_MOSES ADMONISHES THEM, THAT GOD'S COVENANT WITH ISRAEL PERTAINS NOT ONLY TO THOSE WHO WERE PRESENT, BUT TO POSTERITY ALSO; AND THAT GOD WILL NOT SPARE THE DISOBEDIENT: HE TELLS THEM WHAT ALL NATIONS SHALL SAY IN CASE OF THEIR DESTRUCTION._ _Before Christ 1451._... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 1. _THESE ARE THE WORDS OF THE COVENANT_— Houbigant connects this verse with the last chapter, and begins the present chapter with the 2nd verse: for it is plain, says he, that Moses enters upon another subject in these words, _and Moses called unto all Israel,_ &c. Michaelis is of the same o... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 2. _YE HAVE SEEN ALL THAT THE LORD DID_— Not all of those whom Moses addresses had seen the miracles in Egypt; but he directs his discourse to the whole nation, to _all Israel,_ and so, as well to those who _had seen_ those miracles, as to those who had heard an account of them from their fat... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 3. _THE GREAT TEMPTATIONS_— Or, _The great trials._... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 4. _YET THE LORD HATH NOT GIVEN YOU AN HEART TO PERCEIVE_— The meaning of this complaint is, not that God was wanting in his assistance, much less that he actually operated upon them to make them stupid and ungrateful; but that, through their own obstinacy and perverseness, the means which Go... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 6. _YE HAVE NOT EATEN BREAD, NEITHER HAVE YE DRUNK WINE_— The meaning is, that they were not nourished by the ordinary method of sustenance, but were constantly supported by a miraculous supply from God, who graciously fed them for a course of years, without any labour of their own, with brea... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 7, 8. _AND WHEN YE CAME UNTO THIS PLACE_— They were now in a part of the country which they had conquered, ch. Deuteronomy 4:45. The sense appears to be this: "As, therefore, God has thus far performed his covenant with you, given you victory over your enemies, and their land for an inheritan... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 11. _THY STRANGER—FROM THE HEWER OF THY WOOD, UNTO THE DRAWER OF THY WATER_— That is, not excepting those who are employed in the very meanest offices: See Joshua 21:27. These words comprehend only the slaves and foreign mercenaries who attended the camp, and were quartered by themselves; the... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 15. _ALSO WITH HIM THAT IS NOT HERE WITH US THIS DAY_— That is, say the generality of interpreters, "I renew this covenant with you, not only for yourselves who are here present, but also for your posterity to latest ages." But Houbigant is of opinion, that these words of Moses are of the sam... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 17. _YE HAVE SEEN THEIR ABOMINATIONS, AND THEIR IDOLS_— These words shew, that the practice of idolatry was old and inveterate, both among the Egyptians, and the other nations through which the Israelites passed. This and the preceding verse contain further motives to incline them to enter in... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 19. _TO ADD DRUNKENNESS TO THIRST_— The Hebrew, literally rendered, is, _that irrigation,_ or _drinking may put an end to thirst; i.e._ "that I may indulge my thirst, and satisfy my lust." The phrase is strongly metaphorical, and expresses an abounding in all manner of wickedness; a giving in... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 20. _HIS JEALOUSY SHALL SMOKE AGAINST THAT MAN_— i.e. He shall be visited with the several plagues which are the effects of the divine severity. None will be punished more exemplarily than those who abuse the goodness of God, and turn his grace into lasciviousness. Romans 2:4. The punishment... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 21. _THE LORD SHALL SEPARATE HIM UNTO EVIL_— Such a presumptuous sinner may think to escape in a crowd, and flatter himself that the blessings promised to God's people, among whom he lives, will be his portion; but he shall be singled out, and set apart, as a striking monument of God's disple... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 22. _SO THAT THE GENERATION_— It is in the Hebrew, _and the generation._ The paragraph is new, and has no dependence on what precedes; consequently, _so that_ is a translation which misleads the reader. The meaning is, "whenever your impieties arrive at such a height as to bring your nation u... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 23. _THE WHOLE LAND THEREOF IS BRIMSTONE, AND SALT, AND BURNING_— Utterly desolate and laid waste: the allusion is to the destruction of _Sodom and Gomorrah_ by fire and brimstone, and to the bitumen and salt wherewith the barren plains of those once fertile cities afterwards abounded. See Ho... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 26. _AND WHOM HE HAD NOT GIVEN UNTO THEM_— Houbigant renders this, _and with whom they had no society._ Le Clerc reads, _none of whom had given them any thing._ Most of the ancient versions, as well as the margin of our Bibles, agree in the latter interpretation.... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 29. _THE SECRET THINGS BELONG UNTO THE LORD OUR GOD,_ &C.— Houbigant renders this verse, _the things which were hidden with the Lord our God, are revealed to us and our children for many generations; that we may obey all the words of this law: i.e._ says he, "Those things, which, by God's pro... [ Continue Reading ]