See Deuteronomy 6:10 note. Deuteronomy 7:5 THEIR GROVES - Render, their idols of wood: the reference is to the wooden trunk used as a representation of Ashtaroth; see Deuteronomy 7:13 and Exodus 34:13 note. Deuteronomy 7:7 THE FEWEST OF ALL PEOPLE - God chose for Himself Israel, when as yet but a... [ Continue Reading ]
FLOCKS OF THY SHEEP - Render it instead: “the ewes of thy sheep.” The phrase is unique to Deuteronomy. The Hebrew word for “ewes” is the plural form of Ashtoreth, the well-known name of the “goddess of the Zidonians” 1 Kings 11:5. This goddess, called by the Classical writers “Astarte,” and identifi... [ Continue Reading ]
There seems to be here not so much as a reference to the plagues inflicted miraculously by God on Egypt (compare Exodus 15:26), as to the terrible diseases with which, above other countries, Egypt was infested. Compare Deuteronomy 28:27, Deuteronomy 28:35. It is not without significance that Egypt,... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SILVER OR GOLD THAT IS ON THEM - The silver and gold with which the statues of the gods were overlaid. Paul is probably alluding to this command in Romans 2:22; and his accusation of the Jew thus shows that the prohibition of the text was very necessary. LEST THOU BE SNARED - As by the rich eph... [ Continue Reading ]