Deuteronomy 1

THE FIFTH BOOK OF MOSES, CALLED DEUTERONOMY. \ A J-.HIS book had the name of Deuteronomy given it by the f Greeks, from the principal scope and design of it; which was to Tepeat unto the Israelites, before Moses left them, the chief laws of God, which had been given them: that they who were not then born when they were first. delivered, or were incapable to understand them, or had not sufficiently regarded them, might be instructed in them, and awakened to attend them. (See verw 1. 5.) In order to this, he premises a short narrative of what had befallen them since they came from Mount Sinai unto this time, in the three first chapters; and then in tbe.fourth urges them, by a most pathetical exhortation, to the observance of those laws which he had taught them, especially the ten com? mandments, with which he begins the fifth chapter; where he makes a solemn rehearsal of the covenant God madp with them in Horeb; and what immediately followed upon thc’delivery of the law by God himself from Mount Sinai. And then, having earnestly pressed the observation of the first commandment, in the former part of the sixth chapter, and in the latter part of it, and in the several chapters that follow (to the end of the eleventh), reminded them of a great many things which God had done for them, and given them several cautions, lest they let them slip out of their minds, and used many arguments, from several topics (as we, call them), to move them to be obedient to all the other commandments; he proceeds in the twelfth chapter, and sa forward “to the twenty-eighth, to remember them.of a great many other laws besides the ten commandments, which he had delivered to them. Some of which he explains; others he enforces with further reasons; and in several places. adds new laws for the greater security of the whole, (particularly, he orders the writing of God’s law upon stones,.when they came into the land of Canaan, chap, xxvii.) and then pronounces, those promises which God had made to the obedient, and his threatcnings to the disr obedient/ more largely, and with greater force, than he had done in the twenty-sixth of Leviticus. After which he again remembers them of several wonderful w r orks of God for them, (chap, xxix.) and renews the covenant between God and them; using several arguments to persuade them to a dutiful, observance of God’s law: which he. commands (chap, xxxi.) to be read to all the people in thexonclusion of every seventh year, that none might pretend ignorance of it. AikI then concludes all with a most admirable song, which he orders every one to learn; and with a blessing upon the. twelve tribes. All this was done in the two last months of the last year of Moses’s life. But not all at oiice, as plainly appears by several parts of the book; in which he writes what he delivered to them at several times. Which is the reason of the repetition of the very same thing over and over again: that he might make it sink into their minds by being often inculcated, Some have been so foolish as to make this an objection against this book” being composed by Moses. But it shews their great ignorance; all wise men having ever judged it necessary to say, to, avra ntQi twv avTwv, the very same things concerning the same things; that they might be thoroughly understood, and fixed in the memory of their auditors, and settled in their hearts and affections. Tar^ ticularlyEpictetus (as David Chytrseus long ago observed) delivered this as a profitable rule in all studies; ElSc’vat Xpr), on ov /ooSiov Soy/za wagayivia^ai av^pwirt^, d fii] kcl(F ckcutttjv vfiipav ra avra kcu Xiyy,tlq koi ciKQvy, kcl\ a/xa xP^ Tat Tpoe rbv )3iov. Tliis must be known (as a certain truth), that it is not easy for. a man to attain the. solid knowledge of any thing, unless he both read and hear the same, things every day; and also set himself to the practice of them. This courso Moses took with the children of Israel: spending every day, it is likely, of the latter end of his life in calling to their mind, again and again, what he had taught them; and the reason they had to do accordingly. Huetius observes and proves, by plain examples, that the Hebrews have no other word to express their mind, when they would say cither on this side or beyond. (See Domonstr. Evang. propos. iv. cap. 14.) To which another learned writer, since him, (Hermannus Witsius, lib. i. Misccl. Sacr. cap. 14.) hath added several other places, which evidently shew, that beeber is a word that indifferently belongs to either side of any place, (sec 1 Sam. xiv. 40.) and must be determined by the matter in hand, to which it is to be applied. And here, undoubtedly, it is to be rendered on this side Jordan. (See iii: 8.) In the wilderness in the plain.] In the plain of Moab, where they had remained a long while; as appears from the foregoing book, (Numb. xxii. 1. xxvi. 3. C3. xxxi. 12. xxxiii. 48. 59. xxxv. 1. xxxvi. 13.) Over against the Red Sea.] There is no word in the Hebrew text for sea; and therefore the marginal translation is to be preferred, which is, over against Suph; which was a place in the country of Moab, (see Numb. xxi. 14.) oyer against which they now lay encamped; but wero so far distant from the Red Sea, that there can be no respect to it here, Between Parang He doth notmcan the wilderness of Paran frequently mentioned in the foregoing book (for that was as remote from hence as the Red Sea), but some place in the country of Moab, as Suph was, and the rest of the places which here follow. And Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizabah.] There was a place called Hazeroth, where they had encamped a long time ago, (Numb. xi. 35. xxxiii, 17.) but it was in another wilderness far from this place, as appears by the account Moses gives of their removals from that place to this, where they now lay, (Numb, xxxiii. 17. 48, 49.) And therefore I take this, and the other three places here mentioned, to have been frontier-towns in the country of Moab, which lay upon the borders of this plain. The last of which, Dizabah, is translated by the LXX. and the Vulgar, as if it signified a place where there were mines of gold.. Onkelos and the Jerusalem Targum, who take Suph to signify the Red Sea, and Paran for the wilderness through wiiich they had come many years ago, &c. arc forced to add several words to make out the sense of this verse in this manner: These be the words which Moses spake xinto all Israel on this side Jordan, #c. reproving them because they sinned in the desert, and provoked God in the plain over against the Red Sea; and murmured in Paran about manna; and at Hazeroth for Jlesh, &,c. And so they proceed to mention other sins committed in other places; but not in these here named: wiiich they force, from their natural sense, to comply with this conceit. was at Heshbon), but he was slain in Edrei, (Numb. xxi. 33.) Vet. 5. On this side Jordan, in the land of Moat*.] In the plains of Moab; before they passed over Jordan. (See ver. 1.) Began Moses to declare this law, saying.’] To call to remembrance that which any one had forgotten; and to explain that which any one did not understand. So Maimonides expounds these words in Seder Zeraim, " In the end of the fortieth year, in the beginning of the month Shcbat, Moses called the people together, saying; The time of my death draws near, if any one, therefore, hath forgot any thing that I have delivered, let him come and receive it; or if any thing seem dubious, let him come that I may explain it. And so they say in Siphri, If any one have forgotten any constitution, let him come and hear it the second time; if he need to have any thing unfolded, let him come and hear the explication ofit" For which he quotes this verse; and says that Moses spent all his time in this, from the beginning of the month Shcbat to the seventh day of Adar. And what he now said was likely to be more regarded, because these were, in a manner, his dying words; for he lived but till the seventh day of the next month; and seems to have composed this book as a compendium of his whole law, for the familiar use of the children of Israel; from whence it is called Deuteronomy, i. e. a second law. (See Huetius in his Demonstr. Evang. propos. iv. cap. 1.) Vcr. 6. The Lord our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying.] Numb. x. 13. Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount.] From the third month of the first year (Exod. xix. 1.) to the twentieth day of the second year after they came out of Egypt, (Numb. x. 11.) they stayed at Mount Sinai, which is the same with Horeb, they being only two tops of the same mountain, one of them something higher than the other, as they are described by those who have taken a view of them. For Moses was twice with God, for the space of forty days, in this mount: and here the tabernacle and all things belonging to it were made, according to the orders he there received; and then was erected and consecrated; and the people all numbered and disposed under several standards, to march in such order as God appointed, (Numb. ii. 3. 10. 17, &c. x. 14, 15, &c.) other; but they sat by each other’s side, &c. (See Seldcn, j lib. ii. de Synedr. cap. 13. n. 10.) Ye shall not be afraid of the face of men.’] Courage and undaunted resolution is another necessary qualification in a judge; who must not be overawed by what any man can do unto him; but remember (as it here follows) that he is iu God’s place. For the judgment is God’s.’] God gave them their commission by Moses; so that they were his ministers, and acted by his authority: and therefore might be confident he would defend them in the discharge of their office. This shews, that though Moses alone acted by immediate authority from God, yet these always being constituted by him, were to be looked upon as pronouncing sentence in his name; who, after a peculiar manner/was the King and supreme Governor of the people of Israel. And the cause tvhich is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.] Another quality is humility, in not adventuring to judge of things above their reach. Some think there were certain causes reserved to the cognizance of Moses, (as I observed upon Exod. xviii. 12.) but the contrary appears by these words, that all manner of causes were brought before these judges; and they, not the people, brought such causes before Moses, as they found too hard for them to determine. So that they, not the person whose cause it was, judged of the difficulty of the cause. (See Selden, lib. i. de Synedriis, cap. 1G.) and rebellions. Or the meaning may be (which doth not much differ from the account now given), that they murmuring in a tumultuous manner, when they saw the water did not flow out of the rock at the first stroke, he himself also was put into such a commotion, that he began to doubt, and say God would do nothing for such a rebellious people, though he had declared he would. If this be true, he soon recovered himself, and smote the rock again, in confidence God would be as good as his word. But God was so angry at the words he had spoken, that he so far punished him for them, as to deny him entrance into Canaan.’ Saying, Thou shall not go in thither. ~\ AVhich threatening is renewed a little before his death, (Numb, xxvii. 13, 14.) and he could not get repealed by any entreaties, as we read in this book, iii. 26. Ver. 38*’ But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before tltee.] i. e. Waits upon thee. He shall go in thither.] So God promised, when he, as well as Caleb, endeavoured to put courage into the people to go and possess the land, (Numb. xiv. 6, 7, &c. 30.) Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.’] Not only go thither, and have his portion there, but be the captain of Israel, and conquer the land for them, and divide it among them. This intimates as if Joshua was afraid he might be excluded as well as his master; being extremely troubled, it is likely, that he was not suffered to reap the fruit of his long labours. Therefore God bids Moses encourage his hope, and command him to take heart (as we speak), for undoubtedly he should do more than go into Canaan. Which may be the reason why his name is not put into the exception, (ver. 35, 36.) together with Caleb’s; but they are mentioned separately, because there was something to be said peculiar to each of them.

Deuteronomy 1:1

JL HESE.be the words.) This book contains the words; Which Moses spake unto all Israel. All the people could not hear what he said, but he ordered the elders and heads of the several tribes to communicate to the whole congregation what he delivered to them, in the audience of many of the people who were assembled with them. Thus these words arc commonly understood. But, considering the great weight of what is here said, I rather think that Moses himself, at several times, spake what here follows in the ears of the people. (See v. 1.) On this side Jordan.] The VulgaT Latin having translated the Hebrew words [beeber] on the other side Jordan, it hath furnished some ill-disposed minds with an argument, that Moses was not the author of this book: for he that wrote plainly shews that he was in Canaan when he wrote it. But a very little consideration would have prevented this “frivolous objection; there being nothing more certain, than that the Hebrew words signify indifferently, cither one side or the other; and may be literally translated, in the passage over.Jordan, or as they were about to pass over it; as

Deuteronomy 1:2

There are eleven daytf journey from Horeb, &c. Or eleven days (we were a coming) from Horeb, by the way of Mount Seir, unto Kadesh-barnea. Which cannot be understood of the whole time they spent between these two places, but only of the time they spent in travelling: for they stayed a month at Kibroth-hattaavah, and a week more at Hazeroth, (Numb. xi. 21. xii. 15, 16.) before they came to Kadesh-barnea. This he represents to them, to make them sensible they had been kept in the wilderness so many years as had passed since they came out of Egypt; not because it was a long way to Canaan, but for the reason mentioned in the fourteenth of Numbers. For from Horeb (whither he ordered them to go when they came out of Egypt) they came in eleven days, and took no long journeys, to the borders of the land of Canaan, where Kadeshbarnea lay. So Maimonides; The way was plain and known between Horeb (whither God brought them on purpose to serve him) and Kadesh: which was the beginning of a habitable country; according to what he saith, Numb. xx. 16. (See More Ncvochim, par. iii. cap. 1. see Numb, xiii. 26.) By the way of Mount Sew.] The country of the Edomitcs, (chap. ii. ver. 12.) Unto Kadesh-barnea.] How they Mere ordered to come hither, and what they did here, he relates, ver. 6. 19. and so proceeds to give an account of several remarkable things which befel them, unto the time when he wrote these things, which he sets down in the next verse.

Deuteronomy 1:3

And it came to pass in the fortieth year. After they came out of Egypt. In the eleventh month, on the first day of the month.] In the first month of this fortieth year they came into the wilderness of Zin, unto another Kadesh, (Numb. xx. 1.) From whence they removed to Mount Hor; where Aaron died on the first day of the fifth month of this year. See there, ver. 28. where it appears, ver. 29. they mourned for him thirty days, that is, till the beginning of the sixth month. In which they fought with king Arad, (Numb, xxi.) and from Mount Hor travelled from place to place (as we read there, and Numb, xxxiii.) till they came to these plains of Moab. In which journeys, and in the rest of the transactions, mentioned in the latter end of the book of Numbfers, they spent the other five months of this year; as I have observed in their proper places. And now began the eleventh month, when Moses, being to leave the world before the end of this year, spake all that follows in this book. And this speech (which he begins ver. 6. and continues to the fortieth verse of the fourth chapter), the great primate of Ireland thinks, he made to the people on the twentieth of February, and on the sabbath-day, as the reader may find in his Annals. That Moses spake imto the children of Israel, according unto all that the Lord hath given himin commandment unto them.] Made a rehearsal of all that at several times he had received from the Lord, and delivered unto them.

Deuteronomy 1:4

After he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon. About five months ago; for it* was after Aaron’s death, which was the first day of the fifth month, (Numb, xxxiii. 38.) and they mourned for him all that month. (See Numb. xxi. 21, &c.) And Og the king of Bashan, which dwelt at Astaroth.] This was a city in the country of Bashan, (Josh. xiii. 31.)and a city it was of very’ great antiquity, as appears from Gen. xiv. 5. (See there.) From whence some think the famous goddess Astarte had her name, being here worshipped. But whether that goddess took her name from this city, or the city from the goddess, is not certain; as Mr. Seldcn observes in his Syntagma ii. de Diis Syris, cap. 2. But that the heathen deities were wont to have their names from the groves, mountains, cities, and caves, where they were worshipped, is as certain as it is uncertain from whence Astartc,or Astaroth (as theScripture name is), was so called. In Edm.].His royal palace M r as at Astaroth (as Sihon’s

Deuteronomy 1:7

Turn yon. From this mountain. And take your journey.] Resume your journey, which you have so long intermitted. And go to the mount of the Amorites.] A mount on the south part of Canaan, inhabited by the Amorites, together with some Canaanites and Amalekites, (Numb. xiv. 25. 43. 45.) But the principal possessors of it were Amorites, as is expressed more than once in this chapter, ver. 19, 20. 44. This is the mountain to which Moses bade the spies go up, Numb. xiii. 17. and so they did, ver. 22. And unto all the places nigh thereunto.] And so pass into all the neighbouring country which lies near it. In the plains, in the hills, and in the vale.] This is a description of the country nigh unto this mountain; some of which was champion (as we speak), and other parts of it consisted of hills and dales. And in the south, and by the sect-side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, and unto the great river, the river Euphrates.~] And so go into all the rest of the land of VOh. I. Canaan: the several’ quarters of which’he here sets forth. The southern part lying towards this mountain; the western upon the sea (where the people properly called Canaanites dwelt); the northern towards Lebanon; and the eastern towards the river Euphrates. Which by other authors, as well as Moses, is called the great river. So Callimachus, in his hymn to Apollo, v. 103. *A<T<rvptov TTorafioXo fiiya^ poog The great flood of the Assyrian river; which the scholiast observes is meant of Euphrates. And Lucan, -” Cum Tigride magnus Euphrates"- Lib. iii, ver. 253.

Deuteronomy 1:8

Behold, I have set the land. In the Hebrew, given the land, i. e. bestowed it upon you, and am ready to bring you into possession ofit. Before you.] That every one of you may have his share ofit. Or, that you may go whither you please, and settle yourselves in it, (Gen. xiii. 9. xxxiv. 10.)’ Go in and possess the land.] Therefore make no longer stay here in the wilderness; but go and take possession of my gift. Which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, &c] Gen. xv. 18. xvii. 7, 8. xxvi. 3. xxviii. 13.

Deuteronomy 1:9

And I spake unto you at that time, saying. About the time of their coming to Horeb, or Mount Sinai.* For the story of Jethro, unto which this relates, preceded that immediately, (Exod. xviii.) Many great men’ place it after the giving of the law: of which, see Selden, lib.ii. de Synedr. cap. 2. n. 4. I am not able to bear you alone.] We do not read, beforo now, that Moses spake thus to the people. But Jethro spake in this manner to him, Exod. xviii. 18. and gave him advice to* take some others to his assistance, (ver. 21.) which advice he followed, (ver. 24.) And then spake to the people what Jethro had said to him; and enlarged upon it, in the words we read here, in the following verses: where he gives them the reason why he could not perform the office of a judge alone.

Deuteronomy 1:10

The Lord your God hath multiplied you; and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. Increased unto a greater number than can easily be told."

Deuteronomy 1:11

The Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many as you areJ. As if he had said, I am not troubled at your vast increase, but bless God for it; and beseech him to make you a thousand times more numerous than at present you arc. And bless you, as he hath promised you.] In the promise often repeated to their fathers, (Gen. xii. 2. xv. 5. xvii. 5, G, xviii. 18. xxii. 17. xxvi. 4. xxviii. 14.)

Deuteronomy 1:12

How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife?. But how is it possible for one man alone to undergo the labour of hearing all the complaints of such a multitude; and of remedying all their grievances, and determining all their controversies? So the last word signifies, suits at law (as we speak), as the two former signify other differences, which arose between one man and another, about such things as are mentioned in the twenty-first, twenty-second, and twenty-third chapters of Exodus. The first word, which we translate cumbrance, signifies tcediosam litigantium $erram,(as Ilottinge? Microsoft ® [chap. I. interprets it, in his Smegma Orientale, lib. i. cap. 6.) the tedious pleadings of those that manage causes before a judge, by bills and answers (suppose) and rejoinders, &c.

Deuteronomy 1:13

Take ye. In the Hebrew it is give ye, i. e. present unto mo such persons as you think fit, according to the following characters. Wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes.’] Men of known wisdom, prudence, and integrity; skilful in Divine and human laws. (See Exod. xviii. 21.) Some take wise men to signify such as knew much; and understanding, such as had prudence to make use of their knoAvledge, being men of experience, and they w r ere to be noted for both these; othenvise the people would not have reverenced them.. Vcr. 14. And ye answered me, and said, Hie thing which thou hast spoken is good for its to do.] This consent of the people is not recorded before; but sufficiently implied in their submission to this regulation, mentioned Exod. xviii. 2G. t • • i

Deuteronomy 1:15

So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known. From among those men that they presented to him, he took, I suppose, such persons among the chief of their tribes, as were endowed with the qualities here named, and were known by all so to be. For obscure persons, cither for birth, or experience in affairs, would have been contemned: and therefore he chose the noblest of those that were presented to him (called here the chief of their tribes), if they were no less worthy than others. For some such, no doubt, there were among their great men, as might be thought fit for this high employment. And they were the fitter, because, being men of quality (as we speak), they were less liable to be corrupted by bribery. From which Moses took care all judges should be so free, that he expressly requires they should be men hating covetousness, (Exod. xviii. 21.) And Solon did not forget to make this a part of the oath, which every judge in Athens took (which m mentioned at large by Demosthenes: in his oration against Timoerates) ov$l dHJpa dt^Ofiai Tyjg riXtaattjjg tvetca, ovr avrbg eyi), ovt a- Xoc Ifioi, &e. I will receive no gift upon the account of my sentence; neither I myself, nor any body else for me, nor otJiers with my knowledge, by any artifice or device tvhatsoever. And made them heads over yon."] Set them to govern and rule the people, (as it is expressed ver. 13.) by deciding all causes which were brought before them; as far as they were able to understand them. Captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens.] It is a question, whether they were commanders over so many families, or persons; as I observed upon Exod. xviii. 25. Hcrmaunus Conringius thinks they were rulers (as the word signifies) over so many fathers of families, understanding by a family that which we now call a household, (Dc Republ. Hebrseorum, sect. 18.) And officers among your tribes.] The same great man, in the twenty-sixth section of the same book, takes schotrim to have been judges, as w T cll as the rest. His great reason is, because the seventy elders were ordered to be chosen out of them, among others, (Numb. xi. 1G.) Now it is altogether improbable, he thinks, that such a prophetical college as that was, should be chosen out of such mean officers, as the Hebrew doctors make these schotrim to have been. But see what I have noted upon Exod, v, 14, and Numb. xi. 1G. And let me hero add, that if they were judges (and not attendants upon them), they were very mean ones, being put below the rulers of ten. But howso? ever this be, it is certain some of these judges had greater authority than others, being entrusted with a larger jurisdiction; and, it is likely, greater abilities were required in those over thousands, than in those over tens. As in the great Sanhedrim afterward, the Jews make more things necessary to qualify men for a place in it, than were requisite for those in lower courts; where no man could sit (much less in the highest) unless these seven things were remarkable in him, as Maimonidcs saith, (Halacah Sanhedrin, cap. 4. sect. 7.) wisdom, humility, the fear of God, contempt of riches, love of truth, a good fame; and he was beloved also of others. Ver. 1G. And I charged your judges at that time, saying.] As the quality of their persons and their endowments made them considerable, so they were dignified with the honourable name of schofetim, and were also called elders, which had been along time a title of honour among the Jcavs, and in other nations. Hear the causes between your brethren.] This was a necessary quality in a good judge, to give audience to every one that brought a cause before him; and not to delay any man. But the Jews infer from these words, that it was not lawful to hear any man when his adversary was absent; but both parties were to be there present. And they were also to be heard speak for themselves, if they pleased; which was part of the forenamed oath which Solon ordered all the Athenian judges to take, y Aicpoa<jofiai row re Karvyopov kcu rov cnro\oyovfi£vov 6/iofwc dfupolv, I will hear the accuser and the defender, both alike. And judge righteously.] The next thing required of a judge, was to be upright and impartial, not considering what the man was, but his cause. This is implied in the following words. Between every man and his brother.] i.e. Between one Israelite and another. And the stranger that is with you.] i. e. Between an Israelite and a proselyte: whether he were received into the covenant by circumcision, or not. For of this latter sort there were, no doubt, a great number, amongst that mixed multitude, who came with them out of Egypt, (Exod. xii. 38.) And while they were in the wilderness, there was not a distinct court for Israelites and proselytes; but their causes were tried in one and the same, as Mr. Selden observes, lib. ii. dc Synedriis, cap. 3. n. 1.

Deuteronomy 1:17

And ye shall not respect persons in judgment. Not be swayed by particular affection or interest; but judge sincerely, without respect lo relation, or any benefit or injury received. Ye shall hear the small as well as the great.] Be equally disposed patiently to attend to the cause of a poor man, as of a great; and to do him as speedy and impartial justice. (See Lev. xix. 15.) And here the Hebrew doctors tell us of some singular practices in their courts, to preserve the dispensation of exact justice: for if one of the contending parties came into them richly clothed, and the other poorly, they would not hear them till both were clothed alike. Nor would they suffer one of them to sit, and the oth^r stand; but both of thcin either sat, or stood. And if they sat, one of them was not permitted to sit. higher than the

Deuteronomy 1:18

And I commanded you at that time all the things that ye should do. As he rightly informed their judges, so he instructed the people also in their duty, before they went from Horeb," by delivering to them the judgments which God commanded him to set before them, Exod.xxj. 1. contained in that and in the two following “chapters; whereby both they and their judges were to govern themselves.

Deuteronomy 1:19

And when we departed from Horeb. See Numb. V o A* *-’. We went through all that great and terrible wilderness.] It may well be called great because it extended a great way. For after three days’ journey (Numb. x. 12.) they settled at Kibroth-hattaavah; which was in this wilderness of Paran. From whence they went to Hazeroth, which is still said to be in this wilderness, (Numb. xi. 35.) And when they went from thence, they were in the same wilderness, (xii.lG.) where Kadesh was, (xiii. 2(i. and see xxxiii. 19.) And this wilderness was very terrible, or dreadful; because there were no inhabitants in it but wild beasts. Which you saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites.] All the way you went towards that mountain. (See ver. 7.) As the Lord our God commanded us’.’] According to the direction which God gave them, by the motion of the cloud that went before them. And we came to Kadesh-barnea.] “Where they rested at the foot of that mountain, in the wilderness of Paran, (Numb. xiii. 2. 2G.)

Deuteronomy 1:20

And I said unto you, Ye are come to the mountain of the Amorites, which the Lord our God doth give unto us. For this was part of the country which God bestowed upon them for their possession; as appears from Numb, xxxiv. 4, where Kadesh-barnea is mentioned as a frontier-place in their south border. And indeed the Amorites, wheresoever they found them, were to be expelled; as theyhad already dispossessed them of the whole kingdom of Sihon, who was king of the Amorites, (Numb. xxi. 21, 25, 26.)

Deuteronomy 1:21

Behold, the Lord thy God hath set the land before thee. All the country beyond this mountain, (ver. 8.) Go up.] For there was a great ascent to it,- (Numb. xiii. 17.) And possess it.] Enter upon the possession of it. As the Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto thee.] According to the promise made by God long ago, to A braham, Isaac, and Jacob, (see ver. 8.) which he is now ready to perform. v Fear not, neither be discouraged.’] Do not dread either their number or their strength; but trust in the Lord (whose name he repeats four times in these three verses), that he will make good his word.

Deuteronomy 1:22

And ye came near unto me every one of you. The heads of every tribe, in the name of the whole congregation, whose desire this was. And said, We will send men before us.] Some select persons. And they sJiall search’ out the land.’] Give us an account how it lies, and what kind of country it is. And bring us word again by what way we shall go tip.] Inform us which way to direct our march into it. And into what cities we shall comL] What cities we shall first attack, to make our way the clearer into the country. Moses also charges the men that went to search the land with many other inquiries, (Numb. xiii. 18 — 20.) that the people might receive the fullest satisfaction.

Deuteronomy 1:23

And the saying pleased me well. He thought this a reasonable motion, proceeding only from a prudent caution; whereas, in truth, they were timorous and distrustful of God’s promise. And I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe.] That every body might be satisfied when they heard the report of their brethren, Numb. xiii. 2 — 4, &c. and God directed him so to do, as we read there.

Deuteronomy 1:24

And they turned. From Kadesh-barnea. And went up into the mountain.] Numb. xiii. 17. 21. And came into the valley ofEshcol.] It appears by the relation, (Numb. xiii. 21 — 23.) that this was the last place unto which they came when th6y had ended their search. And searched it out.] After they had gone through all the quarters of the country.

Deuteronomy 1:25

And they took of the fruit of the land, in their hands, and brought it down unto us. Both grapes, pomegranates, and figs, (Numb. xiii. 23.) And brought us word again, and said, It is a good land ivhich th$ Lord our God doth give us.] So they all said unanimously, and brought along with them a demonstration of it; (Numb. xiii. 27.) only they added, that they were not able to deal with the inhabitants of it. Ver. 2G. Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God.] Who bade you go up and not be afraid, (ver. 8. 21.) Which was the greater sin, because he had not only brought them to the borders of the land, but convinced them that he had not deluded them with fair promises of a better country than really it was: for they all saw the goodly fruit which it produced; and ought therefore to have believed ho would fulfil his word, and give them the possession of it. 4P2 microsoft ® [chap. I. Vcr. 27. And ye murmured in your tents.’] After great lamentations for a whole night together, (Numb. xiv. 1.) And said, Because the Ijord hated us, he hath brought ns forth oat of the land of Egypt.’] Unto which therefore they desired and conspired to return, (Numb. xiv. 4.) To deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy ns.] Nothing can be more pernicious (as Grotius here observes) than a persuasion that God doth not love us, but hath a design upon us, to destroy us.

Deuteronomy 1:28

Whither shall we go up?. Moses, I suppose, stiH pressed them to go up, and take possession of the land: to which they gave him this snappish answer. Our brethren have discouraged our hearts.] The men that you yourself sent to search the land, dispirited us by the report they have brought us. Which would not have had that effect upon them, if they had minded one part of it as much as the other, and calmly considered what Caleb and Joshua said, who made no doubt of. success. Saying, The people is greater and taller tlian we.] More numerous, and of far greater stature and strength, (Numb, xiii. 28. 33.) Their cities are great, and tvalled tip to heaven.] The spies only told them, that their cities were walled, and very great, (Numb. xiii. 28.) but their fear and confusion of thoughts augmented the danger of attempting the conquest of them: yet Moses himself thinks good afterward to use the same hyperbole, (ix. 1.) which is common in the best authors. For thus Homer, in Odyss. E. ver. 239. speaks of a fir-tree as high as heaven, i. e. exceeding tall: IXaTtj St >V OVpaVOfi7IK1)£. Many other instances maybe seen in Bochartus’s Pha- Jeg. lib. i. cap. 13. - And moreover, we have seen the sons oftheAnakims there.] See Numb. xiii. 28. 33. Const. I/Empereur will rather have it translated the sons of the giants, as the LXX. and Onkelos take it. Yet he acknowledges that Anak seems to have been the first parent and propagator of tho race of giants after the flood; and, therefore, it may be properly -translated as we do. (Sec Annot. in Itincr. Benjamini Tu- •delensis, p. 136.)

Deuteronomy 1:29

Then I said unto you. Moses here at large relates what.he said unto their fathers upon this occasion; which he doth not mention in the book of Numbers (where •we read 6nly of his falling down before God), that he might ■awaken this generation to a greater confidence in God, and a dread of his judgment. Dread not, nor be afraid of them.] Do not consider so much how strong they are, as how powerful the Lord your God is, who hath promised you this good land.

Deuteronomy 1:30

The Lord your God ivhich goeth before you. In a glorious pillar of cloud and fire. He shall fight for you.] As he had done hitherto, (Exod. Xiv. 14. xvii.8, &c.) According to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes.] Why should you think he is less able to bring you into Canaan, than he was to redeem you from Egypt, where you were oppressed by very powerful enemies? Moreover, your little ones, whom ye said should be a prey.] See Numb. xiv. 31. Which in that day had no knowledge of good and evil.] And, consequently, did not provoke God by their disobedience. They shall go in thither, &c] Their innocence moved pity towards them: though children, in some cases, were cut off for their fathers’ sins.

Deuteronomy 1:31

And in the wilderness.”) Ever since they came from thence through the wilderness of the Reel Sea, (Exod. xiii. IS.) and iu the wilderness of Sin, (Exod xvi. 1.) and the wilderness of Sinai, (Exod. xix. 1, 2.) and then through that terrible wilderness of Paran. (See above, ver. 19.) Where thou hast seen how the Lord thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son.] The long experience they had of his tender care he had over them (which was as indulgent as that of a kind father towards his only son, when he is a child, whom he carries in his arms), should have made them confident of his gracious providence for the future. In all the way that ye went, until ye came to this place.] He made provision for them in the most desolate places; bringing them water out of a rock; sending bread down to them from heaven; defending them from mid beasts, and from their fiercer enemies, &e.

Deuteronomy 1:32

Yet in this thing ye did not believe the Lord your God. He could not prevail with them to trust God; and go up, as he commanded, in his power and might to possess the land. Nor could all that Caleb and Joshua said at all move them, (Numb. xiv. 7 — 9.)

Deuteronomy 1:33

Who went in the way before you. Never failed constantly to direct and guide you in your journeysj (Exod. xiii. 22.) To search you out a place to pitch your tents in.] But always marked out your encampments where they should be, (Numb. x. 17.) In fire by night, to shew you by what way you should go, and in a cloud by day.] That they might be able to travel by night, as well as by day: which was most convenient in summer-time, when the sun was very scorching in a wilderness where there was no’ shelter, (Exod. xiii. 21. Numb.x. 1G. 21.)

Deuteronomy 1:34

And the Lord heard the voice of your words. They not only distrusted God, (ver. 32.) but murmured against their leaders, and against God, in a mutinous manner; consulting to return into Egypt, (Numb. xiv. 1—4.) And moreover spake of stouing Caleb and Joshua for their good advice, (ver. 10.) And was wroth, and sivare, saying.] Which so provoked the Divine Majesty, that he irrevocably determined what follows; confirming it with an oath, (Numb. xiv. 21.)

Deuteronomy 1:35

Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, &c. See Numb. xiv. 21.

Deuteronomy 1:36

Save Caleb the son of Jephuvneh. And Joshua the son of Nun. (See xiv. 24. 30. and see below, ver. 38.) He shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, &e.] This was as exactly fulfilled as their disinheriting was, Josh. xiv. 9. 12. where the particular portion of land is mentioned which God promised to him, and which Joshua gave him in the mountain where the Anakims dwelt. For such was the wonderful faith and courage of Caleb, that’he doubted not to dispossess those whom the rest of the Israelites dreaded as invincible.

Deuteronomy 1:37

Also the Lord teas angry with me. Not at that time, but afterward; when they came into the wilderness of Zin, to another Kadesh, (Numb. xx. 1. 12.) For your sakes.] By occasion of their fresh discontents and mutinous iipbraidings “of him, (Numb. xx. 2—4.) which provoked him so, that he spake unadvisedly with his lips; as the Psalmist observes, Psal. cvi. 31, 32. This was a high aggravation of their guilt; that they not only undid themselves, but brought great displcasnre upon their worthy leader and governor, whom they wearied with their tumults

Deuteronomy 1:40

But as for you, turn you.~\ From the land of Canaan; to which they were not permitted to go. And take your journey into the wilderness. And get you back again into the wilderness, out of which I have brought you, (Numb. xiv. 25.) By the way of the Red Sea.] Thus they had their desire, in some part, of returning into Egypt, (Numb. xiv. 4.) which was not far from the Red Sea.

Deuteronomy 1:41

Then you answered and said unto me, We have sinned against the Lord. They repented when it was too late to do them any good. (See Numb. xiv. 40.) We will go up, and fight, according to all that the Lord our God commanded us.] Now they resolve to encounter those enemies of whom they were before so afraid, as to speak of stoning those who exhorted them not to fear them, (Numb. xiv. 9, 10.) And.when you girded on every man his weapons of war, ye were ready to go up into the hill.] They not only made a stout resolution, but actually prepared themselves for the onset: as if there were no difficulty in that, which a little before they dreaded to think of. So Dc Dieu translates the last words, Ye thought it an easy matter to ascend the hill; or, ye despised going up the mountain; in our language, made nothing of it.

Deuteronomy 1:42

And the Lord said unto me, Say, unto them, Go not up. See Numb. xiv. 41, 42. Neither fight. 2 Much less think of fighting. For I am not among you.] By my powerful presence to subdue your enemies, or to defend you from them (so the phrase is often used); for the ark of the covenant, the token of God’s presence, did not go with them, (Numb. xiv. 44.) Lest ye be smitten before your enemies.] Which would be a far greater disgrace than marching away from them.

Deuteronomy 1:43

So I spake unto you. See Numb. xiv. 42, 43. And ye would not hear.] No more than before; when he bade them go up. And rebelled against the commandment of the Lord.] For now it was against his will, as before it was his will, that they should go up. And went presumptuously tip into the hill.] Would venture against the express command of God, which was the highest presumption.

Deuteronomy 1:44

And the Amorites which dwelt in that mountain came out against you. As soon as they saw the Israelites ascend to assault them, they came down upon them, (Numb, xiv. 45.) And chascdyou, as bees do.] Which pursue those that disturb their hives in great swarms, and with great fury, (Psal. cxviii. 12.) For though bees have very small bodies, yet they have great spirits, and a vast force, as Eochart observes in many instances, to make out the aptness of this comparison, in his Hierozoicon, par. ii. lib. iv. cap. 10. And destroyed you in Seir.] It seems they fled towards that part of Idumea where Mount Seir was; which they afterward compassed many days, (ii. 1.) when they removed from Kadesh-barnea. And there some of them fell by the sword of the Amorites, who were the fiercest of all the people of Canaan, and might, on that account, be well compared to bees, who cease not their pursuit till they have fixed their stings. Even unto Hormah.] See Numb. xiv. 45.

Deuteronomy 1:45

And ye returned. After the Amorites retreated. And wept before the Lord.] Beseeching him to go along with you, and assist you to conquer the land. But the Lord would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you.] To consent that they should now go and possess the promised land, or stay near to it; but remained fixed in his resolution, that they should go back again, and w r ander in the wilderness as long as they lived. Ver. 4G. So ye dwelt in Kadesh many days.] God had commanded Moses to lead them into the wilderness, by the way of the Red Sea, the very next morning after their mutiny upon the return of the spies, (Numb. xiv. 25.) But they prevented this, by their early rising next morningto assault the Amorites in the mountain, (ver. 40.) After which they being discomfited, he permitted them to stay some time here to bemoan themselves. But how long, is not certain: for sometime the cloud stayed but two days; sometime a month, sometime a year, before it stirred from the tabernacle; which was the sign of their removal, (Numb. x. 22.) And in some stations, it is likely, they stayed several years: for from the time of their removal uigiiL red by Microsoft ® [chap. ii. from Kadesh-barnea, till they came to Mount Jlor, which j was thirty-seven years, we find but nineteen stations. (See j Numb, xxxiii. 18—37.) According to the days that ye abode there.] Some expound it, As long as they did in all the rest of their stations, i. e. nineteen years, as the Jews compute in Seder Olam. But, as the learned Dr. Lightfoot thinks, it. signifies, as long as they did at Moinxt Sinai: and so they stayed near a whole year, as they had dono at Sinai. But the most •simple explication seems to be, that they tarried here so long after this, as they bad done before it, at least forty days; which was, the time the spies spent in searching out the land. Though there is no necessity to confine it to that number, but simply to interpret it, that as they stayed there many days before this mutiny, so they did as many after it t