Deuteronomy 6
PATflames out of which ho spako might devour them, if they came near them again. of all the laws which God delivered to them by him, and to endeavour to beget a holy fear of him, as* the principle of obedience, he most earnestly presses upon them; before he proceeds further, the first of the ten commandments; which is, that there is but one God, who alone is to be worshipped; and that he is their God: whose laws therefore could not be controlled by the authority of any other pretended god. Many of the ancient fathers, particularly Theodoret and Greg. Nyssen, luink there is a plain intimation of the blessed Trinity in these words, The Lord our God is one Lord: and gome of the Jews themselves have thought, there was something extraordinary in it, that the name of God should be thrice mentioned, as it is in this sentence: w r hich signifies three midoth, or properties, they confess; which they sometimes call three faces, or emanations, or sanctifications, or numerations, though they will not call them three persons; as Joseph de Voysin observes, in his book against an Anonymous Anti-trinitarian;p. 58. 63. 71, 72. And the cabalists say as much, who, asserting ten se-. phiroth in God (which they take to be something different from the essence of God, andyet not creatures, but emanations from it, as Manasseh ben Israel explains their words); they make the three first of them to be more than the other seven; and call them primordial The first of which they call the Wonderful Intelligence, and the First Intellectual Light (as St. James calls God the Father of lights), and the First Glory. The second they call, among other names, the Illuminating Intelligence (just as St. John saith, the eternal Word " enlightens every one that cometh into the world"), and the Second Glory. And the third they call the Sanctified Intelligence (so the word umpD, which is inPual, must be translated, not sanctifying, as Rittangelfus takes it,) or they may mean no’more than thd Holy Intelligence; which is the very same with the Holy Spirit. All this we find in the book Jetzira, which they fancy was made by Abraham: from whence we cannot but learn, that they had an obscure notion of the blessed Trinity: and that the apostles used no other language about it, than^vhat was among the Jews. The best of which are so sensible of.such things, as I have mentioned, that they think we Christians are not idolaters, though we believe three persons in the Godhead (which they fancy inclines to polytheism), because wc believe the unity of God; and therefore may be saved as well as they. So J. Wagcnseii shews in his annotations upon Sota, cap. 7. p. 751, &c. and Arnoldus, in his Spieilegia, after him, p. Vcr. 5. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, he.’] Our blessed Saviour, alleging these two verses, (Mark xii. 29, 30.) looks upon these words as a part of the first commandment: for, after he had said, t€ The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord onr’God is one Lord; and, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul," &c. he thus concludes, €€ this is the first commandment." For, to own him to be the only God, the author of our being and of all things, doth necessarily include in it a love of him above all things whatsoever, which.requires us. to love him, who hath made them so lovely. This is another principle ►or spring of obedience, inseparable from the fear of God beforementioned: which doth not.drive us away from him, but draw us to him; being such a. reverence towards him as children have to their kind parents, which is ever mixed with love.to them. With all thine hearty and with all thy soul, and tvith all thy might.~] For there being no other God but he alone, none else could have any right to their love and service, but he only whose nature is so excellent, that it requires the utmost we can do to testify our regard to him. This one of the Jewish writers hath admirably expressed in this manner; “AVhosoever serves God out of love, he gives himself to the study of his laws, and unto good works, &c. which excite him to love God with the most flagrant affection; not for the sake of any thing in this world, nor for the fear of any evil; but he serves God truly, because he is the truth, and the chiefest good, that he may be. admitted to communion with him. And a man ought to love him with the most vehement and intense affection; so that he languish with love to him, jnst as a man that is in love with one he desires to make his wife: wheresoever he. is, at home or abroad, -when he eats and drinks, when he lies down.and rises up, he thinks of her. To which Solomon compares the love of the spouse, who saith, I am sick of love/ (Cant. ii. 5.) To this purpose, Baal Chasidim, mentioned by Wagenseil, upon Sota, cap. 1 5. p. 611.. By the heart may be here meant the will, which is the original of all that a man doth (as the Jews speak), whether good or evil: by the soul, the affections (to which St. Mark adds the mind, i.e. the understanding, or rational faculty); and by might or strength, is meant the power of the body for action; which four all together make up the whole man. And the word all added to each of these, doth not exclude” all other things from any share in our thoughts and affections, but only from ah equal interest in them. The love of God ought to be superior, and direct all our other motions to serve him, as Maimonides expresses it in his preface to Pirke Avoth. they loved themselves, he charges them not to follow their oym desires (which is called doing that which is good in their own eyes), but govern themselves by his holy will. And that thou mayest go in and possess the good land.] Or rather, after thou hast gone in, and possessed the good land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers: for there was no doubt of their going in; but only of their behaviour there, after they were made so happy, ver. 10 — 12.
Deuteronomy 6:1
IS OW these are the commandments, the statutes, and the. judgments. Which Godpromised to deliver to him, in the foregoing chapter, ver. 31.; and commandments are thought commonly to relate unto the moral laws; statutes to rites and ceremonies, which have no natural reason for them; said judgments to civil government. Which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it.] They are the words of God himself, in tho place beforenamed, ver. 31. This, I suppose, was spoken by Moses to them, a little timo after he had delivered what is contained in the foregoing chapter; being a preface to the rest of the laws which he received from God in Mount Sinai, as they desired.
Deuteronomy 6:2
Tliat tfiou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee, &c. The prime intention of God’s speaking to them by himself and by Moses was, to implant his fear in their hearts, as the true principle of obedience; which so certainly flows from it, if it be preserved in its power and force, that it frequently in Scripture signifies the whole duty wo owe to God. But here, more particularly, it seems to signify their adhering to him as the only God: so it is used, 1 Kings xviii. 3. 12. and in the New Testament most plainly, Acts x. 2. 35. Ver, 3 f Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it.] Mark therefore so well what I say, as to do accordingly. That it may be well with thee, &c] As the only way to be happy, and to grow a mighty nation, and, in short, enjoy all that God had promised to their pious ancestors. And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee, thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them, &c] He still pursues his intention, to preserve in them a due care to observe the first commandment, of which he began to treat in the foregoing chapter: for that is the reason why they were to destroy these seven nations, that they might not be in danger to be seduced by them to serve other gods,, (ver. 1.) But whether they were not first to offer them terjns of peace, according to the directions in the twentieth chapter, of this book, is a question which I have endeavoured to resolve, in another place, upon Exod. xxiii. 33. Certain it is, that if they refused their offers, there was the greater reason to be severe to them: and without offering them any terms, God might in justice order thb Israelites to destroy them: for every king hath power in hisf dominions to cut off evil-doers; and therefore much more the King of kings: who might order whom he pleased (as other kings do) to be executioners in his vengeance upon these seven nations, for their abominable idolatries, beastly lusts, and horrid cruelties, and other such-like sins, of which they.w r erc guilty. This was a. thing of such moment, that God ordered Moses to give them this charge some time ago, (Numb. xxxiii. 52.) which he now renews. Thou slialt make no covenant with them.’] To suffer them to live with them, in the same country, (Exod. xxxiv. 12.). Nor shew mercy to them.] For that had been cruelty to themselves and their posterity, to spare such incurable, idolaters. How far the Talmudists, extend this, see in Dionys. Vossius, upon Maimonidcs’s, treatise of Idolatry, p. 139. and Maimonides himself, in the following paragraphs, 4— G.'.
Deuteronomy 6:3
Neither sha.lt thou make marriages with them: thy daughters thou shalt not give to his sons; nor his daughters shalt thou take to thy sons. Sec Exod. xxxiv. 15. Some of the Jews think they might marry with them, if they became proselytes of justice (as they called those who received circumcision,, aud undertook to observe the whole law); and that they might think this was not lawful, yet think that they might marry with the children of such proselytes: (sec Scldcn, lib. v. do Jure Nat. et Gent. &c. cap. 14, 15.) And the Talmudists say, this law did not extend to proselytes, who might marry with any of those nations, as he shews there, cap. 18.
Deuteronomy 6:4
Htar, O Israel. He repeats it again, because what he was going to say is of the highest importance. TJie Lord our God is one Lord.] Being to remind them For they will turn away thy sons from following me, that they may serve other gods, See.]. There was great danger, if they loved their wives, that they might draw them to their idolatry; in which they were so rooted^ that there was little hope of converting them to the true religion. Therefore this is opposed to the love of the Lord their God; for the preserving of which in their hearts they are forbidden such marriages, (Josh, xxiii. 11, 12.) And indeed it was but a piece of natural equity,, that they should abstain from such familiarity with those who would certainly undo them. Which made Abraham, before this law, charge his son Isaac,, not to take a wife from among the Canaanitcs; and the same care was taken of Jacob. And when this law of Moses w f as abolished, tho apostle warns Christians, themselves agaiust such unequal matches, (2 Cor. vi. 14.) The danger of. which David had noted, Psal. cvi. 35, 3G. " So will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you/’ &c. (See vi. 15.)
Deuteronomy 6:5
" But thus shall ye deal with them. Or, therefore thus shall ye deal xvith them; that is, to prevent the foromentioned mischief, he orders them to leave no relic of their idolatry remaining. Ye shall destroy their altars.] The very same precept, Exod. xxxiv. 13. * And break down their images.] The very same words with these are in Exod. xxiii. 24. (only there it is. said, quite break dotvn), and in Exod. xxxiv. 13. And cut down their groves.] There is the same mention of aslierim (which we translate groves) in the placo last named; only another word for cut down (see there); But Mr. Sclden, both there and here, understands by asherim, wooden images of Astarte, a great goddesswOrshipped in that country: for which; among other reasons, he gives this, that Gideon is said to have thrown down tho altar of Baal, and cut down the grove that tvas by it. So we translate it, Judg. vi. 25. 28. where, in the Hebrew", the last word is alau, which signifies upon it, and not by it: and so the LXX.‘Ett’ air^n And therefore the asherah, which is said to be upon the altar, must* not signify a grove, but an image; and none more likely than that of Astarte. (See de Diis Syris Syntagm. ii, cap. 2. and 2 Kings xxiii. G, 7.) And burn their graven images with fire.] As he was commanded to destroy their molten images, (Numb, xxxiii. 52.) that so no sort of image, nor any monument of their worship, might be left in the country, but all so entirely abolished, that they might have no incentive to idolatry. This was the work of the supreme governor, as Grotius prudently observes: for though out of private places it belonged to the lord of the place," or* if he were negligent, to the king, to remove idols,* yet none but the supreme power might remove them out of public places, or such persons who were delegated thereby to that office. (See L. de Imper. Sum. Potest, circa Sacra, cap. 8. sect. 3.) -Ver. G. For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God.] This is an argument frequently used, particularly in the book of Leviticus, why they should cleave to God alone; because he had separated them to himself by many peculiar laws, w r hich no other people had but they. (Levit. xi. 44, 45. xix. 2. xx. 7. 2G.) The Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that arc upon the face of the earth.] As he had distinguishedthem from all other people by peculiar laws, so by special favours and singular privileges which no other nation whatsoever enjoyed. (See Exod. xix. 5, G.) Some interpret the Avords special people, to signify that they belonged to none but him; and he had no other people but they; whom he had espoused to himself. From whence it is, that, as the Israelites arc called God’s people, so that country is called his laiid, (Psal. Ixxxv. 1.) for there he dwelt by his special presence. And the king of that country is called God’s king, (Psal. xviii. 50.) and he is said to sit on God’s throne; and to be Melech le Jehovah, king for the Lord, (2Chron. ix. 8.) and the kingdom is called the kingdom of the Lord t (xiii. 8.) and therefore with this argument Asa addresses himself to God in the nct chapter, (xiv. 11.) for help in time of distress, because hewas their God; and would not, ho hoped, lot their enemies prevail against himself And accordingly these enemies arc said to be " destroyed before the Lord, and
Deuteronomy 6:7
And thou shalt teacji them diligently unto thy children. In the Hebrew the words are (as our margin. observes), shall whet or sharpen them:.signifying,.as some think, that they should endeavour to make them pierce their hearts. But De Dieu rather thinks it signifies beat theminto them, as things are hammered on an anvil with repeated strokes. Which the famous Bochartus doth not so’well approve; who observes, that the word sanan, which in Arabic’ signifies, in the first-place, to sharpen or whet, signifies also exquisite docere, Sec. to teach exqidsitely; so that he who is taught be made thereby more acute and perspicacious. Which is the intention he thinks of the Hebrew word here, lib. ii. Canaan, cap. 17. However it bo, expounded, it imports the diligence they should use (as we translate it), to instil this principle into their children’s minds, that there’ is but one God; and to work in them a fear and love of -his Divine Majesty. To that which goes before (vcr. 4 — 6.) these words have a particular respect. By which it appears, that Moses thought his law was so plain, that every father might be able to instruct his sons in it, and every mother her daughters. And thou shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou tiest down, and when thou risest up.] As much as to say, they should take all occasions to inculcate this great thing, at home and abroad, night and. day; never ceasing their most earnest endeavours, to persuade their children not to (5) fall to worship the Lord [chap. VI. worship any other God; nor to their God with sincere affection. The Jews have made from hence one of their affirmative precepts, that twice a day, at least, they should recite these words, Hear, O Israel, Sac. which is a very dilute sense of this precept: wherein Moses requires not merely their saying these words (in which there might be a great deal of superstition), but taking all opportunities to imprint them upon the minds and hearts of their children.
Deuteronomy 6:8
And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. Just thus he commauds them to preserve the memory of their deliverance out of the land of Egypt, almost in the same words: see Exod. xiii. 9. 1G. where this is sufficiently explained. And it appears to be a proverbial speech from Isa. xlix. 1G. There are some learned men, indeed, who take these words literally, notwithstanding St. Jerome hath delivered his opinion to the contrary, that there is no command for phylacteries, which are grounded upon these wc>rds, particularly Jos. Scaliger, in his Elench. Trihacres. Nic. Serarii, cap. 7, 8. where he thinks God gave this command to the Israelites, to prevent their following the rites of other nations, who armed themselves against dangers with superstitious amulets in their foreheads; which the Egyptians, he thinks, called totaphot. But since, neither here nor in Exodus, there arc any such words as thou shalt make thee frontlets, but Moses only saith the things that he is speaking of shall be for frontlets between their, eyes, L take it not to be meant literally; though it is likely they intended well who so understood it: for our blessed Saviour doth not seem to reprove the Jews for wearing phylacteries, but for their ostentation, in making them broader than ordinary.
Deuteronomy 6:9
And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. This looks more like a literal command than the former; and it might have been very useful to them, when they went in and out of their house, to read these words, Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one Lord, &c. But the Jews are too scrupulous about the. words they should write, and upon what part of the posts and gates they were to put them, &c. as Mr. Selden observes, (lib. iii. de Synedr. cap. 13. n. 2.) Though, after all, it may be, this was not intended, but only that they should never let this principle slip out of their mind, but think of it when they went out and came in, as well as when they were in their houses, and by the way; when they rose up, and. when they lay down. Yet it must be observed, that other nations used to write their laws upon their gates, as Huetius notes in his Demonstratio Evangelica, (p. 58.) which, it is likely, they did in imitation of the Jews, who, to this day, have written in a parchment these words from ver. 4. to the end of this verse, (with that other passage, chap. xi. from ver. 13. to ver. 20.) which they roll up, and writing on it the name of Shaddai, put it into a piece of cane, or. other hollow wood, and fasten it to the doors of their houses, and of each particular room in them; and, as often as they go in and out, they make it a part of their devotion to touch this parchment, and kiss it; asLcoModena tells us, in his History of the Jews, par. i. cap. 2.,
Deuteronomy 6:10
And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land, which he sivare, &c. Of this he speaks with the greatest assurance, there being no doubt to be made, that God would immediately give them possession of the good land promised to them. The only danger was, lest they should be thrown out of it for their disobedience. Great and goodly cities, which thou bulkiest not.] For they did not lay all waste, as they did Jericho (for which there was a particular reason), but dwelt in them, after they had destroyed the inhabitants.
Deuteronomy 6:11
And houses full of all good things, which thou fittest not, &c. In this, and what follows in the rest of the verse, he sets forth the great bounty of God to them; who intended to enrich them with all manner of good things, without any labour of their own to purchase them.
Deuteronomy 6:12
Then beware lest thou forget the Lord which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, &c. In pros-* perity we are too prone to forget our benefactors.
Deuteronomy 6:13
Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him. Preserve an awful sense of him in thy mind, and be constant in his worship and service; which was never more necessary, than when they enjoyed so many blessings from him. And shalt swear by his name.] When there was any need for it: as iu making covenants with their neighbours, or in bearing their testimony before a judge, they were to swear only by the name of God, not by any idol, nor by the heaven, or the earth, or any thing therein; for they can bear witness to nothing. (See Josh, xxiii. 7, 8.) Nor was it lawful, as Maimonides observes (in his treatise called Shcbuoth), to join any other thing with the name of God. But it was all one, whether a man sware by the proper name of God, or by any of his attributes; as, by the name of Him who io* merciful, or gracious, or long-suffering, &c. for this is a perfect oath. (See Selden, lib. ii. de Synedr. cap. 11. n. 2. and see n. 7. concerning other oaths.)
Deuteronomy 6:14
Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you. This shews that his intention in this chapter is, to press upoi: them the observation of the first commandment, which our Saviour justly calls the great commandment.
Deuteronomy 6:15
For the Lord thy God is a jealous God. See* Exod. xx. 5. Exod.xxxiv. 14. Among you.’] In the Hebrew, in the midst of you; to observe all you do, though never so secretly. Lest the anger of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.] For this was the most provoking, of all other sins: and therefore we never read either in the law, or in the prophets, the word diaron (i. e. fury), or aph (anger X or caas (indignation), or kinah (jealousy), ascribed unto God, but when mention is made of idolatry. So Maimonides observes, More Nevoch. par. i. cap. 3G.
Deuteronomy 6:16
Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God, as you tempted him in Afassah. Never distrust God’s good providence, nor murmur against him in any distress: for this was the temptation at Massah, (Exod. xvii. 2 — 7.)
Deuteronomy 6:17
You shall diligently keep the commandments^of the Lord your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, ivhich he hath commanded thee. As if he had said, I cannot too often press this upon you; nor can you uso too great care in this matter.
Deuteronomy 6:18
And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with thee. As
Deuteronomy 6:19
To cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the Lord haih spoken. flte seems particularly to charge them to drive out the people of Canaan, as God hath commanded, (Numb, xxxiii. 32.) For otherwise they would tempt them to forget this great principle of their religion, that. the God of Israel was the only God, and entice them to serve their idols, (ver. 14.) Ver f 20. And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord our God hath commanded you?] “Abarbinel’ thinks, that their posterity, in future ages, might observe three sorts of precepts in the law, viz. testimonies, which in Hebrew are called eduth, which were such constitutions as bear witness of some great thing God had done for them, and preserved the memory thereof; such was the Passover. And then, secondly, there were chukkim (statutes), which are such precepts the reason of which is unkno t wri. And, thirdly, mischpatim (judgments); which are such, whose reason is evident. Now they might desire to know the reason why such several laws were given; and he thinks Moses teaches them to give a distinct answer to their children about each of these.,;.: Ver* 21. Then thouslialt say unto thy son, We were Pha~, raoKs bondmen in Egypt, and the Lord brought ns out of Egypt with a mighty hand.] As if he had said, tell them the reason why he gave us the first sort of precepts, particularly that about the Passover, was, because we were slaves, and God brought us a state of liberty;, which he would have always thankfully remembered, by the observation of that feast which testified what God wrought for us by his poAver alone. The like may be said of. the;other. two great festivals, which.were to preserve the memory of such-like benefits…
Deuteronomy 6:22
And the Lord shewed signs and wonders, great’ and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and all his household, &c. Particularly slew all their first-born, and spared those. of the Israelites: the memory of which he ordered to, be preserved, by giving their first-born unto him, (Exod. xiii.)
Deuteronomy 6:23
And he brought us out from thence, that he, might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware to our fathers. This is.the. reason, Abarbinel fancies, of giving them the judgments beforementioned:.God brought us out, saith he, to place us jn this good land, and settle us here under a government of our own. Now civil-society cannot be preserved without just judgments: and therefore, that we might live in good order, God gave us these political laws… Ver.*24. And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God.] As for the third sort, which are statutes, give your children this answer: that though wc do not know the reason of them, yet the benefit of them is manifest; for theylead us to the fear of God. And nothing is so much for our good as that, both for the eternal good. of our souls, and for the long life of our bodies. So he interprets the last words of this verse; and so doth Maimonides. For our good always, that he may preserve tts alive, as it is at this day.] The first words in the Hebrew are, that it may be well with us all our days; or, more literally, for good to us all our days: that is, say our rabbins, (they are the words of Maimonides, par. iii. More Nevochim, cap. 27. where he repeats what I observed before upon iv. 40.) That it may be well with us in that world which is wholly good; and our days may be prolonged in that world which is wholly long; or, in short, that thou mayest come into the world which is good and long, which is a perpetual subsistence. As for the last words, they belong, he thinks, to their corporeal subsistence here, which endures but for a time; and therefore he saith, As at this day; to shew he speaks of the present world, wherein they should live happily by observing his laws.
Deuteronomy 6:25
And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments.* Their children might say, If there be such benefits in observing the statutes, which lead to the fear of God, and to happiness hereafter, what need we trouble ourselves about the other two? Unto which, Abarbinel imagines, they are taught to give this answer, It is our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments; i. e. We cannot be righteous before God, if they have not respect to all his precepts, whether testimonies, statutes, or judgments, which are all comprehended in this word mitzvoth, or commandments. This is something nice and curious, but there is a great deal of truth in it.^ The word righteousness also, it must be acknowledged, often comprehends mercy in it: and thus the LXX. andi the Vulgar Latin here understand it. And to take in this sense, these words may be thus expounded: If we observe to do all these commandments, God will account us a: righteous people, and be kind to us. Before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us.] Having a sincere respect to God in all that we do. GHAP. VII. Ver.l. rr HEN the Lord thy God shall bring thee into tJte land whither thou goest to possess i7.]-That is, when he had put them into possession of it. And hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, &c] There were ten nations inhabited in this country in the days of Abraham: but three of them were cither worn out’ since that time, or, being but a small people, were incorporated. with the rest: for the Kenites and the Kcnezitcs (see Gen. xv..19.) are not mentioned after that time, and the Rephaim possessed but a little part of Canaan, the great body of them being in Bashan, on this side Jordan, where Moses now was: (see upon Gen. xv. 19.) Sevennations greater andmightier than thou.] The Amorites alone seem to have been mightier than the Israelites (for there were no less than five kings of them, that dwelt in the mountains, Josh. x. 5, G. besides those in other^ parts), and therefore all the seven nations were much superior to them in strength. • Microsoft® [chap. vir.
Go thou near, and hear all that the’ Lord our God will say; <tnd speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee, and we will hear it, and do it. See Exod. xx. 19. This shews their opinion of Moses, that he could be able not only to endure that without disorder which made them ready to die, but go into the very midst of the darkness out of which those flames came,
And the Lord heard the voice of your words when ye spake unto me; and the Lord said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, &c. As Moses hero reports more largely what they said to him than he did in Exodus, so he likewise gives a larger account what God bade him say to them, in answer to their desire.. They have well said jail t/iat they have spoken.] It very much becomes them, out of a sense of their meanness and unworthincss, and of the inconceivable majesty of God, to desire he would speak to them by a mediator.
Oh that there xmre such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep my commandments always. The words are w r onderful emphatical in the Hebrew, Wlio will give, tjutt there ptay be such a heart in them. Which i£ an expression of the most earnest desire; but withal signifies, that if what he had done for them would not move them to fear and obey him, it was impossible to persuade them to it. Not but that he could miraculously work upon them, and change their hearts (saith Maimonides), if he pleased, as he miraculously changed tho nature of other things; but ^f this were God’s will, to deal with them after this fashion, there would have been no need to send a prophet to them, or to publish laws full of precepts and promises, rewards and punishments; by which (saith he) God wrought upon their heart, and not by his absolute omnipotence. (More Nevochim, par. iii. cap. 32.) • ♦’• That it might be wellxoith them, and with their children for ever!] For God desired nothing more than this, which they themselves promised, (ver. 27.) which moved him to vouchsafe such a special privilege to them, as first to speak to them himself, and, at their desire, consent to speak to them by his prophet. •
Go say to them, Get you into your tents again. All this shews that Moses was a mediator between God and them, and between them and God.
But as for thee, stand thou Jiere by me. He invites Moses unto the nearest approaches unto his majesty; and the most familiar converse with him, (Exod. xx. 21. *xiv. 2. 18.) For this was the highest degree of prophecy, as Maimonides calls it, in his More Nevochim, par. iii. cap. 51. And in his preface to that book, he saith, this is the greatest degree of illumination of a prophet, concerning whom it is said, Stand thou here with me: and again, The skin of his face shone. Which he supposes signified, that his mind was always full of light; whereas other prophets were some time in darkness, and saw nothing. And I will speak vnto thee all tfie commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, ivhich thou shall teach them.] According to their own desire, ver, 27. (See vi. 1.) And that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it.] According to their promise in the same, ver. 27.. • -
Ye shall observe to do therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded you. Being obliged by such singular benefits as no other.nation ever had the like, (ver. 24 — 2G.) and having engaged themselves so solemnly to be obedient, (ver. 27.) Ye shall not turn aside, to the right hand, or to the left.] This is a phrase often used to signify a strict observance of God’s laws; neither superstitiously adding to them, nor profanely laying aside any of them, (xvii. 20. xxviii. 14. Josh. i. 7.)
Ye shall walk in all the ways ivhich the Lord your God hath commanded. That is, observe alibis laws, and make them the rule of their lives. That ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days, in the land ivhich ye sliall possess.] Universal obedience, he w r ould have them sensible, was the only way to make them live happy and long in that good land which he was about to bestow upon them. This he inculcates again in the next chapter, vi. 3. For all mankind thought long life a very great blessing, as appears by Callimachus’s hymn to Diana, ver. 132, 133. when ho promises to those whom she favours, — L pvS’ Itt\ aTjjia i. e. They shall not come into their grave, till they have reached a great old age.