1._Then we turned and took our journey. _The time in which they struck their camp is not stated in the book of Numbers. This verse, therefore, will aptly connect the history, since otherwise there would be an abruptness in what immediately follows, he then briefly indicates what was the nature of th... [ Continue Reading ]
4._And they shall be afraid of you. _This temptation was the more provoking, when they heard not only that the embassy would be vain, but that although Edom should receive them with injustice and hostility, they were still to abstain from violence and arms. For there might be some reason in this, th... [ Continue Reading ]
Deuteronomy 2:7_For the Lord thy God hath blessed thee. _This reason is added, lest the people should be grieved at spending their money, of which they had not much, in buying meat and drink. There are, however, two clauses; first, that they were so enriched by God’s bounty, that they were fully sup... [ Continue Reading ]
9._And the Lord said unto me, Distress not the Moabites. _He had previously forbidden them to enter the land of Edom, unless consent were obtained. A similar prohibition is now added with respect to the Moabites, because God had allotted to them the territory which they inhabited. As I have said, th... [ Continue Reading ]
10._The Emims dwelt therein in times past. _This is a confirmation of the foregoing declaration, which is, however, inserted by way of parenthesis by Moses himself; for the ninth verse, which I have just expounded, is followed regularly by the thirteenth, “Now rise up,” etc. For, after God had turne... [ Continue Reading ]
13._Now rise up. _He now proceeds with what he had begun in verse 9, viz, that God had commanded them to pass by the land of Seir, and to advance to the brook Zered; as much as to say, that after they had been subdued by their misfortunes, they were prohibited from further progress, until God should... [ Continue Reading ]
19._And when thou comest nigh over against the children ofAmmon. _God now makes provision as to the Ammonites, since their condition was the same as that of the Moabites, inasmuch as they were descended from the two daughters of Lot. It might, indeed, seem wonderful that, since the memory of their o... [ Continue Reading ]
Deuteronomy 2:24._Rise ye up, take your journey. _I have lately said that the order is here inverted, for what soon after follows, “And I sent messengers out of the wilderness,” etc., Deuteronomy 2:26, Moses, in my opinion, has inserted by way of parenthesis: it will, therefore, be suitably rendered... [ Continue Reading ]