Deuteronomy 11

Deuteronomy 11:2

2. Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, &c.] God did not think it enough to forbid them idolatry, but commands them to destroy all the monuments and memorials of it: and His great care that they should flee from every sort and degree of it is testified farther by the following enumeration of particulars. Bp. Kidder.

— upon the high mountains, &c.] These were the places where the ancient heathens chose to worship their gods: imagining their sacrifices were more acceptable on mountains than in valleys. Lucian himself gives this reason for it, “Because men were then nearer to the gods, and so more easily gained audience.” It was thought also that demons were wont to frequent woods and shady places, and there appear to men: and that some presided over mountains, others over woods and forests. Accordingly the heathens erected altars to them in these and the like places, particularly under great oaks, which were held sacred, and where their gods were thought to have a peculiar power. Pliny, in his work on natural history, speaking of trees, says, “These were the temples of the gods: and even now the simple people, after the ancient rites, dedicate to God such trees as excel the rest. Nor do we more adore the images glittering with gold and ivory, than they do the groves, and the solemn silence therein.” Bp. Patrick.

are to be destroyed. CHAP. XII. The place of God’s service is to be kept. Before CHRIST 1451.

altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.

Deuteronomy 11:3

3. — break their pillars, — hea down the graven images] It was the notion of the best of the heathens with respect to their worship, that “the host of heaven” were glorious bodies, wherein the gods dwelt: and they accordingly worshipped the sovereign celestial deities in the sun, moon, and stars, which they were supposed to inhabit. In the same manner they supposed that the demons, or inferiour deities, dwelt in the images and pillars which were erected to them, and which were therefore made objects of worship, as the residences of such deities. Jos. Mede.

Deuteronomy 11:4

4. Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God.] That is, not serve Him “upon the mountains, nor in groves, nor under green trees.” It is very probable, that during their continuance in the wilderness, none sacrificed in high places, but offered all at the door of the tabernacle, which was not far from them. When they came into Canaan, and were many of them at a distance from the tabernacle, they did sacrifice in high places; and we do not find them reproved for it, while they worshipped the Lord alone, and had priests, who officiated there and in other places according to the precepts of the law. But when the temple was built, and the ark of God’s presence no longer removed from place to place, the Prophets required them not to sacrifice any longer in high places, nor any where else, but only at the temple. And they blamed even good kings for not taking away the high places, though no sacrifices were offered upon them to any strange god, but to the true God alone. This connivance proved in time a great mischief: for here they first began to worship strange gods; the Israelites being very prone to choose mountains and such shady places, as the rest of the world did, wherein to set up their images, 2 Kings xvii. 10, 11; Esek. xx. 28; Hos. iv. 13. Bp. Patrick.

the rest and to the inheritance, which the LORD your God giveth you.

Deuteronomy 11:5

5. — choose] Or set apart for that purpose, as He did Jerusalem afterwards, 1 Kings viii. 29; 2 Chron. vii. 12. “To put His name there;” that is, to dwell, or more especially to be present there, where He is worshipped according to His will. The name of God is put for God Himself: see Lev. xxiv. 11, 16, and 2 Sam. vi. 2. And so it is, where there is mention of calling on His name, building an house to His name, believing on His name, Ps. lxxx. 18; xxiii. 3; 1 Chron. xxii. 8. And that it is so in this place is evident from the words of God to Solomon concerning the temple which he had built, “I have chosen this place to Myself for an house of sacrifice,” 2 Chron. vii. 12. So also in the following words of this verse, “unto His habitation shall ye seek.” Bp. Kidder.

Deuteronomy 11:6

6. — your tithes.] Not those, which were to be paid to the Levites, or by them to the priests: but another, called the second tithe, which was to be set aside after that to the Levites was paid, and employed as is directed in chap. xiv. 22, 23, &c. Bp. Patrick.

Deuteronomy 11:7

7. — ye shall eat] Namely, your allotted part. Bp. Kidder.

— ye shall rejoice &c.] To the appointed place they were to bring all the solemn and voluntary offerings or sacrifices for particular persons, either by way of special vow, or expiation; or whereon to feast themselves, their families, and friends, in some place adjacent to the sanctuary, by way of religious rejoicing and grateful thankfulness, as being the people of God, communicating with Him at His own altar, and living under the blessing and comfort of His providence. Pyle.

Deuteronomy 11:8

8. — every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.] This does not mean that there was no good order kept among them, or that they were at liberty to sacrifice where they pleased; but that in such an uncertain

Holy things must be eaten in the holy place. Before CHRIST 1661.

tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.

Deuteronomy 11:10

10. For the land, whither thou goest &c.] Moses uses all manner of arguments to persuade them to obedience: from a grateful remembrance of God’s former mercies, ver. 2, 3, &c. from the terrible punishment of the disobedient, ver. 6, from the benefits that would redound to themselves for their obedience, ver. 9. And now he represents to them what a noble country He was going to bestow on them, but of such a condition as would keep them in a constant dependence upon His favour for the blessing of it. Bp. Patrick.

— is not as the land of Egypt.] The comparison between Canaan and the land of Egypt is not designed to have respect to its fruitfulness; but to make the Israelites sensible, that they were immediately dependent on God’s good providence, and that they ought therefore to endeavour to please Him, who alone is able to send fruitful seasons. Bp. Kidder.

— wateredst it with thy foot.] Such vegetable productions, as require more moisture than is occasioned

by the inundation of the Nile, are refreshed by water drawn out of the river by instruments, and lodged in capacious cisterns. When therefore their various sorts of pulse, melons, sugar canes, &c. all which are commonly ploughed in rills, require to be refreshed, they strike out the plugs from the bottom of the cisterns; and then the water gushing out is conducted from rill to rill by the gardener; who is always ready, as occasion requires, to stop and divert the torrent, by turning the earth against it, by his foot, and opening at the same time with his mattock a new trench to receive it. This method of conveying moisture and nourishment to a land, rarely, if ever refreshed by rain, is often alluded to in the Holy Scriptures: where also it is made the distinguishing quality betwixt Egypt and the land of Canaan; as in this passage of Deuteronomy. Dr. Shaw.

Palestine has rains, plentiful dews, springs, rivulets, brooks, which supply the earth with the moisture necessary to its fruitfulness: whereas Egypt has no river but the Nile; there it seldom or never rains; and the lands, which are not within reach of the inundation, continue parched and barren. To supply this want, ditches are dug, and water is distributed throughout the several villages and cantons: there are great struggles, who shall first get it; and in this dispute they often come to blows. Notwithstanding these precautions, many places have no water; and in the course of the year, the places nearest the Nile require to be watered again by means of art and labour. It is done by the help of machines: one of which Philo describes, as a wheel, which a man turns with the motion of his feet, by ascending successively the several steps within it, holding in his hands a stay, or rail, placed before him, which is not moveable. This is what Moses means by saying, that in Egypt they water the earth with their feet. Calmet. No travellers give an account of such a machine as at present in use in Egypt: but Sir George Staunton, in his account of Lord Macartney’s embassy to China, gives a figure, which so closely resembles the descrip-

Before CHRIST 1461. A careful study is required In God’s words.

God † careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.

Deuteronomy 11:13

13. And it shall come to pass, &c.] Know and be assured, the infinite Author of nature is not bound up to mere natural causes; rain and drought, spring and autumn, a scanty or plentiful harvest, are all at His will; dispensed and restrained, as He sees best, for blessings or for judgments upon any people. Canaan will be fruitful to you, only in proportion to your religious observance of the laws of the great God, who bestowed it upon you. Pyle.

— to love the Lord your God,] He repeats this so often, because it is “the great commandment,” as our Saviour speaks; and because nothing is so natural as to love our benefactors; especially our greatest Benefactor, who gave us our being, with all our heart and with all our soul. And being “the first and great commandment,” this draws along with it obedience to all the rest, and is in effect the whole duty of man to God: for constant experience shows us, that whosoever gets firm hold of this affection, governs a man as he pleaseth. Bp. Patrick.

Deuteronomy 11:14

14. — the first rain and the latter rain,] The first, or the autumnal rain, before seedtime, to prepare the ground for being broken up to receive the seed; the latter, or the vernal, before harvest, to fill the ears of corn. Dr. Blayney.

Deuteronomy 11:15

15. Notwithstanding thou mayest kill &c.] Whereas during their travels in the wilderness God enacted it as a law, that even all the beasts, that were killed by any Israelite for the use of his family, should be first presented to God at the tabernacle, and there slain; in consequence of which the nation then lived, as it were, wholly on peace offerings, communicating with God even in their common food: it was allowed now that, after their settlement in Canaan, every man might kill any beasts, birds, &c. for his family provision, at home, without being obliged to bring it to the tabernacle or temple. Pyle.

— as of the roebuck, and as of the hart.] Why not as an ox or a lamb, for they were of more familiar use? The reason is plain. To prevent idolatry, in offering the blood to other gods, they were commanded to kill all the cattle they ate, at the door of the tabernacle, as a peace offering, and sprinkle the blood on the altar, Lev. xvii. But wild beasts, that were clean, might be eaten, though their blood was not offered to God, ver. 13; because, being commonly killed before they were taken, their blood could not be sprinkled on the altar; and therefore it sufficed, in such cases, to pour out their blood wherever they were killed, and cover it with dust. And for the same reason, when the camp was broken up,

mised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.

Before CHRIST 1661.

Deuteronomy 11:16

16. — ye shall pour it &c.] “As water,” that is, they were to pour it out with as little religious ceremony, as water. Calmet.

Deuteronomy 11:17

17. And then the Lord’s wrath be kindled against you,]

children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

17. — the firstlings of thy herds &c.] The firstborn, strictly so called, belonged to the priests, Numb. xviii. 15. The firstlings, here spoken of, were probably such as were set apart and dedicated to God by the owner, after the setting aside of the firstborn. Bp. Kidder. It may be meant of the firstborn females, which the Lord may have chosen to have accounted in some sort sacred, by requiring them to be eaten at His sanctuary. The males only were the Lord’s. Bp. Patrick.

Deuteronomy 11:19

19. And ye shall teach them your children,] This is repeated very often, chap. iv. 10; vi. 7. The Jews do this so diligently, that as soon as their children are capable of understanding any thing, they make them carefully read the Holy Books: and instruct them so, that before they can be called youths, they are acquainted with the whole law of God. In this, we must confess, they shame a great many Christians, who scarce understand as much of their religion, when they are men and women, as the Jews do of their’s, when they are mere children. Bp. Patrick.

Deuteronomy 11:21

21. — as the days of heaven upon the earth,] That is, as long as the world endures. “While the heaven keeps its place over the earth,” according to the Latin Vulgate. See Ps. lxxxix. 29; Jer. xxxiii. 25. Bp. Kidder.

The blessing and curse. Monuments of idolatry Before CHRIST 1451. Chap. 20. 2. f Chap. 18. 16.

Deuteronomy 11:22

22. — the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike.] While they were in the wilderness, only such as were clean, that is, not under any legal uncleanness, might eat flesh, because it was sanctified by being killed at the altar: now all were to be indulged the same liberty. Bp. Patrick.

Deuteronomy 11:27

27, 28. A blessing, — And a curse.] These are more particularly explained in chap. xxviii. This blessing and this curse are here represented as suspended respectively upon the obedience and disobedience of the people. And it is observable, that the whole historical part of the Old Testament witnesses the truth of this, that God blessed or cursed them, according as they kept or violated His laws. And if the people of Israel had diligently marked, considered, and laid to heart, that their happiness and misery were always correspondent to their good and bad behaviour towards God, it would have confirmed their belief of their law, as much as if they had seen all the miracles done in the presence of their forefathers, and would have supplied the want or rarity of them in afterages. Nay, this would have done more than was done by all the miracles, which were forgotten in a short time: whereas their own daily experience of the happy fruits of obedience and the mischief of disobedience would have sealed these truths unto their conscience. Bp. Patrick.

As often as the children of Israel, after their establishment in Canaan, rebelled against the Lord their God, He punished them by means of the neighbouring nations. When they returned to Him, His favour returned to them: the light of His countenance soon dispelled the darkest clouds of publick calamity, and brake forth upon them by means of deliverers, raised up to chastise the insolence of their enemies, and to restore tranquillity and happiness in the dwellings of Jacob. From thus considering God’s proceedings, learn we to rectify and regulate our own. To punish wickedness and vice, to preserve and promote true religion and virtue, appears to have been the end and design of all His dispensations. Let it be the end and design of all our transactions. If the dealings of the Almighty with a people be squared by their dealings with His religion, the state of religion will always be the surest criterion, whereby to judge of the state of that nation, wherein it is planted: and there can be no greater enemies to their country, than those who are enemies to her: since concerning her His hath declared, who cannot deceive, or be deceived, “No weapon that

LORD your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein.

Deuteronomy 11:29

29. — mount Gerizim.] See chap. xxvii. 11, 12, &c. Josh. viii. 33, &c.

Chap. XII. ver. 1. These are the statutes &c.] Moses having still at heart the great dangers, to which his nation would be exposed, of being tempted into idolatrons practices after their settlement in the promised land in the neighbourhood of superstitious people, began a new exhortation to them, reminding them of the laws provided against it, as the indispensable conditions of their happy and peaceful enjoyment of that fruitful country. Pyle.