_Pharan, at Rethma, chap. xxxiii. 48.; though Barradius confounds that station with that at Cades-barne. The Samaritan copy inserts here a long passage, taken probably from Deuteronomy i. 20, 21, and 22, which shews that the Hebrews first proposed the sending spies, out of timidity; which God severe... [ Continue Reading ]
_Rulers of a hundred men, according to Hiscuni, inferior to those mentioned, chap. x. 14. (Calmet)_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Huri: Septuagint, "Souri." None of the tribe of Levi, the third son of Jacob, are sent; but two represent the different branches of the tribe of Joseph, ver. 9, 12. The tribe of Ephraim comes out of its natural order, and has been overlooked by Calmet. (Haydock)_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Sceptre. Hebrew matte, means also "a tribe."_... [ Continue Reading ]
CHAPTER XIII.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Josue. His former name Osee, or Hoseah, means "one saved, or salvation:" but the addition of the i, taken from the name of the Lord, intimates, "he shall save, or the Saviour of God." Some think that Moses had given him this name after the defeat of the Amalecites; but the Book of Exodus, where the... [ Continue Reading ]
_South side, which is to the north of where you now dwell. Moses enters into several details for the satisfaction of the people, though they had probably a general idea of the country and of its fruitfulness already, having lived not far off. They might not know, however, but that some part of the i... [ Continue Reading ]
_First ripe ( præcoquæ:) Hebrew literally, "the first-born." Septuagint, "the days of spring, forerunners of the grape." In Madeira, grapes ripen in March. Some suppose the messengers departed in June, others in July. In Palestine, they have fresh grapes from the end of June till Martinmas [memorial... [ Continue Reading ]
_Sin. The desert of Pharan was contiguous to that of Sin. They departed from Cades-barne, and went along the Jordan to Rohob, at the foot of Mount Libanus, and on the road to Emath; then they returned by the confines of the Sidonians and Philistines, through Hebron, to the camp at Cades._... [ Continue Reading ]
_And came. The printed Hebrew has, "and he came:" but the Samaritan and all the versions, as well as some manuscripts, properly retain the plural, which the Massorets allow is right. (Kennicott, Diss. 1.) --- Enac, the founder of Hebron, and father of the giants of Chanaan, Josue xv. 13. The Greek w... [ Continue Reading ]
Torrent. Septuagint, "vale." --- Its. Hebrew, "one cluster." --- Two men, Josue and Caleb; (St. Maximus) though the Rabbins say they carried nothing. --- Lever, or staff, suspending it thus, in order that it might not be crushed. In that valley, Doubdan (i. 21,) was assured by the religious, that cl... [ Continue Reading ]
_Cades. The desert of Pharan, or of Cades, is the same. (Haydock) --- The town is sometimes called Cades-barne, or Recem, (Chaldean) which is Petra, the capital of the stony Arabia, and lies rather nearer to the Dead Sea than to the Mediterranean. It was on the high road from the Red Sea to Hebron.... [ Continue Reading ]
_South. They had already routed the Amalecites; but the spies insidiously recall to their remembrance, that they would be again in arms to obstruct their passage. --- Hethites, dwelt nearest the Philistines, in the country which fell to the shares of Simeon and of Dan. The Jebusites occupied Jerusal... [ Continue Reading ]
_Caleb, to whom Josue alone joined himself, to bear witness of the truth against the other ten; whom the people were, however, more inclined to believe, (chap. xiv. 6., and Ecclesiasticus xlvi. 9,) paying more attention to numbers than to authority, when it suited their humour. (Haydock)_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Spoke ill, &c. These men, who, by their misrepresentations of the land of promise, discouraged the Israelites from attempting the conquest of it, were a figure of worldlings, who, by decrying or misrepresenting true devotion, discourage Christians from seeking in earnest and acquiring so great a go... [ Continue Reading ]
_Monsters. Hebrew, "giants." --- Locusts, or grasshoppers. So much inferior in size were we to them. Hebrew insinuates that the spies entertained these sentiments when they beheld the giants, and the latter seemed to look down upon them with contempt; "and so we were in their sight." These wicked me... [ Continue Reading ]