Deuteronomy 3

nt the end of this book. This the greatest defenders of the authority of these books, as written by Moses himself, make no scruple to allow; particularly Huetius, and since him Hermannus Wilzius, in his Miscellanea Sacra, lib. i. cap. 14. sect 47. But there is no necessity to yield so much; for Moses might say this himself, though it was not long before he wrote this book. For so the holy writers do sometimes mention places, which hadtheir name but newly given them, from a particular fact, that posterity might know 7 tb& original of it. (See Acts i. 19.)

Deuteronomy 3:1

JL HEN we turned, and went up by the way ofBashan; and Og the king ofBashan came out against us, &c. See Numb. xxi. 33. where there are the very same words.

Deuteronomy 3:2

And the Lord said unto me, Fear him not: for I will deliver, &c. The same words in Numb. xxi. 34. Only there he saith, I have delivered him into thy hand; that is, resolved to do it. Which may interpret what is said in the foregoing chapter of this book, ver. 31. concerning Sihon. Ver.’ 3. So the Lord our God delivered into. our hands Og also, the king ofBashan, &c] Sec Numb. xxi. 35.;

Deuteronomy 3:4

And we took all his cities at that time, all the cities, &c. threescore cities. See upon Numb, xxxii. 41. All the region of Argob.] A small province lying between Jordan and the mountains of Gilead, a little above the sea of Tiberjas: which region was afterward called Trachonitis, from the asperity of the mountains. The kingdom of Og in Bashan.] Belonging to his kingdom in Bashan, (ver. 13. and 1 Kings iv. 13.)

Deuteronomy 3:5

All these cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and bars, Sec. So they are described 1 Kings iv. 13.

Deuteronomy 3:6

And we utterly destroyed them, &c. For they* were Amorites, and therefore under the curse of. God; being part of the seven nations of Canaan, devotive to destruction. (See ii. 34.)

Deuteronomy 3:7

But all the’cattle, and the spoil of the cities, we took for a prey to ourselves. As they had done before, when they destroyed Sihon and his people, (ii. 35.)

Deuteronomy 3:8

And we took at that time, out of tlie hand of the two kings of the Amorites, the land which was on this side Jordan^. Which was given to. the two tribes of Reuben and Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, (ver. 12, 13.)* If men were not blinded with prejudice, they could not but see from hence, that the word beeber, in the first verse of this book, is rightly translated on this side: for beyond- Jordan (as they would have it signify) in the land of Canaan, these two kings had no possessions; nor did Moses make any conquest there. From the river of Arnon unto Hermon.] This river was the bounds of their country on the south; and Hermon, W T hich was one of the mountains of Gilead (where it joins to Libanus), was their bound on the north. VeT. 9. Which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion.’] And so it is called in Psal. xxix. 6. and joined with Lebanon: for it was as much a part of Libanus as of Gilead, these two mountains there meeting together. Whence Jeremiah calls Gilead the head of Lebanon, (xxii. 6.) because Libanus begins where Gilead ends. And the Amorites call it Shenir.] And so it is called Ezek. xxvii. 5. and had this name, as Bochart conjectures, from the multitude of wild cats which were in this mountain: for the Arabians called that creature sinaur or siriar* (See Hierozoicon, par. i. lib. iii. cap. 14.)’ •

Deuteronomy 3:10

All the cities of the plain. All the flat country which the LXX; thought was called Misor; for they retain here that Hebrew word. And all Gilead.] i. e. All that part of it which belonged to him; which was but half, as I observed before, ii. 36. And all Bashan.] That paTt of his country which was properly and peculiarly called Bashan; which being tho Microsoft ® 4 Q COG [CHAP. III. most rich and fertile (as the word signifies), gave denomination to his whole kingdom. Unto Shalcliah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og m Bashan.] The former of these is mentioned Josh. xiii.. 11. (just as it is here) as the bounds of Bashan towards Mount Hermon, or Lebanon: so Chytroeus, “A town in Bashan in the mountains of Libanus near to Machati.” And Edrei was the place where they fought with Og, and overthrew him, (Numb. xxi. 23.)

Deuteronomy 3:11

For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the giants.". .Or of the Rephaim, a very ancient people in that’eountry, (Gen. xiv. 5.) who were either descended from the Amorites, or mingled with them: and Og was the very last of them; so that he and his people being destroyed, none of them remained..’ • Behold, his bedstead is a bedstead of iron.] Which was no unusual thing in ancient days, though far later than this. ForThucydides saith, that when the Thebans took Platea?, they made beds of the brass and iron they found there; which they dedicated to Juno. And beds of silver and gold are mentioned by divers authors, as Huetius observes in his Demonstr. Evangel, propos. iv. cap. 14. n. 7. Is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon?] This is thought by some to be a considerable objection against Moses being the author of this book: for how should this bedstead, say they, come to the children of Ammon in his days? No doubt they imagine it would have remained in Bashan whilst Og lived: though, in length of time, it might bexarried into the country of the Ammonites: as, if Og, fearing the worst, might not send his bed and his best furniture unto the Ammonites, knowing they woul^ bo safe among them, because the Israelites were forbid to make war upon them. Or Moses, having conquered the country, and kept all the spoil, (ver. 7.) might not sell this, among other goods, to the children of Ammon, who preserved it in their capital city.-. Nobody can see an unreasonableness in either of these suppositions of the same Huetius. Nor do I see how the conjecture of another learned person (Andraeas Masius, upon the twelfth of Joshua) can be confuted; which is, that tho Ammonites drove out that monstrous sort of people, mentioned ii. 21. Og might possibly escape (and so-is said here to be left of the remnant of the giants), who, flying hither to the Amorites, was made their king, because of his goodly presence and great valour. But the Ammonites kept his bedstead, and shewed it as a monument of that illustrious victory which they got over the Rephaim, or as they called them the Zamzummims, in that country. Nine cubits was the length thereof and four cubits was the breadth tliereof] This is mentioned, to shew of what a vast stature Og was: for bedsteads being, according to the common custom, made a third part longer than the persons that lie in them, he was six cubits high, as Maimonides computes, that is, as high again as any other man, (More Ncvochim, par. ii. cap. 47.) which is very sober discourse, in comparison with what other Jews say of him. (See Schickard, in his Bcchinah Ilappcruschim, p. 120.) After the cubit of avian.’] According to the cubit of ordinary men, saith the same Maimonides (which is a little mpre.than half a yard), not of-Og beforementioncd. But what need was there, say former objectors, to mention this? since the Israelites saw Og lie dead before them on tho ground, and needed not to be told by Moses how tall he was? and therefore they conclude this was written by somebody else, in aftertimes. As if Moses did not write for the benefit of those that como after, as well as for the present generation. Who, that they might be satisfied what a vast man Og was, he left it upon record how large his bedstead was, and where it might be seen; whereby they may judge of his stature. Besides, there were in the present generation great numbers of children, old men, women, and servants, who could not go to see Og lie at length upon the field: but by this means were instructed from what a terrible enemy God had delivered them. They that question the truth of this relation, may read, if they be able, what the learned Huetius hath at large discoursed concerning men of a portentous bigness in all countries, (in his Quaestiones Alnetanse, lib. ii. cap. 12. n. 3.) of which no man can doubt, who is not resolved to disbelieve all the world. In his Demonstratio Evangclica also he observes, that Homer makes Tityon, when he was dead, to have lain stretched out upon (not nine cubits, but) nine acres of ground: -€7T Ivvia KUTO 7Ti A; &QCL* Which hyperbole may excuse the Jewish rabbins, when they say that Og was nine cubits long when he toy in his cradle. (See propos. iv. cap. 8. n. 4.)

Deuteronomy 3:12

And this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer, ivhich is by the river Arnon. See ii. 3G. And half Mount Gilead, and the cities thereof, gavelunto the Reubenites, and to the Gadites.] See Numb, xxxii.34, 35, &c. but especially Josh. xiii. 15, &c. where he distinctly relates what portion of this country was given to the Reubenites; and ver. 23, 24, &c. what was given to the Gadites. And it appears, that none of Gilead belonged to the Reubenites; but the Gadites had one half of it," as the Manaasitcs had the other.

Deuteronomy 3:13

And the rest r of Gilead. Which was not given to the Gadites. And a 11 Bashan, being the kingdom of Og.] That is, all that was taken from Og, of which he was king.. Gave IuntQ the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, with all Bashan.] It is repeated again, lest any one should think that Argob, w r hich was a distinctprovince in that kingdom, was not given to them by this grant. (Sec ver. 4.) Which toas called the land of giants.] Where the Rephaims formerly inhabited; of whom Og was the last. (See Gen. xiv. 5. compared with xv. 20. Josh. xiii. 12.) ^Vcr. 14. Jair, the son of Manasseh, took all the country of Argob.] This is oue reason why he gave this country to them. (See Numb, xxxii. 41.) Unto the coasts of Geshuri and Maachathi.] Wc had no mention of these places before; which were in the northern pait of this country, as appears from Josh. xii. 4, 5. xiii. 11. But the people of these places they could not expel, (Josh, xiii. 13.) * And called them after his own name.] Numb, xxxii. 4. Unto this day.] From hence, likewise, cavils are raised against Moses being the author of this book: when the most that can be concluded from hence is, that, upon the revising of these books by Ezra, he put in these words to certify the reader, that still they retained this name; as somebody, no doubt, added the history of Moses’s death

Deuteronomy 3:15

And I gave Gilead. All that was not possessed by the Gadites. - Unto Machir.] To the posterity of Machir, (Numb. xxxii. 40.)

Deuteronomy 3:16

Andimto the Reubenites, and unto the Gadites. Here is a more exact description of that part of the country, which was given to the other two tribes.. I gave from Gilead.] Half of which, as I observed, was given to the Gadites, (ver. 12.) Even unto the river Arnon.] Which was the bounds of the “country to wards Moab. (See ii. 36.) Half the valley.] The same word in the Hebrew language, signifies both a valley, and a brook or river: and being translated in the foregoing words, the river, it should be so here likewise, half the river; that is, to the middle of the river Arnon; by which the bounds of their country are most exactly set. And thus not only the LXX.and the Vulgar, butOnkelos also translates it, the middle of the torrent; yea, we ourselves also in the twelfth of Josh. ii. where there are the same words, which in the Hebrew run thus, unto the river Arnon, the midst of the river: where the city of Aroer stood, encompassed by the river, as I observed in the fore* going chapter, ver. 36. And the border.] Something is understood, viz. went (as the phrase is Josh. xv. 6, 7, &e.) or reached, or some such word. Or the meaning must be, the country bordering upon that river. Even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon.] This river was the other boundary of the country.

Deuteronomy 3:17

The plain also, and Jordan. The flat country towards the river Jordan: which was the western bounds of this country of Sihon; as the river Arnon was the southern, and the river Jabbok the northern; the country of the children of Ammon being on the east. And the coast thereof, from Cinnereth.] The word thereof is not in the Hebrew: therefore these words may be better rendered the coast from Cinnereth. Called the Sea of Cinnereth, Josh. xii. 3. xiii. 27. it lying upon a country and a city called by that name, (Josh. xi. 2. xix. 35.) which gave the name to this sea, called in the New Testament, the Sea of Galilee, and the Sea of Genesareth, and at last the Sea of Tiberias; in honour of the emperor Tiberius. (See upon Numb, xxxiy. 11.) Even unto the sea of the plain, even the Salt Sea^ The Dead Sea, as it is called in other places; which, before the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah, had been a most pleasant plain. *. Under Ashdoth-Pisgah.] The name ofacity in this country, (Josh. xiii. 20.) Eastward.] Which lay east of the Salt Sea and Jordan; which was the western bounds, as I said, of this country. •

Deuteronomy 3:18

And I commanded you at that time. -That is, he gave this charge to the two tribes of Reuben and Gad, and to the half tribe of Manasseh beforomentioned. The Lord your God hath given you this land to possess it, &c] According to their own desire: but on condition they should help their brethren to conquer the land of Canaan. (Sec Numb, xxxii. 20—22.),. - - w.

Deuteronomy 3:19

But your wives, and your little ones, and your cattle (for I know you have much cattle)^ shall abide in your cities which I have given you. See Numb, xxxii. 16. 24. 2d.

Deuteronomy 3:20

Until the Lord have given rest unto your brethren, as well as unto you, &c. Brought them to a settlement in the land of Canaan, and given them a peaceable possession of it After which, we read that Joshua dis^ missed these tribes, and sent them to their wives and children, Josh. xxii. 4.

Deuteronomy 3:21

And I commanded Joshua at that time. About that time, when by God’s order he appointed Joshua to be his successor, and took him to be his associate in the government, (Numb, xxvii. 18, &c.) Thine eyes have seen all that the Lord your* God hath done unto these two kings: so shall the Lord do unto all the kingdoms whither thou passest.] This seems to be the preface to the charge, which by God’s command he gave to Joshua at that time, (Numb, xxvii. 19. 23.)

Deuteronomy 3:22

Ye shall not fear them; for the Lord your God fighteth for you. This is part of the charge itself; which he had heard him give all the people eight-and-thirty years ago, (i. 21. 29, 30.)

Deuteronomy 3:23

And J besought the Lord at that time, saying. Being told by God at the same time (Numb, xxvii. 12, 13.) that he should shortly die, and only see the land of Canaan, but not enter into it, Moses made his humble supplication to God that he would not execute the sentence which he had denounced against him. For the word 6esought signifies supplication to one that is offended.

Deuteronomy 3:24

O Lord God, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thymigMy hand. In subduing the two kings of the Amorites. For what god is there in heaven, or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might?] He speaks according to the language of those tim6s, when men worshipped many gods, of several sorts: none of which*, he acknowledges, were able to bring to pass such things as the Lord had done.

Deuteronomy 3:25

I pray thee let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan. To see is here to enjoy it, as the rest of the Israelites were to do: for God bade him go up into a mountain and behold it; but threatened he should not enter into it. Which threatening he might well think was reversible, as others had been against the people of Israel upon his prayer for them, though they had more highly offended the-Divine Majesty than he had done. For though he doubted at the first, especially when he saw no^ water come out of the rock at the first stroke; yet he presently recovered himself, and smote it the second time, believing God would relieve them. •■ * • Tliat goodly mountain.] Most think that he desired to go so far into it, as to see the place where God intended to settle his Divine presence: which proved to be Mount Moriah.. But nothing was known of this, a long time after; unless we suppose it was revealed unto him, that- 4Q2 Microsoft ® [chap. IV. where Abraham offered Isaac, there the Lord would dwell. It sceins to mo, that he means that goodly country full of noble mountains: for thus the word mountain is often used, particularly Numb. xiii. 29. where the spies say the " Amorites dwell in the mountain,” t. e. in that mountainous part of Canaan. And Lebanon^] He desired to go through the whole country, as far as Lebanon; which was the most northerly part of it (famous for goodly cedars), as the mountain beforo spoken of was in the south of Canaan.

Deuteronomy 3:26

But the Lord was wroth with me for your sake$.~. See i. 37. And would not hear me.] Refused to grant my petition.. And the Lord said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter.’] This suggests that Moses renewed his petition, after the lirst denial; and more earnestly begged this favour of God: which he could not obtain; but was enjoined silence. This argues great displeasure; and is mentioned by him as an admonition to the Israelites, to be fearful to offend the. Divine Majesty.

Deuteronomy 3:27

Get thee zip tojhe top of Pisgah. See what I have noted upon Numb, xxvii. 12.. And lift vp thine eyes westward, and northward, &c] Take a full view of the country in all the quarters of it; which might be seen from the. top of this mountain, which was called Nebo- (See xxxiv, 1—3.).,<

Deuteronomy 3:28

But charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, &c. Bid him not doubt that I will bring my people thither under his conduct, though I deny thep entrance into* it. <’. “.

Deuteronomy 3:29

So we abode in the valley over against Beth- Peor. It is likely that there was a temple built to Beial- Peor, which fronted this valley; for so Beth signifies, a house OT temple of Peor. Which gave the name to a city wherein it stood; which was part of the inheritance of the Reubenites, (Josh. xiii. 20.) In this valley Moses was buried, xxxiv. 6. where he made this most excellent exhortation to all the people.