_MOSES COMMEMORATES THE MIRACLES OF GOD: DESCRIBES THE LAND OF CANAAN; AND PROMISES THEM FERTILITY, IF THEY TURN NOT ASIDE TO OTHER GODS: HE PROPOSES A BLESSING AND A CURSE TO THEM, AND COMMANDS THE ONE TO BE PUT UPON MOUNT GERIZZIM, AND THE OTHER UPON MOUNT EBAL._ _Before Christ 1451._... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 2. _AND KNOW YE—FOR I SPEAK NOT,_ &C.— _Know ye,_ that is, _reflect, consider;_ for such is the sense of the original word here, and in many other places. Isaiah 1:3.Ecclesiastes 5:1. _I speak_ is not in the Hebrew; but that or some such word must plainly be understood. Le Clerc includes with... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 10. _AND WATEREDST IT WITH THY FOOT_— That is, _with labour;_ for it is not Moses's design to compare the countries with respect to fertility; but with respect to the labour which it took in one to receive the fruits of the earth, and the facility with which they were received in the other; a... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 11. _BUT THE LAND WHITHER YE GO TO POSSESS IT, IS,_ &C.— Not a low country, like that of Egypt, but full of hills, which could not be made fruitful, except by rain from heaven; contrary to the case in Egypt. Concerning which, its augmentation by the Nile, its increase therefrom, and probable... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 12. _A LAND WHICH THE LORD THY GOD CARETH FOR_— A land which the Lord, and not man, provideth for. The expressions in this verse are taken from the particular and extraordinary care of the husbandman, who, _from the beginning of the year to the end,_ watches with a solicitous eye over his lan... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 14. _THE FIRST RAIN, AND THE LATTER RAIN_— There is in these verses a remarkable change in the person, which is very common in Scripture, and frequently very expressive. See Dr. Lowth's Praelec. Poet. prael. 15:—In Judea and the neighbouring countries, they seldom have rain, but at two season... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 16. _THAT YOUR HEART BE NOT DECEIVED_— They were in danger of being seduced into an imitation of their neighbours, by the specious colours they put upon their idolatry; as, the antiquity of it, universal consent, the pretence of directing their worship to the supreme God, and that they enjoye... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 21. _AS THE DAYS OF HEAVEN UPON THE EARTH_— This phrase signifies _a long time,_ indefinitely. So it is said of David in the Psalms, _His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven._ Psalms 89:29. Baruch says, that the Jews in Babylon were commanded to pray for Nebuchadn... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 24. _EVERY PLACE WHEREON THE SOLES OF YOUR FEET SHALL TREAD_— i.e. Within the compass of the bounds here marked out, and so long as you fulfil the condition mentioned, ver. 22. REFLECTIONS.—1st, The way to conquest was obedience. On this depended their strength; for then the mighty God would... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 26. _A BLESSING AND A CURSE_— Concerning this blessing and curse, and its remarkable completion in the history of the Jews, we shall have occasion to speak more fully when we come to the 28th chapter; as well as concerning _Gerizim_ and _Ebal,_ when we come to Joshua 8:33.... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 30. _OVER AGAINST GILGAL_— These words do not refer to the situation of the two mountains Gerizim and Ebal, which were in the middle of the tribe of Ephraim, several miles west from Gilgal; but they refer to the Canaanites, (i.e. one of the seven devoted nations, properly called Canaanites,)... [ Continue Reading ]