiv. 15; Zech. xiii. 3. Heb. spoken revolt against the LORD. 1 m A. M. 2553. Sebat. the wife of thy bosom, or thy An. Ex. Isr. 40. friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; 7 Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: 8 Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him : k Chap. xvii. 7; xxii. 21, 22, 24; 1 Cor. v. 13. Chap. xvii. 2.- See Gen. xvi. 5; chap, xxviii. 54; Prov. v. 20; Mic. vii. 5.m1 Sam. xviii. 1, 3; xx. 17.- n Proverbs i. 10. Chap. xvii. 5.-P Chap. xvii. 7; Acts vii. 58. - Heb. bondmen. Chap. xvii. 13; xix. 20.- Josh. xxii. 11, &c.; Judg. xx. 1, 2. NOTES ON CHAP. XIII. Verse 3. The Lord your God proveth you] God Verse 1. If there arise among you a prophet] Any permits such impostors to arise to try the faith of his pretending to have a Divine influence, so as to be able followers, and to put their religious experience to the perfectly to direct others in the way of salvation; or test; for he who experimentally knows God cannot be a dreamer of dreams-one who pretends that some drawn away after idols. He who has no experimental deity has spoken to him in the night-season; and giv- knowledge of God, may believe any thing. Expeeth thee a sign, oth, what appears to be a miracu-rience of the truths contained in the word of God can lous proof of his mission; or a wonder, mopheth, alone preserve any man from Deism, or a false religion. some type or representation of what he wishes to bring. They who have not this are a prey to the pretended you over to as some have pretended to have received prophet, and to the dreamer of dreams. a consecrated image from heaven; hence the origin of the Palladium, Numa's Shields, and many of the deities among the Hindoos. But here the word seems to mean some portentous sign, such as an eclipse, which he who knew when it would take place might predict to the people who knew nothing of the matter, and thereby accredit his pretensions. Verse 6. If thy brother—or thy son] The teacher of idolatry was to be put to death; and so strict was this órder that a man must neither spare nor conceal his brother, son, daughter, wife, nor friend, because this was the highest offence that could be committed against God, and the most destructive to society; hence the severest laws were enacted against it. Superstitious customs in A. M. 2553. Sebat. A. M. 2553. Sebat. cities, which the LORD thy God | into the midst of the street thereAn. Ex. Isr. 40. hath given thee to dwell there, of, and shalt burn with fire the An. Ex. 18r. 40. city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for the LORD thy God and it shall be a heap for ever; it shall not be saying, t 13 Certain men, the children of Belial," are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, built again. Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known; 14 Then shalt thou inquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you; 15 Thou shalt-surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword. 16 And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it Or, naughty men; see Judg. xix. 22; 1 Sam. ii. 12; xxv. 17, 25; 1 Kings xxi. 10, 13; 2 Cor. vi. 15.- -"1-John fi, 19; Jude 19.- - 2 Kings xvii. 21. Ver.. ii, 6.- - Exod. xxii. 20; Lev. xxvii. 28; Josh. vi. 17, 21. bal, Verse 13. Children of Belial] y, from not, and by yaal, profit;-Sept. avdρes mapavoμoi, lawless men ;-persons good for nothing to themselves or others, and capable of nothing but mischief. 17 And there shall cleave naught of the b cursed thing to thine hand: that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and show thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers; e 18 When thou shalt hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of the LORD thy God. cursed thing] As God did not permit them to take the spoils of these idolatrous cities, they could be under no temptation to make war upon them. It could only be done through a merely religious motive, in obedience to the command of God, as they could have no profit by the subversion of such places. How few religious wars would there ever have been in the world had they been regulated by this principle: "Thou shalt Verse 17. And there shall cleave naught of the neither extend thy territory, nor take any spoils !" Verse 15. Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants] If one city were permitted to practise idolatry, the evil would soon spread, therefore the contagion must be destroyed in its birth. CHAPTER XIV. The Israelites are not to adopt superstitious customs in mourning, 1, 2. The different kinds of clean and unclean animals, 3-20. Nothing to be eaten that dieth of itself, 21. Concerning offerings which, from distance cannot be carried to the altar of God, and which may be turned into money, 22-26. The Levite is not to be forsaken, 27. The third year's tithe for the Levite, stranger, widow, &c., 28, 29. A. M. 2553. B. C. 1451. An. Ex. Isr. 40. Sebat. YE E are a the children of the a peculiar people unto himself, LORD your God ye shall above all the nations that are An. Ex: Isr. 40. not cut yourselves, nor make any upon the earth. baldness between your eyes for the dead. 2 For thou art a holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath.chosen thee to be Rom. viii. 16; ix. 8, 26; Gal. iii. 26.- b.Lev. xix, 28; xxi. 5; Jer. xvi. 6; xli. 5; xlvii. 5; 1 Thess. iv. 13. x. 13, 14.- Le Lev. xi. 2, &c. relative to the clean and unclean animals there mentioned. For the general subject, the reader is referred to the notes on that chapter; but as there are particulars mentioned here which Moses does not introduce in Leviticus, it will be necessary to consider them in this place. The ox] shor: Bos, fifth order Pecora, of the genus MAMMALIA, species 41. This term includes al clean animals of the beeve, kind; not only the ox, |