Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do [them], that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you. Ver. 1. _The statutes and the judgments._] By "statutes" we may understand the moral law, b... [ Continue Reading ]
Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish [ought] from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. Ver. 2. _Ye shall not add._] The Jews have added their _deuteroseis; _ the Turks their alfurta; the Papists their unwritten veri... [ Continue Reading ]
Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you. Ver. 3. _Destroyed them._] Hanging them up in gibbets, as it were, before your eyes, to warn you.... [ Continue Reading ]
But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God [are] alive every one of you this day. Ver. 4. _Are alive._] Your innocency prevailed for your safety, as it usually doth in a common defection.... [ Continue Reading ]
Keep therefore and do [them]; for this [is] your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation [is] a wise and understanding people. Ver. 6. _For this is your wisdom._] _Omnis sapientia hominis in hoc uno est,_ sait... [ Continue Reading ]
For what nation [is there so] great, who [hath] God [so] nigh unto them, as the LORD our God [is] in all [things that] we call upon him [for]? Ver. 7. _Who hath God so nigh unto them._] Yea, this was it that made them so great a nation, who otherwise were but _methe mispar,_ few in number. This mad... [ Continue Reading ]
And what nation [is there so] great, that hath statutes and judgments [so] righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? Ver. 8. _So righteous._] _See Trapp on "_ Deu 1:1 _"_... [ Continue Reading ]
Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons; Ver. 9. _Only take heed._] _Cavebis autem, si pavebis._ Lest thou forget.] Eat... [ Continue Reading ]
Deuteronomy 4:10 [Specially] the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and [that] they may teach their ch... [ Continue Reading ]
And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only [ye heard] a voice. Ver. 12. _Ye saw no similitude._] Numa the Roman lawgiver would not permit any image, whether painted or carved, to be placed in their temples, _eo quod nefas d... [ Continue Reading ]
And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it. Ver. 14. _Statutes and judgments._] _See Trapp on "_ Deu 1:1 _"_... [ Continue Reading ]
Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day [that] the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: Ver. 15. _Take ye therefore good heed._] These many cautions note our proneness to this evil above others. This appeareth somewhat in chil... [ Continue Reading ]
Lest ye corrupt [yourselves], and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, Ver. 16. _The likeness of male or female._] As the blind Ethnics did, concluding their petitions with that general, _Dii, Deaeque omnes._ _a_ a Servius.... [ Continue Reading ]
The likeness of any beast that [is] on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, Ver. 17. _The likeness of any beast._] Which was a piece of the Egyptian madness. Israel, by being there, had learned to set up one calf, Jeroboam two.... [ Continue Reading ]
The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that [is] in the waters beneath the earth: Ver. 18. _The likeness of any fish._] As was Dagon, the god of the Philistines, whence he had his name.... [ Continue Reading ]
And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, [even] all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven. Ver. 19. _All the host of heaven._... [ Continue Reading ]
But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, [even] out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as [ye are] this day. Ver. 20. _But the Lord._] Deliverance commands obedience: _Servati sumus ut serviamus,_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee [for] an inheritance:_ Ver. 21. _And sware that I should not._] So that you have a privilege above me; only beware... [ Continue Reading ]
But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over, and possess that good land. Ver. 22. _But I must die._] This was a sore affiiction to this good man, and is therefore so often mentioned. Cato Major also died three years before the destruction of Carthage, which he had s... [ Continue Reading ]
For the LORD thy God [is] a consuming fire, [even] a jealous God. Ver. 24. _For the Lord thy God._] And should therefore be served truly, that there be no halting; and totally, that there be no halving. Heb 12:28-29... [ Continue Reading ]
When thou shalt beget children, and children's children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt [yourselves], and make a graven image, [or] the likeness of any [thing], and shall do evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, to provoke him to anger: Ver. 25. _And shalt have rema... [ Continue Reading ]
And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. Ver. 28. _And there ye shall serve gods._] As ye have made a match with mischief, so ye shall have enough of it. Ephraim is joined to idols, &c. See Acts 7:42 .... [ Continue Reading ]
But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find [him], if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. Ver. 29. _But if from thence._] Sweet and sour make the best sauce. Promises and menaces mixed, soonest operate upon the heart. The Sun of Righteousness loves not t... [ Continue Reading ]
When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, [even] in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; Ver. 30. _Even in the latter days._] This is by some understood of the Messiah's days, which are the latter times of the world; H... [ Continue Reading ]
For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and [ask] from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been [any such thing] as this great thing [is], or hath been heard like it? Ver. 32. _For ask now of the days._]... [ Continue Reading ]
And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt; Ver. 37. _Therefore he chose._] He chose for his love, and then loved for his choice: after God's example, _deligas quem diligas._... [ Continue Reading ]
_Know therefore this day, and consider [it] in thine heart, that the LORD he [is] God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: [there is] none else._ Ver. 39. _That the Lord he is God in heaven._] A philosopher _a_ could say, that God is a circle, whose centre is everywhere, whose circumference... [ Continue Reading ]
That the slayer might flee thither, which should kill his neighbour unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live: Ver. 42. _That thou mayest prolong thy days._] Hence some Lutherans _a_ have gathered that God hath not determined the set period o... [ Continue Reading ]
And this [is] the law which Moses set before the children of Israel: Ver. 44. _And this is the law._] That is, This that followeth in the next chapter, whereunto these verses serve for a preface.... [ Continue Reading ]