1883 Haydock Douay Rheims Bible
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| Deuteronomy 1:1 | These are the words, which Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan, in the plain wilderness, over-against the Red Sea, between Pharan and Thophel, and Laban and Haseroth, where there is very much gold: | Beyond. The eastern side of the Jordan is so called in Scripture, with reference to the promised land. (Menochius) --- Hebrew may mean also, "on this side, or at the passage" about Bethabara, "the house of passage," near which the Hebrews were encamped, and where Josue probably crossed over the Jordan, as it was the usual ford. Calmet seems to think that these two first verses have been inverted by Esdras, etc., or interpolated, as he says Moses never crossed the Jordan, and certainly addressed the Hebrews near that river, at a great distance from the Red Sea: but the text does not assert the contrary. It only determines that the place where he harangued them, was a part of the wilderness, or the plains of Moab, over-against the Red Sea, which they had left when they came from Asiongaber, unless the term Suph, which signifies red, may be a proper name of the station Supha, near the torrent Zared, (Numbers 21:14,) as Calmet maintains. If this be admitted, this difficulty vanishes, for the camp of Israel was certainly over-against, and not even remote from this place. The other cities may have been in the environs, or Moses may have referred to the stations and places in the desert of Pharan, at Tophel, Laban, or Lebna, Haseroth, (Numbers 33:17,) where there is very much gold, (Septuagint, "gold mines;" Hebrew, "dizahab,") and Cades-barne. Lebna, Haseroth, and Cades-barne, were in the territory of the Idumeans, who dwelt to the south-west of the plains of Moab. Tophel and Dizahab are unknown (Calmet) as well as Laban, Haseroth, and Pharan, if they be not the names of encampments. Geographers vary so much in their descriptions of the road, which the Hebrews followed, and in maps of the adjacent countries, that it is now impossible to decide. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 1:2 | Eleven days' journey from Horeb, by the way of Mount Seir, to Cades-barne. | Cades-barne. All the distance between Horeb and the Jordan, by Mount Seir, on the road to Cades-barne, might have been travelled in eleven days' time, being about 300 miles; or the Hebrews were so long in going thither, Numbers 33:17. (Calmet) --- It was to punish the Israelites for their frequent rebellions, that they were condemned to wander in that wilderness forty years. (Du Hamel) --- They might have entered the promised land, when they first came to Cades-barne, from Mount Horeb, (Numbers 13:1, 27,) which, even by the circuitous road of Mount Seir, would not have taken them above eleven days. He mentions this to remind them of their folly. Perhaps all the aforesaid places may have been between Horeb and Cades-barne, as Bonfrere maintains that Laban was in the neighbourhood of Sinai, where Moses first received the law which he is now going to explain. His discourse turns upon the chief occurrences of the forty years' journey; and hence, these are the words, (ver. 1,) may refer not only to what he was going to say, but also to the commands which he had already notified to the Israelites, from the passage of the Red Sea till the station Abelsetim, upon the banks of the Jordan, Numbers 36:13. (Haydock) --- Deuteronomy contains a recapitulation of the law, and therefore it was to be read aloud to all the people on the feast of tabernacles, every seventh year; and the new kings, or rulers of the Hebrews, were commanded to transcribe it, and every day read some part for the rule of their conduct, chap. 17:18., and 31:10. (Tirinus) |
| Deuteronomy 1:3 | *In the fortieth year, the eleventh month, the first day of the month, Moses spoke to the children of Israel, all that the Lord had commanded him to say to them: | Year of the World 2553, Year before Christ 1451. Month, corresponding with our January, if the ecclesiastical calculation be followed; but if we date from Tisri, this eleventh month will be our July or August. Moses died on the 7th of the following month. (Du Hamel) |
| Deuteronomy 1:4 | *After that he had slain Sehon, king of the Amorrhites, who dwelt in Hesebon: and Og, king of Basan, who abode in Astaroth, and in Edrai, Numbers 21:24. | Astaroth signifies "sheep," particularly ewes, with their dugs distended with milk. Hence the Sidonians formed the idea of their Astarte, 1 Kings 11:5. (Haydock) --- The Rabbins say, that Astaroth denotes large mountains, generally covered with sheep. Astaroth-Carnaim, was the city. (Eusebius) --- Here the famous Og resided, though he was defeated at Edrai, as the Hebrew intimates. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 1:5 | Beyond the Jordan in the land of Moab. And Moses began to expound the law, and to say: | Expound. He begins, as usual, with commemorating the wonders of God, in favour of an ungrateful people. This book may be considered as a supplement to the other four books. (Calmet) --- We need not wonder, therefore, if we find some new observations. The reason why the sabbath is to be kept, is here said to be in the memory of the law being given to the Hebrews, and their liberation from slavery; (chap. 5:15,) whereas in Exodus, it seems to be designed to remind people that God rested on the seventh day. But here is no contradiction. (Watson) |
| Deuteronomy 1:6 | The Lord our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying: You have stayed long enough in this mountain: | |
| Deuteronomy 1:7 | Turn you, and come to the mountain of the Amorrhites, and to the other places that are next to it, the plains, and the hills, and the vales, towards the south, and by the sea shore, the land of the Chanaanites, and of Libanus, as far as the great river Euphrates. | Turn you. The Hebrews, after the passage of the Red Sea, seemed to turn their backs upon the promised land, to go southward. Now, therefore, they are ordered to bend their course to the north, and to enter Chanaan, (Haydock) on the western side of the lake of Sodom, where the Amorrhites dwelt. (Calmet) --- Their mountain, and the other hills, and plains, and vales, (Hebrew sephela, mentioned [in] 1 Machabees 12:38,) as far as the Nile and the Mediterranean, were the southern limits of the Chanaanites, whose country extended to Libanus. See Numbers xxxiv. (Haydock) --- God promises also to deliver the country as far as the Euphrates to the Hebrews, provided they continue faithful to him, chap. 19:8. As they neglected this condition, they never possessed the whole country, not even that of Chanaan, unmolested. Yet the whole was tributary to them, in the days of David and Solomon. (St. Augustine, q. 21. in Jos.) (Masius) (Tirinus) |
| Deuteronomy 1:8 | Behold, said he, I have delivered it to you: go in and possess it, concerning which the Lord swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that he would give it to them, and to their seed after them. | |
| Deuteronomy 1:9 | And I said to you at that time: | I said, following the advice of Jethro, Exodus 18:18. |
| Deuteronomy 1:10 | *I alone am not able to bear you: for the Lord your God hath multiplied you, and you are this day as the stars of heaven, for multitude. Exodus 18:18. | |
| Deuteronomy 1:11 | (The Lord God of your fathers add to this number many thousands, and bless you as he hath spoken.) | |
| Deuteronomy 1:12 | I alone am not able to bear your business, and the charge of you and your differences. | |
| Deuteronomy 1:13 | Let me have from among you wise and understanding men, and such whose conversation is approved among your tribes, that I may appoint them your rulers. | |
| Deuteronomy 1:14 | Then you answered me: The thing is good which thou meanest to do. | |
| Deuteronomy 1:15 | And I took out of your tribes men wise and honourable, and appointed them rulers, tribunes, and centurions, and officers over fifties, and over tens, who might teach you all things. | Who, etc. Hebrew, "and shoterim (officers like our serjeants, designed to publish and execute the sentence of the judges) over or among your tribes." The Persians still call such officers chaters. The Rabbins say, that the shoterim were generally selected from among the Cinites, the descendants of Jethro, 1 Paralipomenon 2:55. But we find that the Levites were also chosen, 2 Paralipomenon 19:11. They seem to have had sometimes the authority of judges, princes, or doctors for the instruction of the people, as the Vulgate here expresses it. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 1:16 | And I commanded them, saying: Hear them, and judge that which is just: *whether he be one of your country, or a stranger. John 7:24. | |
| Deuteronomy 1:17 | *There shall be no difference of persons, you shall hear the little as well as the great: neither shall you respect any man's person, because it is the judgment of God. And if any thing seem hard to you, refer it to me, and I will hear it. Leviticus 19:15.; Deuteronomy 16:19.; Proverbs 24:23.; Ecclesiasticus 42:1.; James 2:1. | Respect. Hebrew, "fear." (Menochius) --- Those who judge ought to be quite impartial, and never suffer their sentence to be dictated either by love or by fear. (Haydock) (Ecclesiasticus 7:6.) --- Of God, to whom you must give an account of your conduct, Wisdom 6:4. Speak therefore in his name, and imitate his justice and other perfections. See Psalm 81:1. (Calmet) --- If any one absolve an oppressor because he is rich, that judge is guilty of partiality. (Du Hamel) (Isaias 1:23.) --- Hear it, as the supreme judge. (Menochius) --- The people selected such as might be most proper, out of whom Moses made his choice. (Salien) --- An appeal might be made to himself. (Abulensis, q. 11.) |
| Deuteronomy 1:18 | And I commanded you all things that you were to do. | |
| Deuteronomy 1:19 | And departing from Horeb, we passed through the terrible and vast wilderness, which you saw, by the way of the mountain of the Amorrhite, as the Lord our God had commanded us. And when we were come into Cades-barne, | |
| Deuteronomy 1:20 | I said to you: You are come to the mountain of the Amorrhite, which the Lord our God will give to us. | |
| Deuteronomy 1:21 | See the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee: go up and possess it, as the Lord our God hath spoken to thy fathers: fear not, nor be any way discouraged. | |
| Deuteronomy 1:22 | *And you came all to me, and said: Let us send men who may view the land, and bring us word what way we shall go up, and to what cities we shall go. Numbers 13:3.; Numbers 32:8. | |
| Deuteronomy 1:23 | And because the saying pleased me, I sent of you twelve men, one of every tribe: | Pleased me. Even Moses was deceived by the appearance of prudence: and God permitted the people to follow the directions of their cowardice, ver. 26, 32. (Chap. 9:29., and Numbers 13:1.) (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 1:24 | Who, when they had set forward, and had gone up to the mountains, came as far as the valley of the cluster: and having viewed the land, | |
| Deuteronomy 1:25 | Taking of the fruits thereof, to shew its fertility, they brought them to us, and said: The land is good, which the Lord our God will give us. | |
| Deuteronomy 1:26 | And you would not go up, but being incredulous to the word of the Lord our God, | Being. Hebrew, "but rebelled against, irritated, or rendered useless," etc. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 1:27 | You murmured in your tents, and said: The Lord hateth us, and therefore he hath brought us out of the land of Egypt, that he might deliver us into the hand of the Amorrhite, and destroy us. | Hateth us. Such an opinion, can bring nothing but destruction. (Du Hamel) |
| Deuteronomy 1:28 | Whither shall we go up? the messengers have terrified our hearts, saying: The multitude is very great, and taller than we: the cities are great, and walled up to the sky, we have seen the sons of the Enacims there. | |
| Deuteronomy 1:29 | And I said to you: Fear not, neither be ye afraid of them: | |
| Deuteronomy 1:30 | The Lord God, who is your leader, himself will fight for you, as he did in Egypt in the sight of all. | For you. Septuagint, "he will defeat them along with you." For man must do something. (St. Augustine, q. 1.) |
| Deuteronomy 1:31 | And in the wilderness (as thou hast seen) the Lord thy God hath carried thee, as a man is wont to carry his little son, all the way that you have come, until you came to this place. | |
| Deuteronomy 1:32 | And yet for all this you did not believe the Lord your God, | |
| Deuteronomy 1:33 | *Who went before you in the way, and marked out the place wherein you should pitch your tents; in the night shewing you the way by fire, and in the day by the pillar of a cloud. Exodus 13:21.; Numbers 14:14. | |
| Deuteronomy 1:34 | And when the Lord had heard the voice of your words, he was angry and swore, and said: | |
| Deuteronomy 1:35 | *Not one of the men of this wicked generation shall see the good land, which I promised with an oath to your fathers: Numbers 14:23.; Psalm 94:11. | |
| Deuteronomy 1:36 | Except Caleb, the son of Jephone: for he shall see it, and to him I will give the land, that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath followed the Lord. | |
| Deuteronomy 1:37 | Neither is his indignation against the people to be wondered at, since the Lord was angry with me also on your account, and said: Neither shalt thou go in thither. | Neither, etc. Hebrew simply, "The Lord was also angry with me on your account," etc. Moses had been so long witness to the rebellions of the Hebrews, that at last he gave way to a certain diffidence, when he was ordered by God to give them water out of the rock. He was afraid the Lord would not bear any longer with their repeated acts of ingratitude, nor work a miracle on this occasion, chap. 3:26., and Numbers 20:12. (Haydock) --- He had also consented to the sending of the 12 spies imprudently. (Du Hamel) (Ver. 23.) |
| Deuteronomy 1:38 | But Josue, the son of Nun, thy minister, he shall go in for thee: exhort and encourage him, and he shall divide the land by lot to Israel. | |
| Deuteronomy 1:39 | Your children, of whom you said that they should be led away captives, and your sons, who know not this day the difference of good and evil, they shall go in: and to them I will give the land, and they shall possess it. | Evil. These words were spoken to by God to the Hebrews, after they had refused to go from Cades-barne, to take immediate possession of the land of Chanaan, and not after Moses had offended at the waters of contradiction, which happened only a short time before his death. (Haydock) --- Those who were not come to the use of reason at the former period, (Menochius) or who had not arrived at 20 years of age, were now permitted to enter. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 1:40 | But return you and go into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea. | Sea. This they deferred complying with for a long time, (ver. 46,) and then they directed their course along Mount Seir, towards the west, and encamped at Hesmona. (Calmet) --- Many years after, they arrived at a different branch of the Red Sea from that which they had crossed, (Numbers 33:30-35.) (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 1:41 | *And you answered me: We have sinned against the Lord: we will go up and fight, as the Lord our God hath commanded. And when you went ready armed unto the mountain, Numbers 14:40. | Armed. Septuagint, "in crowds." Arabic, "quickly." Syriac, "encouraging one another." Chaldean, "impiously." (Calmet) --- The conduct of these people might seem to authorize all these interpretations. The Hebrew term occurs no where else. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 1:42 | The Lord said to me: Say to them: *Go not up, and fight not, for I am not with you: lest you fall before your enemies. Numbers 14:42. | |
| Deuteronomy 1:43 | I spoke, and you hearkened not: but resisting the commandment of the Lord, and swelling with pride, you went up into the mountain. | |
| Deuteronomy 1:44 | And the Amorrhite that dwelt in the mountains, coming out, and meeting you, chased you, as bees do: and made slaughter of you from Seir as far as Horma. | Bees do. This similitude shews the vivacity, courage, and numbers of those who pursued the Hebrews from Seir to Horma. See )Numbers 21:3.; Psalm 107:12.; and Isaias 7:18.) |
| Deuteronomy 1:45 | And when you returned and wept before the Lord, he heard you not, neither would he yield to your voice. | |
| Deuteronomy 1:46 | So you abode in Cades-barne a long time. | Time. Hebrew adds, "according to the days that you abode." All the time that the Hebrews spent in that neighbourhood, they remained at Cades-barne. The Rabbins say 38 years; but Moses informs us, that they were so long in coming thence to the torrent of Zared, (Deuteronomy 2:14.) (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 2:0 | They are forbid to fight against the Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites. Their victory over Sehon, king of Hesebon. | |
| Deuteronomy 2:1 | And departing from thence, we came into the wilderness, that leadeth to the Red Sea, as the Lord had spoken to me: and we compassed Mount Seir a long time. | Sea, encamping again at Mosera. When they were at Asiongaber, they were ordered to go to the north, by the mountains of Idumea or of Seir. Being arrived at Cades, they attempted to penetrate into Chanaan, by the road of the spies, but were repulsed. Upon which they asked leave of the Idumeans to pass through their country, lying south of the Dead Sea, but could not obtain permission, and God would not suffer them to force a passage, but ordered them to go round their territories, Numbers xx., and xxi. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 2:2 | And the Lord said to me: | |
| Deuteronomy 2:3 | You have compassed this mountain long enough: go towards the north: | |
| Deuteronomy 2:4 | And command thou the people, saying: You shall pass by the borders of your brethren the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir, and they will be afraid of you. | |
| Deuteronomy 2:5 | Take ye then good heed that ye stir not against them: For I will not give you of their land so much as the step of one foot can tread upon, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau, for a possession. | Stir. Hebrew gur, meddle not, wage not war, do not molest, etc. The Idumeans near Mount Hor, afterwards refused the Hebrews a passage, and the necessaries of life, though their brethren in Mount Seir had granted them the latter, while they passed quietly along their borders, ver. 28. See Numbers 20:21. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 2:6 | You shall buy meats of them for money, and shall eat: you shall draw water for money, and shall drink. | Meats, if they wanted any other sort, besides manna. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 2:7 | The Lord thy God hath blessed thee in every work of thy hands: the Lord thy God dwelling with thee, knoweth thy journey, how thou hast passed through this great wilderness for forty years, and thou hast wanted nothing. | Knoweth, or approveth, directing by his loving providence, Psalm 1:6., and 36:18. |
| Deuteronomy 2:8 | And when we had passed by our brethren, the children of Esau, that dwelt in Seir, by the way of the plain from Elath, and from Asiongaber, we came to the way that leadeth to the desert of Moab. | |
| Deuteronomy 2:9 | And the Lord said to me: *Fight not against the Moabites, neither go to battle against them: for I will not give thee any of their land, because I have given Ar to the children of Lot in possession. Numbers 21:13. | Moabites. They allowed the Hebrews to pass, as the Idumeans had done; (ver. 29,) but they treated them with no particular marks of affection, (chap. 23:3,) nor would they suffer them to go across their country, Judges 11:17. --- Ar, is sometimes called Rabbah Moab, "the great city of the Moabites," (Josue 13:25,) and Areopolis. (Eusebius) |
| Deuteronomy 2:10 | The Emims first were the inhabitants thereof, a people great, and strong, and so tall, that like the race of the Enacims, | Emim, signifies "the terrible," or "men of cubits or length." See Numbers 13:33. They had been probably ruined in the war of Chodorlahomor, (Genesis 14:5,) a little before the birth of Moab. (Calmet) --- But those few who remained, were sufficient to strike the beholders with terror, as they were not inferior to the other giants who were known, since the deluge, of the race of Enac, or of Rapha. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 2:11 | They were esteemed as giants, and were like the sons of the Enacims. But the Moabites call them Emims. | Giants. Hebrew Raphaim, which Grotius thinks is a word retained from the primitive language. It sometimes denotes giants, and those who groan in hell, on account of the great iniquity of the Raphaim, Job. 26:5. Og was one of their descendants, and inhabited the same country, which they had occupied in the days of Abraham, chap. 3:2. (Calmet) --- They lost much of their power in the war of Sodom. Some of them fled into the land of the Philistines, and established themselves there, 1 Kings 21:16. As these gigantic nations had been overthrown, as well as the Horrhites, when God formerly gave their territories to Moad and to Esau, (Haydock) so the Hebrews may be assured, that nothing will be able to resist their power, while He is with them. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 2:12 | The Horrhites also formerly dwelt in Seir: who being driven out and destroyed, the children of Esau dwelt there, as Israel did in the land of his possession, which the Lord gave him. | Gave him, on the east side of the Jordan. They had not yet taken possession of Chanaan. But Moses foresees that they shortly will; and in this sense we may translate, "Esau dwelt there, as Israel will in the land," etc., ver. 29. The neighbouring nations could not rationally object to their coming, as they themselves had dispossessed the former owners of the land, ver. 20, 23. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 2:13 | Then rising up to pass the torrent Zared, we came to it. | |
| Deuteronomy 2:14 | And the time that we journeyed from Cades-barne till we passed over the torrent Zared, was thirty-eight years: until all the generation of the men that were fit for war was consumed out of the camp, as the Lord had sworn: | Years. They had continued another year at Sinai, and some months at least at Cades-barne; so that the few remaining months of the 40 years' sojournment, were spent in conquering the kingdoms east of the Jordan. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 2:15 | For his hand was against them, that they should perish from the midst of the camp. | |
| Deuteronomy 2:16 | And after all the fighting men were dead, | |
| Deuteronomy 2:17 | The Lord spoke to me, saying: | |
| Deuteronomy 2:18 | Thou shalt pass this day the borders of Moab,* the city named Ar: | Year of the World 2553, Year before Christ 1451. |
| Deuteronomy 2:19 | And when thou comest nigh the frontiers of the children of Ammon, take heed thou fight not against them, nor once move to battle: for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon, because I have given it to the children of Lot for a possession. | |
| Deuteronomy 2:20 | It was accounted a land of giants: and giants formerly dwelt in it, whom the Ammonites call Zomzommims, | Zomzommim, means "wicked wretches," famous for their stature, etc. (Menochius) --- They are probably the same nation as the Zuzim, Genesis 14:5. |
| Deuteronomy 2:21 | A people great, and many, and of tall stature, like the Enacims, whom the Lord destroyed before their face: and he made them to dwell in their stead, | Enacims. See on this race of giants what has been said, Numbers 13:23. They made place for the Zomzommim, as the latter did for the Ammonites. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 2:22 | As he had done in favour of the children of Esau, that dwell in Seir, destroying the Horrhites, and delivering their land to them, which they possess unto this day. | Horrhites, so called because they dwelt in caverns. (St. Jerome) |
| Deuteronomy 2:23 | The Hevites also, that dwelt in Haserim as far as Gaza, were expelled by the Cappadocians: who came out of Cappadocia, and destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead. | Haserim, the same as Haseroth, Numbers 33:17. --- Gaza belonged to the Philistines. The intermediate country, or the south part of Chanaan, occupied by the Hevites was seized by invaders from the isle of Cyprus, (Hebrew, Caphtorum; Calmet) (Genesis 10:14.) or from Egypt, which the Nile intersects, forming many islands, in the Delta, Jeremias 47:4. The Cappadocians, who dwelt in Asia Minor, on the Euxine sea, were a different nation, and sprung from Japhet. (Tirinus) |
| Deuteronomy 2:24 | Arise ye, and pass the torrent Arnon: *behold I have delivered into thy hand Sehon, king of Hesebon, the Amorrhite, and begin thou to possess his land, and make war against him. | Year of the World 2553. Arise. God did not forbid Moses to ask for leave to pass through the land quietly, as the latter did; (ver. 26.) but he gives him to understand that his demand will be rejected with disdain, and he is at liberty to attack this insolent king, and thus to commence his conquests. |
| Deuteronomy 2:25 | This day will I begin to send the dread and fear of thee upon the nations, that dwell under the whole heaven: that when they hear thy name they may fear and tremble, and be in pain like women in travail. | Heaven. All who hear of thy exploits, will have cause to fear. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 2:26 | *So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Cademoth to Sehon, the king of Hesebon, with peaceable words, saying: Numbers 21:21. | Cademoth, "to the east," of the Arnon. There was a city of the same name on the other side of its banks, which belonged to Sehon, and was given afterwards to the Levites, 1 Paralipomenon 6:79. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 2:27 | We will pass through thy land, we will go along by the highway: we will not turn aside neither to the right hand nor to the left. | |
| Deuteronomy 2:28 | Sell us meat for money, that we may eat: give us water for money, and so we will drink. We only ask that thou wilt let us pass through, | |
| Deuteronomy 2:29 | As the children of Esau have done, that dwell in Seir, and the Moabites, that abide in Ar: until we come to the Jordan, and pass to the land, which the Lord our God will give us. | As, etc. These nations had only permitted them to pass along their borders, and furnished them, through fear, (ver. 4,) with the necessaries of life. Sehon will not even grant so much. |
| Deuteronomy 2:30 | And Sehon, the king of Hesebon, would not let us pass: because the Lord thy God had hardened his spirit and fixed his heart, that he might be delivered into thy hands, as now thou seest. | Hardened, etc. That is, in punishment of his past sins, he left him to his own stubborn and perverse disposition, which drew him to his ruin. See the note on (Exodus 7:3.) (Challoner) --- God did not soften his heart, (Menochius) nor make him see the danger to which he was exposing his dominions, by provoking such an army. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 2:31 | And the Lord said to me: *Behold I have begun to deliver unto thee Sehon, and his land; begin to possess it. Amos 2:9. | |
| Deuteronomy 2:32 | And Sehon came out to meet us with all his people to fight at Jasa. | |
| Deuteronomy 2:33 | And the Lord our God delivered him to us: and we slew him, with his sons, and all his people. | |
| Deuteronomy 2:34 | And we took all his cities at that time, killing the inhabitants of them, men, and women, and children. We left nothing of them, | Killing, according to God's express command, (Deuteronomy 20:16.) (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 2:35 | Except the cattle, which came to the share of them that took them: and the spoils of the cities, which we took: | |
| Deuteronomy 2:36 | From Aroer, which is upon the bank of the torrent Arnon, a town that is situate in a valley, as far as Galaad, there was not a village or city, that escaped our hands: the Lord our God delivered all unto us: | |
| Deuteronomy 2:37 | Except the land of the children of Ammon, to which we approached not: and all that border upon the torrent Jeboc, and the cities in the mountains, and all the places, which the Lord our God forbad us. | Jeboc, towards its source; for both sides of the torrent were taken by the Hebrews from the kings Sehon and Og, who had already driven the Ammonites farther into the mountains, on the east. (Haydock) --- When these demanded the conquered country to be restored to them, Jephte shewed that their claim was inadmissible, Judges 11:13. (Calmet) --- They had lost possession when the Hebrews came; and, as God had authorized the latter to take the land from those kings, without enquiring who were the former proprietors, the Ammonites, who had themselves expelled the Zomzommim, came with a very bad grace to assert their title, after a lapse of near 300 years. God only forbids the Hebrews to molest the actual dominions of the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Esau, in consideration of their fathers, to whom they were so nearly related. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 3:0 | The victory over Og, king of Basan. Ruben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasses, receive their possession on the other side of the Jordan. | |
| Deuteronomy 3:1 | Then we turned *and went by the way of Basan: **and Og, the king of Basan, came out to meet us with his people to fight in Edrai. Numbers 21:34. | Year of the World 2553. Turned. Instead of going straight forward across the Jordan, we directed our arms against Basan, in the north. See Numbers 21:33. |
| Deuteronomy 3:2 | And the Lord said to me: Fear him not: because he is delivered into thy hand, with all his people and his land: and thou shalt do to him as thou hast done to Sehon, king of the Amorrhites, that dwelt in Hesebon. | |
| Deuteronomy 3:3 | *So the Lord our God delivered into our hands, Og also, the king of Basan, and all his people: and we utterly destroyed them, Numbers 21:35. | |
| Deuteronomy 3:4 | Wasting all his cities at one time; there was not a town that escaped us: sixty cities, all the country of Argob, the kingdom of Og, in Basan. | Country. Hebrew, "the line" with which lands were measured, chap. 32:9. --- Argob may signify rich and fertile; "all that fertile region, the kingdom of Og." Vatable thinks that Basan, Argob, and Trachonitis, denote the same country. But Cellarius observes, that the last mentioned country was ill cultivated and very poor, the inhabitants living mostly in the caverns of rocks, whereas Argob or Basan was adorned with 60 cities. |
| Deuteronomy 3:5 | All the cities were fenced with very high walls, and with gates and bars, besides innumerable towns that had no walls. | Walls. Tacitus remarks, that "a great part of Judea is covered with villages, though towns may likewise be found in the country. (Hist. 5:8.) See 3 Kings 4:13. Septuagint, "besides the towns of the Pherezites, which were very numerous." (Calmet) --- The spies had not travelled in this county, when they gave an account of the walled towns being as high as heaven. But Moses here informs us, that the cities on the east side of the Jordan were not much inferior to those on the west, and the land was infested also with giants, ver. 13. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 3:6 | And we utterly destroyed them, as we had done to Sehon, the king of Hesebon, destroying every city, men, and women, and children: | Utterly. Yet out of the ruins they soon raised other strong cities, Numbers 32:26. All the walls were not probably demolished, (ver. 19,) but only a part, so that they might be repaired with no great labour or expense. The inhabitants were all destroyed, that they might not pervert the Hebrews by their bad example; and because God had pronounced the sentence of death upon them, in punishment of their crimes. Hebrew seems to insinuate, that the cities were destroyed only by the death of the inhabitants. "We subjected them to anathema....utterly destroying the men," etc. (Haydock) --- We devoted to utter ruin the men, women, and children of the cities which we took. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 3:7 | But the cattle, and the spoils of the cities, we took for our prey. | |
| Deuteronomy 3:8 | And we took at that time the land out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorrhites, that were beyond the Jordan: from the torrent Arnon unto the mountain Hermon, | Beyond. East of the promised land of Chanaan, which the sacred writers have generally in view. (Haydock) --- Hebrew heber, means, "alongside, opposite to, at the passage, on this side," etc. See chap. 1:1., and 3 Kings 4:24. (Calmet) --- There is no need, therefore, to suppose that this and similar passages have been inserted by a later writer. (Haydock) --- Hermon, which profane authors commonly call Antilibanus, (Calmet) was a part of the range of the mountains of Galaad, by which name it goes frequently, though it be also denominated Seon, or Sion, (chap. 4:48.; Menochius) and the different nations had other names for it, ver. 9. (Haydock) --- It does not appear that Moses went much beyond the torrent of Jeboc. But he knew that the territory, as far as Hermon and Emath, belonged to the Hebrews, and he probably, sent some troops to take possession of it. They did not, however, entirely banish the Hevites, that dwelt from Baal-Hermon to the entering into Emath. These and some other nations were left by God to instruct Israel, Judges 3:3. |
| Deuteronomy 3:9 | Which the Sidonians call Sarion, and the Amorrhites Sanir*: Deuteronomy 4:48. | |
| Deuteronomy 3:10 | All the cities, that are situate in the plain, and all the land of Galaad and Basan, as far as Selcha, and Edrai, cities of the kingdom of Og, in Basan. | Plain. Hebrew Mishor, which the Septuagint leave untranslated. It has perhaps the same meaning as Argob, ver. 4. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 3:11 | For only Og, king of Basan, remained of the race of the giants. His bed of iron is shewn, which is in Rabbath of the children of Ammon, being nine cubits long, and four broad after the measure of the cubit of a man's hand. | Giants. Hebrew, "Raphaim." Og was the only survivor of this family, in Basan, though there were other giants dispersed throughout the land, 1 Paralipomenon 20:6. (Tirinus) --- Some of the stock of Rapha, were also seen afterwards at Geth, but they did not reign in the country of their fathers, as Og alone did at this time, Josue 15:14., and 17:15. Hebrew may be, "Now Og, king of Basan, was a remnant of the Raphaim." (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "for, moreover, Og....was left of the Raphaim." His bed was 13.5 feet long, and 6.5 broad, taking the cubit at 18 inches, with Arbuthnot; though Calmet allows 20.5 French inches, which are greater than ours. As beds are commonly made larger than the person who lies in them, he concludes that Og might be 14 or 15 feet high, unless he was possessed with the same vanity as Alexander the Great, who caused beds five cubits long to be left in his camp, when he returned from his Indian expedition, in order that the people might think that his soldiers were of a gigantic stature. Allowances must here be made for a royal bed; and, at any rate, it will not easily be proved that a human body might not exceed 12 or 15 feet in height, without injuring the just proportions, as Thomas Paine would have us to believe. We know that the difference in size between the inhabitants of Shetland and of Patagonia is still very great; and the people of the former island would act very irrationally, if they would not credit the existence of the Lincolnshire ox, or of the large dray horses in London, because their own oxen are not bigger than mastiffs. See Watson, p. 26. --- Iron. Bedsteads are frequently made of iron, brass, silver, or gold, in hot countries, for the sake of cleanliness and grandeur, Proverbs 25:11., Esther 1:6. The Parthian kings reserved to themselves the privilege of lying on golden beds. (Josephus, [Antiquities?] 20:20.) The Thebans made beds of iron and brass out of the spoils of Platea, and consecrated them to Juno. (Thucydides, iii.) --- Ammon. Hebrew, "Behold his bedstead was of iron; is it not in Rabbath?" etc. This town is called Rabbatamana, by Polybius; and Ammana, by Eusebius, who says it had afterwards the name of Astarte, till Ptolemy Philadelphus gave it the title of Philadelphia. It lay to the east of Jazer, not far from the Arnon. (Cellarius, 3:14.) It is probable that the bed of Og continued in this city, till it was taken by David, 2 Kings 22:30. How the Ammonites got possession of it, we do not know. It seems that the account of it, and of Jair, (ver. 15,) have been given by some one who lived a long time after these events had taken place. (Calmet) --- This conjecture, however, is not well founded, for though Moses was addressing those who had been witnesses to these transactions not many months before, his appeal to them gives the strongest authority to a narration, which was to be handed down to the latest posterity. They could attest the surprising stature of that giant, whom they had slain, and their neighbours kept his bed as a proof of his having existed, the terror of all that country. Until this present day, (ver. 14,) is an expression often used in Scripture, to denote an event which had taken place at no very great distance of time, chap. 11:4. Thus St. Matthew, (xxvii. 8,) writing about eight years after the ascension of our Saviour, says, the field was called Haceldama....even to this day. See Josue 8:29. (Haydock) --- It is sufficient if the thing be still in the same state as it was before. (Menochius) --- Hand. Hebrew, "according to the cubit of a man," from the elbow to the finger ends. (Calmet) --- Syriac, "of giants." Chaldean, "of the king;" whence some have imagined, that the bed was nine times as long as the cubit of Og, which is very improbable. (Haydock) --- The Rabbins, who delight in fables, say that this bed was used by Og only while he was in his infancy: for he grew to be 120 cubits high; and some say his foot alone was this length. He would have hurled a mountain to overwhelm all the Hebrews at once, only a bird, or some ants, made a hole in it, and the mountain falling upon his shoulders, he could not extricate his head, God causing his teeth to grow ten cubits, and in this condition he was taken and killed by Moses. (Lyranus, etc.) --- Noble discovery of these blind guides! (Calmet) --- The poets have not been more extravagant in their descriptions of Typheus, or Typho, whose name signifies burning, as well as that of Og, (or hog, he burnt) with whom he has probably been confounded. (Vossius on Idolat.) (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 3:12 | And we possessed the land at that time from Aroer, which is upon the bank of the torrent Arnon, unto the half of Mount Galaad: *and I gave the cities thereof to Ruben and Gad. Numbers 32:29. | Galaad. Moses comprises under this name, all the conquered country. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 3:13 | And I delivered the other part of Galaad, and all Basan, the kingdom of Og, to the half tribe of Manasses, all the country of Argob: and all Basan is called the land of giants. | |
| Deuteronomy 3:14 | Jair, the son of Manasses, possessed all the country of *Argob unto the borders of Gessuri, and Machati. And he called Basan by his own name, Havoth Jair, that is to say, the towns of Jair, until this present day. Numbers 21:34. | Jair. Some have supposed that this was one of the judges of Israel, but without foundation. He was a son or descendant of Manasses, Numbers 32:41., and Judges 10:4. --- And Machati. These were the most southern towns of this half tribe. (Calmet) --- Day. If Esdras added these words, he did it not against the law, but to explain it. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 3:15 | To Machir also I gave Galaad. | Machir's posterity was settled in the same part of Galaad. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 3:16 | And to the tribes of Ruben and Gad, I gave of the land of Galaad, as far as the torrent Arnon, half the torrent, and the confines even unto the torrent Jeboc, which is the border of the children of Ammon: | Torrent. The other part belonged to the Moabites, (Calmet) on the south and east. --- Ammon. See chap. 2:37. The two tribes of Gad and Ruben, occupied the territory lying between the Jeboc and the Arnon, hemmed in by the mountains of Galaad, on the east, and by the Jordan and the most salt sea, and that of Cenereth, on the west. Gad occupied the northern division of this country. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 3:17 | And the plain of the wilderness, and the Jordan, and the borders of Cenereth, unto the sea of the desert, which is the most salt sea, to the foot of Mount Phasga, eastward. | Foot. Hebrew and Septuagint Ashdoth-pisga. Eusebius seems to have taken these for two different towns. The former was situated near Phasga, Josue 12:3. This mount was the eastern boundary of Ruben. The plain here mentioned was that where Moses was speaking. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 3:18 | And I commanded you at that time, saying: The Lord your God giveth you this land for an inheritance; go ye well appointed before your brethren, the children of Israel, all the strong men of you: | |
| Deuteronomy 3:19 | Leaving your wives, and children, and cattle. For I know you have much cattle, and they must remain in the cities, which I have delivered to you. | |
| Deuteronomy 3:20 | Until the Lord give rest to your brethren, as he hath given to you: and they also possess the land, which he will give them beyond the Jordan: then shall every man return to his possession, which I have given you. | Rest. Abulensis says, this took place only 14 years after. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 3:21 | *I commanded Josue also at that time, saying: Thy eyes have seen what the Lord your God hath done to these two kings: so will he do to all the kingdoms, to which thou shalt pass. Numbers 27:18. | |
| Deuteronomy 3:22 | Fear them not: for the Lord your God will fight for you. | |
| Deuteronomy 3:23 | And I besought the Lord at that time, saying: | |
| Deuteronomy 3:24 | Lord God, thou hast begun to shew unto thy servant thy greatness, and most mighty hand; for there is no other God, either in heaven, or earth, that is able to do thy works, or to be compared to thy strength. | |
| Deuteronomy 3:25 | I will pass over, therefore, and will see this excellent land beyond the Jordan, and this goodly mountain, and Libanus. | I will. Moses flattered himself, that God's refusal to let him cross the Jordan, was only conditional; and therefore he begs, with all humility, for leave to enter Chanaan, at the head of the people. But, though God had pardoned his fault, he would not deprive Josue of the honour, which to fulfil the mystery, was reserved for him, Numbers 20:12., and 26:64. (Calmet) --- Moses might very lawfully desire to behold a place, consecrated by the abode of the Patriarchs, and to be honoured still more by the presence of the Messias, a happiness for which he had been labouring now forty years. (Du Hamel) --- And Libanus. Whether this and be an explanation of what mountain he meant, (Tirinus) is a matter of doubt. He unquestionably desired to see, and to put his people in possession of all the country designed for their inheritance, in which various fruitful mountains appeared. That of Bethel was very high, and most delightful where Abraham and Jacob had dwelt. Moria and Sion, the future seat of the temple, might also attract his notice, and the mountains of Judea, as well as all the other lofty hills, which diversify the country from Idumea to Libanus. (Haydock) --- Egypt was a flat country. New and grander prospects now open to his view. Libanus is styled Antilibanus by the Septuatint, and by profane authors, as it lies, in effect, to the land of the Hebrews. Behind it Coelostria extends, as far as Libanus. This mountain comprises four different hills, rising one above another, and taking in a circuit of 300 miles. The first of these hills, Antilibanus, is remarkable for its fertility in corn; the second has abundance of fine springs: but the third resembles an earthly paradise, being constantly adorned with fruits and flowers. Cedars grow chiefly upon the fourth, amidst the snows which lie there perpetually, notwithstanding the burning heats of the adjacent countries. Lebanon signifies both "whiteness and incense," for which it is very renowned. (Calmet) --- De la Roque thinks that it is higher than the Alps or Pyrenees. It stands in the form of a horse-shoe, extending from above Smyrna to Sidon, and thence towards Damascus, (Buffon) unless this be a part of Antilibanus, which runs north, from Damascus, in a parallel direction to Libanus, and includes the hollow Syria. (Haydock) --- Serarius makes these two mountains run eastward, almost from the Mediterranean sea, as Strabo (xvi.) and Ptolemy seem also to do. (Bonfrere) |
| Deuteronomy 3:26 | And the Lord was angry with me on your account, and heard me not, but said to me: It is enough: speak no more to me of this matter. | Your account. Moses cannot help reminding the people, that they were the occasion of his giving way to diffidence, and thus incurring a most sensible chastisement from the hands of God. Their conduct had provoked him so, that he gave some outward signs of the trouble with which his mind was so much disturbed, chap. 20:12. Yet God admits of no excuse, particularly in the sins of those who act in his name, and who, of course, ought to guard against the smallest deviation from virtue. Be ye holy and perfect, is addressed to such in a particular manner. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 3:27 | Go up to the top of Phasga, and cast thy eyes round about to the west, and to the north, and to the south, and to the east, and behold it, *for thou shalt not pass this Jordan. Deuteronomy 31:2.; Deuteronomy 34:4. | East. It seems, if Phasga was the eastern boundary of Ruben, (ver. 17,) there was no occasion for Moses to cast his eyes that way. He is ordered to take a full view of the countries allotted by God to the Hebrews; and if we consider that the territory, as far as the Euphrates, was promised to them, if they would continue to be faithful, and that it was made tributary, under Solomon, we need not wonder if Moses should be pleased to behold it, Deuteronomy 1:7. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 3:28 | Command Josue, and encourage and strengthen him: for he shall go before this people, and shall divide unto them the land which thou shalt see. | |
| Deuteronomy 3:29 | And we abode in the valley over-against the temple of Phogor. | Phogor. Hebrew Beth pehor, "the house, temple, or city of Phogor," where that idol was the object of adoration. The city was probably at the foot of Mount Phasga, and fell to the share of Ruben, Josue 13:20. (Calmet) --- The Hebrews dwelt in the valley when Moses made the aforesaid supplication to God, and was ordered to desist; and, after taking a view of the promised land, to give the necessary injunctions to his successor, ver. 23. (Haydock) --- Perhaps this might take place before the defeat of the two kings. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 4:0 | Moses exhorteth the people to keep God's commandments: particularly to fly idolatry. Appointeth three cities of refuge, on that side of the Jordan. | |
| Deuteronomy 4:1 | And now, O Israel, hear the commandments and judgments, which I teach thee: that doing them, thou mayst live, and entering in mayst possess the land, which the Lord, the God of your fathers, will give you. | And judgments, regarding religion and civil affairs. (Calmet) --- Live a happy life. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 4:2 | You shall not add to the word that I speak to you, neither shall you take away from it: keep the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you. | Add any thing repugnant to the spirit of my law. No interpretation of this kind can be admitted. But this does not condemn well authorized traditions, and laws enacted by lawful superiors. The Jews always boast of their close adherence to the letter of the law, but they often forget the spirit of it, and by their traditions render it deformed, like a carcass. Demosthenes takes notice, that the Locrians had such a regard for their laws, that if any one chose to propose any fresh ones, he came with a rope about his neck, that if they did not meet with the approbation of the people, he might be strangled immediately. (Calmet) --- Moses cannot mean to forbid any more divine or civil commandments being written by Josue and the subsequent prophets. He only enjoins that nothing shall be altered by human authority. The other books of the Old Testament serve to explain the law; and so do the apostolical traditions (Worthington) afford great assistance to understand the true meaning of all the Scriptures, and hence we learn whatever we have to perform, without danger of being led astray. (Haydock) --- To these the Scriptures frequently refer. He that heareth you, heareth me, Luke 10. Hold the traditions which you have learnt, 2 Thessalonians 2:The rest I will set in order, when I come, 1 Corinthians 11:34. Hence St. Augustine (contra Cresc. 1:33) observes, "Though no evident example can be produced from Scripture, yet we hold the truth of the same Scripture, when we do what meets with the approbation of that Church whose authority the Scripture establishes." See ep. 80, St. Chrysostom in 1 Thess. 4; St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3:4. (Worthington) --- The Jews themselves never had the folly to imagine with the modern innovators, that all laws both of a religous or civil nature were here proscribed. Under David, Mardocheus, and the Machabees, various laws and feasts were commanded, and observed in the true spirit of the law, 1 Kings 30:25., and Esther ix., and 1 Machabees 4:God does not leave to the discretion of the Jews, the appointing of different victims, etc., in his worship, (chap. 12:30,) as they might very easily give way to the superstitious observances of their neighbours, and these things had been sufficiently determined. But he enjoins all to obey the declarations of the priests and judges, chap. 17:10. (Bellarmine) (Tirinus) --- Thus when the Apocalypse records a prohibition similar to this, (Apocalypse 22:18, 19,) it is not intended to seal up the divine volume, so that nothing more shall be admitted into it, for St. John wrote his gospel afterwards. But it must be explained in the same sense as this passage, and condemns all those who, of their own authority, would set up fresh doctrine in opposition to the word of God. Let Protestants consider if they be not concerned in this caution, when they not only cut off whole books of Scripture, but deny the authority of the Church itself, without which the Scripture can be of little service. They are the book sealed with seven seals, impenetrable to man without the aid of the divine author; (Apocalypse 5:5,) and this aid he will never grant to those who obstinately refuse to hear the Church, Matthew 18:17., and 2 Peter 1:20. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 4:3 | *Your eyes have seen all that the Lord hath done against Beelphegor, how he hath destroyed all his worshippers from among you. Numbers 25:4.; Josue 22:17. | Among you, when the guilty Israelites and the Madianites were slain, Numbers xxv., and xxxi. |
| Deuteronomy 4:4 | But you that adhere to the Lord your God, are all alive until this present day. | Day. Not but that many of these had fallen into sin; but they had not abandoned the Lord to worship any idol. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 4:5 | You know that I have taught you statutes and justices, as the Lord my God hath commanded me: so shall you do them in the land, which you shall possess: | |
| Deuteronomy 4:6 | And you shall observe, and fulfil them in work. For this is your wisdom, and understanding in the sight of nations, that hearing all these precepts, they may say: Behold a wise and understanding people, a great nation. | This is a proof of your wisdom, etc., if you observe these commands. Your conduct will excite the admiration of all. (Menochius) --- Solomon often inculcates the same truths, Proverbs 1:7., and Ecclesiasticus 1:34. Even profane writers applauded the laws and fidelity of the Jews. See Josephus, Jewish Wars 1:5.; Strabo xvi. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 4:7 | Neither is there any other nation so great, that hath gods so nigh them, as our God is present to all our petitions. | Gods. Supposing they deserved that title, which of them has the power to shew their votaries such favours as the true God hath shewn to us? The idols are nothing but devils, which seek to destroy. (Calmet) --- But God had manifested his power and love to the Hebrews in the most astonishing manner. He seemed to choose his residence among them, in the tabernacle. (Haydock) --- This Jesus does in a still more wonderful manner, with respect to Christians, remaining with them in the sacrament of love. The other sacraments which he has instituted, are more noble and efficacious than those of the old law. He was pleased to take our nature, (Calmet) and to dwell among us, John 1:The providence of God pervades all things; and, though all live in Him, (Acts 17:28,) yet he shews the marks of the most paternal tenderness to his elect. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 4:8 | For what other nation is there so renowned, that hath ceremonies, and just judgments, and all the law, which I will set forth this day before your eyes? | Eyes. Most of these laws had been already promulgated, so that the people could set a just value upon them. But Moses undertakes to place the in a more beautiful point of view, as it were altogether, and accompanied with some fresh regulations. How imperfect are all the codes of the ancient lawgivers, when compared with this of Moses! (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 4:9 | Keep thyself therefore, and thy soul carefully. Forget not the words, that thy eyes have seen, and let them not go out of thy heart all the days of thy life. Thou shalt teach them to thy sons and to thy grandsons, | Words. Hebrew also, "things." (Haydock) --- Both sacred and profane authors use the term of seeing, to denote any of the senses, ver. 12. Eschylus (in Prometh.) says, "you shall neither see the form nor the voice of mortals." |
| Deuteronomy 4:10 | From the day in which thou didst stand before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord spoke to me, saying: Call together the people unto me, that they may hear my words, and may learn to fear me all the time that they live on the earth, and may teach their children. | |
| Deuteronomy 4:11 | *And you came to the foot of the mount, which burned even unto heaven: and there was darkness, and a cloud, and obscurity in it. Exodus 19:18. | |
| Deuteronomy 4:12 | And the Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire. You heard the voice of his words, but you saw not any form at all. | At all. Hebrew, "but saw no similitude, only a voice." See Exodus 20:18. |
| Deuteronomy 4:13 | And he shewed you his covenant, which he commanded you to do, and the *ten words, that he wrote in two tables of stone. Exodus 20.; Exodus 21.; Exodus 22.; Exodus 23. | Stone. Josephus (Antiquities 3:4, 6,) says, that each table contained five precepts, two and a half being inscribed on one side. The Jews now suppose that four appeared on one table, and six on the other. But each table probably contained an entire copy of the law. (Calmet) --- It hence appears, that there are just ten precepts. (Worthington) --- But the manner of dividing them is rather uncertain. St. Augustine and Catholics in general, place the three commandments, which regard God, by themselves. See Exodus 20:1. Their greater importance and length would require as much space as the other seven, which ascertain the mutual duties of people to each other. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 4:14 | And he commanded me at that time that I should teach you the ceremonies and judgments, which you shall do in the land that you shall possess. | |
| Deuteronomy 4:15 | Keep therefore your souls carefully. *You saw not any similitude, in the day that the Lord God spoke to you in Horeb, from the midst of the fire: Exodus 24:10. | Carefully. Hebrew, "Be therefore particularly attentive, as much as you love your own soul." (Vatable) By keeping my commandments, you can alone obtain salvation, ver. 9. (Menochius) --- Similitude of any living creature, such as were the objects of adoration among the pagans. Some represented their gods under the forms of men, women, beasts, birds, or reptiles; while others adored the sun, moon, and stars. (Haydock) --- This last was indeed the most ancient species of idolatry, Job 21:26. Baal, Astarte, Moloc, Chamos, etc., were different names by which they denoted the heavenly bodies. But the Egyptians carried their superstition to the greatest excess. There was hardly any sort of animal which did not obtain sovereign worship among them. (Calmet) --- Their great gods, Isis and Osiris, were sometimes depicted like a man and woman; at other times, like beasts, and frequently they appeared with parts of both. The head of Isis was generally adorned or disfigured with the horns of a bull; (Haydock) and that animal, either alive or in a picture, as well as dogs and cats, were adored throughout the country, while some places had their peculiar idols. The lion, the wolf, and the fish called latus, gave their names to the cities Leontopolis, etc., which had a particular veneration for them. Moses takes care to inform the Hebrews, that the true God is like none of these things; and that they cannot pretend to represent him under any such forms, without doing him an injury. (Calmet) --- If Catholics endeavour to put the people in mind of the blessed Trinity, by representing a venerable old man, Jesus Christ in his human nature, and a dove, under which forms the Scripture has introduced the three divine persons, they do not pretend that their divine and most spiritual nature can be thus expressed. "If," says the Council of Trent, Session 25, "the historical accounts of Scripture be sometimes set forth in paintings, for the benefit of the illiterate, let the people be informed that the Divinity is not thus represented, with a design to insinuate that it may be seen with the eyes of the body." So neither can the figure of a triangle, with the ineffable name of God in Hebrew, etc., explain this adorable mystery. But such things may recall to our remembrance, the innumerable benefits which we have received from the three divine persons, after we have been once informed what we have to believe respecting them. This is the laudable motive which has induced the Church to encourage the keeping of such pictures, as well as those of the saints, with due respect. "Not as if we believed that any divinity or virtue resided in them for which they were to be worshipped, or that we should ask any thing of them, or place our confidence in images, as the Gentiles formerly did, who hoped in their idols, (Psalm cxxxiv.,) but because the honour given to them is referred to the originals, which they represent," etc. (Council of Trent, Session 25.) (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 4:16 | Lest perhaps being deceived you might make you a graven similitude, or image of male or female, | |
| Deuteronomy 4:17 | The similitude of any beasts, that are upon the earth, or of birds, that fly under heaven, | |
| Deuteronomy 4:18 | Or of creeping things, that move on the earth, or of fishes, that abide in the waters under the earth: | |
| Deuteronomy 4:19 | Lest perhaps lifting up thy eyes to heaven, thou see the sun and the moon, and all the stars of heaven, and being deceived by error, thou adore and serve them, which the Lord thy God created for the service of all the nations, that are under heaven. | Service. How then could the nations give way to such stupidity, but because they had forgotten the design of God in creating the heavenly bodies, which Moses therefore takes care to inculcate? (Genesis 1:14.) Hebrew and Septuagint, "which God has divided unto all," etc.; whence some have falsely supposed, that God had tolerated the worship of the stars in other nations. See chap. 29:26. (Drusius) (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 4:20 | But the Lord hath taken you, and brought you out of the iron furnace of Egypt, to make you his people of inheritance, as it is this present day. | Furnace. This expression gives us some idea of the cruelties to which the Hebrews had been exposed, 3 Kings 8:51. Iron and other metals were melted in furnaces: Hebrew cur, Ezechiel 22:20. In the countries of the East, workmen have them in the middle of their shops, and sit round them to work. (Bellon., 3:45.) (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 4:21 | *And the Lord was angry with me for your words, and he swore that I should not pass over the Jordan, nor enter into the excellent land, which he will give you. Deuteronomy 1:37. | Words. The murmurs of the people occasioned the diffidence of Moses, and he often reminds them of it, that they may reflect how severely God will punish them, if they transgress, since he spares not his greatest favourites. (Calmet) --- Even venial faults must be punished. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 4:22 | Behold I die in this land, I shall not pass over the Jordan: you shall pass, and possess the goodly land. | |
| Deuteronomy 4:23 | Beware lest thou ever forget the covenant of the Lord thy God, which he hath made with thee: and make to thyself a graven likeness of those things, which the Lord hath forbid to be made: | Made. Hebrew, "and make to thyself a sculpture, the likeness of any thing which the Lord thy God commanded thee." He ordered them to abstain from idolatry. (Du Hamel) |
| Deuteronomy 4:24 | *Because the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. Hebrews 12:29. | Fire. God often appeared in the midst of fire. All the land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy, Sophonias 1:18., and 3:8. (Calmet) --- By these expressions, we are exhorted not to do any thing which would excite the indignation of our true lover, nor ever be unfaithful to him. (Haydock) --- The pagans thought that fire was the fittest symbol of the divinity. (Porphyr. de Abstin.) |
| Deuteronomy 4:25 | If you shall beget sons and grandsons, and abide in the land, and being deceived make to yourselves any similitude, committing evil before the Lord your God, to provoke him to wrath: | |
| Deuteronomy 4:26 | I call this day heaven and earth to witness, that you shall quickly perish out of the land, which, when you have passed over the Jordan, you shall possess. You shall not dwell therein long, but the Lord will destroy you, | And earth, or all their rational inhabitants. (St. Jerome and St. Basil in Isa. 1:2.) Moses conjures the Israelites, by all that is most sacred, to continue faithful. He speaks with the greatest earnestness, as he does again, chap. 32:1. (Calmet) --- He makes use of a sort of oath, by the creatures, in which God shines forth. (Menochius) --- Destroy you. He will take from you that delightful country, though he will save a remnant of you out of the captivity of Babylon, and in the latter days, ver. 31. The Jews, in the promised land, were almost always prone to idolatry; till God severely chastised them by the hands of the Babylonians. Since that time, few of them have willingly yielded to the worship of idols, though some have fallen by compulsion, as we read, Daniel iii., and 1 Machabees 1:53., and 2:16. Jeremias 5:19 foretold that this would be the case. As you have forsaken me, and served a strange god in your own land, so shall you serve strangers in a land that is not your own. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 4:27 | And scatter you among all nations, and you shall remain a few among the nations, to which the Lord shall lead you. | Nations. This prediction we see verified at the present day. They are despised by all. No one of their numerous masters embraces their religion. They are so few, as hardly to possess a single town. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 4:28 | And there you shall serve gods, that were framed with men's hands; wood and stone, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. | |
| Deuteronomy 4:29 | And when thou shalt seek there the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him: yet so, if thou seek him with all thy heart, and all the affliction of thy soul. | There. Hebrew, "thence" from the place of captivity, or returning from the love of idols to the services of the true God. --- Soul. Hebrew, "with all thy soul. (Ver. 30) In thy tribulation after," etc. (Calmet) --- God often sends chastisements as the most effectual means of salvation, to make his children enter into themselves. In this state, the soul is more at liberty to consider the folly of adhering to any thing in opposition to the sovereign Lord. Then she is forced to confess that her idols cannot afford her any protection. How, in effect, could any one fall into such an abyss of corruption and stupidity, as to imagine those things to be gods which have not even the dignity and advantages which they themselves possess? Their soul must first have been strangely blinded, and their heart corrupt. Even the more enlightened pagans acknowledged the folly of pretending to represent the Divinity under sensible forms. "God, says Empedocles, has no human members....He is a pure and ineffable spirit, who governs the world by his profound wisdom." Numa would not allow any picture of Him, conformably to the doctrine of Pythagoras; and, for the first 170 years of Rome, no representation of God was set up in the temples. (Plutarch) --- The ancient Phoenicians seemed to have acted on the same principle, as the temple of Hercules, at the Straits, had no image. It is well known that the Persians rejected both the statues and temples erected in honour of the gods; and the Germans esteemed it beneath the majesty of the heavenly Beings, to represent them under any human form. (Tacitus, Hist. v.) (Calmet) --- Yet these sages gave way to the folly of the people, and, against their better knowledge, adored the stupid and senseless idols. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 4:30 | After all the things aforesaid shall find thee, in the latter time thou shalt return to the Lord thy God, and shalt hear his voice: | Voice, after the captivity of Babylon, or rather at the end of the world. The nation at large has not embraced the worship of idols since the former period. But it will not be perfectly converted, until the fulness of the Gentiles....come in.---And so all Israel....be saved, Romans 11:25. (Calmet) --- St. Paul terms their present state a blindness in part, because, though few have embraced the revelation of God, made to all by his only Son, the far greater part have obstinately shut their eyes, so that, even while they read the clearest prophecies, they seem to have a veil on then. But, after they shall have been the sport of their passions and errors till the latter time, when the man of sin shall be fully revealed, they will see how wretchedly they have been deluded, and, the grace of God touching their hearts, they will remember the covenant, and embrace Christ, the end of all the law. Happy those who do not defer their conversion till that awful period! (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 4:31 | Because the Lord thy God, is a merciful God: he will not leave thee, nor altogether destroy thee, nor forget the covenant, by which he swore to thy fathers. | |
| Deuteronomy 4:32 | Ask of the days of old, that have been before thy time, from the day that God created man upon the earth, from one end of heaven to the other end thereof, if ever there was done the like thing, or it hath been known at any time, | Heaven. To our senses the sky seems to rest upon the horizon. So Jesus says, Then he....shall gather....his elect....from the uttermost part of earth, to the uttermost part of heaven, Matthew 24:31. Vatable translates, "from the east to the west." In no age or place did God ever declare his will, as he had done at Sinai. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 4:33 | That a people should hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of fire, as thou hast heard, and lived: | And lived. It was generally supposed, that those who had seen a vision of God, or of his angel, would instantly die. See Genesis 16:13. (Haydock) (Chap. 5:24.) |
| Deuteronomy 4:34 | If God ever did so as to go, and take to himself a nation out of the midst of nations, by temptations, signs, and wonders, by fight, and a strong hand, and stretched-out arm, and horrible visions, according to all the things that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt, before thy eyes: | Temptations. The Chaldean and Arabic understand this of the prodigies which God wrought in favour of his people; though they may also denote the trials to which the Patriarchs and the Hebrews had been exposed, that their virtue might shine more brightly. Many indeed lost courage under these trials, but they were of great service to form a perfect people; and those who continued to lead a virtuous life, received the reward of their labours. (Calmet) --- Visions, during the three days' darkness mentioned, Wisdom 17:9, 18, etc., (Menochius) or those terrible appearances on Sinai, ver. 33, 36., and chap. 5:22. (Calmet) Hebrew may be, "by great terrors." --- In Egypt. God himself fought for his people, when he brought them out of that country. He repeatedly made the king and his people feel the impressions of terror, but as they presently recovered their wonted insolence and pride, he at last miraculously divided the Red Sea, and buried vast multitudes in its waters. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 4:35 | That thou mightest know that the Lord he is God, and there is no other besides him. | |
| Deuteronomy 4:36 | From heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might teach thee. And upon earth he shewed thee his exceeding great fire, and thou didst hear his words out of the midst of the fire, | |
| Deuteronomy 4:37 | Because he loved thy fathers, and chose their seed after them. *And he brought thee out of Egypt, going before thee with his great power, Exodus 13:21. | |
| Deuteronomy 4:38 | To destroy at thy coming very great nations, and stronger than thou art, and to bring thee in, and give thee their land in possession, as thou seest at this present day. | Day. They had already conquered the mighty kingdoms of Sehon and of Og. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 4:39 | Know therefore this day, and think in thy heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and in the earth beneath, and there is no other. | Other. The power of the true and only God is not confined to the sea, or to the land, etc., (Calmet) as the pagans believed that of their various idols was. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 4:40 | Keep his precepts and commandments, which I command thee: that it may be well with thee, and thy children after thee, and thou mayst remain a long time upon the land, which the Lord thy God will give thee. | |
| Deuteronomy 4:41 | *Then Moses set aside three cities beyond the Jordan, at the east side, Numbers 35:14. | Then, etc. This piece of history seems to be placed out of its natural order, by another hand. (Calmet) --- Yet if we attend to the method of Moses, in his other works, we shall not hastily conclude that it is an interpolation. He frequently repeats what has been already specified. He had received an order from God to appoint these three cities of refuge, (Numbers 35:14,) after he had given the land to the tribes of Ruben, etc., Numbers xxxii. This he executes at the conclusion of this discourse; and hence takes occasion to mention how they had taken possession of this country. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 4:42 | That any one might flee to them who should kill his neighbour unwillingly, and was not his enemy a day or two before, and that he might escape to some one of these cities: | Before. The Rabbins say, when two people had refused to speak to one another for three days, it was a sufficient indication of their enmity. (Selden, Jur. 4:2.) |
| Deuteronomy 4:43 | *Bosor in the wilderness, which is situate in the plains of the tribe of Ruben: and Ramoth, in Galaad, which is in the tribe of Gad: and Golan, in Basan, which is in the tribe of Manasses. Josue 20:8. | Wilderness, or plains of Moab, at the mouth of the Jordan. It is sometimes called Besor, and is very different from Bozra of Idumea, (Isaias 63:1,) a very famous city, known to profane authors by the name of Bostra. --- Ramoth, one of the strongest towns of Galaad, 15 miles west of Philadelphia, (Eusebius) where Achab, king of Israel, received a mortal wound, 3 Kings 22:3. --- Golon, or Gaulan, gave its name to Gaulanitis, a part of Batanea, lying on the southern parts of the division of Gad, though the city belonged to Manasses. The lower Gaulanitis lay towards the lake of Genezareth, and had Gamala for its capital. (Cellarius) (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 4:44 | This is the law, that Moses set before the children of Israel. | |
| Deuteronomy 4:45 | And these are the testimonies, and ceremonies, and judgments, which he spoke to the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt, | |
| Deuteronomy 4:46 | Beyond the Jordan, in the valley over-against the temple of Phogor, in the land of Sehon, king of the Amorrhites, that dwelt in Hesebon, whom Moses slew. And the children of Israel coming out of Egypt, | |
| Deuteronomy 4:47 | Possessed his land, and the land of Og, king of Basan, of the two kings of the Amorrhites, who were beyond the Jordan, towards the rising of the sun: | |
| Deuteronomy 4:48 | From Aroer, which is situate upon the bank of the torrent Arnon, unto Mount Sion, which is also called Hermon, | Sion begins here with s, being the northern boundary of the tribe of Manasses, east of the Jordan; whereas the famous Sion, on which the temple was built, is written with ts, and lay on the west side of the Jordan, (Haydock) in the tribe of Juda, Deuteronomy 3:8. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 4:49 | All the plain beyond the Jordan, at the east side, unto the sea of the wilderness, and unto the foot of Mount Phasga. | Wilderness, which Moses commonly calls the salt sea, (on account of the asphalte with which it abounds,) or the sea of Araba, as it lies at the extremity of the plains of Moab, which are sometimes called Araboth, "deserts," because they were more fit for pasturage than for ploughing. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 5:0 | The ten commandments are repeated and explained. | |
| Deuteronomy 5:1 | And Moses *called all Israel, and said to them: Hear, O Israel, the ceremonies and judgments, which I speak in your ears this day: learn them, and fulfil them in work. | Year of the World 2553. All Israel: not one was wanting, chap. 29:10. God enabled all to hear the words of their lawgiver, (Menochius) by an evident miracle. (Jansenius) (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 5:2 | The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. | |
| Deuteronomy 5:3 | He made not the covenant with our fathers, but with us, who are now present and living. | Fathers, the ancient patriarchs, who were not favoured in such a signal manner. (Menochius) --- Though many of those who had heard the words of God at Horeb, were dead, and had not enjoyed the full benefit of the covenant, some still remained, and the children of the deceased were about to enter the land which had been there promised. (Haydock) --- God did not make a covenant with the Patriarchs only, but also with their posterity at Horeb. (Du Hamel) |
| Deuteronomy 5:4 | He spoke to us face to face in the mount out of the midst of fire. | To us. Hebrew and Septuagint, "to you." --- Face to face, in such a manner that no doubt could be entertained of his presence. (St. Augustine) --- God addressed the decalogue to all the people, who saw no similitude. But to Moses he delivered the rest of his ordinances, with as much familiarity and condescension as one friend would use in speaking to another, Exodus 33:2. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 5:5 | I was the mediator, and stood between the Lord and you at that time, to shew you his words; for you feared the fire, and went not up into the mountain, and he said: | Mediator. St. Paul acknowledges this title of Moses, (Galatians 3:9,) who was a figure of Jesus Christ, the mediator of the New Testament, Hebrews 8:6., 9:15., and 12:24. (Calmet) --- Let not Protestants, therefore, reject this title with so much indignation, when it is applied in the like limited sense to the saints, to denote that they pray for us, as we pray for one another. Christ is the one mediator (1 Timothy ii.) of redemption. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 5:6 | *I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Exodus 20:1.; Leviticus 26:1.; Psalm 80:11. | |
| Deuteronomy 5:7 | *Thou shalt not have strange gods in my sight. Exodus 20:3.; Psalm 80:10. | Sight. Chaldean, "Thou shalt not have any other god but me." Elohim often designates the true God. (Calmet) --- See the decalogue explained, (Exodus xx.) where we have observed, that pictures are only forbidden when they are the objects of sovereign worship, as the context here plainly shews, ver. 9. Other images God himself authorized, (Worthington) even in the old law, and in the most sacred place, where people were ordered to fall prostrate before the ark, to adore his footstool, Psalm 98:5. If, therefore, a people so prone to idolatry as the Jews were, might have pictures in the temple of God without danger, how can any one suppose that the images of Jesus Christ, and of his saints, are necessary incentive to idolatry among Christians, who all know that God will allow of no rival! (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 5:8 | *Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any things that are in heaven above, or that are in the earth beneath, or that abide in the waters under the earth. Exodus 20:4.; Leviticus 26:1.; Psalm 96:7. | |
| Deuteronomy 5:9 | *Thou shalt not adore them, and thou shalt not serve them. For I am the Lord thy God, a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon their children unto the third and fourth generation to them that hate me, Exodus 34:14. | Serve. We must neither treat idols, nor their images, with the honour due to God alone. (St. Augustine, q. 61, in Gen.) --- If we do, he will punish our infidelity. --- Generation, for a long time, or as long as the remembrance of the parents' wickedness subsists, so as to have an influence upon others. (Haydock) --- God mercifully defers correction. (St. Jerome in Ezec. xviii.) He chastises those who imitate their wicked forefathers. |
| Deuteronomy 5:10 | And shewing mercy unto many thousands to them that love me, and keep my commandments. | |
| Deuteronomy 5:11 | *Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for he shall not be unpunished that taketh his name upon a vain thing. Exodus 20:7.; Leviticus 19:12.; Matthew 5:33. | In vain, by perjury. See ver. 20, where the same word is used, (Du Hamel) or by any irreverent speech. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 5:12 | Observe the day of the sabbath, to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee. | |
| Deuteronomy 5:13 | Six days shalt thou labour, and shalt do all thy works. | |
| Deuteronomy 5:14 | *The seventh is the day of the sabbath, that is, the rest of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not do any work therein, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy ox, nor thy ass, nor any of thy beasts, nor the stranger that is within thy gates: that thy man-servant and thy maid-servant may rest even as thyself. Genesis 2:2.; Exodus 20:10.; Hebrews 4:4. | |
| Deuteronomy 5:15 | Remember that thou also didst serve in Egypt, and the Lord thy God brought thee out from thence with a strong hand, and a stretched-out arm. Therefore hath he commanded thee that thou shouldst observe the sabbath-day. | Therefore. This is another reason why the Jews were to observe the sabbath with particular rigour. The institution of a day of rest every week, (Haydock) was intended to preserve the memory of the creation. (Calmet) --- God also requires that his people should be grateful on this day for the rest which he had granted to them, (Haydock) and preserve carefully all the monuments of the true religion. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 5:16 | *Honour thy father and mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee, that thou mayst live a long time, and it may be well with thee in the land, which the Lord thy God will give thee. Exodus 20:12.; Ecclesiasticus 3:9.; Matthew 15:4.; Mark 7:10.; Ephesians 6:2. | |
| Deuteronomy 5:17 | Thou shalt not kill. | |
| Deuteronomy 5:18 | Neither shalt thou commit adultery. | Adultery. Under this name God forbids every species of impurity. (St. Augustine, q. 71.) (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 5:19 | And thou shalt not steal. | |
| Deuteronomy 5:20 | Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour. | False. Hebrew shave, "vain," is synonymous with sheker, "false," used [in] Exodus 20:16. |
| Deuteronomy 5:21 | *Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife: nor his house, nor his field, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is his. Matthew 5:28.; Romans 7:7. | His. Here the Samaritan copy inserts the order for erecting an altar upon Mount Garizim, which we have given, Exodus 20:27. It occurs below, chap. 28:2., etc. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 5:22 | These words the Lord spoke to all the multitude of you in the mountain, out of the midst of the fire and the cloud, and the darkness, with a loud voice, adding nothing more: and he wrote them in two tables of stone, which he delivered unto me. | More to the people: the other precepts were communicated to Moses. The Chaldean and others gives a contrary turn to the Hebrew, "and he ceased not" ever since to instruct us. (Calmet) --- Moses gives the sense, not the very words of the decalogue, in which he is not guilty of any lie. (St. Augustine, q. 8.) (Du Hamel) |
| Deuteronomy 5:23 | But you, after you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, and saw the mountain burn, came to me, all the princes of the tribes and the elders, and you said: | You said, by the mouths of your princes, Exodus 20:19. |
| Deuteronomy 5:24 | Behold the Lord our God hath shewn us his majesty and his greatness; we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire, and have proved this day, that God speaking with man, man hath lived. | |
| Deuteronomy 5:25 | Why shall we die therefore, and why shall this exceeding great fire consume us? For if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, we shall die. | Die. Past experience did not entirely remove from them the fear which was so generally entertained, that the sight of the heavenly beings would prove destructive. So Daniel (chap. 10:17) said on a similar occasion, my breath is stopped. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 5:26 | What is all flesh, that it should hear the voice of the living God, who speaketh out of the midst of the fire, as we have heard, and be able to live. | |
| Deuteronomy 5:27 | Approach thou rather: and hear all things that the Lord our God shall say to thee, and thou shalt speak to us, and we will hear and will do them. | |
| Deuteronomy 5:28 | And when the Lord had heard this, he said to me: I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they spoke to thee: they have spoken all things well. | |
| Deuteronomy 5:29 | Who shall give them to have such a mind, to fear me, and to keep all my commandments at all times, that it may be well with them and with their children for ever? | A mind. God speaks like men, and insinuates how agreeable to him is a disposition influenced by a salutary fear. He does not mean that He cannot convert the heart of man. (Estius) --- God exerts his power over our will by persuasive invitations. (Maimonides) |
| Deuteronomy 5:30 | Go and say to them: Return into your tents. | |
| Deuteronomy 5:31 | But stand thou here with me, and I will speak to thee all my commandments, and ceremonies and judgments: which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I will give them for a possession. | |
| Deuteronomy 5:32 | Keep, therefore, and do the things which the Lord God hath commanded you: you shall not go aside neither to the right hand nor to the left: | Left: a proverbial expression, to signify that no sort of transgression is to be allowed. (Menochius) --- It is of the same import as, You shall not add, etc., Deuteronomy 4:2. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 5:33 | But you shall walk in the way that the Lord your God hath commanded, that you may live, and it may be well with you, and your days may be long in the land of your possession. | |
| Deuteronomy 6:0 | An exhortation to the love of God, and obedience to his law. | |
| Deuteronomy 6:1 | These* are the precepts, and ceremonies, and judgments, which the Lord your God commanded that I should teach you, and that you should do them in the land, into which you pass over to possess it: | Year of the World 2553. |
| Deuteronomy 6:2 | That thou mayst fear the Lord thy God, and keep his commandments and precepts which I command thee, and thy sons, and thy grandsons, all the days of thy life, that thy days may be prolonged. | |
| Deuteronomy 6:3 | Hear, O Israel, and observe to do the things which the Lord hath commanded thee, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayst be greatly multiplied, as the Lord the God of thy fathers hath promised thee a land flowing with milk and honey. | Hear. The Jews have a particular respect for the seven following verses, which they write on vellum, and recite every day, as a preservative against the power of the devil. (Clarius.) --- To do. It will not suffice to hear nor to learn the law, we must also put it in execution, Deuteronomy 5:1. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 6:4 | Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. | |
| Deuteronomy 6:5 | *Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength. Deuteronomy 11:13.; Matthew 22:37.; Mark 12:30.; Luke 10:27. | Whole heart....soul....and strength. God admits of no partner, nor will he suffer any rivulet to be drawn from the fountain of love, which is not ultimately referred to himself. Our neighbour we must love only for his sake, and by the observance of this two-fold precept, we shall fulfil the whole law and the prophets, Matthew 22:40. (Haydock) See St. Augustine, de Doct. 1:22. --- We must love God disinterestedly for his own sake: we must sacrifice our soul and life for his honour, with all our strength, beginning every good work with fervour, and persevering in our undertakings. All our faculties and senses must be consecrated to the divine service, as well as all our goods; in which sense the Chaldean, etc., understand the word strength. Hebrew literally, ex toto valde tuo. By this singular expression, Moses seems to insinuate, that he cannot find words to specify how much we ought to love the Sovereign Good. (Calmet) --- "The measure of loving God, is to love without measure." (St. Bernard) (Haydock) --- By many words, the same thing is more forcibly inculcated. (Tirinus) (Menochius) --- In the gospel we find, with thy whole mind, (Luke 10:27,) added by the lawyer. (Haydock) --- We must give God the preference before all, and thus have our heart perfect before him, like David, etc. (Tirinus) |
| Deuteronomy 6:6 | And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart. | |
| Deuteronomy 6:7 | And thou shalt tell them to thy children, and thou shalt meditate upon them, sitting in thy house, and walking on thy journey, sleeping and rising. | Tell. Hebrew, "thou shalt chew them" as nurses do bread for their little ones; or thou shalt "sharpen," like a razor, "explain clearly and often," these precepts, which are of the utmost importance. --- Meditate; speak of them to others, (Calmet) and entertain thyself with them in thy own heart. The mouth of the just man shall meditate wisdom, and (that is) his tongue shall speak judgment, Psalm 36:30., and Exodus 13:9. --- Sleeping. The spouse, in the canticle, (Canticle of Canticles 5:2,) says, I sleep, and my heart watcheth. If we carefully direct our intention, we may merit even when we are incapable of thinking. God will reward our good desires. Our last and first thoughts ought, in a particular manner, to be consecrated to God, (Haydock) when we go to rest and when we arise, (Menochius) as he is our first beginning, the source of all graces, and our last end, to whom we ought to refer every thing, even our ordinary actions of sleeping, labour, and diversion. If we make his divine perfections and his law the subject of our daily meditations, our soul will naturally be affected with the same sentiments during the night. Quicquid luce fuit tenebris agit. "The occurrences of the day have an influence upon our dreams;" (Petronius) and as we are accountable for many things by placing the cause, which in the hours of sleep or of drunkenness we are not able to prevent, so it cannot be doubted but that we shall increase in virtue, if we regulate our thoughts and actions in a proper manner, even when our soul is incapable of exerting her faculties. Hence we may perceive, of what vast importance it is to have a pure intention. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 6:8 | And thou shalt bind them as a sign on thy hand, and they shall be and shall move between thy eyes. | Sign, or seal, (Canticle of Canticles 8:6.; Calmet) attached to the ring which the Jews wore on their fingers, (Haydock) to seal their letters, after they were enveloped and tied with linen. The Jews have bandages of vellum on their hand, with sentences of the law inscribed upon them, (Calmet) as well as others upon their forehead; while many get the whole law, particularly the Book of Deuteronomy, by heart: for which purpose, the Rabbins inform us, there were above 400 schools and synagogues at Jerusalem, where the law of God was learnt and explained. The design of this injunction was not, however, to enforce the wearing of such bandages, as the Pharisees imagined, (Matthew 23:5,) but to put all in mind that they ought to meditate frequently upon the commandments, (Tirinus) and regulate their lives by their direction. --- Shall move. Septuagint adds a negation, but to the same import, "it (the sign) shall not be removed from before thy eyes." (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "they shall be as totaphoth, frontlets," ornaments hanging between the eyes. (Exodus 13:9.; Calmet) "Tephilim," (Chaldean) or "spectacles." (Grotius) |
| Deuteronomy 6:9 | And thou shalt write them in the entry, and on the doors of thy house. | |
| Deuteronomy 6:10 | And when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land, for which he swore to thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: and shall have given thee great and goodly cities, which thou didst not build, | |
| Deuteronomy 6:11 | Houses full of riches, which thou didst not set up, cisterns which thou didst not dig, vineyards and oliveyards, which thou didst not plant, | |
| Deuteronomy 6:12 | And thou shalt have eaten, and be full: | Full. Our Saviour seems to apply this to his disciples, in a spiritual sense, remarking that Moses and the prophets had prepared the way for them. Others have laboured, and you have entered into their labours, John 4:38. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 6:13 | Take heed diligently, lest thou forget the Lord, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. *Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and shalt serve him only, and thou shalt swear by his name. Deuteronomy 10:20.; Matthew 4:10.; Luke 4:8. | Only. This is omitted in Hebrew; but the Septuagint and Jesus Christ retain it, (Matthew 4:10,) as the sense requires. You cannot serve God and mammon, Luke 16:13. (Calmet) --- Name, and not by that of idols, whenever you may be authorized to take an oath. (Haydock) --- To swear by any other, is to acknowledge him in some sort for a god. When we take an oath on proper occasions, and with due respect and caution, we perform an act of religion. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 6:14 | You shall not go after the strange gods of all the nations, that are round about you: | |
| Deuteronomy 6:15 | Because the Lord thy God is a jealous God in the midst of thee: lest at any time the wrath of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee, and take thee away from the face of the earth. | |
| Deuteronomy 6:16 | *Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God, as thou temptedst him in the place of temptation. Matthew 4:7.; Luke 4:12. | Temptation. Hebrew, "in Massa," where Moses gave the people water from Horeb, Exodus 17:7. |
| Deuteronomy 6:17 | Keep the precepts of the Lord thy God, and the testimonies and ceremonies, which he hath commanded thee: | |
| Deuteronomy 6:18 | And do that which is pleasing and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with thee: and going in thou mayst possess the goodly land, concerning which the Lord swore to thy fathers, | |
| Deuteronomy 6:19 | That he would destroy all thy enemies before thee, as he hath spoken. | |
| Deuteronomy 6:20 | And when thy son shall ask thee to-morrow, saying: What mean these testimonies, and ceremonies, and judgments, which the Lord our God hath commanded us? | |
| Deuteronomy 6:21 | Thou shalt say to him: We were bondmen of Pharao in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand. | |
| Deuteronomy 6:22 | And he wrought signs and wonders, great and very grievous in Egypt, against Pharao, and all his house, in our sight, | |
| Deuteronomy 6:23 | And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in and give us the land, concerning which he swore to our fathers | |
| Deuteronomy 6:24 | And the Lord commanded that we should do all these ordinances, and should fear the Lord our God, that it might be well with us all the days of our life, as it is at this day. | |
| Deuteronomy 6:25 | And he will be merciful to us, if we keep and do all his precepts before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us. | Merciful. Hebrew, "he will justify us." Chaldean, "reward us." Justice often denotes the mercy which God shews to his people, and the punishment which he inflicts upon their enemies. (Calmet) (Matthew 6:1.) --- Past, present, and future benefits concur to make the Hebrews observe the commandments. God had rescued them from slavery; (ver. 21,) he had already given them great possessions, and would grant them still more if they would be faithful; as on the other hand, all will be lost if they prove rebellious, ver. 15. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 7:0 | No league nor fellowship to be made with the Chanaanites: God promiseth his people his blessing and assistance, if they keep his commandments. | |
| Deuteronomy 7:1 | When *the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land, which thou art going in to possess, and shall have destroyed many nations before thee, **the Hethite, and the Gergezite, and the Amorrhite, and the Chanaanite, and the Pherezite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite, seven nations much more numerous than thou art, and stronger than thou: Exodus 23:23.; Exodus 33:2. | Year of the World 2553. Destroyed. So the Vulgate often expresses the Hebrew term, which signifies, "to cast out." --- Seven. Ten are mentioned, Genesis 15:9; but some of the less powerful nations were either mixed with the others, or were exterminated. The Hevites are omitted in the passage of Genesis, and sometimes no notice is taken of the Gergezite or the Pherezite. The latter had been already conquered by Moses, as well as the Raphaim and Amorrhites, over whom Og and Sehon ruled, chap. 3:5. (Calmet) --- It seems, however, that some of the same nations, on the other side of the Jordan, remained to be subdued, and that any one of them was naturally too strong for the Hebrews, ver. 7. Hence the latter might be convinced, that their victories were to be attributed to God. |
| Deuteronomy 7:2 | And the Lord thy God shall have delivered them to thee, thou shalt utterly destroy them. *Thou shalt make no league with them, nor shew mercy to them: Exodus 23:32.; Exodus 34:15-16. | League. Yet Josue 9:3, by mistake, entered into one with the Gabaonites, and observed it; (Haydock) whence we may conclude, that only such leagues are forbidden as would leave these nations in possession of their lands and idols, chap. 20:10., and 23:6. With foreign nations it was lawful to make leagues defensive and offensive, as David, Asa, and the Machabees did with Hiram, Benadad, and the Romans, 3 Kings 15:18, etc. If the Hebrews were so hostile to the nations of Chanaan, it was in execution of God's decree, who had sentenced them to die; and Tacitus hence unjustly inferred, that they hated all but their own nation. See Grotius, Jur. 2:15. --- Them. This was ill executed. (Josephus, [Antiquities?] 13:13.) (Judges 1.) (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 7:3 | Neither shalt thou make marriages with them. Thou shalt not give thy daughter to his son, nor take his daughter for thy son: | Marriages. Some believe that it was unlawful to marry the people of Chanaan, if they were even converted, and also those of other nations, as we find that Esdras (1 Esdras 10:2, 12,) ordered such strange wives to be sent away. But the context shews, as well as the practice of most pious Hebrews, that it was only forbidden to marry with those who adhered to their idolatry, ver. 4. Salmon took to wife Rahab, of Jericho; Mahalon and Booz successively married Ruth, the Moabitess, and Moses himself allows the Hebrews to espouse their captives, and to preserve the lives of women and children, (Deuteronomy 20:14.; Deuteronomy 21:11.) (Calmet) See Exodus 34:15. --- Hence all the Chanaanites were not necessarily to be slain. The few exceptions did not hinder the rule from being general. See ver. 16., and Numbers 14:23. |
| Deuteronomy 7:4 | For she will turn away thy son from following me, that he may rather serve strange gods, and the wrath of the Lord will be kindled, and will quickly destroy thee. | Gods. So great is the natural tendency to evil, that though a woman be generally inclined to follow the inclinations and religion of her husband, yet, when his method of living is more repugnant to flesh and blood, she is but too apt to influence him to glide smoothly with her down the hill of pleasure, into the very abyss of dissolution. The prediction, she will turn, etc., is so often verified, that those who marry with unbelievers ought to tremble. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 7:5 | But thus rather shall you deal with them: *Destroy their altars, and break their statues, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven things: Exodus 23:24.; Deuteronomy 12:3.; Deuteronomy 16:21. | Things. This was to be done with regard to the idols of Chanaan, when it was first conquered, ver. 25. Afterwards David made no scruple in wearing a crown, which had been taken from the spoils of Melchon, the idol of the Ammonites, 1 Paralipomenon 20:2. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 7:6 | *Because thou art a holy people to the Lord thy God. **The Lord thy God hath chosen thee, to be his peculiar people, of all peoples that are upon the earth. Deuteronomy 14:2.; Deuteronomy 26:18. | Peculiar. Hebrew sogula, laid up like something most precious and desirable. (Menochius) --- God seemed to have abandoned other nations to the corruption of their own heart. "This was, by a particular mystery, a prophetical nation." (St. Augustine, ep. cii.) (Exodus 19:5.) (Calmet) --- Therefore must they destroy every idol in their land, to set a pattern to all other less favoured nations how they ought also to treat them. |
| Deuteronomy 7:7 | Not because you surpass all nations in number, is the Lord joined unto you, and hath chosen you, for you are the fewest of any people: | Joined. Hebrew, "has set his love upon you." God is the most disinterested lover. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 7:8 | But because the Lord hath loved you, and hath kept his oath, which he swore to your fathers: and hath brought you out with a strong hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, out of the hand of Pharao the king of Egypt. | |
| Deuteronomy 7:9 | And thou shalt know, that the Lord thy God, he is a strong and faithful God, keeping his covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments, unto a thousand generations: | Strong. Hebrew el, means also God. He requires us to imitate his perfections, as much as we are able. Being faithful, he will comply with his covenant exactly, and will punish those who neglect it. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 7:10 | And repaying forthwith them that hate him, so as to destroy them, without further delay, immediately rendering to them what they deserve. | Deserve. Hebrew, "he will repay to his face," or "he will punish immediately the person who hateth him to his face." God does not always defer the correction of the wicked till their death. (Calmet) --- But this seems to be spoken principally of those who have engaged in the covenant, 2 Machabees 6:12. (Du Hamel) --- Thus he immediately chastised those who adored the calf, Core, Mary [Miriam], etc., (Menochius) and he does not dissemble the faults even of his chosen servants. (Tirinus) --- The Chaldean and some Rabbins give another interpretation. "The Lord rewards his enemies for the good works which they perform in this life, reserving their punishment till the life to come. He does not delay to reward what good they do, but he will punish them (for their crimes) in another world." (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 7:11 | Keep therefore the precepts and ceremonies, and judgments, which I command thee this day to do. | |
| Deuteronomy 7:12 | If after thou hast heard these judgments, thou keep and do them, the Lord thy God will also keep his covenant to thee, and the mercy which he swore to thy fathers: | If. The promises of God to the Hebrews were conditional. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 7:13 | And he will love thee and multiply thee, and will bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy vintage, thy oil, and thy herds, and the flocks of thy sheep upon the land, for which he swore to thy fathers that he would give it thee. | Womb. He will grant thee many children. (Menochius) --- This was esteemed a very great blessing, at a time when they might hope to give birth to the Messias. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 7:14 | Blessed shalt thou be among all people. *No one shall be barren among you of either sex, neither of men, nor cattle. Exdus 23:26. | Cattle. This shews, that no precept to marry is here given, but only a blessing. Even men cannot be commanded not to be barren, as that is not in their own power. It was, however, deemed a mark of some secret transgression when married people had no children. (Vasques.) (Tirinus) |
| Deuteronomy 7:15 | The Lord will take away from thee all sickness: and the grievous infirmities of Egypt, which thou knowest, he will not bring upon thee, but upon thy enemies. | Sickness, sent in punishment of sin, (Haydock) like the plagues of Egypt, Exodus ix. (Menochius) --- Egypt was afflicted with some peculiar disorders, such as the leprosy, called Elephantiasis. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 26:1.) The people were also much troubled with sore eyes, or blindness, and with ulcers upon their legs. (Juvenal, Sat. 13:91.) One-fourth of the inhabitants of Grand Cairo have sore eyes, or are blind. (Brun.) --- Joinville speaks of the diseases which attacked the army of St. Louis in Egypt, preying chiefly upon the legs and gums, and causing them to putrify. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 7:16 | Thou shalt consume all the people, which the Lord thy God will deliver to thee. Thy eye shall not spare them, neither shalt thou serve their gods, lest they be thy ruin. | Consume. Kill the inhabitants, plunder their effects, (Menochius) destroy their idols. |
| Deuteronomy 7:17 | If thou say in thy heart: These nations are more than I, how shall I be able to destroy them? | |
| Deuteronomy 7:18 | Fear not, but remember what the Lord thy God did to Pharao, and to all the Egyptians, | |
| Deuteronomy 7:19 | The exceeding great plagues, which thy eyes saw, and the signs and wonders, and the strong hand, and the stretched-out arm, with which the Lord thy God brought thee out: so will he do to all the people, whom thou fearest. | Plagues. Hebrew, "trials." God manifested by this means the latent dispositions of the Egyptians, while he punished their wickedness at the same time. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 7:20 | *Moreover the Lord thy God will send also hornets among them, until he destroy and consume all that have escaped thee, and could hide themselves. Exodus 23:28.; Josue 24:12. | Hornets. Abenezra understands the leprosy, which the Hebrew may also signify. But hornets and such like insects are very destructive in hot countries; and Pausanias informs us that the Minsiens were driven out of their country by them. (Calmet) --- God destroyed the army of Sapor II, the Persian king, by sending an army of gnats, at the prayer of St. James of Nisibis, A.D. 350. "Lord, said the saint, thou art able by the weakest means to humble the pride of thy enemies, defeat these multitudes by an army of gnats." (Butler, Lives of the Saints, July 11.) --- We may, therefore, explain this text in a literal sense. (Calmet) (Wisdom 12:8., and 16:9., and Josue 24:12.) |
| Deuteronomy 7:21 | Thou shalt not fear them, because the Lord thy God is in the midst of thee, a God mighty and terrible: | Fear. Septuagint, "be wounded." In the war with the Madianites, not one was killed, (Numbers 31:49,) as Josephus ([Antiquities?] 3:2,) informs us, was also the case when king Amalec and his people attacked the Hebrews, Exodus 17:13. The people seem to have expected such a miraculous interference of Providence in their favour; and hence, when 36 were slain at the siege of Hai, all were greatly dejected, Josue 7:5. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 7:22 | He will consume these nations in thy sight by little and little and by degrees. Thou wilt not be able to destroy them altogether, lest perhaps the beasts of the earth should increase upon thee. | Thee. Three millions of people not being sufficient to cultivate the land, Exodus 23:29. (Menochius) --- God could easily have destroyed those mighty nations at once; but he would not give the Israelites any occasion of boasting. (Du Hamel) --- If they never succeeded to expel them entirely out of the country, they might attribute it to their own negligence and other sins. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 7:23 | But the Lord thy God shall deliver them in thy sight: and shall slay them until they be utterly destroyed. | |
| Deuteronomy 7:24 | And he shall deliver their kings into thy hands, and thou shalt destroy their names from under heaven: no man shall be able to resist thee, until thou destroy them. | |
| Deuteronomy 7:25 | *Their graven things thou shalt burn with fire: thou shalt not covet the silver and gold, of which they are made, neither shalt thou take to thee any thing thereof, lest thou offend, because it is an abomination to the Lord thy God. 2 Machabees 12:40. | Graven things. Idols, so called by contempt. (Challoner) --- Made. Hebrew, "gold (plates) on them," to cover the wood, etc. See ver. 5. |
| Deuteronomy 7:26 | Neither shalt thou bring any thing of the idol into thy house, lest thou become an anathema, like it. Thou shalt detest it as dung, and shalt utterly abhor it as uncleanness and filth, because it is an anathema. | An anathema. That is, a thing devoted to destruction; and which carries along with it a curse. (Challoner) --- Like it. The curse rested upon those who kept any of the spoils. This brought death upon Achan, (Josue 7:1,) and upon some of the soldiers of Judas the Machabee, who had secreted some of the donaries of the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbiddeth to the Jews, 2 Machabees 12:40. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 8:0 | The people is put in mind of God's dealings with them, to the end that they may love him and serve him. | |
| Deuteronomy 8:1 | All the commandments, that I command thee this day, *take great care to observe: that you may live, and be multiplied, and going in may possess the land, for which the Lord swore to your fathers. | Year of the World 2553. Live a long and happy life; which was often promised to the carnal Jews, to encourage them to fulfil God's commands. Christians are willing to forego these temporal advantages, that they may obtain such as may last for ever. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 8:2 | And thou shalt remember all the way, through which the Lord thy God hath brought thee for forty years through the desert, to afflict thee, and to prove thee, and that the things that were in thy heart might be made known, whether thou wouldst keep his commandments or not. | Prove, which is done frequently by posterity also, ver. 3, 12, 14. After trying the fidelity of his people by various means, to make them sensible of their own weakness and inability to do good, God takes pity on them, ver. 16. (Calmet) --- Known. Hebrew, "to know (by experience) what was in thy heart, whether," etc. The original term signifies also to make known to others, Genesis 22:12. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 8:3 | He afflicted thee with want, and gave thee manna for thy food, which neither thou nor thy fathers knew: to shew that *not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God. Matthew 4:4.; Luke 4:4. | Not in bread alone, etc. that is That God is able to make food of what he pleases for the support of man. (Challoner) --- Obedience to his law will ensure a happy life, ver. 1. --- God can support a person's life without any sustenance, as he did Moses, Elias, etc., for a long time. When the usual food is wanting, he can send some of a supernatural kind, as he did the manna. --- Word. Hebrew, "by whatever proceedeth," etc. The Septuagint and our Saviour (Matthew 4:4,) cite it, however, agreeably to the Vulgate. The word of God and Jesus Christ nourish our souls. (St. Chrysostom) --- Philo says, "God feeds us with his most universal word...which is more ancient than the creation." (Calmet) --- God could make the most poisonous things afford more nutrition, if he commanded us to eat them, than even the most delicious viands. (Abulensis) (Tirinus) --- God can make food of whatever He pleases, or sustain men without meat. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 8:4 | Thy raiment, with which thou wast covered, hath not decayed for age, and thy foot is not worn, lo this is the fortieth year. | Worn, for want of shoes, chap. 29:5. (Chaldean) This miracle of the Hebrews, being so well provided with raiment in a desert country, is mentioned, 2 Esdras 9:21. Cosmas (B. v.) allows only that merchants constantly supplied them, and Abenezra thinks that they had brought plenty for change out of Egypt. (Calmet) --- But the Scripture seems to acknowledge something more wonderful; namely, the good condition of the people's feet, and of their garments, after they had been worn for such a length of time. As their numbers had not increased, the children might be supplied with the clothes of the deceased; so that there is no need of making the miracle still greater, by asserting, as some have done, that the garments grew larger with the bodies of those who wore them. (Haydock) --- The miracle was in favour both of good and bad, like manna, etc. (Tirinus) |
| Deuteronomy 8:5 | That thou mayst consider in thy heart, that as a man traineth up his son, so the Lord thy God hath trained thee up, | Up, by mildness and correction alternately. Hebrew, "chastiseth thee," Proverbs 3:12. |
| Deuteronomy 8:6 | That thou shouldst keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways, and fear him. | |
| Deuteronomy 8:7 | For the Lord thy God will bring thee into a good land, of brooks, and of waters, and of fountains: in the plains of which and the hills deep rivers break out: | Out. The Jordan was the only river of consequence; but there were many torrents, etc., which rendered the country very different from that where they had been travelling for 40 years. (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "of fountains, of abysses, which spring in vales and on mountains," having their origin in the sea. (Chaldean; Ecclesiastes 1:7.) "Judea is famous for its waters," says Solinus, (35,) "and the Jordan, a most enchanting river, runs through regions of equal beauty." (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 8:8 | A land of wheat, and barley, and vineyards, wherein fig-trees and pomegranates, and oliveyards grow: a land of oil and honey. | Honey, extracted from dates. (Du Hamel) --- Almost all the luxuries of the earth might be found in the promised land; so that it was justly said to flow with milk and honey. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 8:9 | Where without any want thou shalt eat thy bread, and enjoy abundance of all things: where the stones are iron, and out of its hills are dug mines of brass: | Iron, equal in hardness, and used to cut things, in the same manner as we use iron or steel, Isaias 60:17. --- Brass. There were mines of both in Mount Libanus; and David collected great quantities of such metals from Coelosyria, 3 Kings 18:8., and 1 Paralipomenon 22:3, 14. Sidon was noted for its brass. (Homer, Odyssey 15:425.) Sarepta probably took its name from the "foundry" established there. Dan and Aser had abundance of iron and of brass, Deuteronomy 33:25.; Ezechiel 27:19. Cadmus brought from this country the art of melting gold, etc., into Greece. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 7:56. In latter ages, many Christians were condemned to work in the mines of Palestine. (Eusebius) |
| Deuteronomy 8:10 | That when thou hast eaten, and art full, thou mayst bless the Lord thy God, for the excellent land, which he hath given thee. | Bless, not forgetting to give thanks after meat, as well as to beg God's blessing before: for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer, 1 Timothy 4:45. (Menochius) --- In all things give thanks, 1 Thessalonians 5:18. Our Saviour did so at the last supper, Matthew 26:26. At taking the cup, the Jews say, "Blessed be thou, O Lord, who createdst the fruit of the vine." At the end of the repast, one of the most dignified at table, holding a cup full of wine, says, "Let us bless Him, who has fed us with his goods, and who preserves our life by his goodness;" and all answer, "Blessed be He from whom we have received food and life:" after which a long prayer is recited. (Fagius) --- In compliance with this custom, our Lord took the cup after supper, and recited (Haydock) or sung a hymn, Luke 22:20., and Matthew 26:30. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 8:11 | Take heed, and beware, lest at any time thou forget the Lord thy God, and neglect his commandments, and judgments, and ceremonies, which I command thee this day: | |
| Deuteronomy 8:12 | Lest after thou hast eaten and art filled, hast built goodly houses, and dwelt in them, | |
| Deuteronomy 8:13 | And shalt have herds of oxen, and flocks of sheep, and plenty of gold, and of silver, and of all things, | |
| Deuteronomy 8:14 | Thy heart be lifted up, and thou remember not the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage: | |
| Deuteronomy 8:15 | And was thy leader in the great and terrible wilderness, *wherein there was the serpent burning with his breath, and the scorpion, and the dipsas, and no waters at all: **who brought forth streams out of the hardest rock, Numbers 20:9.; Numbers 21:6.; Exodus 17:6. | Breath. Hebrew saraphh, or the basilisk, as it is rendered, Isaias 30:6. It destroys both the grass and animals, by the burning infection of its breath. (Galen; Pliny, [Natural History?] 8:19. See Numbers 21:6. (Tirinus) --- Scorpion stings with its tail. --- Dipsas. A serpent whose bite causes a violent thirst: from whence it has its name; for in Greek, dipsa signifies thirst. (Challoner) --- It is impossible to quench this thirst, (Worthington) and those who are bitten by this serpent can discharge no water. (Calmet) --- They drink till they burst, unless they can procure some treacle, or remedy against the poison. (Dioscorides) (Tirinus) --- Some translate the Hebrew, "scorpions, and (at the place of) drought, where there was no water: he brought," etc., whether Tsommaon be the name of a particular place, (Isaias 35:7.; Onkelos; Calmet) or it may be applied to the greatest part of that desert, where the want of water so often occasioned the murmurs of the people. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 8:16 | *And fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not. And after he had afflicted and proved thee, at the last he had mercy on thee, Exodus 16:14. | |
| Deuteronomy 8:17 | Lest thou shouldst say in thy heart: My own might, and the strength of my own hand, have achieved all these things for me. | For me. Hebrew, "hath procured me this wealth," or strength, ver. 18. |
| Deuteronomy 8:18 | But remember the Lord thy God, that he hath given thee strength, that he might fulfil his covenant, concerning which he swore to thy fathers, as this present day sheweth. | |
| Deuteronomy 8:19 | But if thou forget the Lord thy God, and follow strange gods, and serve and adore them: behold now I foretell thee, that thou shalt utterly perish. | Thee. Hebrew, "I attest this day against you, (Septuagint add heaven and earth,) that you shall," etc. God had already forbidden the worship of strange gods, Exodus 20:3. He now threatens to punish the transgressors most severely. All nations have deemed it criminal to abandon the religion of their ancestors, unless when there were evident proofs of its absurdity, as was the case when so many embraced the doctrine of Jesus Christ, for which they were so cruelly persecuted. The Athenians would not suffer a word to be spoken against their gods; (Josephus, contra Ap. ii.) and Cicero (Leg. ii.) lays down this as a law, "Let no one have gods to himself, nor any new ones: let him not adore, even in private, strange gods; unless they have been publicly acknowledged." (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 8:20 | As the nations, which the Lord destroyed at thy entrance, so shall you also perish, if you be disobedient to the voice of the Lord your God. | Destroyed. Hebrew, "destroys." Some were already subdued, others on the brink of ruin. --- Disobedient to. God punished this sin in the most exemplary manner. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 9:0 | Lest they should impute their victories to their own merits, they are put in mind of their manifold rebellions and other sins, for which they should have been destroyed but God spared them for his promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. | |
| Deuteronomy 9:1 | Hear, O Israel: Thou shalt go over the Jordan *this day: to possess nations very great, and stronger than thyself, cities great, and walled up to the sky, | Year of the World 2553. This day, very soon, (Menochius) within the space of a month. (Calmet) --- Sky: an hyperbole to denote their surprising height. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 9:2 | A people great and tall, the sons of the Enacims, whom thou hast seen, and heard of, against whom no man is able to stand. | Stand. Hebrew, "who can stand before the sons of Enak?" as if this were a sort of proverb. (Calmet) --- The spies had formerly terrified the people with the report of the high walls and gigantic inhabitants of Chanaan, Numbers 13:18. |
| Deuteronomy 9:3 | Thou shalt know therefore this day that the Lord thy God himself will pass over before thee, a devouring and consuming fire, to destroy and extirpate and bring them to nothing before thy face quickly, as he hath spoken to thee. | Fire. See chap. 4:24. The conducting angel would fight for the Hebrews. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 9:4 | Say not in thy heart, when the Lord thy God shall have destroyed them in thy sight: For my justice hath the Lord brought me in to possess this land, whereas these nations are destroyed for their wickedness. | |
| Deuteronomy 9:5 | For it is not for thy justices, and the uprightness of thy heart that thou shalt go in to possess their lands: but because they have done wickedly, they are destroyed at thy coming in: and that the Lord might accomplish his word, which he promised by oath to thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. | |
| Deuteronomy 9:6 | Know therefore that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this excellent land in possession for thy justices; for thou art a very stiff-necked people. | |
| Deuteronomy 9:7 | Remember and forget not, how thou provokedst the Lord thy God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that thou camest out of Egypt unto this place, thou hast always strove against the Lord. | Strove. Hebrew, "irritated." (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "continually disbelieved the Lord." Moses hence takes occasion to lay before the people their frequent and most heinous offences, on account of which they might justly have feared being destroyed, as much as the infamous nations whom they were about to supplant. They might thus be convinced that they had been chosen gratuitously. (Haydock) --- For God hates nothing more than ingratitude and presumption. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 9:8 | *For in Horeb also thou didst provoke him, and he was angry, and would have destroyed thee, Exodus 17:6.; Exodus 19:3. | Would, if He had not been appeased by earnest supplication, as [in] ver. 20. |
| Deuteronomy 9:9 | *When I went up into the mount, to receive the tables of stone, the tables of the covenant which the Lord made with you: and I continued in the mount forty days and nights, neither eating bread, nor drinking water. Exodus 14:18. | |
| Deuteronomy 9:10 | *And the Lord gave me two tables of stone written with the finger of God, and containing all the words that he spoke to you in the mount from the midst of the fire, when the people were assembled together. Exodus 31:18.; Exodus 32:15. | |
| Deuteronomy 9:11 | And when forty days were passed, and as many nights, the Lord gave me the two tables of stone, the tables of the covenant; | |
| Deuteronomy 9:12 | And said to me: *Arise, and go down from hence quickly: for thy people, which thou hast brought out of Egypt, have quickly forsaken the way, that thou hast shewed them, and have made to themselves a molten idol. Exodus 32:7. | Have quickly. Hebrew, "have become corrupt; they have quickly abandoned the way which I commanded them." (Haydock) --- Septuagint, "the people hath sinned....they have quickly transgressed," etc. (Calmet) --- Idol. Protestants have "image." The Hebrews had called the similitude of a calf their god, Exodus xxxii. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 9:13 | And again the Lord said to me: I see that this people is stiff-necked: | |
| Deuteronomy 9:14 | Let me alone that I may destroy them, and abolish their name from under heaven, and set thee over a nation that is greater and stronger than this. | |
| Deuteronomy 9:15 | And when I came down from the burning mount, and held the two tables of the covenant with both hands, | |
| Deuteronomy 9:16 | And saw that you had sinned against the Lord your God, and had made to yourselves a molten calf, and had quickly forsaken his way, which he had shewed you: | Sinned, by idolatry, which comprises every sort of sin. Hence the Scripture only specifies that Jeroboam caused Israel to sin, when it means to assert that he engaged the people in the worship of idols. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 9:17 | I cast the tables out of my hands, and broke them in your sight. | |
| Deuteronomy 9:18 | And I fell down before the Lord, as before, forty days and nights, neither eating bread nor drinking water, for all your sins, which you had committed against the Lord, and had provoked him to wrath: | Sins. Many believe that Moses spent the whole time in obtaining pardon. Hiscuni agrees herein with the other Rabbins, only he thinks Moses was all the time in the tabernacle. Other 40 days, or a third rigid fast, were requisite to obtain the second tables of the law, as the text seems to insinuate, (Deuteronomy 9:25.; Deuteronomy 10:10.) unless Moses repeat what he has here asserted, as many able chronologers suppose. (Torneil; Usher; etc.) (Calmet) (Tirinus) --- The former opinion is maintained, however, by Salien, etc., Exodus xxxiv. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 9:19 | For I feared his indignation and anger, wherewith being moved against you, he would have destroyed you. And the Lord heard me this time also. | |
| Deuteronomy 9:20 | And he was exceeding angry against Aaron also, and would have destroyed him, and I prayed in like manner for him. | |
| Deuteronomy 9:21 | And your sin that you had committed, that is, the calf, I took, and burned it with fire, and breaking it into pieces, until it was as small as dust, I threw it into the torrent which cometh down from the mountain. | Sin. The Scripture designates by this name not only the evil action, but also the propensity to it, the object, matter, occasion, punishment , or victim of sin. --- The calf. He broke the idol in pieces, and then ground it small, Exodus 32:20. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 9:22 | *At the burning also, and at the place of temptation, and at the graves of lust you provoked the Lord: Numbers 11:1.; Numbers 16:2.; Numbers 21:5. | Burning, etc. The places called in Hebrew, "Tabera, Masa, and Kibroth Hattaavah." (Haydock) --- At the first, the murmurers were burnt; (Numbers 11:1) at the second, or at Raphidim, (Calmet) the people demanded water, and were supplied from Horeb; (Exodus 17:2, 7.; Menochius) though some confound this with the former place. It seems rather to refer to the temptation, or murmur of the people, on account of quails, Numbers 11:34., and Psalm 77:18. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 9:23 | And when he sent you from Cades-barne, saying: Go up, and possess the land that I have given you, and you slighted the commandment of the Lord your God, and did not believe him, neither would you hearken to his voice: | Slighted. Hebrew, "rebelled against," etc., as [in] ver. 24. Septuagint, "you were incredulous to." See Numbers 13:3. |
| Deuteronomy 9:24 | But were always rebellious from the day that I began to know you. | To know you. When Moses slew the Egyptian, and would have pacified two of his contending brethren, they refused to receive his mediation; so also, when he returned from Madian, to rescue them from slavery, they presently began to murmur against him, and continued to do so frequently for 40 years. (Haydock) --- Septuagint refers this to God, "from the day that he was known to you," and received you for his peculiar people, Exodus 11:25. |
| Deuteronomy 9:25 | And I lay prostrate before the Lord forty days and nights, in which I humbly besought him, that he would not destroy you as he had threatened: | Nights. See ver. 18. (Calmet) --- After specifying various seditions of the people, Moses returns to what he had been saying respecting the tables of the law, and shews with what difficulty he obtained pardon for the people, and the second tables. (Haydock) --- Some people believe that Moses was thrice 40 days in the mountain. He mentions the prayer which he addressed to God before his first descent, Exodus 32:11. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 9:26 | And praying, I said: O Lord God, destroy not thy people, and thy inheritance, which thou hast redeemed in thy greatness, whom thou hast brought out of Egypt with a strong hand. | |
| Deuteronomy 9:27 | Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: look not on the stubbornness of this people, nor on their wickedness and sin: | |
| Deuteronomy 9:28 | Lest perhaps the inhabitants of the land, out of which thou hast brought us, say: The Lord could not bring them into the land, that he promised them, and he hated them: therefore he brought them out, that he might kill them in the wilderness, | |
| Deuteronomy 9:29 | Who are thy people and thy inheritance, whom thou hast brought out by thy great strength, and in thy stretched-out arm. | |
| Deuteronomy 10:0 | God giveth the second tables of the law: a further exhortation to fear and serve the Lord. | |
| Deuteronomy 10:1 | At *that time the Lord said to me: Hew thee two tables of stone, like the former, and come up to me into the mount: and thou shalt make an ark of wood, 6: Numbers 33:31. --- ** Numbers 20:28-29. | Year of the World 2553.; Exodus xxxiv. Wood. Moses had received this injunction, before he ascended the mount the second time, Exodus 25:10. But he executed it only after he had received the second tables of the law, Exodus 37:1. (Menochius) --- Some pretend that the made an ark of setim-wood, to contain the tables, till Beseleel should have completed his, which was covered with gold, and inclosed the former. (Drusius) --- But this seems unnecessary. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 10:2 | And I will write on the tables the words that were in them which thou brokest before, and thou shalt put them in the ark. | |
| Deuteronomy 10:3 | And I made an ark of setim-wood. And when I had hewn two tables of stone like the former, I went up into the mount, having them in my hands. | I made, or gave orders to have one ready against my return. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 10:4 | And he wrote in the tables, according as he had written before, the ten words, which the Lord spoke to you in the mount from the midst of the fire, when the people were assembled: and he gave them to me. | To me. God had already promulgated the same laws in the hearing of all, Exodus 19:17. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 10:5 | And returning from the mount, I came down, and put the tables into the ark, that I had made, and they are there till this present, as the Lord commanded me. | |
| Deuteronomy 10:6 | *And the children of Israel removed their camp from Beroth, of the children of Jacan into Mosera, where **Aaron died, and was buried, and Eleazar, his son, succeeded him in the priestly office. | Mosera, by Mount Hor, for there Aaron died, Numbers xx. This and the following verses seem to be inserted by way of parenthesis, (Challoner) as far as the 10th. The reason of their insertion here cannot easily be explained; but we must adore, in silence, the designs of the Holy Spirit. (Calmet) --- Moses had just mentioned the ark, designed to contain the tables of the law; and as the priests and Levites were to be the guardians of those sacred things, he takes occasion to specify something with respect to their institution, etc. Mosera was perhaps twice visited by the Hebrews. The first time, they came thither from Beroth-Benejaacan, or from "the well of the children of Jacan," and thence measured back their steps; though, the second time, Mosera, or Moseroth, is not noticed, because it had been specified already, and they did not stop long there, but proceeded to Gadgad, Numbers 33:30. (Bonfrere) (Menochius) --- Others think that Mosera and Benejaacan are not the same places as Moseroth and Beroth Bensacan, though the names be similar. (Cornelius a Lapide) --- Perhaps it will be more satisfactory to acknowledge, that Mosera has been transposed by the copyists, as it ought to come before Beroth, particularly as Moses places it in that order, where he gives an account of the 42 stations; and the Samaritan copy agrees with him in this place. (Calmet) --- It also retains many words which have been omitted in Hebrew, and in all the versions taken from it; whence the omission seems to have taken place before the appearance of the version of the Septuagint. The Samaritan version, which is acknowledged to have preceded the Septuagint, agrees with its text, and reads, "And the children of Israel journeyed from Moseroth, and pitched in Benejaakan: from thence they journeyed, and pitched in Hagidgad: from thence they journeyed, and pitched in Jotbathah, a land of rivers of waters: from thence they journeyed, and pitched in Ebronah: from thence they journeyed, and pitched in Eziongaber: from thence they journeyed, and pitched in the wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh: from thence they journeyed, and pitched in Mount Hor. And there Aaron died," etc. (Kennicott, 2. Dis.) --- Thus Mosera will be the 27th, and Mount Hor the 34th station; (Pococke) whence the Israelites departed, after the death of Aaron, to Salmona, directing their course to the countries east of the Jordan, which had been promised to them. The appointment of Eleazar to succeed Aaron, and the separation of the Levites unto the Lord, should be all placed together, after the different encampments. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 10:7 | From thence they came to Gadgad: from which place they departed, and camped in Jetebatha, in a land of waters and torrents. | |
| Deuteronomy 10:8 | At that time he separated the tribe of Levi, to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to stand before him in the ministry, and to bless in his name until this present day. | Time, during the pontificate of Aaron, Numbers 3:6. (Menochius) --- God had made this appointment at Sinai, (Exodus 28:1,) where he ordered the tabernacle and the priests to be consecrated. Upon the sedition of Core, which probably took place at Jetebata, he confirmed the rights of the Levitical tribe, Numbers 16:17, 18. (Calmet) --- Ark. The priests carried it, on more solemn occasions, (Josue 3:3,) as they also blessed the people. (Menochius) --- Yet the Levites sung the praises of God, in which sense the word blessing is often used, 1 Paralipomenon 23:13. Hence Castalio translates, "to celebrate his name." |
| Deuteronomy 10:9 | Wherefore Levi hath no part, nor possession with his brethren: because the Lord himself is his possession, as the Lord thy God promised him. | |
| Deuteronomy 10:10 | And I stood in the mount, as before, forty days and nights: and the Lord heard me this time also, and would not destroy thee. | Stood. Moses does not follow the order of events, but recalls to the minds of his audience what might serve to make the deepest impression upon them. He mentions some farther instructions which he had received from God on Mount Sinai, during the second term of 40 days. (Calmet) --- It might have been placed in a more natural order at the head of this chapter. (Menochius) --- Some believe that Moses speaks of the third fast of 40 days. (Salien) |
| Deuteronomy 10:11 | And he said to me: Go, and walk before the people, that they may enter, and possess the land, which I swore to their fathers that I would give them. | |
| Deuteronomy 10:12 | And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but that thou fear the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways, and love him, and serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul: | And now. He shews what advantages may be derived from a constant observance of the commandments, that it may be well with thee, ver. 13. God stands not in need of our services, (ver. 14,) but chooses whom he pleases to display the treasures of his love, (ver. 15,) which ought to move us strongly to make him a suitable return of gratitude, (Calmet) by withdrawing our affections from every thing that may be displeasing to him, ver. 16. If we refuse, we must expect to fall under the rod of his indignation, notwithstanding all the efforts of his clemency, which he holds forth for our imitation, ver. 17, 19. He will judge all alike, the rich and the poor. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 10:13 | And keep the commandments of the Lord, and his ceremonies, which I command thee this day, that it may be well with thee? | |
| Deuteronomy 10:14 | Behold heaven is the Lord's thy God, and the heaven of heaven, the earth, and all things that are therein: | Of heaven. The Scripture mentions the third heaven, (2 Corinthians 12:2,) where the majesty of God most gloriously appears. The second is the region of the stars, and the first the atmosphere, where the birds and the clouds move about. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 10:15 | And yet the Lord hath been closely joined to thy fathers, and loved them, and chose their seed after them, that is to say, you, out of all nations, as this day it is proved. | Joined, (conglutinatus) as it were, with glue, (Haydock) to shew the vehemence of love. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 10:16 | Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and stiffen your neck no more: | Circumcise. The Hebrews esteem circumcision as a mark of their greatest glory. All who had it not, were looked upon as profane. They call the ears, mind, and heart uncircumcised, when they would not hear, understand, or obey the law of God. St. Paul (Romans 2:28) frequently inculcates this interior circumcision, to which Moses alludes in these his last exhortations, chap. 30:6. The people had not regularly practised circumcision in the desert. Moses takes care to raise their thoughts to something more spiritual; and declares, in clearer terms than he had hitherto done, the necessity of loving God. All must be banished from the heart which might resist this love. (Calmet) --- Vanity, blindness, luxury, must be retrenched. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 10:17 | Because the Lord your God he is the God of gods, and the Lord of lords, a great God, and mighty and terrible, *who accepteth no person, nor taketh bribes. 2 Paralipomenon 19:7.; Job 34:19.; Wisdom 6:8.; Ecclesiasticus 35:15.; Acts 10:34.; Romans 2:11.; Galatians 2:6. | Gods. Idols are nothing, 1 Corinthians 8:4. Hence Theodoret supposes, that all who have authority upon earth are here designated. But admitting the false notions of the pagans respecting their gods, the superiority of the true God is here asserted; (Calmet) and all, both in heaven and on earth, gods and lords, must bow before him. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 10:18 | He doth judgment to the fatherless and the widow, loveth the stranger, and giveth him food and raiment. | Widow. God resents the injuries done to such, Exodus 22:22. |
| Deuteronomy 10:19 | And do you therefore love strangers, because you also were strangers in the land of Egypt. | |
| Deuteronomy 10:20 | *Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him only: to him thou shalt adhere, and shalt swear by his name. Deuteronomy 6:13.; Matthew 4:10.; Luke 4:8. | Only, a word not found in the Hebrew, but deemed necessary by the Septuagint to express the true meaning of this passage. See Deuteronomy 6:13. (Calmet) --- Name, when an oath is necessary. Thou shalt never swear by false gods. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 10:21 | He is thy praise, and thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thy eyes have seen. | Praise, the object whom thou must praise, and the source of all thy happiness and glory. Other nations will revere the Jews on this account. (Calmet) --- An ancient oracle could not refuse giving them this singular commendation, though to the prejudice of idolatry. "Chaldeans alone philosophy may claim---but Hebrews worship God, the self-born King---with pure religion." (Haydock) --- agnos, (Calmet) St. Cyril, contra Julian 5., and St. Justin Martyr, Hortatory Address to the Greeks xi., read auton, him. But the meaning is clear from the context. The palm of wisdom is given to the Chaldeans for natural learning, and to the Jews for divinity. (Watson, Proleg. xii.) Porphyrius owns the oracle. (Theodoret) (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 10:22 | In seventy souls thy fathers went down into Egypt: and behold now the Lord thy God hath multiplied thee as the stars of heaven. | Seventy. Some copies of the Septuagint add "five," with St. Stephen. [Acts 7:14.] See Genesis 46:26. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 11:0 | The love and service of God are still inculcated, with a blessing to them that serve him, and threats of punishment if they forsake his law. | |
| Deuteronomy 11:1 | Therefore *love the Lord thy God and observe his precepts and ceremonies, his judgments and commandments, at all times. | Year of the World 2553. |
| Deuteronomy 11:2 | Know this day the things that your children know not, who saw not the chastisements of the Lord your God, his great doings and strong hand, and stretched-out arm, | Know, etc. Reflect on the wonders of God, which you must explain to your children, who were not born, or able to discern them, when they were effected at the Red Sea, and in the punishment of the seditious, ver. 7. Hebrew, "know ye this day, for I do not address myself to your children, who know not, (or have not understanding,) and saw not," etc. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 11:3 | The signs and works which he did in the midst of Egypt to king Pharao, and to all his land, | |
| Deuteronomy 11:4 | And to all the host of the Egyptians, and to their horses and chariots: how the waters of the Red Sea covered them, when they pursued you, and how the Lord destroyed them until this present day: | Day. So that none of the Egyptians have since been able to molest you. |
| Deuteronomy 11:5 | And what he hath done to you in the wilderness, till you came to this place: | |
| Deuteronomy 11:6 | *And to Dathan and Abiron, the sons of Eliab, who was the son of Ruben: **whom the earth, opening her mouth, swallowed up, with their households and tents, and all their substance, which they had in the midst of Israel. Numbers 16:1. --- ** Numbers 16:32. | |
| Deuteronomy 11:7 | Your eyes have seen all the greet works of the Lord that he hath done, | |
| Deuteronomy 11:8 | That you may keep all his commandments, which I command you this day, and may go in, and possess the land, to which you are entering, | That. Fear might stimulate them to observe God's commands, lest they should be overtaken by a similar chastisement. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 11:9 | And may live in it a long time: which the Lord promised by oath to your fathers, and to their seed, a land which floweth with milk and honey. | |
| Deuteronomy 11:10 | For the land, which thou goest to possess, is not like the land of Egypt, from whence thou camest out, where when the seed is sown, waters are brought in to water it after the manner of gardens: | Gardens. Hebrew, "where thou didst sow the seed, and water it with the foot, as a garden," by means of various machines or wheels, which were turned by the feet. (Philo) --- Solinus (II. 22, 36,) takes notice of this inconvenience in Egypt. The country is watered only by the Nile, which overflows for six weeks, about the beginning of June. Various canals or reservoirs are formed to preserve a sufficient supply of water during the remainder of the year. Pliny ([Natural History?] xviii.) observes, that "if the Nile rise less than 12, or more than 16 cubits high, famine is inevitable." (Calmet) See Genesis 42:3. --- Prince Radzivil saw the canals of Egypt, which the people said had been dug by the Hebrews. Augustus ordered his soldiers to clean them out. (Suetonius, C. 18.) --- After the seed was committed to the earth, it was necessary to water it frequently, as the sun would harden the soil too much. No rain falls in that part of Egypt where the Hebrews had dwelt, according to many respectable authors; (Tirinus) or at least what little may fall is not sufficient to keep the earth moist. Proclus allows that some showers are felt in Lower Egypt, which lies nearest to the Mediterranean Sea; and travellers often take notice of them, in their journeys from Alexandria to Memphis. Yet the country in general is destitute of this advantage, Zacharias 14:18. (Lloyd) (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 11:11 | But it is a land of hills and plains, expecting rain from heaven. | |
| Deuteronomy 11:12 | And the Lord thy God doth always visit it, and his eyes are on it from the beginning of the year unto the end thereof. | |
| Deuteronomy 11:13 | *If then you obey my commandments, which I command you this day, that you love the Lord your God, and serve him with all your heart, and with all your soul: Deuteronomy 10:12. | |
| Deuteronomy 11:14 | He will give to your land the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your corn, and your wine, and your oil, | Rain, which falls in Judea, chiefly about the vernal and the autumnal equinoxes, in March and October. --- The latter rain (Hebrew malkosh,) is that which falls when the seed is just sown, though the Rabbins pretend that yore has this signification, in opposition to the Septuagint. It fell at the beginning of the Jewish year, which commenced in September, Joel 2:23., and Zacharias 10:1. (Calmet) --- Rain contributed to make the seeds take root, and to bring the fruit to maturity, and God promises to give what may be requisite, provided his people serve him with fidelity. (Haydock) --- His grace helps us to begin and to perfect every good work. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 11:15 | And your hay out of the fields to feed your cattle, and that you may eat and be filled. | Hay. Seed-grass was sown, like corn, in Palestine, as it is still in the Levant, where meadows are unknown. The hay consisted chiefly of trefoil, and was carried on beasts in long journeys, Genesis 43:27., and Judges 19:19. Cattle fed commonly on straw and barley. The hay grass which grew on mountains was of a different sort, and used for pasturage, (Job 40:15,) though it might also be cut, Proverbs 27:25. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 11:16 | Beware lest perhaps your heart be deceived, and you depart from the Lord, and serve strange gods, and adore them: | |
| Deuteronomy 11:17 | And the Lord being angry shut up heaven, that the rain come not down, nor the earth yield her fruit, and you perish quickly from the excellent land, which the Lord will give you. | You. In all this discourse, Moses attributes the fertility of the promised land to the blessing of God, and indeed it seems to be naturally far from being so luxuriant as to be able to feed so many inhabitants. Travellers inform us, that a great part is incapable of cultivation. But it is no longer the object of God's complacency, ver. 12. It is under the curse, chap. 28:23. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 11:18 | *Lay up these my words in your hearts and minds, and hang them for a sign on your hands, and place them between your eyes. Deuteronomy 6:6. | Place. Hebrew, "that they may be as frontlets between your eyes," chap. 6:9., and Exodus 13:9. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 11:19 | Teach your children that they meditate on them, when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest on the way, and when thou liest down and risest up. | |
| Deuteronomy 11:20 | Thou shalt write them upon the posts and the doors of thy house: | Posts. Upon one post the Jews hang boards, enclosing a piece of parchment, with the 13th to the 21st verse of this chapter; and from ver. 4. to the 9th of the 6th chapter, they hang with great solemnity upon the other post. |
| Deuteronomy 11:21 | That thy days may be multiplied, and the days of thy children in the land, which the Lord swore to thy fathers, that he would give them as long as the heaven hangeth over the earth. | Earth, as long as the world shall endure. The psalmist (Psalm 88:30,) expresses the duration of the reign of the Messias nearly in the same terms. See Baruch 1:2. (Calmet) --- If the Jews had continued faithful to God, and had submitted to the Messias, they might never have been banished from their country. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 11:22 | For if you keep the commandments which I command you, and do them, to love the Lord your God, and walk in all his ways, cleaving unto him, | |
| Deuteronomy 11:23 | The Lord will destroy all these nations before your face, and you shall possess them, which are greater and stronger than you. | |
| Deuteronomy 11:24 | *Every place, that your foot shall tread upon, shall be yours. From the desert, and from Libanus, from the great river Euphrates unto the western sea shall be your borders. Josue 1:3. | Yours. The nations of Chanaan, how strong soever, should fall, and their country be lawfully possessed by the Hebrews. --- Western sea. Hebrew, "the sea of the back." The Jews speak of the different parts of the world, with respect to a man who has his face turned towards the east, Genesis 13:9. The countries, from the desert of Zin to the Euphrates, were never entirely occupied by the Israelites, except under the reigns of David and of Solomon. (Calmet) --- God never intended to subject the whole world to their dominion, as the Rabbins would hence infer. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 11:25 | None shall stand against you: the Lord your God shall lay the dread and fear of you upon all the land, that you shall tread upon, as he hath spoken to you. | |
| Deuteronomy 11:26 | Behold I set forth in your sight this day a blessing and a curse: | Curse. Their respective effects you shall experience, according to your behaviour. (Calmet) --- God helps our free will to do good. (St. Augustine, q. 15.) (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 11:27 | A blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day: | |
| Deuteronomy 11:28 | A curse, if you obey not the commandments of the Lord your God, but revolt from the way, which now I shew you, and walk after strange gods, which you know not. | |
| Deuteronomy 11:29 | And when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land, whither thou goest to dwell, thou shalt put the blessing upon Mount Garizim, the curse upon Mount Hebal: | Put the blessing, etc. See (Deuteronomy 27:12.; Josue 8:33.) (Challoner) --- Six tribes were to be stationed on each of these mountains, (Deuteronomy 28.) --- Garizim. Eusebius says that the Samaritans are grossly deceived, in placing this mountain in the vicinity of Sichem, instead of Jericho. But this is a mistake: for Jotham addressed the inhabitants of Sichem from that mountain, (Judges 9:7.) Morizon informs us that it is of the same shape as Hebal, and separated from it only by a valley of about 200 paces, in which the town of Sichem stands. Hebal is a barren rock, while Garizim is very fertile, (Ludolf.) though an ancient poet makes both equally covered with verdure. (Ap. Eusebius, praep. 9:22.) (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 11:30 | Which are beyond the Jordan, behind the way that goeth to the setting of the sun, in the land of the Chanaanite, who dwelleth in the plain country over-against Galgala, which is near the valley that reacheth and entereth far. | Far. Hebrew, "over against Galgal, beside the plains of More, or Aluni More." Samaritan reads, "the plain of More, near Sichem," as Exodus 20:17. (Haydock) --- This is styled the noble vale, Genesis 12:6. (Calmet) --- The road from Jericho to the Mediterranean Sea, left these mountains on the north. The Chanaanite inhabited all that region, from Galgal to Sichem. How far these places were distant from each other, is not here specified; though Eusebius seems to have inferred from this text, that Garizim was near Jericho. But the plain might be very extensive or noble, and reach from Sichem as far as Galgala. |
| Deuteronomy 11:31 | For you shall pass over the Jordan, to possess the land, which the Lord your God will give you, that you may have it, and possess it. | |
| Deuteronomy 11:32 | See therefore that you fulfil the ceremonies and judgments, which I shall set this day before you. | Fulfil. How inconsistent must such exhortations be, if, as Protestants assert, the commandments be impossible, and "the law exacteth impossible things." (Luther in Gal. iii.) (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 12:0 | All idolatry must be extirpated: sacrifices, tithes, and first-fruits, must be offered in only one place: all eating of blood is prohibited. | |
| Deuteronomy 12:1 | These* are the precepts and judgments, that you must do in the land, which the Lord the God of thy fathers will give thee, to possess it all the days that thou shalt walk upon the earth. | Year of the World 2553. These. Having inculcated the general precepts, and the obligation of loving God above all things, Moses now descends to particular duties. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 12:2 | Destroy all the places, in which the nations that you shall possess, worshipped their gods upon high mountains, and hills, and under every shady tree. | Tree. See Genesis 21:33. All the monuments of idolatry must be destroyed. The very names of the idols must be abhorred and obliterated, (Exodus 23:13,) to shew that they have lost possession of the country. So (ver. 5,) to put his name there, means to take possession of a place. |
| Deuteronomy 12:3 | *Overthrow their altars, and break down their statues, burn their groves with fire, and break their idols in pieces: destroy their names out of those places. Deuteronomy 7:25.; 2 Machabees 12:40. | Statues. The most ancient idols were not finely carved, but only rough stones. The Phrygian goddess, sent to Rome by Attalus, was a small dark-coloured stone of this nature. (Arnob., contra Gentes. 8.) --- The Venus of the Arabs was but a stone in the form of a pyramid. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 12:4 | You shall not do so to the Lord your God: | |
| Deuteronomy 12:5 | But you shall come to the place, which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, and to dwell in it: | It, where the ark was to be kept. (Haydock) --- Before the building of the temple, it was removed from one tribe or place to another. Jerusalem was thenceforward styled the city of the great king, Psalm 47:1, 9. |
| Deuteronomy 12:6 | And you shall offer in that place your holocausts and victims, the tithes and first-fruits of your hands, and your vows and gifts, the first-born of your herds and your sheep. | Hands, which you have procured by your industry, (Menochius) or what you are able to present to the Lord, Leviticus 5:11. |
| Deuteronomy 12:7 | And you shall eat there in the sight of the Lord your God: and you shall rejoice in all things, whereunto you shall put your hand, you and your houses, wherein the Lord your God hath blessed you. | You. In gratitude, you shall therefore offer your victims. (Haydock) --- The Jews were accustomed to make a feast thrice a year in the holy city. They might also eat some parts of the peace-offerings. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 12:8 | You shall not do there the things we do here this day, every man that which seemeth good to himself. | Himself. Some confine this to the sacrifices, which each person might offer, where he thought proper, till the ark was fixed at Silo. But many other parts of the ceremonial law, seem not to have been in force till the Hebrews crossed the Jordan, Amos 5:25. Circumcision was omitted, as well as most of the festivals. Several laws were, however, designed for the people during their sojournment, such as those which regard the order of judgment, the cleanness of the camp, the purification of women, and of those who had touched a dead body, etc., Exodus 18:25., Numbers 5:2., and Leviticus 15:31. It was not left to their option to observe or to neglect the sabbath, (Numbers 15:32,) the loaves of proposition, or the perpetual fire, etc., Numbers 4:7, 13. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 12:9 | For until this present time you are not come to rest, and to the possession, which the Lord your God will give you. | |
| Deuteronomy 12:10 | You shall pass over the Jordan, and shall dwell in the land, which the Lord your God will give you, that you may have rest from all enemies round about: and may dwell without any fear, | |
| Deuteronomy 12:11 | In the place, which the Lord your God shall choose, that his name may be therein. Thither shall you bring all the things that I command you, holocausts, and victims, and tithes, and the first-fruits of your hands: and whatsoever is the choicest in the gifts, which you shall vow to the Lord. | Therein. While you are performing your duty to God, you need not fear the incursions of your enemies; or, according to the Hebrew, Septuagint, and Chaldean, "There shall be a place which....Thither," etc. (Menochius) --- Hands. Aquila, etc., have, "your voluntary oblations." --- Gifts. Hebrew, "your choice-vows." (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 12:12 | There shall you feast before the Lord your God, you, and your sons, and your daughters, your men-servants, and maid-servants, and the Levite that dwelleth in your cities. For he hath no other part and possession among you. | You. The Levite hath no portion of the land like the rest. He and all people in distress shall be invited to these feasts, chap. 16:11. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 12:13 | Beware lest thou offer thy holocausts in every place that thou shalt see: | See. On the high places, etc., as the heathens did, (ver. 2,) or in any other place but that which God appointed. |
| Deuteronomy 12:14 | But in the place, which the Lord shall choose, in one of thy tribes, shalt thou offer sacrifices, and shalt do all that I command thee. | |
| Deuteronomy 12:15 | But if thou desirest to eat, and the eating of flesh delight thee, kill, and eat according to the blessing of the Lord thy God, which he hath given thee, in thy cities: whether it be unclean, that is to say, having blemish or defect: or clean, that is to say, sound and without blemish, such as may be offered, as the roe, and the hart, shalt thou eat it: | But. Hebrew, "Yet thou mayst kill and eat the flesh which thy soul desireth in all thy gates, with which the Lord thy God hath blessed thee, the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roe buck," etc. (Haydock) --- The Vulgate translates ver. 22 in this sense, intimating that these meats did not contract any such peculiar sanctity, as to exclude those who were unclean, ver. 20., and Leviticus 17:3. Fagius pretends, that only the clean were allowed as yet to eat of such meats, though the unclean might eat in the promised land what was lawful, without bringing the beast to be slain before the tabernacle. But this opinion seems to have no solid foundation. Unclean beasts could never be eaten. (Calmet) --- But those which had any defect, were excluded from being sacrificed, Leviticus 22:22. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 12:16 | Only the blood thou shalt not eat, but thou shalt pour it out upon the earth as water. | Water, without any ceremony. It was afterwards to be covered, Leviticus 17:13. |
| Deuteronomy 12:17 | Thou mayst not eat in thy towns the tithes of thy corn, and thy wine, and thy oil, the first-born of thy herds and thy cattle, nor any thing that thou vowest, and that thou wilt offer voluntarily, and the first-fruits of thy hands: | Tithes. These were of an extraordinary nature, destined for feasts, chap. 14:22., and Leviticus 27:30. The usual tithes belonged entirely to the Levitical tribe. (Calmet) --- First-born, or the most excellent, ver. 11., and Exodus 12:11, 12. The first-born, if it proved to be without defect, and a male, was given to the priests, Numbers 18:15. --- Voluntarily. If the thing was vowed to the Lord without restriction, it fell to the share of the priests alone: but if the person specified that he intended it for a peace-offering, etc., the priest could only claim what was allotted to him by the law. (Calmet) --- Hands. The fruits of trees, in the fourth year, may be insinuated. (Josephus, [Antiquities?] 4:8.) (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 12:18 | But thou shalt eat them before the Lord thy God in the place, which the Lord thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and maid-servant, and the Levite that dwelleth in thy cities: and thou shalt rejoice and be refreshed before the Lord thy God in all things, whereunto thou shalt put thy hand. | Hand, in all thy undertakings and labours, (Haydock) and in all thy goods. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 12:19 | Take heed thou forsake not the Levite all the time that thou livest in the land. | |
| Deuteronomy 12:20 | *When the Lord thy God shall have enlarged thy borders, as he hath spoken to thee, and thou wilt eat the flesh that thy soul desireth: Genesis 28:14.; Exodus 34:24.; Deuteronomy 19:8. | |
| Deuteronomy 12:21 | And if the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his name should be there, be far off, thou shalt kill of thy herds, and of thy flocks, as I have commanded thee, and shalt eat in thy towns, as it pleaseth thee. | Far off. Hence many conclude, that those who lived near the tabernacle, were bound to bring the animals which they designed for their own use, to be slain there, as they did in the desert. Others suppose that all were under the same predicament, and are hereby authorized to follow the same regulations, and to eat the flesh, whether they be clean or otherwise, provided they abstain from the blood. See Leviticus 17:3. (Calmet) --- The custom of bringing the beasts to be slain before the door of the tabernacle, was to be no longer obligatory. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 12:22 | Even as the roe and the hart is eaten, so shalt thou eat them: both the clean and unclean shall eat of them alike. | Alike. This must be understood of those who had contracted only a smaller stain, which did not communicate the uncleanness to others, but debarred people from approaching to sacred things. (Calmet) --- Those who had touched the dead, etc., were not allowed to eat with people, who were not under any such legal uncleanness. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 12:23 | Only beware of this, that thou eat not the blood, for the blood is for the soul: and therefore thou must not eat the soul with the flesh: | Soul. See Genesis 9:4. Blood maintains the life of animals, and it would seem cruel to begin to eat them before they were perfectly dead. But the obligation of this positive law has long ago ceased, as it was intended chiefly for the Jews. |
| Deuteronomy 12:24 | But thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water, | |
| Deuteronomy 12:25 | That it may be well with thee and thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which is pleasing in the sight of the Lord. | |
| Deuteronomy 12:26 | But the things which thou hast sanctified, and vowed to the Lord, thou shalt take, and shalt come to the place which the Lord shall choose: | |
| Deuteronomy 12:27 | And shalt offer thy oblations, the flesh and the blood upon the altar of the Lord thy God: the blood of thy victims thou shalt pour on the altar: and the flesh thou thyself shalt eat. | Oblations. Hebrew, "holocausts....and the blood of the sacrifices," of peace. Parts of the latter were eaten by the offerer, but the former victims were entirely burnt. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 12:28 | Observe and hear all the things that I command thee, that it may be well with thee and thy children after thee for ever, when thou shalt do what is good and pleasing in the sight of the Lord thy God. | |
| Deuteronomy 12:29 | *When the Lord thy God shall have destroyed before thy face the nations, which thou shalt go in to possess, and when thou shalt possess them, and dwell in their land, Deuteronomy 19:8. | |
| Deuteronomy 12:30 | Beware lest thou imitate them, after they are destroyed at thy coming in, and lest thou seek after their ceremonies, saying: As these nations have worshipped their gods, so will I also worship. | Imitate. Hebrew, "be ensnared by imitation them." The example of the wicked, is one of the most dangerous snares which the devil can place in our way. Notwithstanding these repeated admonitions of God, we see how prone the Hebrews were to adopt the superstitious customs of these nations, whose destruction ought surely to have warned them to keep at a distance. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 12:31 | Thou shalt not do in like manner to the Lord thy God. For they have done to their gods, all the abominations which the Lord abhorreth, offering their sons and daughters, and burning them with fire. | Fire. See Leviticus 18:21. |
| Deuteronomy 12:32 | What I command thee, that only do thou to the Lord: neither add any thing, nor diminish. | That only do thou, etc. They are forbid here to follow the ceremonies of the heathens, or to make any alterations in the divine ordinances. (Challoner) --- To adopt fresh regulations, in the same spirit, was not forbidden. Thus David ordered those who had kept the baggage, to share equally with the soldiers who had gone into battle; (1 Kings xxx.) and our Saviour approved, by his presence, the feast of the dedication of the temple, instituted long after Moses, 1 Machabees 4., and John 10. (Worthington) --- He perfected the law by the precepts of the gospel, Matthew 5:17. Jospehus (contra Apion ii.) says, "During so many years, no one has dared to retrench any thing from, (the sacred books) or to make any addition to them. We look upon them as of divine authority,....and we would lay down our lives, if necessary, to defend them. (Calmet) Among us, who believe that the law was first given by the will of God, nothing is pious but the exact observance of it. For who can introduce any change, or invent any thing better?" ( Deuteronomy 4:2.) Christ is full of grace and truth, John 1:He has fulfilled the law and the prophets. (Haydock) St. Augustine, contra Faustus 17:2, and 19:9.---"Grace, says he, pertains to the fulness of charity, truth to the completion of the prophecies." (Du Hamel) |
| Deuteronomy 13:0 | False prophets must be slain, and idolatrous cities destroyed. | |
| Deuteronomy 13:1 | If *there rise in the midst of thee a prophet, or one that saith he hath dreamed a dream, and he foretell a sign and a wonder, | Year of the World 2553. If....a prophet, or even an angel from heaven, as St. Paul (Galatians 1:8,) says on a similar occasion, (Calmet) should work a miracle, and afterwards adduce it in proof of a false religion, believe him not. The Jews and Christians had already received such convincing proofs from God, of the truth of what they had been taught, that they had reason to conclude either that the miracle was false, or that the person who would persuade them to embrace a different religion had fallen, after God had honoured him with miraculous powers: or, in fine, that if he were an impostor at the time when he exercised that power, like the magicians of Egypt, or Balaam, the miracle was either not wrought in confirmation of what he preached, or at least it was eclipsed by some greater miracle in favour of the truth. Whether God will ever suffer a real miracle which may seem to countenance error, or not, this appears to be unquestionable, that he will never deny himself, or, in a contest of miracles, permit falsehood to gain the victory. If the magicians performed wonderful works, they were forced at last to confess their inferiority, and yield to Moses, Exodus 8:18, 19. Miracles are generally a proof of the truth of any doctrine; but when the doctrine is already established, as in this case of the unity of God, (ver. 2,) it may be adduced with propriety as a criterion of miracles. Truth can never be in contradiction to truth. The light of reason suffices to evince that there is but one God. The same truth had been repeatedly confirmed by miracles, particularly during the last forty years, during which God had manifested his power over all nature, in the sight of all the Hebrews, and had trampled on the idols of the Gentiles. If therefore any person should attempt, by his dreams or predictions, to invalidate this most fundamental and undeniable article, his testimony could not be received. (Haydock) --- The Jews, in vain, allege this passage against the religion of Jesus Christ. He did not subvert, but fulfilled the law; so far was he from endeavouring to persuade them to abandon the true God. (Calmet) --- If he had not come to act in this manner, the law would have contained in itself the seeds of dissolution, by falsely holding forth the expectation of a future Messias, who would bring all things to perfection, chap. 18:15., Genesis 3:15., and 49:10, etc. Hence when he really appeared, the Jews desired him to prove his mission by a miracle, as he did repeatedly, Matthew 12:38., John 8:40., and 10:25. --- A dream, of a mysterious kind, like those of Joseph and of the prophets. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 13:2 | And that come to pass which he spoke, and he say to thee: Let us go, and follow strange gods, which thou knowest not, and let us serve them: | To pass. The completion of a prophecy does not always prove, that the person who uttered it was a true prophet. Chance, a knowledge of natural causes, etc., may enable an impostor sometimes to hit upon the truth. God may also, for reasons known to himself, declare what will come to pass by the mouth of a false prophet, or of a wicked man, as he did by Balaam and Caiphas. Judas wrought miracles before his apostacy. (Calmet) --- Yet if any who had been so highly favoured, should attempt to enforce by their preceding miracles, any false doctrine, let him be anathema, Galatians 1:8. --- Not. The Hebrews had inconvertible proofs of the existence of one God. They could not therefore acknowledge any other. (Haydock) --- Novelty in religion is a mark of idolatry or of heresy. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 13:3 | Thou shalt not hear the words of that prophet or dreamer: for the Lord your God trieth you, that it may appear whether you love him with all your heart, and with all your soul, or not. | Trieth you, not in order to induce you to embrace evil, (James 1:13,) nor to discover your real dispositions, but to lay open your hearts to yourselves and to the world, (Haydock) that, if you continue steadfast, others may be encouraged to imitate you; but if you fall, they may take warning, and stand with all humility and circumspection. (Calmet) --- Appear. Hebrew, "to know, or to disclose." (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 13:4 | Follow the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and hear his voice: him you shall serve, and to him you shall cleave. | |
| Deuteronomy 13:5 | And that prophet or forger of dreams shall be slain: because he spoke to draw you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of bondage: to make thee go out of the way, which the Lord thy God commanded thee: and thou shalt take away the evil out of the midst of thee. | Forger. Hebrew, "dreamer," to whom God reveals his secrets in the night, as he does to the prophet while he is awake. --- Slain. Philo says, without any trial or delay; but the Rabbins allow that, although the impostor was not to receive an admonition, no ignorance being able to excuse him, as in other cases, he was to be brought before the Sanhedrim, at Jerusalem, and strangled. See Luke 13:33. The Jews, it is thought, condemned our Saviour on the plea that he was a false prophet, Matthew 26:57. They commonly required before this condemnation, that a person should have assumed the character of a prophet, and not barely that he should have performed some wonderful work by his ingenuity. For if he only did the latter, and thereby endeavoured to withdraw the people from the service of the true God, he was punished as a seducer. They also refused to condemn one who had foretold evils, if they did not take place as was the case with Jonas and the Ninivites. (Haydock) --- But those who taught or did any thing contrary to the law, in quality of prophets, were in danger of condemnation, unless their great reputation might screen them from suspicion. Thus Elias offered sacrifice on Mount Carmel, without giving offence, 3 Kings 18:23. If a true prophet bore witness to another, the latter might also claim respect. (Calmet) --- Yet though St. John the Baptist had repeatedly commended Jesus Christ, the Jews did not hesitate to call him a seducer, and to put him to death. (Haydock) --- "The evil one," (Syriac,) 1 Corinthians 5:13. |
| Deuteronomy 13:6 | If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or daughter, or thy wife that is in thy bosom, or thy friend, whom thou lovest as thy own soul, would persuade thee secretly, saying: Let us go and serve strange gods, which thou knowest not, nor thy fathers, | If thy own brother, to distinguish him from the rest of the Jews, who were all styled brethren, as being descended from the same stock of the Patriarchs. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 13:7 | Of all the nations round about, that are near or afar off, from one end of the earth to the other, | |
| Deuteronomy 13:8 | Consent not to him, hear him not, neither let thy eye spare him to pity and conceal him, | |
| Deuteronomy 13:9 | But thou shalt presently put him to death. *Let thy hand be first upon him, and afterwards the hands of all the people. Deuteronomy 17:7. | Presently put him to death. Not by killing him by private authority, but by informing the magistrate, and proceeding by order of justice. (Challoner) (Worthington) --- Philo seems to assert the contrary. But he perhaps speaks of those who publicly endeavoured to lead the people astray. Presently is not in Hebrew. Other criminals were allowed twenty-four hours after condemnation. No delay was granted to false prophets. No excuse was admitted. If he had even been once acquitted, he might be examined again. --- Thy hand. The accuser or witness first threw a stone, after the wretch had been conducted out of the city, Deuteronomy 17:4.; Acts 7:58. |
| Deuteronomy 13:10 | With stones shall he be stoned to death: because he would have withdrawn thee from the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage: | |
| Deuteronomy 13:11 | That all Israel hearing may fear, and may do no more any thing like this. | |
| Deuteronomy 13:12 | If in one of thy cities, which the Lord thy God shall give thee to dwell in, thou hear some say: | Cities. If the inhabitants agreed, in general, to introduce the worship of idols, they were to be first admonished, (Calmet) and if incorrigible, to be utterly destroyed. (Haydock) --- The obligation of seeing that this was executed, was left to the magistrates. (Du Hamel) |
| Deuteronomy 13:13 | Children of Belial are gone out of the midst of thee, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, and have said: Let us go, and serve strange gods which you know not: | Belial: that is, without yoke. Hence the wicked, who refuse to be subject to the divine law, are called in Scripture the sons of Belial. (Challoner) --- The devil is called Belial, or "an apostate, rebel," etc. The word is also applied to Antichrist, to idols, and to those who are notoriously wicked. (St. Jerome in Nahum 1., and Isaias 27.; 3 Kings 21:13.) |
| Deuteronomy 13:14 | Enquire carefully and diligently, the truth of the thing, by looking well into it, and if thou find that which is said to be certain, and that this abomination has been really committed, | |
| Deuteronomy 13:15 | Thou shalt forthwith kill the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, and shalt destroy it, and all things that are in it, even the cattle: | Even the cattle. Nothing at all must be spared. Yet the Rabbins and some who argue that penal laws must be restrained as much as possible, exempt the women, and boys under thirteen years of age, and understand this law only of the central cities, ver. 13. If the city was seduced by one man, or by women, or by people of a different tribe, the culprit was only to be stoned, and the Sanhedrim had to take cognizance of the whole affair. If many cities joined in the idolatry, or if any of them were cities of refuge, etc., they were not included. (Selden, Syned. 3:5.; Grotius) --- But these limitations seem visibly to contradict the law. The goods of the innocent were involved in the common ruin, that they might learn to make all possible resistance to the introduction of so abominable a crime; and those of the guilty were destroyed wherever they were found. (Calmet) --- But the persons of those who fled away, to shew their disapprobation, and denounce the attempt of their brethren, (Haydock) would no doubt be saved. (Calmet) --- If they continued among them, their indolence or connivance deserved punishment. (Haydock) --- Grotius (Jur. 2:15) maintains, that the magistrate is authorized by the law of nature to punish those who deny the existence of God or his Providence, as these errors strike at the root of all society. --- [Ver. 16.] For the Lord, as a victim of expiation, and to manifest your zeal for the honour of the only true God. --- No more. Septuagint, "it shall be uninhabited." The Rabbins are so exact, as to entertain a doubt whether the place might even be used as a garden. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 13:16 | And all the household goods that are there, thou shalt gather together in the midst of the streets thereof, and shalt burn them with the city itself, so as to consume all for the Lord thy God, and that it be a heap for ever: it shall be built no more. | |
| Deuteronomy 13:17 | And there shall nothing of that anathema stick to thy hand: that the Lord may turn from the wrath of his fury, and may have mercy on thee, and multiply thee as he swore to thy fathers, | Hand. Thou shalt reserve nothing for thyself, (Menochius) as Achan did, Josue vii. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 13:18 | When thou shalt hear the voice of the Lord thy God, keeping all his precepts, which I command thee this day, that thou mayst do what is pleasing in the sight of the Lord thy God. | |
| Deuteronomy 14:0 | In mourning for the dead, they are not to follow the ways of the Gentiles: the distinction of clean and unclean meats: ordinances concerning tithes, and first-fruits. | |
| Deuteronomy 14:1 | Be *ye children of the Lord your God: you shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness for the dead; | Year of the World 2553. Be ye. Hebrew, "you are," etc. It may be connected with the preceding chapter. --- Cut, as the barbarians and infidels do, who have no hope, 1 Thessalonians 4:12., and Leviticus 19:29. --- Dead idols, Adonis, etc. The Arabs and Saracens cut the hair on the forepart of the head only, and so did the ancient Scotch monks, in imitation, as they pretended, of St. John. The Egyptians cut off the hair of their head and eye-brows, when they were initiated in the mysteries of Isis, (St. Ambrose, ep. 58,) to testify that they partook in her sorrow for the death of her husband, Osiris. Hence, it is probable, that Moses forbids any conformity in such superstitious practices; particularly as the Israelites were consecrated to the service of the living God. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 14:2 | *Because thou art a holy people to the Lord thy God: and he chose thee to be his peculiar people of all nations that are upon the earth. Deuteronomy 7:6.; Deuteronomy 26:18. | |
| Deuteronomy 14:3 | *Eat not the things that are unclean. Leviticus 11:4. | Unclean. See the annotations on Leviticus xi. (Challoner) --- Some of the beasts here specified were not mentioned before, as the buffle, etc. |
| Deuteronomy 14:4 | These are the beasts that you shall eat, the ox, and the sheep, and the goat, | |
| Deuteronomy 14:5 | The hart, and the roe, the buffle, the chamois, the pygarg, the wild goat, the camelopardalus. | Buffle. Hebrew yachmur, which some translate "the fallow-deer." The Arabs give this name to a beast resembling a hart, which has horns and red hair. (Calmet) --- It was served up on the table of Solomon, 3 Kings 4:23. Pliny ([Natural History?] 8:13,) mentions the bubalus of Africa, which is like a calf. (Menochius) --- Chamois, (tragelaphum) a beast which has the head of a he-goat, and the carcass of a hart. (Scaliger.) (Pliny, 8:33.) --- Bochart translates akko after the Arabic, "the wild goat." --- Pygarg, another species of goat, (Pliny, 8:53,) of the colour of ashes. (Bellon., q. 51.) Dishon means "ashes" in Hebrew. --- Goat, (orygem) "a wild goat, (Septuagint; Bochart; etc.) or ox." Aristotle allows it only one horn. Juvenal mentions that the Getulians feasted on its flesh; and the Egyptian priests, according to Horus, were allowed to eat it, without any scrupulous examination of the sealers. (Calmet) --- Camelopardalus. This animal resembles a camel in its head and longish neck, and the panther in the spotted skin. (Pliny, 8:18.) --- Bochart (III. 21,) thinks that the Hebrew zamer, means "a wild goat," noted for "leaping." |
| Deuteronomy 14:6 | Every beast that divideth the hoof in two parts, and cheweth the cud, you shall eat. | |
| Deuteronomy 14:7 | But of them that chew the cud, but divide not the hoof, you shall not eat, such as the camel, the hare, and the cherogril: because they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof, they shall be unclean to you. | Cherogril, or porcupine, Leviticus 11:5. St. Barnabas and Clement of Alexandria (Paed. 2:10,) subjoin the hyena to the hare, though the name occur not in Moses. This animal was supposed to change sexes every year, and was a symbol of incontinency. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 14:8 | The swine also, because it divideth the hoof, but cheweth not the cud, shall be unclean; their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch. | |
| Deuteronomy 14:9 | These shall you eat of all that abide in the waters: All that have fins and scales, you shall eat. | |
| Deuteronomy 14:10 | Such as are without fins and scales, you shall not eat, because they are unclean. | Unclean. St. Barnabas adds, "Thou shalt not eat the murena, polypus, or cuttle fish;" and these are in effect of the description given by Moses. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 14:11 | All birds that are clean you shall eat. | |
| Deuteronomy 14:12 | The unclean eat not: to wit, the eagle, and the grype, and the osprey, | |
| Deuteronomy 14:13 | The ringtail, and the vulture, and the kite according to their kind: | Ringtail (ixion). Hebrew raa. The same bird seems to be called dae in Leviticus, by the change of the first letter, though it is there translated the kite. The ixion is a sort of white, quick-sighted vulture. --- Kite. Hebrew diae, according to Bochart, means the vulture, as Isaias (xxxiv. 15,) insinuates that this bird goes in flocks, while the kite is a solitary bird. |
| Deuteronomy 14:14 | And all of the raven's kind: | |
| Deuteronomy 14:15 | And the ostrich, and the owl, and the larus, and the hawk according to its kind: | Ostrich. Hebrew, "the daughter of the june." The Rabbins say only the young ones were eaten. But this seems doubtful, with respect to many nations, which formerly served up ostriches at table. Heliogabalus presented some of these, as well as camel, to his guests, falsely asserting, (Calmet) that the Jews were commanded to eat them, praeceptum Judaeis ut ederent. (Lamprid.) |
| Deuteronomy 14:16 | The heron, and the swan, and the stork, | |
| Deuteronomy 14:17 | And the cormorant, the porphyrion, and the night-crow, | |
| Deuteronomy 14:18 | The bittern, and the charadrion, every one in their kind: the houp also and the bat. | |
| Deuteronomy 14:19 | Every thing that creepeth and hath little wings shall be unclean, and shall not be eaten. | Wings. Hebrew, "every reptile that flyeth," such as bees. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 14:20 | All that is clean, you shall eat. | |
| Deuteronomy 14:21 | But whatsoever is dead of itself, eat not thereof. Give it to the stranger, that is within thy gates to eat, or sell it to him: because thou art the holy people of the Lord *thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in the milk of his dam. Exodus 23:19.; Exodus 34:26. | Of itself, or by suffocation. --- Stranger, who has not embraced your religion. (Menochius) --- Hence it is inferred, that the Jews might keep unclean animals, and sell them; as they did not defile till they were dead. (Jansenius) --- If they had been unclean by nature, they could not have been sold, which shews that this ceremonial law regarded only the Jewish religion. --- Dam. All appearance of cruelty must be avoided. Christ, who is signified by the kid, on account of his assuming our sinful nature, shall not be slain in his infancy. (St. Thomas Aquinas, 1:2. q. 102. a. 6.) (Worthington). --- Some take this prohibition literally, and extend it to calves and lambs. The Arabs use milk in almost all their ragouts. (Roger. 2:2.) --- Others think that kids must not be eaten, while they are as yet too tender, Qui plus lactis habet quam sanguinis. (Juvenal, Sat. xi.) --- But we believe that God forbids the paschal lamb or kid to be offered while it sucks. It must be of a competent age, of one year, Exodus 12:5., and 23:19. Other victims would do if they were only eight days old, Leviticus 22:27. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 14:22 | Every year thou shalt set aside the tithes of all thy fruits that the earth bringeth forth, | Tithes. The Jews carried with them some money to buy peace-offerings. (Estius) |
| Deuteronomy 14:23 | And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God, in the place which he shall choose, that his name may be called upon therein, the tithe of thy corn, and thy wine, and thy oil, and the first-born of thy herds and thy sheep: that thou mayst learn to fear the Lord thy God at all times. | |
| Deuteronomy 14:24 | But when the way, and the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, are far off, and he hath blessed thee, and thou canst not carry all these things thither, | |
| Deuteronomy 14:25 | Thou shalt sell them all, and turn them into money, and shalt carry it in thy hand, and shalt go to the place which the Lord shall choose: | |
| Deuteronomy 14:26 | And thou shalt buy with the same money whatsoever pleaseth thee, either of the herds, or of sheep, wine also and strong drink, and all that thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God, and shalt feast, thou and thy house: | Herds. Hebrew, "oxen." --- Sheep; under which name are comprised goats. |
| Deuteronomy 14:27 | And the Levite that is within thy gates: beware thou forsake him not, because he hath no other part in thy possession. | |
| Deuteronomy 14:28 | The third year thou shalt separate another tithe of all things that grow to thee at that time: and shalt lay it up within thy gates. | |
| Deuteronomy 14:29 | And the Levite that hath no other part nor possession with thee, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates, shall come and shall eat and be filled: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the works of thy hands that thou shalt do. | Filled. Of this feast the owner did not partake, (St. Augustine, q. 20,) as he did of the former, ver. 26. (Menochius) --- Josephus ([Antiquities?] 4:8,) acknowledges three sorts of tithes: but Calmet thinks that only two were paid every third year, and that the same tithe is mentioned, ver. 22, and 28., and Tobias 1:7. The only difference is, that on the third and sixth years, the products were consumed on the spot, and in other years they were spent at Jerusalem. See Leviticus xxvii. Many, however, believe that three tithes were then exacted: 1. For the Levites. 2. For a feast at Jerusalem, and to defray the expenses on the road. 3. For the poor at home. (Du Hamel; etc.) (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 15:0 | The law of the seventh year of remission. The firstlings of cattle are to be sanctified to the Lord. | |
| Deuteronomy 15:1 | In *the seventh year thou shalt make a remission. | Year of the World 2553, Year before Christ 1451. In the. Hebrew, "at the extremity of seven years," which some erroneously refer to the end, though the original signify also the beginning. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 15:2 | Which shall be celebrated in this order. He to whom any thing is owing from his friend, or neighbour, or brother, cannot demand it again, because it is the year of remission of the Lord. | Again. Hebrew does not mention friend. (Haydock) --- "He shall not exact it, (or urge) his neighbour or his brother, because," etc. Whence Cajetan gathers, that debts might be demanded after the expiration of the seventh year, on which the products of the earth did not enable the Jews to pay any thing. Grotius also asserts, that perpetual debts might be required; and Menoch, includes things lent under the same regulation. But all debts became extinct as soon as the seventh year commenced; (ver. 9.; Calmet) at least they could not be demanded till it was expired; though things merely lent, might be taken back. (Du Hamel) |
| Deuteronomy 15:3 | Of the foreigner or stranger thou mayst exact it: of thy countryman and neighbour thou shalt not have power to demand it again. | Stranger, who has not received circumcision. Such were entitled only to the common privileges of people in distress. They could not claim a share in the feasts, made out of the tithes of the Jews, etc. (Grotius) |
| Deuteronomy 15:4 | And there shall be no poor nor beggar among you: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in the land which he will give thee in possession. | There shall be no poor, etc. It is not to be understood as a promise, that there should be no poor in Israel, as appears from ver. 11, where we learn that God's people would never be at a loss to find objects for their charity: but it is an ordinance that all should do their best endeavours to prevent any of their brethren from suffering the hardships of poverty and want. (Challoner) --- Beggar, is not expressed, though it be implied in Hebrew or the Septuagint, which connect this with the preceding verse, (Haydock) "because (or save when) there shall be no poor among you;" as if the rich could not derive the benefit from the remission of debts. (Vatable) --- God had made abundant provision for the poor. He might have prevented any from falling into distress. (Calmet) --- But he suffered this sometimes to take place, to try the dispositions both of the rich and of the poor. (Haydock) --- If they had faithfully complied with his laws, he would not have permitted them to fall into the last degree of misery. (Calmet) --- He allows no public begging, which all well regulated nations discountenance. (Menochius) --- The Jews carefully relieve their brethren. They gather alms, and one of the judges distributes what may be sufficient for the ensuing week. (Leo, p. 1:c. 14.) --- Those who refused to give according to their abilities, were formerly ordered by the Sanhedrim to be scourged, till they had complied with their duty; and sometimes, things were taken forcibly from their houses. (Maimonides) --- They relieve the distressed in proportion to their former condition. (Selden, Jur. 6:6.) |
| Deuteronomy 15:5 | Yet so if thou hear the voice of the Lord thy God, and keep all things that he hath ordained, and which I command thee this day, he will bless thee, as he hath promised. | |
| Deuteronomy 15:6 | Thou shalt lend to many nations, and thou shalt borrow of no man. Thou shalt have dominion over very many nations, and no one shall have dominion over thee. | Lend. The Jews give a wrong interpretation to this passage, to authorize usury with regard to strangers. But God can never sanction injustice. He promises such riches to his people, if they be faithful, that they shall be in a condition to lend to many, without wanting themselves. (Calmet) --- Over thee. Hence the Jews submitted to a foreign yoke with so much reluctance. But they should have remembered to keep God's law. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 15:7 | If one of thy brethren, that dwelleth within the gates of thy city, in the land which the Lord thy God will give thee, come to poverty: thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor close thy hand, | |
| Deuteronomy 15:8 | But shalt open it to the poor man; *thou shalt lend him, that which thou perceivest he hath need of. Matthew 5:42.; Luke 6:34. | Need of. The Rabbins understand this of giving freely without any prospect of receiving again, much less of any advantage by usury. They esteem themselves bound also, by the laws of humanity, to assist even idolaters, though they will not beg of such, in public. Some assert, that they never allow public beggars among themselves, and indeed such are seldom to be seen. Yet no law forbids it; and Juvenal (VI. 541,) upbraids them with begging slyly at Rome. Arcanum Judaea tremens mendicat in aurem. (Calmet) --- If people be in extreme want, the law requires that necessaries should be given them; but if they be not so far reduced, but that they may be able to pay again in a little time, it may suffice to lend. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 15:9 | Beware lest perhaps a wicked thought steal in upon thee, and thou say in thy heart: *The seventh year of remission draweth nigh; and thou turn away thy eyes from thy poor brother, denying to lend him that which he asketh: lest he cry against thee to the Lord, and it become a sin unto thee. Exodus 33:10.; Leviticus 25:2. | Eyes. Hebrew, "and thy eye be evil against," etc. This expression denotes one who is a prey to the base passions of avarice, jealousy, envy, etc., chap. 28:54., and Matthew 20:15. (Calmet) --- A sin, or draw on punishment. (Menochius) --- "If thou hast not fed, thou hast killed" thy neighbour in extreme want. (St. Ambrose, Off. 2:7.) (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 15:10 | But thou shalt give to him: neither shalt thou do any thing craftily in relieving his necessities: that the Lord thy God may bless thee at all times, and in all things to which thou shalt put thy hand. | Neither. Hebrew, "thy heart shall not be evil in giving: for to this end the Lord....hath blessed thee." Imitate his clemency. --- Hand, in all thy undertakings and possessions. |
| Deuteronomy 15:11 | *There will not be wanting poor in the land of thy habitation: therefore I command thee to open thy hand to thy needy and poor brother, that liveth in the land. Matthew 26:11. | Needy. Hebrew expresses the order to be observed in giving alms, "open thy hand wide (give with profusion) to thy brother, (or relations) to thy needy, (in extreme want) and to thy poor in the land," whoever they may be. (Calmet) --- To exercise the charity of his people, God suffered some to be poor. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 15:12 | *When thy brother, a Hebrew man, or Hebrew woman, is sold to thee, and hath served thee six years, in the seventh year, thou shalt let him go free: Exodus 21:2.; Jeremias 34:14. | Free. The Hebrews might sell themselves only to their own countrymen; and the judges might condemn those who had committed a theft, and had not wherewith to make restitution, to be sold to their brethren. See Exodus 21:2. |
| Deuteronomy 15:13 | And when thou sendest him out free, thou shalt not let him go away empty: | |
| Deuteronomy 15:14 | But shalt give him for his way out of thy flocks, and out of thy barn-floor, and thy wine-press, wherewith the Lord thy God shall bless thee. | Way. Hebrew literally, "Thou shalt put round his neck, (or furnish him abundantly) out of thy flock," etc. This is not specified in the Book of Exodus. |
| Deuteronomy 15:15 | Remember that thou also wast a bond-servant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God made thee free, and therefore I now command thee this. | |
| Deuteronomy 15:16 | But if he say: I will not depart: because he loveth thee, and thy house, and findeth that he is well with thee: | |
| Deuteronomy 15:17 | Thou shalt take an awl, and bore through his ear in the door of thy house, and he shall serve thee for ever: thou shalt do in like manner to thy woman-servant also. | House, before a judge. It is supposed that this law regarded only those who had sold themselves, or had been condemned to be slaves. (Fagius) --- For ever; that is, till the year of jubilee. --- Also, not by piercing her ear, as some have thought, but by setting her at liberty, and giving her something, ver. 14. |
| Deuteronomy 15:18 | Turn not away thy eyes from them, when thou makest them free: because he hath served thee six years according to the wages of a hireling: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the works that thou dost. | Hireling. His freedom is due to him, as much as wages are due to the hireling. He is alse entitled to a decent provision, for which he has laboured. Hebrew, "he hath been worth twice as much to thee as a hired servant," by his greater diligence, labour, and fidelity. Servitude has also rendered his worth doubly severe. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 15:19 | Of the firstlings, that come of thy herds, and thy sheep, thou shalt sanctify to the Lord thy God whatsoever is of the male sex. Thou shalt not work with the firstling of a bullock, and thou shalt not shear the firstlings of thy sheep. | Firstlings. Some belonged to the priests. Others, of which Moses speaks here, might be disposed of by the owners, chap. 12:17. (Calmet) --- Thus females, which came first, belonged to them, but they could not work with them; (Menochius) with such at least as were the best, and fattened for a religious feast. Sheep designed for this purpose were not to be shorn; or, as the original term means, their wool was not to be "torn away." Bellon observes, that this is still the custom in some parts of the East, as it was formerly in Italy, according to Varro. Pliny ([Natural History?] 8:48,) also remarks, that fleece was torn off in some places, (Calmet) and the same method is said to prevail still in Shetland. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 15:20 | In the sight of the Lord thy God shalt thou eat them every year, in the place that the Lord shall choose, thou and thy house. | |
| Deuteronomy 15:21 | *But if it have a blemish, or be lame, or blind, or in any part disfigured or feeble, it shall not be sacrificed to the Lord thy God. Leviticus 22:20-21.; Ecclesiasticus 35:14. | |
| Deuteronomy 15:22 | But thou shalt eat it within the gates of thy city: the clean and the unclean shall eat them alike as the roe, and as the hart. | Unclean. This shews, that they could not be peace-offerings. (Menochius) ( Deuteronomy 13:15.) (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 15:23 | Only thou shalt take heed not to eat their blood, but pour it out on the earth as water. | |
| Deuteronomy 16:0 | The three principal solemnities to be observed: just judges to be appointed in every city: all occasions of idolatry to be avoided. | |
| Deuteronomy 16:1 | Observe *the month of new corn, which is the first of the spring, that thou mayst celebrate the Phase to the Lord thy God: because in this month the Lord thy God brought thee out of Egypt by night. | Year of the World 2553, Year before Christ 1451. Corn. Hebrew abib, "green ears of corn," when barley begins to ripen, and wheat is yet green in Palestine; at the time of the year, which corresponds with half of our March and April. The Chaldeans called this month Nisan, "of the standards;" because the armies then left their winter quarters. The first-fruits of the barley harvest were offered on the second day of the paschal solemnity, Leviticus 23:10., and Exodus 13:4. (Calmet) --- Night. We read (Exodus 12:22., and Numbers 33:3,) that the Hebrews were ordered not to leave their houses till morning, and that they departed from Ramesses on the day after the passage of the destroying angel. They began, therefore, to prepare for their journey on the evening of the 14th, and began their march at day-break on the 15th of Nisan, ver. 6. Their departure may be considered in its different stages: 1. Of eating the paschal lamb, with their staves in their hands; 2. of being urged by the Egyptians to depart, at midnight; 3. of their leaving their respective homes, to meet all together at Ramesses; and lastly, [4.] of their beginning their march from that place to leave Egypt. They did not, however, quit the confines till they had passed the Red Sea, which took place effectually in the night, Exodus 14:20, 24. (Haydock) --- Thus they departed in the evening, at night, in the morning, and in the open day. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 16:2 | And thou shalt sacrifice the Phase to the Lord thy God, of sheep, and of oxen, in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his name may dwell there. | Phase. Hebrew and Septuagint, "the Phase (or lamb) to the Lord thy God, sheep and oxen," or "of the flock and the herd," (Protestants) offered on the same festival, (Haydock) or victims proper for the solemnity, besides the paschal lamb, Numbers 28:19., and 2 Paralipomenon 30:15. Peace-offerings were also made; (Leviticus 6:12., and 2 Paralipomenon 35:7,) and of these free offerings, some explain the words of the Jews, (John 18:28,) as they suppose the lamb had been eaten the night before. (Menochius; Bochart; Tirinus) --- They might, however, have refrained from eating of these on that day. (Calmet) --- But they perhaps did not choose to be debarred of that privilege. --- There. The place peculiarly consecrated to the worship of God, for length of days. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 16:3 | Thou shalt not eat with it leavened bread: seven days shalt thou eat without leaven, the bread of affliction, because thou camest out of Egypt in fear: that thou mayst remember the day of thy coming out of Egypt, all the days of thy life. | Affliction. Hebrew also, "of poverty." Syriac, "of humility." Septuagint, "of evil treatment;" or such bread as the poorest sort of people and slaves are forced to eat. The Jews serve the bread in small pieces, to denote their former poverty. This unleavened bread is also less palatable, and less wholesome. --- Fear. Septuagint, "in haste," Exodus 12:11. The psalmist (Psalm 104:43,) mentions, the exultation and joy of the Hebrews, but it was mixed with fear, lest they should lose so great a benefit. |
| Deuteronomy 16:4 | No leaven shall be seen in all thy coasts for seven days, neither shall any of the flesh of that which was sacrificed the first day, in the evening, remain until morning. | |
| Deuteronomy 16:5 | Thou mayst not immolate the Phase in any one of thy cities, which the Lord thy God will give thee: | |
| Deuteronomy 16:6 | But in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his name may dwell there; thou shalt immolate the Phase in the evening, at the going down of the sun, at which time thou camest out of Egypt. | Phase, or paschal lamb, which was to be sacrificed between the two evenings, during the space of about four hours, in the court before the ark. Some think that this precept was binding only in times of peace; and that when the people could not assemble in the place appointed, they might sacrifice the lamb elsewhere, which seems very probable, though no positive proof can be adduced. In the reign of Amon, when the priests could not perform their sacred functions in the temple, they removed the ark to another place: but Josias caused it to be brought back, 2 Paralipomenon 35:3. (Calmet) --- As the Jews have now no temple, they cannot sacrifice the paschal lamb. (Tirinus) --- The priests were very expert, and observed an admirable order in offering such a surprising multitude of victims, (Calmet) as would be offered by every family of ten people. (Haydock) --- The blood, and perhaps the fat also, was presented on the altar of holocausts, which was very large, and the court exceedingly spacious. (Calmet) --- Which. This may not signify the precise hour, but may refer to all the time while the Hebrews were preparing for and commencing their journey. (Menochius) Ver. 1. --- Hebrew, "at the (return of the) season in which," etc. |
| Deuteronomy 16:7 | And thou shalt dress, and eat it in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, and in the morning rising up thou shalt go into thy dwellings. | Dress, (coques.) Hebrew bashal means frequently, to boil, and sometimes to roast, as it must here, if it refer to the paschal lamb; the other victims might however be boiled, and the Septuagint use both expressions, "Thou shalt boil and roast." See 2 Paralipomenon 35:13. It seems that Moses speaks only of the lamb, the method of preparing which he had abundantly explained before. (Calmet) --- Hebrew has not it, and of course the passage may be understood of all the victims offered on this solemnity. On the morning after it was concluded, people might all depart to their respective homes. The Rabbins observe, that they could not do this on the morning of the 15th Nisan, as it was a solemn festival, on which long journeys were prohibited, and they ought to wait till the end of the seventh day, to make their offering. Under Ezechias and Josias, the people appear to have continued together during the whole octave, 2 Paralipomenon xxx., and 35:17. (Haydock) --- Others are of opinion that the people might retire home after the 15th, (Tostat) or in the morning after they had eaten the paschal lamb. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 16:8 | Six days shalt thou eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day, because it is the assembly of the Lord thy God, thou shalt do no work. | Six days after the solemn day is ended, or in all seven (Exodus 13:7.; Calmet); or the seventh day is here remarkable, for some particular distinction. (Menochius) --- Assembly. Hebrew, " the feast of prohibition, or of withholding," or rather the festival day, in which all must make their appearance, to do homage to their Lord, Leviticus 23:36. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "on the 7th is the dismission, (or termination) a feast to the Lord." (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 16:9 | Thou shalt number unto thee seven weeks from that day, wherein thou didst put the sickle to the corn: | Corn: that is, from the 16th of Nisan, (Menochius) the second day of the paschal solemnity, on which new barley was presented before the Lord, as new wheat was on the second day of Pentecost, Leviticus 23:10. |
| Deuteronomy 16:10 | And thou shalt celebrate the festival of weeks to the Lord thy God, a voluntary oblation of thy hand, which thou shalt offer according to the blessing of the Lord thy God: | Hand. Hebrew and Septuagint, "as much as thy hand is able;" an offering, bearing a due proportion with what God has bestowed upon thee. (Haydock) --- Each one was exhorted to make peace-offerings and feasts, at Jerusalem, in honour of God, ver. 11. On these festival days the first-born, fattened animals, were brought to be slain, chap. 12:17., and 14:23. The Jews think that by these feasts their solemnities are very much honoured. But the intention of the lawgiver, was only to keep them at a distance from the profane rejoicings of the pagans, and to raise their thoughts and their hearts, by degrees, to the more solid spiritual delights. There were, however, too much inclined to stop at the gratification of the senses, and understood in that sense the sabbath, which Isaias (lviii. 13,) calls delightful, or delicate. (Buxt., Syn. x.) |
| Deuteronomy 16:11 | And thou shalt feast before the Lord thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, who abide with you: in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his name may dwell there: | |
| Deuteronomy 16:12 | And thou shalt remember that thou wast a servant in Egypt: and thou shalt keep and do the things that are commanded. | Commanded, in gratitude for past favours. |
| Deuteronomy 16:13 | Thou shalt celebrate the solemnity also of tabernacles, when thou hast gathered in thy fruit of the barn-floor and of the wine-press: | |
| Deuteronomy 16:14 | And thou shalt make merry in thy festival time, thou, thy son, and thy daughter, thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, the Levite also, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates. | |
| Deuteronomy 16:15 | Seven days shalt thou celebrate feasts to the Lord thy God, in the place which the Lord shall choose: and the Lord thy God will bless thee in all thy fruits, and in every work of thy hands, and thou shalt be in joy. | In joy. Hebrew adds, "surely, or wholly." Hence the Rabbins esteem it unlawful to marry on these days, lest they should blend sacred and worldly joy together. |
| Deuteronomy 16:16 | Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God, in the place which he shall choose: in the feast of unleavened bread, in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles. *No one shall appear with his hands empty before the Lord: Exodus 23:15.; Exodus 34:20.; Ecclesiasticus 35:6. | Empty. All were bound to make some offering, which was left to their option, and thus the festivity was much increased, by the abundance of all things; so that all might find a particular pleasure in being present at these feasts, even though they were not influenced by sentiments of piety and of religion. See Exodus 23:15. (Calmet) --- While the masters of families were from home, thrice in the year, God protected their houses and children from the incursions of enemies, so that they were never more secure. (Sanctius) (Tirinus) |
| Deuteronomy 16:17 | But every one shall offer according to what he hath, according to the blessing of the Lord his God, which he shall give him. | |
| Deuteronomy 16:18 | Thou shalt appoint judges and magistrates in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God shall give thee, in all thy tribes: that they may judge the people with just judgment, | Magistrates, (magistros,) "masters;" people learned in the law, who may assist the judges with their counsel in any emergency. Hebrew shotrim, "officers, heralds, lictors," etc., Deuteronomy 1:15. (Haydock) --- Bonfrere (in Exodus 18:25,) thinks that these were the judges set over each tribe, or else the assessors of the judges. (Menochius) --- The Rabbins mention three tribunals of the Jews: 1. The Sanhedrim, consisting of seventy judges, with a prince at the head of them; 2. the twenty-three judges, who resided in considerable cities; 3. the tribunal of three judges, who administered justice in the villages, which had not above 120 inhabitants. But Josephus ([Antiquities?] 4:last chapter.) only mentions, that Moses established in each city seven judges, who had each two officers of the tribe of Levi. --- Gates, where the judges sat. |
| Deuteronomy 16:19 | And not go aside to either part. *Thou shalt not accept person, nor gifts: for gifts blind the eyes of the wise, and change the words of the just. Exodus 23:8.; Leviticus 19:15.; Deuteronomy 1:17.; Ecclesiasticus 20:31. | Just. Avarice is like a cloud, (Calmet) which darkens the understanding. Oppression troubleth the wise, and (Hebrew) "a present destroyeth the heart." A timid or interested judge is unfit for his office. Sir Thomas More was very careful not to receive presents, while he was high chancellor of England. (Haydock) --- If even the just are in danger of being perverted by presents, what must we think of others? (Du Hamel) |
| Deuteronomy 16:20 | Thou shalt follow justly after that which is just: that thou mayst live and possess the land which the Lord thy God shall give thee. | Just. Hebrew, "thou shalt follow justice." Thou shalt be guided solely by the dictates of justice, in passing sentence, Exodus 23:1, 9. (Calmet) --- That judge who passes sentence according to truth, executes his office unjustly if he be actuated by the love of a temporal reward. (St. Gregory, mor. 9.) |
| Deuteronomy 16:21 | Thou shalt plant no grove, nor any tree, near the altar of the Lord thy God: | Tree. The pagans had consecrated different sorts of trees to their idols. They always planted groves near their temples, to increase the reverential awe, and but too often to hide the abominations which were there committed. The Hebrews frequently imitated them in these particulars. Yet Hecateus observes, that no tree was to be seen near the temple of Jerusalem. |
| Deuteronomy 16:22 | Neither shalt thou make, nor set up to thyself a statue: which things the Lord thy God hateth. | Statue. Hebrew matseba, means also a pillar, monument, heap of stones, image, title, etc., Genesis xxviii. --- Hateth, when they are designed for superstitious purposes. On other occasions, statues and pictures may be very instructive and commendable. (Haydock) --- The patriarchs set up pillars, altars, etc., as did also the Israelites, (Josue 22:10.) Samuel, etc., even after this prohibition, and without any offence. The Rabbins allow, that the proselytes of justice do well in erecting such monuments of religion, provided they be not intended for false worship. (Selden, Jur. 2:6.) (Calmet) --- How blind then must be our dissenting brethren, who cannot make this easy and obvious distinction, but indiscriminately condemn all Catholics as guilty of idolatry, because they make and keep in their chapels, and bow down before images of the saints. This trifling objection is pressed with great vigour by J. Wesley, the founder of the Methodists. "The Papists, says he, set up their idols in their churches---they worship the picture of the Queen of heaven---they idolize a dead man or woman." To whom Dr. Parker, a Protestant bishop, replies: (Disc. for the Abrog. of the Test.) "Yet, after all, we have no other ground for the bold conceit, than the crude and rash assertions of some popular divines, who have no other measures of truth and zeal, but their hatred of popery....As to the use of images in the worship of God, I cannot but admire at the confidence of these men, to make so bold a charge against them in general, when the images of the cherubim were commanded by God himself, Exodus 25:22. They were the most solemn and sacred part of the Jewish religion, and therefore, though images, so far from idolatry, that God made them the seat of his presence, and from between them delivered his oracles. This instance is so plain and obvious to every reader,....that it is a much greater wonder to me that those men, who advance the objection of idolatry so groundlessly, (against the greater part of Christendom, as he observed before) can so slightly rid themselves of so pregnant a proof against it." See an answer to the Rev. J. Wesley's Misrepresentations, etc., by the Rev. N. G. published at Whitby, 1811, where some of the variations in doctrine of the pillars of Methodism, are also briefly noticed, as well as the absurdity of a man setting up for a reformer of religion, who at the time did not believe in Christ, (Journal 2:p. 102-3,) and for forty-two years afterwards preached a doctrine either Popish (Jour. for 1739) or Antinomian, than which, to use the words of his own recantation, "nothing could be more false." (Minutes of a Conference, 1770.) It may not be improper to observe, that in the last great deluge of error, the Methodist Society began, 1st May, 1738, at London, though it had a more obscure beginning at Oxford, 1729, and another at Havannah, 1736. Yet even when this third grand attempt was made to spread it wider, and to rectify former mistakes, the author acknowledges that he was not converted, no not till many days afterwards, when, being in a Lutheran society! (26th May) "an assurance, says he, was given me, that Christ had taken away my sins, even mine;" (Journal) and still, in the year 1770, he had to "review the whole affair." Such is the man who has deluded so many thousands! Out of thy own mouth will I condemn thee. Surely those who wilfully follow such blind guides, deserve to fall into the ditch. What confidence now can the Methodists have in the interpretations which Wesley has given them of the Scriptures, since he stumbled in broad daylight; and even preached for above thirty years together, that the observance of God's law is not only unnecessary, but sinful, an error to which he was forced, at last, to open his eyes by the scandalous immoralities of several of his deluded admirers, whom he had been all along foolishly flattering with the assurance that faith alone would ensure their salvation. Strange it may appear, that he should not be put on his guard by the fall of Luther, who split against the same rock, and scrupled not to condemn the Epistle of St. James as not worth a straw, stramineam epistolam, an expression for which he is said afterwards to have been sorry, as Wesley was for the doctrine which he had been delivering for so many years. But the evil was then done. Multitudes had been deceived by these arch impostors. Their surviving followers might however, if they would, derive this lesson from their tardy repentance and recantation, to examine with more caution their other doctrines, which they have delivered with the like confidence; and as they have reason to fear the yielding an implicit belief to such innovators, so they may be induced to flee to the ark, the true Catholic Church, that they may be protected from the contradiction of tongues, Psalm 30:21. (St. Augustine, ibid.) "After Christ and the gospel, we have no farther enquiry to make." (Tertullian) --- We know that novelty in religion is a sure mark of falsehood, as no one can place any other foundation besides that which has been fixed by the beginner and finisher of our faith. From the written and unwritten Word of God, we learn what He has taught, and among the rest, we are authorized to keep holy pictures with respect. This is not an attempt against the worship of God, but designed to promote it. We do not make them to ourselves, without a divine authority. The same things which we are not allowed to adore, we must not make. Yet Methodists have and make pictures. We have God's will clearly expressed to us by his Church, which he has commanded us to hear and obey. If we be led astray by so doing, we may at least plead that we did, to the best of our judgment, as we were ordered by God; which those, who choose for themselves, cannot do. If this Church, so strongly recommended to us in Scripture, be capable of deceiving us in an affair of so great consequence as in that of idolatry, to what article of the Christian revelation can we yield our assent with safety? So, on the other hand, if Luther and Wesley have grossly imposed on their followers, by teaching them to believe that Catholics are idolaters, and that faith alone is necessary for salvation, as they are self-convicted in the latter point, how can their disciples forget the old proverb, "A liar is not believed even when he speaks the truth;" and consequently, how can they take up their faith on their bare word, though they may pretend to ground their doctrine on the word of God? They confessedly misapplied that sacred word, with respect to faith alone, and they shut their eyes to the obvious meaning of the texts which forbid graven things. Ought not, therefore, the unlearned and the unstable to dread lest they may have wrested the other Scriptures to their own perdition? (2 Peter 3:16.) See Exodus xx. This subject is of such vast importance, the accusation of idolatry is of so black a nature, that it deserves to be accurately and frequently refuted. It is not an accusation brought only by a few obscure individuals, who have not the power to do any great harm by it; the most exalted dignitaries of the Protestant church, such as Dr. Shute, of Durham, in two charges to his clergy, the most famous modern reformers, like Wesley, etc., have not scrupled to repeat the calumny; and the Legislature has, for many years, been actuated by what they perhaps have thought a pious zeal, to exterminate the imitators of the Chanaanites! They may have listened too attentively to the intolerant institutor of the love-feasts, (who seems, nevertheless, to threaten the overthrow of the established church) and who, in the excess of his zeal, exclaims, "I insist upon it that no government, not Roman Catholic, ought to tolerate men of the Roman Catholic persuasion." (Letter written 1780, a short time before the riots.) They must then be murdered, banished, or forced into the church, that little society which began in the evening of the 1st of May, 1738, in Fetter-lane; (Journal I.) for Methodists assert, that the God of this world has hitherto triumphed over every revival of true religion, (Dedic. prefixed to the Life of J. Wesley, by Drs. Coke and Moore) and consequently over the reformed Church of England; so that they can hardly insist, that we should embrace her doctrine, and thus increase the triumph of the devil. We have therefore no alternative left, but either to abandon our country or our religion. These are the apostles, worthy of Mahomet, who would have us believe that they are inspired by the Holy Ghost, and divinely commissioned to raise another holy temple out of the scattered lively stones of that once beautiful building, which was erected by Jesus Christ, against which they say (Ibid.) the gates of hell have never wholly prevailed. These are the teachers whom they have heaped up to themselves, having itching ears, 2 Timothy 4:3. These are the interpreters of the sacred oracles! Both Wesley and Coke have, at least, acquired great celebrity with their adherents, by their labours in this way; but how much their explications may be depended upon, we may form some judgment from the preceding remarks. The character of bishop, which Dr. Coke extorted from the hands of his great master, 10th of Sept. 1784, at Bristol, will not give us any higher idea of the sagacity of either. It disgusted all thinking men, as a similar action of Luther, a fallen priest, consecrating a bishop had done long before. Mr. Charles Wesley upon hearing of his brother having ordained a bishop, being but a presbyter himself, is said to have exclaimed, "So easily are bishops made, by man's or woman's whim; Wesley his hands on Coke has laid---but who laid hands on him?" See Nightingale, etc., for further information on Methodism, which now makes such a noise, though its novelty, variations, acknowledged mistakes, calumnies, spirit of persecution, want of lawful pastors, etc., here briefly instanced, might suffice to put people upon their guard. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 17:0 | Victims must be without blemish. Idolaters are to be slain. Controversies are to be decided by the high priest and council, whose sentence must be obeyed, under pain of death. The duty of a king, who is to receive the law of God at the priest's hands. | |
| Deuteronomy 17:1 | Thou *shalt not sacrifice to the Lord thy God a sheep, or an ox, wherein there is blemish, or any fault: for that is an abomination to the Lord thy God. | Year of the World 2553. Ox. By this name all bulls, cows, etc., are designated. For it was not lawful to sacrifice any thing which had lost any member, Exodus 12:5., and Leviticus 1:3. |
| Deuteronomy 17:2 | When there shall be found among you, within any of thy gates, which the Lord thy God shall give thee, man or woman that do evil in the sight of the Lord thy God, and transgress his covenant, | Covenant, by incurring the evil of idolatry. (Calmet) (Hebrews 10:29.) |
| Deuteronomy 17:3 | So as to go and serve strange gods, and adore them, the sun and the moon, and all the host of heaven, which I have not commanded: | The host of heaven. That is, the stars. (Challoner) --- This species of idolatry was the most ancient and common in the East. Job (xxxi. 26, 28) takes notice of the adoration of the sun and of the moon, and calls it a very great iniquity, and a denial against the most high God. He lived in Arabia, and probably not far from the place where Moses was addressing the Israelites. (Haydock) --- The pagans looked upon the sun and moon as the king and queen of heaven, and the stars as their guards. Plato says (in Phaedro) that "the sun marches at the head of the gods, in a winged chariot, and the eleven other gods lead on their bands of demons," or the stars, etc. |
| Deuteronomy 17:4 | And this is told thee, and hearing it thou hast enquired diligently, and found it to be true, and that the abomination is committed in Israel: | |
| Deuteronomy 17:5 | Thou shalt bring forth the man or the woman, who have committed that most wicked thing, to the gates of thy city, and they shall be stoned. | Stoned, not far from the gates, where they received sentence. Thus the sabbath-breaker was stoned without the camp, (Numbers 15:35,) and St. Stephen out of the city of Jerusalem, Acts 7:57. When only a few were concerned, the twenty-three judges passed sentence: but if a whole tribe had been guilty, the cognizance of the affair was left to the Sanhedrim. When a city was infected with this abomination, it was wholly destroyed. But no one was punished, except two witnesses (ver. 6,) attested that formal idolatry, by sacrifice, etc., had been committed. (Selden, Syned. 3:4.) |
| Deuteronomy 17:6 | *By the mouth of two, or three witnesses, shall he die that is to be slain. Let no man be put to death, when only one beareth witness against him. Deuteronomy 19:15.; Matthew 18:6.; 2 Corinthians 13:1. | Slain. When the action was public, this formality was not requisite, Deuteronomy 13:9. --- Him. One witness was never admitted to prove any crime; neither would the Jews receive for witnesses, women, infants under thirteen, slaves, publicans, thieves, etc. (Josephus, [Antiquities?] 4:last chapter.) The Rabbins also reject other notorious offenders, enemies, relations, and those who had not a competent knowledge of the law, etc. (Ap. Selden, Syn. 2:13. 11.; and Grotius) --- But we could wish for some authors of more credit. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 17:7 | The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to kill him, *and afterwards the hands of the rest of the people; that thou mayst take away the evil out of the midst of thee. Deuteronomy 13:9. | Kill him. Thus testifying that they approve the sentence, and are willing that his blood should be required at their hands, if they had accused him falsely. The criminal was hurled down a precipice by one of the witnesses, and, if he survived, he was stoned by the other, and by the whole people. Maimonides asserts, that the execution took place on some great festival, for the terror and instruction of the multitude; but others call this in question. (Fagius) (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 17:8 | If thou perceive that there be among you a hard and doubtful matter in judgment between blood and blood, cause and cause, leprosy and leprosy, and thou see that the words of the judges within thy gates do vary: arise and go up to the place, which the Lord thy God shall choose: | If thou perceive, etc. Here we see what authority God was pleased to give to the church-guides of the Old Testament, in deciding, without appeal, all controversies relating to the law; promising that they should not err therein; and punishing with death such as proudly refused to obey their decisions: and surely he has not done less for the church-guides of the New Testament. (Challoner) --- Hard. Hebrew also means, "doubtful, hidden, divided;" so that the opinions of the judges do not agree. In matters of fact, the thing is more easily investigated on the spot. But in these cases, where the law is ambiguous, as even the divine ordinances frequently are, being delivered in human language, (Grotius) a living judge is necessary. God remits the Jews in the council of the priests, at the head of whom was the sovereign pontiff, who was the natural and supreme judge of such difficulties, ver. 9, 12. (Haydock) --- And blood, to decide when murder must be punished with death, and when the right of an asylum may be claimed. (Calmet) --- The Vulgate renders the same words, 2 Paralipomenon 19:10. --- Between kindred and kindred, as the different degrees cause many embarrassments, with regard to marriages, etc. (Tirinus) --- The Rabbins understand that the judge had to declare when a woman was rendered unclean, Leviticus 12:4. (Lyranus) --- And cause, or lawsuit; some thinking that a greater sum for reparation of an injury should be required, others judging that one of the contending parties should be set at liberty, while the other judges are of a contrary sentiment. Hebrew, "between judgment and judgment," when a doubt arises whether laymen or the Levites may be the proper judges. The Rabbins only remit three cases to the tribunal of the latter, respecting, 1. The red heifer; 2. the woman accused of adultery by her jealous husband; 3. the heifer to be offered in sacrifice, for a murder committed by a person unknown, Deuteronomy 21:5. --- And leprosy. Various difficulties might arise concerning this matter, of which the priests had to pass sentence, Leviticus xiii. Some render the Hebrew negah, "wound." The law of retaliation required a scrupulous nicety. Blood, cause, and leprosy, may denote lawsuits of a criminal, less important, and ceremonial nature. (Jansenius) --- Vary. Hebrew, "which are matters of contention within thy gates." |
| Deuteronomy 17:9 | *And thou shalt come to the priests of the Levitical race, and to the judge, that shall be at that time: and thou shalt ask of them, and they shall shew thee the truth of the judgment. 2 Paralipomenon 19:8. | Judge. Moses does not specify whether the contending parties, or the judges themselves thought proper to have the matter debated before a higher court. The Rabbins observe, that appeals to the Sanhedrim were only the last resort, and that the sentence of that tribunal was to be complied with under pain of death, ver. 12. (Selden, Syned. 3:2. 2.) The judge here mentioned, according to them and the generality of commentators, after Josephus, Philo, etc., is no other than the high priest, as the Scripture plainly indicates, Deuteronomy 21:5., and Ezechiel 44:24. He abode near the tabernacle, and God enabled him to explain the law, when he was arrayed with the ephod, and the Urim and Thummim. Some moderns, who have an interest to lessen the authority of the ecclesiastical jurisdiction, with Calvin, Ainsworth, etc., pretend that an appeal was to be made to the priests, in disputes which concerned religion, and to the civil magistrate in other cases, 2 Paralipomenon 19:5. (Calmet) --- But an appeal to the high priest, in doubtful cases, could not be denied. The government of the Jews was a theocracy, and the pontiff acted as the vicegerent of God. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 17:10 | And thou shalt do whatsoever they shall say, that preside in the place, which the Lord shall choose, and what they shall teach thee, | Preside. The high priests who are to succeed each other. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 17:11 | According to his law: and thou shalt follow their sentence; neither shalt thou decline to the right hand nor to the left hand. | According, etc. This law was to be the rule of the priests, in passing sentence. It was not left to the judgment of individuals to comply or not, according as they might explain the law for themselves. Such a proceeding would be nugatory, as they would thus be themselves the ultimate judges of their own cause. (Haydock) --- They shall seek the law at his (the priest's) mouth, Malachias 2:7. Protestants make, therefore, a very frivolous restriction, when they allow his sentence to bind only "so long as he is the true minister of God, and pronounceth according to his word." (Bible, 1603.) (Worthington) --- If any had been proud enough among the Jews, to persuade himself that he understood the law better than the high priest, he would not on that account have escaped death. (Haydock) --- The authority of the Christian Church is not inferior to that of the Synagogue, only, "instead of death, excommunication is now inflicted" on the rebellious. (St. Gregory, Matthew 18:17.; St. Augustine, q. 38.) In effect, St. Paul assures us that the priests of the law, serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things. But now he (Christ)...is the mediator of the better covenant, which is established on better promises, Hebrews 8:5, 6. If therefore the privilege of deciding points of faith and morality, without danger of mistake, was granted to the synagogue, can any one doubt but that Christ would provide as ample a security for his Church, with which he has promised to remain for ever, and with his Holy Spirit to teach her all the truth? (Haydock) --- St. Augustine dwells upon this argument (Doct. 4.) and proves the infallibility both of the Jewish and of the Christian Church. Hence Christ said, with respect to the former, which was not yet rejected, All therefore whatsoever they shall say to you, observe and do: but according to their works, do ye not: for they say the truth, and do not practise what they require of others. If the heads of the Catholic Church should be equally immoral, their true doctrine must not therefore be despised, lest Christ and his Father be at the same time despised. For this is the express admonition of our heavenly lawgiver, hear the Church: (Matthew 17:17,) and this he does not require without giving us a full assurance, that we may do it without fear of being led astray. The sole command of God implies as much, if he had said no more. For can he order us to sin? The pretended reformers, who blushed not to make this blasphemous assertion, might easily swallow down the other, respecting the defection and fallibility of the whole Church; and might even believe, that the whole world had been drowned in abominable idolatry for eight hundred years and more. (Hom. on the peril of idolat. p. 3.) How much more they do not determine, lest they should be forced to tell when the religion of the Catholics began, and that they will never do without dating from Christ and the apostles, the foundations of the only true Church. (Haydock) --- The Jews had such a respect for the decisions of their Rabbins, in consequence of this command of God, that some hesitate not to assert, that if one of them should declare that the left hand was the right, they would believe him; and they condemn the refractory to most grievous torments in hell. (Buxtorf., Syn. I.) --- We must shew the most profound submission to the decrees of the Church. (Calmet) --- Yet we are not bound to assent to the decisions of every teacher. Only, when the Church speaks, we must not refuse to obey, nor pretend to appoint ourselves judges of what she teaches. A private doctor, however eminent, may fall into some absurdities, but the major part of the pastors of the Church, with the Pope at their head, never can. In vain have the records of nineteen centuries been ransacked, to find a single instance of such a general agreement in error. If the Synagogue passed a wicked sentence upon Jesus Christ, we must reflect that the forms here required (ver. 8,) were neglected; and it was then expiring, and giving place to a better covenant, as the prophets had foretold. Yet even in that sentence, which was so unjust on the part of Caiphas, St. John 11:51. acknowledges the truth of God. And this he spoke not of himself: but being the high priest, that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation, and not only for the nation, but to gather together in one the children of God that were dispersed. The Synagogue could claim submission no longer, after the great prophet had come to abrogate the law of fear, and to substitute that of love. Hence while he was there to teach himself, (Hebrews 1:2,) there was no danger of deception for the people. But the covenant which he has established is to last for ever: no prophet or lawgiver is promised to introduce any change, or greater perfection, so that no one can plead for an excuse of his rebellion, that the Church may deceive and pass an erroneous judgment; or, if he do, he must be cut off from the society of the faithful, by the spiritual sword; and, dying in that state, without the Church for his mother, he need never expect that God will acknowledge him for his son. See St. Cyprian, Unity of the Catholic Church. If an individual pastor should pass such a perverse sentence, the case would be very different. Yet, even in such trying cases, an humble conduct will be the best security and proof of innocence, and God will reward those who have suffered unjustly. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 17:12 | But he that will be proud, and refuse to obey the commandment of the priest, who ministereth at that time to the Lord thy God, and the decree of the judge, that man shall die, and thou shalt take away the evil from Israel: | And the decree. Some copies read with Sixtus V ex decreto, by etc., "decree," (Haydock) as if a lay-judge stood ready to put the sentence in execution. (Calmet) --- But there was no necessity of any farther judgment after the high priest had spoken, who is here declared the sovereign judge. (St. Cyprian, ep. 55.) Hebrew, "or to the judge." Amama ridicules his friend, Ant. a Dominis, for saying that the Hebrew and Vulgate have et decreto. (Haydock) --- The Rabbins inform us, that if any judge refused to acquiesce in the decision, and endeavoured to draw others into his opinion, in matters of consequence, (as those are where the guilty is ordered to be cut off,) he was to be strangled, on a festival day, at Jerusalem, that all the people hearing it might fear, ver. 13. (Selden, Syned. 3:3.) (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 17:13 | And all the people hearing it shall fear, that no one afterwards swell with pride. | Pride. Hebrew, "do presumptuously," as the Protestants translate. How will they excuse their leaders, Luther, etc., and themselves, from this grievous charge? If the person, who presumed to assert that the leprosy had not infected some one, whom the priests condemned, (ver. 8,) could not escape death, shall we esteem those innocent whom the whole Church rejects? Hic niger est, hunc tu Romane caveto. (Horace) (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 17:14 | When thou art come into the land, which the Lord thy God will give thee, and possessest it, and dwellest in it, and shalt say: I will set a king over me, as all nations have that are round about: | King. The Rabbins observe, that one was to be elected before the place for the temple was fixed upon, that the tribes might not contend about that honour. (Grotius) --- God foresees that the people will insist upon having a king, and gives his consent, reserving to himself the choice, and appointing laws for him, that he may not forget that he is only the lieutenant of the most high. Yet God testified his displeasure, when the Israelites demanded a king, because they did it in a seditious manner, so as to reject the prophet Samuel, whom he had given them for a ruler, in whom they could discover no fault. (Calmet) (1 Kings 8:7., and 10:19.) |
| Deuteronomy 17:15 | Thou shalt set him, whom the Lord thy God shall choose out of the number of thy brethren. Thou mayst not make a man of another nation king, that is not thy brother. | Choose, as he did Saul, David, and Solomon, who succeeded to the throne of his father, though he was not the eldest son. (Menochius) --- Then the throne began to be hereditary, in virtue of God's promise to David. (Calmet) --- Brother. The Jews neglected this law, when they willingly recognized the authority of Herod, two years after the birth of Christ. See Genesis 49:10. (Haydock) --- A stranger might attempt to draw off the people from the service of the true God, and mutual love would not so easily subsist between them. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 17:16 | And when he is made king, he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor lead back the people into Egypt, being lifted up with the number of his horsemen, especially since the Lord hath commanded you to return no more the same way. | Horses. Josue and David rendered the captured horses useless, (Josue 11:6., and 2 Kings 8:4,) and the judges rode on asses, Judges 10:4., and 12:14. Solomon began to keep some, and in his days Egypt was noted for the traffic of horses; though, after Sesostris had intersected the country with canals, they were more neglected. (Marsham, Canon. saec. xiii., and xiv.) God did not wish his people to engage in the tumults of war, nor would he permit their king to be puffed up with his own strength, Psalm 19:8., and 32:17. Philo says he would not have them to listen to any who might promise to conduct them to a better country, and thus teach them to lead a wandering life. (Calmet) --- He precludes also the attempt to conquer Egypt. Hebrew, "he shall not make the people return to Egypt, in order that he may multiply horses," by their buying them for him in that country, 3 Kings 10:29. --- Way. When the people proposed returning, God severely punished them, Numbers 14:5. |
| Deuteronomy 17:17 | He shall not have many wives, that may allure his mind, nor immense sums of silver and gold. | Mind, and reign in his name. Hebrew, "and his heart turn not away" from the worship of the true God, as it happened to Solomon, and to many other kings, whom Moses seems to have had in view. Too great a number of wives would tend to perplex and enervate the king, and to eat up the treasures of his people. The Jewish lawyers allow the king only 18, and they say David and Roboam had that number. But the latter had moreover 60 concubines, (2 Paralipomenon 11:21,) and Solomon had many more. In effect, the number seems not to be restricted, and, what is very singular, the Rabbins allow all but the high priest and the king as many as they can keep, though the sages advise people to have no more than four, which seems to be the sentiment of the Mahometans. This liberty was taken by the Jews till the emperors restricted them, A.D. 593. (Selden, Uxor. 1:8, etc.) Plurality of wives was not formerly a sin, though Solomon offended by too great excess. (St. Augustine, q. 27.) (Worthington) --- Gold. Immense riches are seldom possessed even by kings, without the oppression of their subjects, and great danger of falling into extravagance. If David amassed so much gold, it was destined for the building of the temple. But Solomon laying on heavy taxes, alienated the hearts of his people, and gave occasion to the revolt of 10 tribes; and Ezechias brought on a severe chastisement by making a parade of his treasures to the ambassadors of the king of Babylon, 4 Kings 20:15. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 17:18 | But after he is raised to the throne of his kingdom, he shall copy out to himself the Deuteronomy of this law in a volume, taking the copy of the priests of the Levitical tribe, | Of this law, perhaps from the 14th verse to the end of the chapter, (Haydock) or the whole Book of Deuteronomy, which contains an abridgment of the law, (Josue 8:32.; Menochius) or even the five books, which were formerly written without any division, and went under the name of the law. (Grotius; etc.) --- Hebrew seems favourable to this last opinion, (Calmet) "he shall write a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is kept by the priests," unless Moses might only require that he should have a copy of what he was then delivering. (Haydock) --- Some say that the king was obliged to take two copies, one of which he was to have always about him. It is not certain whether he was obliged to write himself, as Philo asserts, or another might do it for him. The diadem and the law were presented to Joas, when he ascended the throne, 2 Paralipomenon 23:11. (Calmet) --- If (Haydock) Josias had not seen a copy of the law before the 18th year of his reign, this precept must have been very ill observed, 4 Kings 22:11. (Calmet) --- But, very probably, that book, which Helcias discovered in the temple, was the autograph of Moses, and therefore made a deeper impression upon all who saw and heard it read, than if it had been read than if it had been only an ordinary copy. This copy might have been mislaid or secreted in those troublesome times; and then the high priest brought it to light again, he as well as the king and all the people, were filled with joy and amazement. (Haydock) --- It was the custom of the Jews to present a copy of the law to their kings, when they first sat upon the throne; and hence, perhaps, they make a similar present to the Pope, when he goes to take possession of the Lateran church. (Morus.) --- They presented one to Innocent II when he made his entry into Paris, 1146, and another to king Louis the Fat, as Suger informs us. (Calmet) --- Priests. Temporal princes who desire to become virtuous and wise, will ever take the law of God at the priest's hands. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 17:19 | And he shall have it with him, and shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, and keep his words and ceremonies, that are commanded in the law, | Law. Pious Christian emperors and kings have esteemed it their greatest glory and happiness to read and meditate on the holy commandments of God, in order to regulate their conduct, amid the various dangerous occupations of their station. (Haydock) --- Constantine the Great, Charlemagne, St. Stephen of Hungary, Alphonsus I of Spain, were noted for the zeal which they shewed in this particular. Alphonsus of Arragon, had read the Bible, with the Commentaries, 14 times over, and the great Alfred wrote all the New Testament twice over with his own hand. (Calmet) --- He had translated into English Saxon all or most of the Bible before 900, as king Athelstan did about 925. (Encyclopedia Britannica, Bible, etc.) Yet the Catholic Church never condemned this conduct of her children, as Protestants would insinuate. (Cath. Doct. by N. G.) |
| Deuteronomy 17:20 | And that his heart be not lifted up with pride over his brethren, nor decline to the right or to the left, that he and his sons may reign a long time over Israel. | With pride. This is not expressed in Hebrew, but it is clearly (Haydock) implied. Humility is the most difficult virtue for a prince to practice, amid the flattery of his courtiers, and the splendour with which he is environed. See St. Augustine, City of God 5:24. (Calmet) --- His sons. Wicked kings seldom left a quiet possession of the throne to their heirs. (Menochius) --- David and his posterity reigned in succession, by an effect of the divine bounty. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 18:0 | The Lord in the inheritance of the priests and Levites. Heathenish abominations are to be avoided. The great prophet, Christ, is promised. F alse prophets must be slain. | |
| Deuteronomy 18:1 | The *priests and Levites, and all that are of the same tribe, shall have no part nor inheritance with the rest of Israel, because they shall eat the sacrifices of the Lord, and his oblations. 1 Corinthians 9:13. | Year of the World 2553.; Numbers 18:20-23.; Deuteronomy 10. Oblations. Hebrew "they shall eat the holocausts of the Lord and his inheritances." The priests shall have the parts of the sacrifices for peace allotted to them, etc., tithes shall be given to support the Levites. (Haydock) --- These parts are what God claims from the people, as their Sovereign, (Calmet) and these he assigns to his ministers. Septuagint, "The fruits of the Lord are their inheritance, they shall eat them." (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 18:2 | And they shall receive nothing else of the possession of their brethren: for the Lord himself is their inheritance, as he hath said to them. | |
| Deuteronomy 18:3 | This shall be the priest's due from the people, and from them that offer victims: whether they sacrifice an ox, or a sheep, they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the breast: | Due, (judicium.) Moses only mentions a part, having explained the rest, Exodus 29:27., Leviticus 7:32. --- Breast, (ventriculum.) In the other places pectusculum occurs. Hebrew, "the shoulder, the two cheeks, and the maw, or caul," called in Latin omasum, being the last and fattest of the four ventricles, and highly esteemed by the ancients. The cheeks or chaps are specified no where else; so that some think Moses here supplies what he had left imperfect, assigning to the priests the cheeks and the tongue. Jansenius supposes that this is only a part of the breast, which appears to have two cheeks when the shoulders are cut off. But Moses here probably speaks not of the peace-offerings, but of the beasts which were killed by the Israelites at home for their own uses, etc., (Clerc) as Philo explains it, (de praem.) and Josephus ([Antiquities?] 4:4) only specifies the right shoulder and the breast, which were given to the priests on these occasions. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "the shoulder, the cheeks, and the last ventricle." The victims were not, therefore, of a sacred nature; as they were only sacrificed, inasmuch as the blood was to be offered to the Lord. (Haydock) See Genesis 43:16. |
| Deuteronomy 18:4 | *The first-fruits also of corn, of wine, and of oil, and a part of the wool from the shearing of their sheep. Numbers 18:21. | Corn, besides those which were offered to the Lord at the feast of Pentecost. Each landholder was bound to give between the 40th and the 60th part of his produce. (St. Jerome) See Exodus 22:29. |
| Deuteronomy 18:5 | For the Lord thy God hath chosen him of all thy tribes, to stand, and to minister to the name of the Lord, him and his sons for ever. | Stand. This was the usual posture of the priests ministering in the temple, as well as of people praying. --- Minister. Samaritan and Septuagint add, "and to bless in," etc. |
| Deuteronomy 18:6 | If a Levite go out of any one of the cities throughout all Israel, in which he dwelleth, and have a longing mind to come to the place which the Lord shall choose, | Levite. In the days of Moses, all the Levites probably assisted in the service of the tabernacle, when they thought proper. But, after they should be dispersed, he encourages them to come willingly. David afterwards divided the priests and the Levites into classes, which were obliged to serve in their turns, 1 Paralipomenon xxiii., etc. Though he derogated from the words of the law, he followed the spirit of the injunction, which was intended to promote the great glory and decency of religion; and even after this regulation, (Calmet) those who desired, like Samuel, (Menochius) to consecrate their labours to the Lord for life, or for a long time, were in all probability entitled to the privileges here granted. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 18:7 | He shall minister in the name of the Lord his God, as all his brethren the Levites do, that shall stand at that time before the Lord. | |
| Deuteronomy 18:8 | He shall receive the same portion of food that the rest do: besides that which is due to him in his own city, by succession from his fathers. | Portion. Whence this was taken, whether from the tithes in general, or from the treasury of the temple, or from the revenue of the high priest, etc., does not appear. (Calmet) --- Fathers. The Levites might possess houses, suburbs, and cattle. (Menochius) --- Hebrew, "besides that which ariseth from the sale of his patrimony." (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 18:9 | When thou art come into the land, which the Lord thy God shall give thee, beware lest thou have a mind to imitate the abominations of those nations. | |
| Deuteronomy 18:10 | *Neither let there be found among you any one that shall expiate his son or daughter, making them to pass through the fire: or that consulteth soothsayers, or observeth dreams and omens, neither let there be any wizard, Leviticus 20:27. | Fire. This impiety is not punished with death, (Leviticus 18:21,) as the burning of children was, Leviticus 20:2. (Grotius) --- It was done in imitation of the latter, and became more common, as it was less cruel; the person who was thus expiated, being to pass between or to jump over fire. The council of Trullo (canon 65,) was forced to condemn this remnant of an abominable superstition. But the other inhuman worship of Moloc, and of other pagan divinities, was certainly very common, and chiefly brought down destruction upon the people of Chanaan. See Jeremias 19:5., Ezechiel 23:37., Psalm 105:37., and 4 Kings 17:31. Ennius says, Paeni sunt soliti suos sacrificare puellos. See St. Augustine, City of God 7:17.; St. Jerome in Jeremias 7:31. (Calmet) --- Soothsayers. The original term may also signify, "that useth divination." Both those who set up for diviners, and those who consult them, are condemned. (Haydock) --- Hiscuni explains it of a superstitious practice, by which a person measured a stick with his finger, saying first I will go; and then I will not; and if, when he came to the end of the stick, he had to say I will go, he determined to begin his journey. See Ezechial 21:21. --- Dreams. Hebrew mehonen, (Leviticus 19:26,) may denote one who judges from the sight of the clouds, or feigns revelations. --- Wizard. Hebrew, "witch." Septuagint, "poisoner," or one who gives things to do harm. (Rabbins) |
| Deuteronomy 18:11 | Nor charmer, nor any one that consulteth pythonic spirits, or fortune-tellers,* or that seeketh the truth from the dead. 1 Kings 28:7. | Charmer of serpents, Psalm 57:6. One who makes a compact with the devil. --- Spirits. Python was the name of the serpent, which Apollo slew. It might be derived from the Hebrew patah, "to seduce," because a serpent seduced Eve, and dealers with the devil generally deceive those who consult them. Septuagint, "a belly talker," as these impostors muttered some sounds, intimating that a spirit gave answers from their belly, See Isaias 29:4. --- Tellers. Hebrew, "wise men." (Haydock) --- Those who promise great knowledge from the secrets of the caballa, or magic. --- Dead. Necromancy was already very common. Thus the witch of Endor made the ghost of Samuel appear to Saul, 1 Kings 28:7. The Rabbins say that the person took a bone, or the skull of the dead, when he intended to enquire into futurity. (Drusius) |
| Deuteronomy 18:12 | For the Lord abhorreth all these things, and for these abominations he will destroy them at thy coming. | |
| Deuteronomy 18:13 | Thou shalt be perfect, and without spot before the Lord thy God. | And without spot. This is by way of explication of the word perfect. Any mixture of superstition in the worship of God is hateful to him; and that man who acknowledges any other spirit capable of foretelling what will come to pass, freely (Haydock) denies the Lord. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 18:14 | These nations, whose land thou shalt possess, hearken to soothsayers and diviners: but thou art otherwise instructed by the Lord thy God. | God, who has already informed thee how to proceed in difficult emergencies, (chap. 17:8,) by having recourse to the council of priests, and will also, after any death, send in due time a succession of true prophets. Hebrew, "God hath not suffered thee" to imitate those nations; (Haydock) or those prophets, whom the Lord thy God will give thee, shall not resemble these (Calmet) soothsayers (or observers of times) and diviners. (Haydock) --- They shall be filled with my spirit. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 18:15 | *The Lord thy God will raise up to thee a prophet of thy nation, and of thy brethren, like unto me: him thou shalt hear, John 1:45.; Acts 3:22. | Prophet. This passage plainly proves, that the Scripture may have many literal senses: for the context insinuates that God would supply the wants of his people, so that they should not need to go far in order to consult diviners, since they should have leaders and prophets, after the death of Moses, who might explain to them God's will, as they had desired; but at the same time, it clearly refers to the Messias, as it is explained by St. Peter, (Acts 3:22.; Worthington) and by St. Stephen, Acts 7:37. The Jews, at that time, were convinced of the truth of this application: but they only denied that Christ was the Messias. They have since gone a step farther, and deny that it regards the Messias, some referring it to Josue, others to Jeremias, etc. (Ap. Munster and Fag.) But surely what other prophet could be compared with Moses? (Chap. 34:10.) What other man reunited in his person the qualifications of lawgiver, chief of God's people, mediator, etc., or who was like him? Hence prophet is written in the singular, to denote his eminent dignity. (St. Augustine, contra Faustus) --- St. Philip recognized the claim of Jesus, as did the people after the multiplication of bread, John 1:45., and 6:14. God the Father seems to allude to this passage, according to the remark of Tertullian, (contra Mar. 4:22,) when he says hear ye him, (Luke 9:35,) as St. Cyprian believes our Saviour does also, John 5:46. St. Athanasius (contra Arianos 2) condemns the error of the Jews, who would apply this passage to any other prophet but to the Messias. If they could be excused for denying him this latter claim, they surely cannot in calling in question that Jesus was a true prophet, since he has all the marks of one; (Grotius) and if they would once acknowledge this, they must soon confess that he is also the Messias, and the Son of God, as these truths are so necessarily connected. (Calmet) --- The miracles of Moses were far exceeded by those of Jesus Christ, and the latter conversed more intimately with his eternal Father, etc. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 18:16 | As thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in *Horeb, when the assembly was gathered together, and saidst: Let me not hear any more the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see any more this exceeding great fire, lest I die. Exodus 20:21. | Die. This promise is not recorded, Exodus 20:19. God will send you a mediator, who shall hide the splendour of his divinity (Calmet) under the form of a servant, Philippians 2:7. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 18:17 | And the Lord said to me: They have spoken all things well. | |
| Deuteronomy 18:18 | *I will raise them up a prophet out of the midst of their brethren, like to thee: and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak all that I shall command him. John 1:45. | Mouth. So Christ says, The words that I speak to you, I speak not of myself, John 14:10. |
| Deuteronomy 18:19 | And he that will not hear his words, which he shall speak in my name, I will be the revenger. | Revenger. St. Peter (Acts 3:23,) reads, And it shall be that every soul which will not hear that prophet; (instead of Hebrew, "my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him,") or he shall be destroyed from among the people. (Tertullian, contra Mar. 4:22.) (Haydock) --- God now chastises the faithless Jews. (Du Hamel) |
| Deuteronomy 18:20 | But the prophet, who being corrupted with pride, shall speak in my name, things that I did not command him to say, or in the name of strange gods, shall be slain. | To say. These denote heretics, as the following point out apostates. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 18:21 | And if in silent thought thou answer: How shall I know the word, that the Lord hath not spoken? | |
| Deuteronomy 18:22 | Thou shalt have this sign: Whatsoever that same prophet foretelleth in the name of the Lord, and it cometh not to pass: that thing the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath forged it by the pride of his mind: and therefore thou shalt not fear him. | Fear him. Septuagint, "you shall not spare him," but cut him off by death. (Haydock) --- Though the completion of what has been foretold be not a sure sign of a true prophecy, (chap. 13:2,) yet when the thing does not come to pass which the prophet had spoken unconditionally, he must undoubtedly be rejected; as also when he speaks in the name of false gods. No miracles can then establish his credit. The prophecy of Jonas, and many of the other prophecies, were conditional. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 19:0 | The cities of refuge. Wilful murder, and false witnesses must be punished. | |
| Deuteronomy 19:1 | When *the Lord thy God hath destroyed the nations, whose land he will deliver to thee, and thou shalt possess it, and shalt dwell in the cities and houses thereof : | Year of the World 2553. |
| Deuteronomy 19:2 | *Thou shalt separate to thee three cities in the midst of the land, which the Lord will give thee in possession, Numbers 35:11.; Josue 20:2. | Cities. These were Hebron, Sichem, and Cades, on the west side of the Jordan, Josue 20:7. Those on the east were already appointed, Deuteronomy 4:41. Three others might also have been added, (ver. 8.; Calmet) in case the Hebrews had gotten full possession of the countries as far as the Euphrates. (Haydock) --- The cities of refuge were not above forty-five miles distant from each other, in the land of Chanaan. Those in Galaad were not so far off, as the territory was smaller. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 19:3 | Paving diligently the way: and thou shalt divide the whole province of thy land equally into three parts: that he who is forced to flee for manslaughter, may have near at hand whither to escape. | Way, and keeping all in good repair, with guide-posts at the crossroads, on which Oleaster says moklot, "escape," was written. See Numbers xxxv. |
| Deuteronomy 19:4 | This shall be the law of the slayer that fleeth, whose life is to be saved: He that killeth his neighbour ignorantly, and who is proved to have had no hatred against him yesterday and the day before: | |
| Deuteronomy 19:5 | But to have gone with him to the wood to hew wood, and in cutting down the tree the axe slipped out of his hand, and the iron slipping from the handle, struck his friend and killed him: he shall flee to one of the cities aforesaid, and live: | |
| Deuteronomy 19:6 | Lest perhaps the next kinsman of him whose blood was shed, pushed on by his grief, should pursue and apprehend him, if the way be too long, and take away the life of him who is not guilty of death, because he is proved to have had no hatred before against him that was slain. | Grief. The law granted so much to the sudden passion of a relation, who met the man slayer out of the cities of refuge, as not to punish him if he gave way to the dictates of vengeance, how unjust soever. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 19:7 | Therefore I command thee, that thou separate three cities at equal distance one from another. | At equal, etc. This addition is not in Hebrew (Calmet) or the Septuagint, (Haydock) but is conformable to the regulation given, ver. 3. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 19:8 | *And when the Lord thy God shall have enlarged thy borders, as he swore to thy fathers, and shall give thee all the land that he promised them, Genesis 28:14.; Exodus 34:24.; Deuteronomy 12:20 | And when. Septuagint, "but if." This condition was never fulfilled at all times; (ver. 9,) and therefore the Israelites could blame only themselves, if the promises which God had made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, (Genesis xv., xxvi., xxviii., and xxxv.,) were not realized. (Haydock) --- Though the country was conquered under David and Solomon, the Israelites did not drive out the former inhabitants, (Calmet) nor did they keep possession for any long time. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 19:9 | (Yet so, if thou keep his commandments, and do the things which I command thee this day, that thou love the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways at all times) thou shalt add to the other three cities, and shalt double the number of the three cities aforesaid: | |
| Deuteronomy 19:10 | That innocent blood may not be shed in the midst of the land which the Lord thy God will give thee to possess, lest thou be guilty of blood. | |
| Deuteronomy 19:11 | *But if any man hating his neighbour, lie in wait for his life, and rise and strike him, and he die, and he flee to one of the cities aforesaid, Numbers 35:20. | |
| Deuteronomy 19:12 | The ancients of his city shall send, and take him out of the place of refuge, and shall deliver him into the hand of the kinsman of him, whose blood was shed, and he shall die. | His city. Strict enquiry was made into the circumstances attending the manslaughter, Numbers 35:12. If the refugee was proved guilty, he was delivered up to the next relation of the deceased to be put to death. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 19:13 | Thou shalt not pity him, and thou shalt take away the guilt of innocent blood out of Israel, that it may be well with thee. | Innocent. Many Latin copies have "guilty blood," noxium. By putting the offender to death, Israel was expiated from the blood which had been shed unjustly. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 19:14 | Thou shalt not take, nor remove thy neighbour's landmarks, which thy predecessors have set in thy possession, which the Lord thy God will give thee in the land that thou shalt receive to possess. | Landmarks, either which divided the tribes, or the inheritance of individuals. The former were strictly kept up till after the captivity. Those who removed the latter were to be scourged for theft, and again for disobeying this law. (Selden, Jur. 6:3.) Josephus ([Antiquities?] 4:8,) understands that encroachments on the territories of others, which give rise to many wars, are hereby prohibited. (Calmet) --- So are likewise innovations in religion. The Romans had a superstitious veneration for these landmarks, which they adored under the name of the god Terminus, (Haydock) crowning them with flowers, and offering cakes and sacrifices to them. Spargitur et coeso communis Terminus agno. (Ovid, Fast.) --- They punished the crime of removing them either with death, banishment, or a fine. |
| Deuteronomy 19:15 | *One witness shall not rise up against any man, whatsoever the sin, or wickedness be: but in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall stand. Deuteronomy 17:6.; Matthew 18:16.; 2 Corinthians 13:1. | One would suffice to make an enquiry into the affair, and to oblige the person accused, in pecuniary matters, to take an oath that he owed nothing. (Maimonides) --- Stand. This expression was become proverbial, to denote the certainty of a thing, Matthew 18:16., and 2 Corinthians 13:1. Two witnesses cannot so easily carry on a cheat, (Calmet) as was seen in the case of Susanna. [Daniel xiii.] (Haydock) --- The law is satisfied with moral certainty. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 19:16 | If a lying witness stand against a man, accusing him of transgression, | Transgression against the law, by apostacy or by idolatry, (Junius) or by any other grievous crime. The person accused might, in this case, be examined, but he could not be condemned unless another witness appeared. Demosthenes (contra Aristocrat.) informs us how (Calmet) the Athenians (Haydock) required the witness in criminal matters, to swear on the flesh of a wild boar, ram, and bull, that he spoke the truth, and to utter horrible imprecations against himself and family, if he did otherwise. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 19:17 | Both of them, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the Lord in the sight of the priests and the judges that shall be in those days. | Lord, in the tabernacle. (Menochius) --- Judges. Hence it appears evidently that the priests were to pass sentence in all difficult questions, as well in those which regarded individuals, as in those which attacked the worship of God; since the false accuser is to lose his life or limb, according as he had attempted to injure his neighbour; (ver. 21,) and the Lord ratifies their sentence. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 19:18 | *And when, after most diligent inquisition, they shall find that the false witness hath told a lie against his brother: Daniel 13:62. | |
| Deuteronomy 19:19 | They shall render to him as he meant to do to his brother, and thou shalt take away the evil out of the midst of thee: | |
| Deuteronomy 19:20 | That others hearing may fear, and may not dare to do such things. | Things. This is the design of penal laws, to render justice to the innocent, and to prevent the spreading of a contagious evil, by cutting off the hopes of impunity. (Grotius, Jur. 2:10. 9.) --- "I would cause the criminal's throat to be cut, says Seneca, (de Ira ii.) with the same countenance and mind as I kill serpents and venomous animals." |
| Deuteronomy 19:21 | Thou shalt not pity him, *but shalt require life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. Expdus 21:23-24.; Leviticus 24:20.; Matthew 5:38. | Pity. This regarded the judge, who must act with impartiality. (Worthington) --- The law admits of no mitigation, but inflicts the same punishment on the calumniating witness, as he intended should fall upon his brother. (Lyranus; etc.) --- Some Rabbins (apud Fag.) pretend that this was executed with rigour, only when the innocent had sustained some real injury. See Exodus 21:24. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 20:0 | Laws relating to war. | |
| Deuteronomy 20:1 | If thou go out to war against thy enemies, *and see horsemen and chariots, and the numbers of the enemy's army greater than thine, thou shalt not fear them: because the Lord thy God is with thee, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt. | Year of the World 2553. Egypt. Hence it appears that the doctrine of the Quakers, who condemn all wars, is contrary to that of God. If they were always essentially unlawful, He would never have authorized them. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 20:2 | And when the battle is now at hand, the priest shall stand before the army, and shall speak to the people in this manner: | Priest. Eleazar, the high priest, acted in this capacity in the war against Madian, and sounded the trumpet, as it was not beneath his dignity. Many priests always attended the army, (Calmet) the captain of whom (Haydock) first made the declarations (ver. 5, 6, 7,) to the whole army; and these were repeated by the inferior priests at the head of each company, when the army was set in array. So were also the promises of protection, (ver. 3, 4,) when all were ready for battle. The Rabbins assert, that the option was granted only in those wars which were undertaken without the express command of God, and that officers were placed in the rear with hatchets or scythes, to cut the legs of those who attempted to flee. (Grotius; etc.) --- But this seems to be an invention of their own, and Moses makes no distinction between voluntary wars and those of precept. These regulations were, no doubt, observed, though the sacred historians do not mention the particulars. (Calmet) See 1 Machabees 3:56. |
| Deuteronomy 20:3 | Hear, O Israel, you join battle this day against your enemies, let not your heart be dismayed, be not afraid, do not give back, fear ye them not: | Back. Hebrew, "do not quake," (Haydock) or fall into disorder, hurry, etc. |
| Deuteronomy 20:4 | Because the Lord your God is in the midst of you, and will fight for you against your enemies, to deliver you from danger. | God. All must be done in his name, by the direction of his ministers. The Jews pretend that the ark was carried, in the midst of the army. But this does not seem to have been generally the case. (Calmet) --- Of you. "We must co-operate, being assisted" by God, as St. Augustine (q. 30,) observes, in our spiritual conflicts. (Du Hamel) |
| Deuteronomy 20:5 | And the captains shall proclaim through every band, in the hearing of the army: *What man is there, that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it? let him go, and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it. 1 Machabees 3:56. | Captains. Hebrew, "shoterim, (Septuagint grammateis,) shall proclaim to the people." Whether these were the chief officers, or only heralds, does not appear. (Calmet) --- They were probably the priests attached to the army, ver. 2. See Deuteronomy 1:15. (Haydock) --- Dedicate it. Hebrew, "begin to use it," on which occasion a feast was made. (Jansenius) --- Psalm xxix seems to have been intended for such a solemnity. At the dedication of the walls of Jerusalem, great rejoicings were made, 2 Esdras 12:27. Josephus and the Rabbins allow a whole year for the occupation of the house, before the builder or new owner, could be obliged to go to war, in like manner as that term is specified for a person who had lately married a wife, Deuteronomy 24:5. The ancient Greeks deemed it a great misfortune to leave a house unfinished and a new wife desolate, which was the case of Protesilaus. (Homer, Iliad I.) |
| Deuteronomy 20:6 | What man is there, that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not as yet made it to be common, whereof all men may eat? let him go, and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man execute his office. | Common. Hebrew, "hath not profaned it." (Menochius) --- During the three first years, the fruit was not eaten. In the fourth it was sacred to the Lord, and given to the priests, so that the owner could not partake of the fruit till the fifth year, when it ceased to be in a manner sacred. Jonathan translates, "and has not redeemed it," by paying the first-fruits of the fifth year. Septuagint, "has not rejoiced in it," by feasting, as was probably the custom at the first vintage. Other fruit-trees entitled the owner to the like privilege. (Schikard., Jus. reg. 5.) --- Whereof all may eat, is added by the Vulgate to explain what is meant by common. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 20:7 | What man is there, that hath espoused a wife, and not taken her? let him go, and return to his house, lest he die in the war, and another man take her. | Taken her. It was customary to leave the espoused virgin in her father's house for the space of a year, (during which time, if she proved unfaithful, she was punished like an adulteress, Deuteronomy 22:23, etc.) and she could not be given till she was 12 years old. If she were 13 complete, when she was asked in marriage, she was only obliged to wait 30 days. (Selden, Uxor. 2:1.) (Chap. 25:5.) Philo allows this immunity from war, only to those who had espoused a virgin. They were also freed from paying taxes, mending roads, etc., Deuteronomy 29:5. (Calmet) --- Those who are entangled with worldly cares, are apt to discourage the valiant, and to dissuade fighting, for fear of losing these advantages: much more are those in danger who have to fight for a heavenly kingdom, if they be too much attached to the things of the earth. (Worthington; Haydock) --- "That man who is enslaved to his wife, cannot serve in the warfare of the Lord." (St. Jerome, contra Jov. I.) |
| Deuteronomy 20:8 | After these things are declared, they shall add the rest, and shall speak to the people: *What man is there, that is fearful, and faint-hearted? let him go, and return to his house, lest he make the hearts of his brethren to fear, as he himself is possessed with fear. Judges 7:3. | Fear. Such often occasion the loss of battles. Alexander sent away all who had not courage to follow him in his expeditions. (Curt. x.) The Rabbins condemn these faint-hearted soldiers to carry water, etc., for the army, to prepare the roads and places for encampments. (Calmet) --- But this seems contrary to the intention of the lawgiver, who sends them back to their houses. |
| Deuteronomy 20:9 | And when the captains of the army shall hold their peace, and have made an end of speaking, every man shall prepare their bands to fight. | Man. Hebrew and Septuagint, "when the officers have made an end of speaking to the people, they shall appoint captains of the armies to lead forth the people." (Haydock) --- It seems rather late to have this to do, when the battle was ready to commence, unless perhaps the whole was arranged in a general assembly, when no one was at the head of the people, (Calmet) as was sometimes the case in the days of the judges. (Haydock) --- Hebrew of the Massorets implies, "The princes of the army shall make a review (or take down the numbers) at the head of the people." |
| Deuteronomy 20:10 | If at any time thou come to fight against a city, thou shalt first offer it peace. | Peace. Interpreters are not agreed whether this law was general, and included the nations whom God had ordered the Hebrews to exterminate, or not. They were nothing but the executioners of his decree. They were commanded not to marry any of their daughters, but to put all to fire and sword, Exodus 34:15, 16. The cities which were not assigned to them for a possession, were to be treated in a different manner; (ver. 15,) and hence the Gabaonites, being convinced that they were comprised in the number of the devoted cities, pretended that they came from a great distance. Josue 9:4, 7, and the heads of the people, acknowledge that they could not make a league with those nations whose lands they were to possess. Yet the Gemarra of Jerusalem asserts, that Josue proposed to the Chanaanites, "flight, peace, or war." The Gergesites hereupon fled into Africa, the Gabaonites accepted peace, and 31 kings declared for war. (Selden, Jur. 6:13.) --- Maimonides and Grotius (Jur. 2:13,) maintain, that no war can be lawful, unless an offer of peace be made. The latter undertakes to prove, that the commands respecting the Chanaanites were conditional, and presupposed that they would not yield to the terms which were offered. Hence Rahab was saved, the league with the Gabaonites was kept, even after it was known who they really were. Solomon, who conquered some of the surviving Chanaanites, did not think himself bound to destroy them, 3 Kings 9:2., and 2 Paralipomenon 8:7. The reason why they seem to be consigned to death without pity, is because God foresaw their evil disposition, as Josue 11:20, insinuates, and the Israelites under his eye gave quarter to some Chanaanites. "War, says St. Augustine, (ep. 189. ad Bonif.) is waged only that peace may be obtained." But these arguments do not seem so convincing, as to take away the opposition which God has established between these devoted nations and others, ver. 15. What he commands cannot be unjust, and the army only executes his sentence. (St. Augustine in Jos. q. 10.) Grotius allows that he foresaw the obstinacy of the Chanaanites, so that it would have been useless to offer them any terms; and in effect, we find no vestiges of any being offered in the books of Moses or of Josue. (Calmet) --- Yet see Deuteronomy 21:10. (Haydock) --- The Israelites might have many reasons for going to war either with their brethren, or with foreign nations, as to punish a heinous crime, a rebellion, etc. (see Judges xx., 2 Kings 10:4, and 20:15,) on which occasions they were bound to offer terms. (Calmet) --- "A wise man ought to try every expedient before he takes up arms." (Terence.) |
| Deuteronomy 20:11 | If they receive it, and open the gates to thee, all the people that are therein shall be saved, and shall serve thee, paying tribute. | Tribute. This was usually imposed by the victor, to defray the expenses of the war, and to prevent its breaking out again. The kings of Moab had to pay 100,000 rams, and as many sheep, to the kings of Juda, 4 Kings 3:4. Hiram gave 120 talents of gold to Solomon, by way of tribute, 3 Kings 9:15. Josue and Solomon condemned some of the Chanaanites to manual labour, 2 Paralipomenon 8:8. |
| Deuteronomy 20:12 | But if they will not make peace, and shall begin war against thee, thou shalt besiege it, | Besiege it. The Rabbins assert, that when the city of Madian was attacked in the days of Moses, one side was left unmolested, that the inhabitants might escape, and that this practice was afterwards observed as a law. But we see nothing of the kind in Scripture. |
| Deuteronomy 20:13 | And when the Lord thy God shall deliver it into thy hands, thou shalt slay all that are therein of the male sex, with the edge of the sword, | |
| Deuteronomy 20:14 | Excepting women and children, cattle and other things, that are in the city. And thou shalt divide all the prey to the army, and thou shalt eat the spoils of thy enemies, which the Lord thy God shall give thee. | Excepting women, etc. These were supposed incapable of making any resistance, or of carrying arms. Slaves also were excused, on account of their want of liberty to choose for themselves, and old men, unless the war was undertaken by their advice. "I am not accustomed to wage war with captives, nor with women," said Alexander. (Curt. 5.) |
| Deuteronomy 20:15 | So shalt thou do to all cities that are at a great distance from thee, and are not of these cities which thou shalt receive in possession. | |
| Deuteronomy 20:16 | But of those cities that shall be given thee, thou shalt suffer none at all to live: | Live. Hebrew, "thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth." Josephus ([Antiquities?] 4:8.) acknowledges that all were to be slain; though some of the Rabbins have supposed that they might be spared, if they would abandon idols, etc. |
| Deuteronomy 20:17 | But shalt kill them with the edge of the sword, to wit, the Hethite, and the Amorrhite, and the Chanaanite, the Pherezite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee: | Jebusite. Samaritan and Septuagint add, "the Gergesite." (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 20:18 | Lest they teach you to do all the abominations which they have done to their gods: and you should sin against the Lord your God. | |
| Deuteronomy 20:19 | When thou hast besieged a city a long time, and hath compassed it with bulwarks, to take it, thou shalt not cut down the trees that may be eaten of, neither shalt thou spoil the country round about with axes: for it is a tree, and not a man, neither can it increase the number of them that fight against thee. | Not a man. Hebrew, "the tree of the field, man." Which the Protestants supply, "is man's life to employ them in the siege." Septuagint, "is the tree....a man?" (Haydock) --- We might render the Hebrew, "as for the tree of the field, it shall come to thy assistance in the siege," ver. 20. (Haydock) --- They are "like men," and may be of great service in making warlike engines. They are here contrasted with fruit-trees, which must not be cut down, unless they be in the way, or of service to the enemy. All other things of the same nature, as houses, corn, water, etc., must be spared, as well as those who do not bear arms. Yet God ordered the houses to be demolished in the war with the Moabites, 4 Kings 3:19. (Calmet) --- Pythagoras enjoins his disciples not to spoil a fruit tree. Jamblic and the greatest generals have complied with this advice. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 20:20 | But if there be any trees that are not fruitful, but wild, and fit for other uses, cut them down, and make engines, until thou take the city, which fighteth against thee. | Engines. Hebrew matsor. Besieged cities were surrounded with palisades, for which a great deal of wood was requisite, Luke 19:45. Josephus (Jewish Wars 5:31,) informs us, that Titus surrounded Jerusalem with a wall in the space of three days, having cut down the wood all around. See 4 Kings vi., and xvii., and xxv., and Ezechiel 26:7. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 21:0 | The expiation of a secret murder. The marrying of a captive. The eldest son must not be deprived of his birth-right for hatred of his mother. A stubborn son is to be stoned to death. When one is hanged on a gibbet, he must be taken down the same day, and buried. | |
| Deuteronomy 21:1 | When *there shall be found in the land which the Lord thy God will give thee, the corpse of a man slain, and it is not known who is guilty of the murder, | Year of the World 2553, Year before Christ 1451. Land. The Jewish doctors hence infer, that if the corpse was found hanging or drowned etc., or nearer a town of the Gentiles than one of the Israelites, this law did not oblige. They are so exact as to dispute whether the distance must be measured from the nose or from the naval of the deceased. (Selden, Syned. 3:7.) But the law shews us, that the author of the murder must be discovered, if possible, as the crime is so grievous as, in a manner, to defile the land, and draw down the vengeance of God, if it be carelessly left unpunished. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 21:2 | Thy ancients and judges shall go out, and shall measure from the place where the body lieth, the distance of every city round about: | Ancients and judges. After the strictest enquiry, if the murderer could not be discovered, the magistrates and senate of the neighbouring cities measured which city the corpse was nearest. (Josephus, [Antiquities?] 4:8.) The Rabbins pretend that five of the Sanhedrim were commissioned to make this enquiry, along with the magistrates of the neighbourhood. Others think that the ancients were only the old men. The measuring took place only when the point was contested, and those cities are probably meant, which were of sufficient importance to have twenty-three judges fixed in them. (Calmet) --- It was presumed that the nearest had been guilty of greater negligence. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 21:3 | And the ancients of that city, which they shall perceive to be nearer than the rest, shall take a heifer of the herd, that hath not drawn in the yoke, nor ploughed the ground, | Heifer, not above three years old, say the Rabbins. The pagans esteemed those victims more agreeable to the gods, which had not been yoked. Chermon observes, that the Egyptians rejected such as had been once "consecrated to labour." (Grotius) --- This circumstance might here indicate, that the murderer was a son of Belial, or "without yoke;" (chap 13:13.; Menochius) and the heifer was slain to shew what he deserved, and must expect if he be discovered. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 21:4 | And they shall bring her into a rough and stony valley, that never was ploughed, nor sown: and there they shall strike off the head of the heifer: | Valley. In such places murders are most frequently perpetrated. Hebrew may signify, "a desert," deep or inaccessible torrent, (Haydock) on the side of which the heifer was to be slain, and its body was then, it seems, thrown into the water. The ancients first washed their hands over her. Thus the victim of malediction against those who break a covenant, is buried in a ditch, or cast into the sea. (Homer, Iliad I.) --- Was. Some translate the Hebrew "shall be," as if the place was to be hereafter considered as unclean and accursed. (Calmet) --- The roughness and depth of the valley, denote the hardness of the murderer's heart, and the depth of his malice. (Menochius) --- Strike off, or coedent, "cut the neck," (Haydock) at the top, without perhaps separating it entirely from the body. Blood was given for blood, and this was the chief design of the bloody sacrifices. For this reason, the Egyptians impressed a seal on the horns of the victim, representing a man kneeling, with his hands tied behind his back, as if ready to receive the stroke of death. (Plut.[Plutarch,?] Isis.) |
| Deuteronomy 21:5 | And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come, whom the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister to him, and to bless in his name, and that by their word every matter should be decided, and whatsoever is clean or unclean should be judged. | Judged. We see here again the great authority of the priests, Deuteronomy 17:9. Hebrew, "by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried," as the Protestants render it. (Haydock) --- Some understand by stroke, the leprosy, of which they were undoubtedly the judges. But it is better to explain it of all wounds, and even of death, (Calmet) concerning which Moses is here speaking. (Haydock) --- The Rabbins restrain the authority of priests as much as they can, to give greater power to their chimerical Sanhedrim. They pretend that here they had only to pronounce the blessing, ver. 8. Josephus ([Antiquities?] 4:8,) joins the magistrates with them in the whole ceremony. This awful meeting of so many people, tended to discover the authors of the murder, as all would naturally converse together on the subject, and each person declaring what he knew, some suspicions might at last be formed, which might by degrees lead to the detection. Josephus says rewards were proposed to any who might make a discovery. Draco decreed, that on the very day when a murder was announced, if the author was not known, the whole people (of Athens) should be purified. (Calmet) --- Abulensis insinuates, that if the murderer was present in the crowd, he might be detected by blood gushing from the corpse of the deceased, etc., as God often brings murder to light in a wonderful manner. (Cic.[Cicero,?] Div. I.) (Tirinus) |
| Deuteronomy 21:6 | And the ancients of that city shall come to the person slain, and shall wash their hands over the heifer that was killed in the valley, | Wash. This was intended to testify that they were not guilty of the blood which had been shed, and that they wished to remove the punishment of it from themselves upon the head of the heifer, (Calmet) the representative of the unknown murderer. So Pilate conformed to this custom, when he condemned Christ on the bare accusation of the Jews; (Matthew 27:24) and the priest, at mass, washes his hands, as an emblem of that innocence, with which he ought to approach to the holy of holies. (Haydock) --- Asterius was stricken with lightning, for touching the altar of Jupiter without having washed his hands. (Natal. Myth. 1:10. 14.) The pagans generally purified themselves with fumigations, or by sprinkling sea water upon their bodies. Achilles ordered the things which had been used to purify the Greeks, at the siege of Troy, to be thrown into the sea, as being unclean. (Iliad I.) |
| Deuteronomy 21:7 | And shall say: Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it. | It. Magistrates are in some degree responsible, if by their neglect the high roads are unsafe. (Calmet) --- They had testified that they had done their duty. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 21:8 | Be merciful to thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, O Lord, and lay not innocent blood to their charge in the midst of thy people Israel. And the guilt of blood shall be taken from them: | |
| Deuteronomy 21:9 | And thou shalt be free from the innocent's blood that was shed, when thou shalt have done what the Lord hath commanded thee. | And, etc. Hebrew, "Thou shalt put away," (Haydock) or "extinguish the voice of innocent blood," which otherwise would cry to heaven for vengeance, Genesis 4:10. In this sacrifice, (Calmet) though it deserves not the name, (Menochius) we may consider Jesus Christ suffering for the sins of others. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 21:10 | If thou go out to fight against thy enemies, and the Lord thy God deliver them into thy hand, and thou lead them away captives, | Captives. Some Rabbins say this was only lawful in what they call voluntary wars, which the Lord had not commanded, as in those which were waged against the devoted nations, it was not permitted to reserve the women, even though they should embrace the true religion. Calmet seems to be of the same opinion in the preceding chapter, to which he even refers. But here he thinks, that upon their complying with the condition specified, they might be married, as Rahab was, and consequently this law must be considered as an exception to those general laws, which prohibit matrimony with those nations of Chanaan, which were otherwise ordered to be entirely destroyed, Deuteronomy 6:16. "We believe, says he, that if these women changed their religion, they might be espoused, of whatever nation they might be." He seems still to exclude the Chanaanite women, (chap. 23:3,) which variation of sentiment shews that the point is not to be easily decided. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 21:11 | And seest in the number of the captives a beautiful woman, and lovest her, and wilt have her to wife, | Lovest her. The Jewish doctors explain this of an action, which modesty disallows, and which they tolerate nevertheless in the first transports of victory; (Selden, Jur. 5:13,) though the pagans condemned it as unjust and contrary to reason. (Grotius, Jur. 3:4) --- All know with what reserve Alexander treated the captive women; and the Romans banished one Torquatus, for having violated a prisoner of war. (Plutarch) --- Yet the Jews blush not to assert, that such liberties might be taken even with married women, as their former marriage with a pagan was by some deemed null, and by others thought to be dissolved. (Josephus, [Antiquities?] 4:8) (Calmet) --- The law, however, seems only to allow the marrying of those who had no husbands before, as the women are only said to mourn for father and mother, ver. 13. (Haydock) --- On these occasions the Chinese, and probably the Egyptians also, and the Roman matrons, formerly clothed themselves in white, while almost all other nations assumed black. (Tirinus) |
| Deuteronomy 21:12 | Thou shalt bring her into thy house: and she shall shave her hair, and pare her nails, | Hair. In mourning, people did the reverse to what they were accustomed to do in the days of joy. The men let their hair grow, the women cut this ornament of their head, a thing which the prophets often threaten, Isaias 15:23., and Jeremias 47:5, etc. (Calmet) --- Nails. Some would translate the Hebrew "she shall make her nails grow," as a mark of sorrow, perhaps usual among the pagans faciet ungues. But the Septuagint, Philo, etc. agree with the Vulgate; (Menochius) and the Hebrew may very well have the same sense. We must not judge of the idea which others have of beauty, by our own sentiments. Some women in America have long nails, and esteem them as marks of beauty and nobility; and in China, they let those of the left hand grow, and cut them in mourning. (Hist. Sin. 3:1.) The people of Mauritania take a pride in having long nails. (Strabo, xvii.) The Duke of Burgundy, not 300 years ago, was distinguished among the slain, before Nancy, in France, (Haydock) by the length of his nails; (Calmet) and, in ancient times, people never cut them in voyages at sea, unless to express their grief in extreme danger. Huic fluctus vivo radicitus abstulit ungues. (Propert. iii.; Petron.[Petronius?]) Why, therefore, might not these captives follow the same custom, as all depends on fashion? (Calmet) --- The woman being deprived of her ornaments, the passion of the soldier might probably abate. St. Jerome (ep. 84,) applies this to worldly learning, which he endeavoured to make subservient to the truth, after he had cut away what was dead and pernicious in it. (Du Hamel) |
| Deuteronomy 21:13 | And shall put off the raiment, wherein she was taken: and shall remain in thy house, and mourn for her father and mother one month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and shalt sleep with her, and she shall be thy wife. | Raiment. In mourning, people wore different clothes from what they did at other times, 2 Kings 14:2. --- One month. So long the mourning for Aaron and Moses continued, Deuteronomy 34., and Numbers 20. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 21:14 | Rut if afterwards she please thee not, thou shalt let her go free, but thou mayst not sell her for money, nor oppress her by might: because thou hast humbled her. | Her. Nothing shews the weakness of the Hebrews more than this liberty, which the law was in a manner forced to allow, to prevent greater evils. The soldier who has married a captive, may abandon her, if he set her free, (Calmet) which was but a slight punishment for his inconstancy. |
| Deuteronomy 21:15 | If a man have two wives, one beloved, and the other hated, and they have had children by him, and the son of the hated be the first-born; | Two wives. Moses never expressly (Haydock) sanctions polygamy; but he tolerates it frequently, as excused by custom, the example of the Patriarchs, etc.; a toleration which Christ has revoked, as contrary to the primary design of God, and the institution of matrimony. (Calmet) (Matthew xix.) |
| Deuteronomy 21:16 | And he meaneth to divide his substance among his sons: he may not make the son of the beloved the first-born, and prefer him before the son of the hated; | Hated, or less loved. (Haydock) --- The inheritance goes to the first-born independently of the father's disposition, in order to prevent the disturbances which would otherwise have taken place in families, where the different wives would have been continually endeavouring to get their respective children preferred before the rest. David indeed assigned the throne to Solomon, to the exclusion of Adonias; but this was done by the command of God, 3 Kings 1:17. The regulation of Jacob, in favour of Joseph, was made prior to this law. The Jewish doctors inform us, that a father cannot disinherit any of his lawful heirs, except the judges ratify his sentence, while he is in health. But if he be dangerously ill, his verbal declaration will suffice, provided he appoint some one whom the law does not reject. For if he were to make a Gentile his heir, the will would be null. The testament must be made in the day time, for which they cite Ecclesiasticus 33:24. They say likewise that a father may, while living, give his effects to whom he pleases, and by this means disinherit his children; or he may give the succession to one of them, who is then considered as a tutor of the rest, and is bound to maintain them with necessaries till the year of jubilee, when each may claim his respective share. (Selden, Succes. c. xxiv.) But all these regulations seem to contradict the law. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 21:17 | *But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the first-born, and shall give him a double portion of all he hath: for this is the first of his children, and to him are due the first birth-rights. 1 Paralipomenon 5:1. | Double portion. If a person left six children, his effects were divided into seven equal parts, and the eldest son received two of them, though others think that he was entitled to one-half of the whole, (Calmet) in order to enable him to support the dignity of the family, (Haydock) and the greater expenses which he had to incur for sacrifices and solemn feasts. (Grotius) --- If he were dead, his children or heirs were entitled to his portion. This was the prerogative of the first-born, 1 Paralipomenon 5:2. (Selden) --- The right to the priesthood, if they might have claimed it before the law, was now given to the family of Aaron. Females had no privilege above one another. They received equal shares, when there was no male issue, Numbers xxxvi. (Haydock) --- First. Hebrew, "the beginning of his strength." See Genesis 49:3. |
| Deuteronomy 21:18 | If a man have a stubborn and unruly son, who will not hear the commandments of his father or mother, and being corrected, slighteth obedience: | Son. The Rabbins do not look upon children as bound by the law, till they be 13 years old. Their faults, before that age, are imputed to the father, and he is to be punished for them. When, therefore, a son has attained the competent years, the father makes attestation of it in the presence of ten Jews, declaring that he has instructed his son in the commandments, customs of the nation, and daily prayers; and that he now sets him at liberty to answer, in future, for his own faults, praying that God would enable him to lead a virtuous life. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 21:19 | They shall take him, and bring him to the ancients of his city, and to the gate of judgment, | Ancients. In considerable cities there was a tribunal of three, and another of 23 judges. The former took cognizance of the first accusation, and condemned the stubborn child to be scourged: but the latter sentenced him to be stoned in case of a relapse, provided both parents concurred in prosecuting their son, as they would not both surely be guided by passion. (Theodoret, q. 20.) The Rabbins, according to their custom, modify this law, and exempt girls, orphans, and boys under 13 years of age. (Selden, Syned.) --- Josephus ([Antiquities?] 16:17,) says that the parents laid their hands on the head of the undutiful, and then all the people stoned him. Moses has not specified the punishment of parricides, (Calmet) as he deemed it next to impossible. (Haydock) --- But we may hence judge how he would have chastised so heinous a crime. The Romans formerly sewed such wretches in a leathern sack, (Cic.[Cicero,?] Invent. ii.) but afterwards they enclosed with them a dog, a cock, a viper, and a monkey; and having first whipped them so as to fetch blood, placed them in a chariot drawn by black oxen, and hurled them into the sea or into some river. (Justinian) --- Solomon sentences those who contemn their parents to be the food of crows and eagles, Proverbs 30:17. No restraints were laid by the ancient Greeks on the authority of a father, as he was esteemed the most equitable judge. (Sopater, ap. Grotius) (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 21:20 | And shall say to them: This our son is rebellious and stubborn, he slighteth hearing our admonitions, he giveth himself to revelling, and to debauchery, and banquetings: | |
| Deuteronomy 21:21 | The people of the city shall stone him: and he shall die, that you may take away the evil out of the midst of you, and all Israel hearing it may be afraid. | |
| Deuteronomy 21:22 | When a man hath committed a crime for which he is to be punished with death, and being condemned to die, is hanged on a gibbet: | Gibbet. Whether the person was first killed, as the Jews assert, or he was left to die upon the gibbet, see Calmet's Diss. It is also a matter of doubt, whether he was nailed to the gibbet, or hung on it by a rope. (Bonfrere) |
| Deuteronomy 21:23 | His body shall not remain upon the tree, but shall be buried the same day: *for he is accursed of God that hangeth on a tree: and thou shalt not defile thy land, which the Lord thy God shall give thee in possession. Galatians 3:13. | Of God. Chaldean, "he has been fixed on the gibbet for sinning against God." Symmachus and Arabic, "he has blasphemed the Lord." Syriac, "the man who has blasphemed shall be hung." Only people accused of great crimes, such as blasphemy and idolatry, were condemned to this reproachful death, and prayers were not said for them in the synagogue, as they were for other persons, during the 11 months following their decease. (Calmet) --- They are not to be remembered before God. Their dead bodies are to be buried before sunset, that the country may not be defiled. The punishment itself is extremely infamous, and the name of God is often used by the Jews, to express something in the highest degree, as the cedars of God, etc. (Haydock) --- Some understand this passage, as if the body were not to be left on the gibbet, because man, being created to the likeness of God, he will not allow the body to be insulted. Homer (Iliad xxiv.) says that Achilles offered an insult to the earth, when he dragged the dead body of Hector round the walls of Troy. Others think, that the criminal having been treated with due severity, as accursed of God, his corpse must not be deprived of decent burial. Res sacra miser. The Jews refused this privilege to none but suicides, (Josephus, Jewish Wars 3:25,) while the Egyptians and Phoenicians suffered the bodies to rot upon the gibbet, whose inhumanity God here reproves. St. Paul reads this verse in a different manner both from the Hebrew and Septuagint, leaving out of God, and substituting, with the Septuagint, the words every one, and on a tree. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree, Galatians 3:13. St. Jerome remarks, that on this as well as on other occasions, he adheres to the sense, without following the express words of Scripture. He also observes, with Tertullian, that only those are declared accursed by the law, who are hung for their crimes; and as Jesus Christ suffered, not for any fault of his own, but being willing to appear in the character of one accursed, he has procured for us all blessings. (Calmet) --- In a mystical sense, that man is accursed who is obstinate in sin, hanging as it were on the tree, which was the occasion of our first parents' transgression. (Worthington) --- St. Jerome seems to think that the Jews have inserted of God, to intimate that Christ was accursed of him. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 22:0 | Humanity towards neighbours. Neither sex may use the apparel of the other. Cruelty to be avoided, even to birds. Battlements about the roof of a house. Things of divers kinds not to be mixed. The punishment of him the slandereth his wife, as also of adultery and rape. | |
| Deuteronomy 22:1 | Thou *shalt not pass by if thou seest thy brother's ox, or his sheep go astray: but thou shalt bring them back to thy brother. 12: Numbers 15:38. | Year of the World 2553.; Exodus xxiv. Pass by. Hebrew, "hide thyself," pretending not to see it. --- Brother. Any fellow creature, Exodus 23:4., and Luke 10:30. (Calmet) --- "We are very inhuman, not to shew as much concern for a man, as the Jews do for a beast of burden." (St. Chrysostom, ser. 13.) (Du Hamel) |
| Deuteronomy 22:2 | And if thy brother be not nigh, or thou know him not: thou shalt bring them to thy house, and they shall be with thee until thy brother seek them, and receive them. | Not nigh, either in blood or in place, (Calmet) though the latter signification seems more applicable; as, if the person lived at too great a distance, it would suffice to inform him where he might find what he had lost; and, if the owner was unknown, the thing must be taken care of by him who finds it, till he be discovered. (Du Hamel) |
| Deuteronomy 22:3 | Thou shalt do in like manner with his ass, and with his raiment, and with every thing that is thy brother's, which is lost: if thou find it, neglect it not as pertaining to another. | If, etc. Hebrew, "thou must not hide thyself," so as to pass it by, nor yet conceal it from the right owner. When a thing is certainly abandoned by him, it belongs to the person who seizes it first; but if it be only lost, it must surely be restored, if possible, (Grotius, Jur. 2:10,) as nature forbids us to take advantage of another's misfortune. (Cicero) --- The Rabbins have corrupted this law, like so many others, by their evil interpretations. They pretend that a Jew must restore what he has found belonging to another true believer, if it have certain marks by which it may be known, but not if it belonged to a prevaricator or infidel. In the former supposition, they got the thing cried on a high stone near Jerusalem four times, and if the owner did not then claim his property, the finder might keep it. (Selden, Jur. 6:4.) --- The inhabitants of Cumae condemned the next neighbour to restore what had been lost; as Hesiod (op. 348,) very well remarks, that things would not easily be lost, if the neighbours were not ill-disposed. |
| Deuteronomy 22:4 | If thou see thy brother's ass or his ox to be fallen down in the way, thou shalt not slight it, but shalt lift it up with him. | With him. Hebrew, "thou shalt not hide thyself, but help him to lift up," Exodus 23:4. |
| Deuteronomy 22:5 | A woman shall not be clothed with man's apparel, neither shall a man use woman's apparel: for he that doth these things is abominable before God. | God. Some take this literally, as the contrary practice is contrary to decency, and might be attended with very pernicious consequences. All know what noise was occasioned by the action of Clodius, who put on women's apparel, that he might be present with the Roman ladies at the feast of the good goddess. Yet others think that Moses here forbids some superstitious practice. St. Ambrose (ep. 69,) remarks, that in some of the mysteries of the idols, it was requisite for those present to change clothes in this manner, sacrum putatur. Lucian testifies, that men put on women's clothes at the feasts of Bacchus. They did the like in those of Venus, while the women took men's clothes in the festivals of Mars. (Jul. Hirmic. C. 4.) (Maimonides) --- In the East, people honoured the moon, to which they attributed both sexes, and Venus in like manner. Josephus ([Antiquities,?] 4:8,) believes that women are here prohibited to engage in warfare. Hebrew, "the vessels (armour) of man shall not be upon a woman." Semiramis gained a great name by her martial exploits, and commanded all her subjects to dress like herself. (Justin., i) --- The Amazons were likewise very famous in war, and it is said that half the army of Bacchus was composed of women. Alb. Gentil maintains that Moses here condemns an abominable crime, which he did not wish to mention, at which the Book of Wisdom hints, (chap. 14:26,) and which St. Paul condemns more explicitly, Romans 1:26. Moses had already denounced death against the perpetrators of it; and surely the manner in which he now speaks, seems to forbid something more than simply putting on the garments of the other sex, for he, etc. (Calmet) --- Yet that disorderly conduct deserved to be reprobated in strong terms, (Haydock) when it was not excused by some necessity or proper motive, such as actuated some holy virgins, St. Theodora, etc. (Tirinus) |
| Deuteronomy 22:6 | If thou find, as thou walkest by the way, a bird's nest in a tree, or on the ground, and the dam sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs: thou shalt not take her with her young: | Thou shalt not take, etc. This was to shew them to exercise a certain mercy even to irrational creatures; and by that means to train them up to a horror of cruelty; and to the exercise of humanity, and mutual charity one to another. (Challoner) --- Some were of opinion that the person who could take the old bird on the nest, might assure himself of good fortune, fecundity, etc. (St. Thomas Aquinas, 1:2, q. 102, a. 6.) Such superstition is reprehensible. Phocilides advises not to take all the young ones, nor the hen, in consideration of one's having more birds. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 22:7 | But shalt let her go, keeping the young which thou hast caught: that it may be well with thee, and thou mayst live a long time. | Time. Those who refrain from cruelty, even towards beasts, will be induced more easily to shew mercy to their fellow creatures, (Tertullian, contra Marc. ii.) and will draw down the blessings of God upon themselves. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 22:8 | When thou buildest a new house, thou shalt make a battlement to the roof round about: lest blood be shed in thy house, and thou be guilty, if any one slip and fall down headlong. | Battlement. This precaution was necessary, because all their houses had flat tops; and it was usual to walk and to converse together upon them. (Challoner) --- King Ochozias had the misfortune to fall from the top of his house, (4 Kings 1:2,) and David saw Bethsabee when he was walking on the roof of his palace, 2 Kings 11:2. Saul slept at the top of Samuel's house, 1 Kings 9:25. See Josue 2:6., and Matthew 10:27. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 22:9 | Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest both the seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of the vineyard, be sanctified together. | Together. If wheat was sown in a vineyard, it would ripen much sooner than the grapes; and as the first-fruits of both were offered to the Lord, the owner would lose the profit which he had too greedily sought after, the place being esteemed both pure and impure at the same time. This mixture of seeds would also impoverish the land, so that it would be like a place defiled, and unfit for cultivation. (Jansenius in Leviticus 19:19.) Maimonides supposes that the practice of the Zabians is here reprobated. They sowed the land with corn and dry grapes, in honour of Ceres and Bacchus, (More. Nev. p. 3. C. 37,) who presided over the harvest and vintage among the pagans. (Wm. of Paris. Leg. 13.) --- Moses might also, by this symbolical language, condemn unnatural connexions, as he perhaps does, ver. 10. |
| Deuteronomy 22:10 | Thou shalt not plough with an ox and an ass together. | Plough. In Leviticus 19:19, this law is expressed, so as to forbid the procreation of mongrels. See Judges 14:18. People who have treated on agriculture observe, that it is a pernicious practice to make animals of unequal size and speed work together. (Colum. 6:2.) --- St. Paul explains to us the mystical sense of this passage. Bear not the yoke together with infidels, 2 Corinthians 6:14. (Calmet) --- Marry not with such. (Haydock) --- Employ not in the sacred ministry the imprudent and wicked with those of a virtuous disposition. (St. Gregory, Mor. 1:16.) |
| Deuteronomy 22:11 | Thou shalt not wear a garment, that is woven of woollen and linen together. | Together. This is now lawful. But a virgin consecrated to God, must not dress like a married woman: the different states of life must not be confounded. (St. Augustine, contra Faustus 6:9.) (Du Hamel) |
| Deuteronomy 22:12 | *Thou shalt make strings in the hem at the four corners of thy cloak, wherewith thou shalt be covered. | Strings, probably to gird the outer garment round the loins. See Numbers 15:38. |
| Deuteronomy 22:13 | If a man marry a wife, and afterwards hate her, | |
| Deuteronomy 22:14 | And seek occasions to put her away, laying to her charge a very ill name, and say: I took this woman to wife, and going in to her, I found her not a virgin: | Name. Hebrew, "and occasion reports against her to bring an evil name upon her," (Haydock) that he may not have to return her dowry. For, according to many of the Rabbins, he might give her a bill of divorce, simply if he did not like her. (Selden, Uxor. 3:1, etc.) --- They allow the proof here specified, only with respect to a Hebrew woman between twelve and twelve and a half years old, during the period of her being espoused, but not taken home by her husband. The cause was to be tried before the 23 judges. Oftentimes only witnesses, probably matrons, were examined in defence of the woman. (Josephus, [Antiquities?] 4:8.) St. Ambrose (ep. 8. 64. ad Syagr.) highly disapproves of such unsatisfactory methods. The marks assigned by the law were commonly observed in Syria, Persia, etc. The Arab physicians speak of them. See Valesius, c. xxv. The age in which women were then married, the climate, etc., caused these indications to be more clear, and deposed for or against the fidelity of the bride. The mother had them entrusted to her care by the friends of the husband, who had kept watch at the door on the wedding night. (M.[Menochius;?] Nachman, ap. Fagium.) |
| Deuteronomy 22:15 | Her father and mother shall take her, and shall bring with them the tokens of her virginity to the ancients of the city that are in the gate: | Her. It does not appear that the woman was present at the trial: she remained at her father's, or rather at her husband's house, till sentence was passed. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "then shall the father of the damsel and her mother take and produce the damsel's virginity," or the tokens of it. |
| Deuteronomy 22:16 | And the father shall say: I gave my daughter unto this man to wife: and because he hateth her, | |
| Deuteronomy 22:17 | He layeth to her charge a very ill name, so as to say: I found not thy daughter a virgin: and behold these are the tokens of my daughter's virginity. And they shall spread the cloth before the ancients of the city: | |
| Deuteronomy 22:18 | And the ancients of that city shall take that man, and beat him, | Beat him. Hebrew, "chastise." Septuagint may signify also, "reprimand him." But (Haydock) Josephus says the husband was to receive 39 lashes; and Philo informs us that the woman might leave him, if she thought proper, though, if she were willing to stay, he had not the power to divorce her, ver. 19. |
| Deuteronomy 22:19 | Condemning him besides in a hundred sicles of silver, which he shall give to the damsel's father, because he hath defamed by a very ill name a virgin of Israel: and he shall have her to wife, and may not put her away all the days of his life. | A hundred. Josephus only mentions 50. As it was presumed that the false accusation proceeded from a desire to defraud the woman of her dowry, the law obliged the husband to allow her double (Calmet) the usual sum. Yet this punishment, together with the scourging, was very inadequate to what the woman would have had to suffer if she had been condemned. (Haydock) --- St. Augustine (q. 33,) is surprised at this decision, as in other cases calumny was subjected to the law of retaliation, or punished with death. This shews also that wives, among the Jews, were considered as little more than servants. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 22:20 | But if what he chargeth her with be true, and virginity be not found in the damsel: | |
| Deuteronomy 22:21 | They shall cast her out of the doors of her father's house, and the men of the city shall stone her to death, and she shall die: because she hath done a wicked thing in Israel, to play the whore in her father's house: and thou shalt take away the evil out of the midst of thee. | Die. It was concluded that she had committed the sin after her espousal. If it had happened before, she was to receive only 25 sicles for a dowry; though, if she took an oath that violence had been offered to her, she was entitled to 50: which opinion of the Rabbins seems very equitable. Aeschines (in Timarch.) relates, that a man at Athens punished the transgression of which his daughter had been guilty, while she was at home, by shutting her up with a horse, in order that she might be torn in pieces by the famished animal. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 22:22 | *If a man lie with another man's wife, they shall both die, that is to say, the adulterer and the adulteress: and thou shalt take away the evil out of Israel. Leviticus 20:10. | Die. The man was to be strangled as well as the married woman; if she were espoused only, she was to be stoned. The daughter of a priest was burnt alive. (Rabbins) (Calmet) See Leviticus 20:10. |
| Deuteronomy 22:23 | If a man have espoused a damsel that is a virgin, and some one find her in the city, and lie with her, | |
| Deuteronomy 22:24 | Thou shalt bring them both out to the gate of that city, and they shall be stoned: the damsel, because she cried not out, being in the city: the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour's wife. And thou shalt take away the evil from the midst of thee. | Wife. After the woman was espoused, (ver. 23,) she was called a wife, and punished accordingly, if she proved unfaithful. |
| Deuteronomy 22:25 | But if a man find a damsel that is betrothed, in the field, and taking hold of her, lie with her, he alone shall die: | Hold. Septuagint, "offering violence," as also [in] ver. 28. (Haydock) --- Die. Moses supposes that the woman in the field had made all possible resistance, and that the one in the city had, by silence at least, consented. But if the case were otherwise, the judges were to make all necessary enquiries, and pass sentence accordingly. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 22:26 | The damsel shall suffer nothing, neither is she guilty of death: for as a robber riseth against his brother, and taketh away his life, so also did the damsel suffer: | |
| Deuteronomy 22:27 | She was alone in the field: she cried, and there was no man to help her. | |
| Deuteronomy 22:28 | If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, who is not espoused, and taking her, lie with her, and the matter come to judgment, | |
| Deuteronomy 22:29 | *He that lay with her, shall give to the father of the maid, fifty sicles of silver, and shall have her to wife, because he hath humbled her: he may not put her away all the days of his life. Exodus 22:16. | Life. A law nearly similar occurs, Exodus 22:16, (Haydock) only there Moses speaks of seduction. (Menochius) --- If the father or the woman refused their consent to the marriage, the person had only to pay 50 sicles; which the woman received, if her father was not alive. But if they consented, the person who had been condemned by the judge, was bound to marry the woman, how deformed soever. (Selden, Uxor. 1:16.) (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 22:30 | No man shall take his father's wife, nor remove his covering. | Covering. See Leviticus 20:11. A wife should be hidden from all but her husband. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 23:0 | Who may and who may not enter into the church: uncleanness to be avoided: other precepts concerning fugitives, fornication, usury, vows, and eating other mens' grapes and corn. | |
| Deuteronomy 23:1 | An *eunuch, whose testicles are broken or cut away, or yard cut off, shall not enter into the church of the Lord. | Year of the World 2553. Eunuch. By these are meant, in the spiritual sense, such as are barren in good works. (Challoner) (Theodoret, q. 25.) (Worthington) --- The Hebrew also specifies three sorts of eunuchs, though the Septuagint and Chaldean have only two. No mention is made of natural eunuchs, who are not excluded from the church of the Lord. (Calmet) --- This outrage of castration was first offered to nature by Semiramis. (Am. Marcellin. 14.) --- Church. That is, into the assembly or congregation of Israel, so as to have the privilege of an Israelite, or to be capable of any place or office among the people of God. (Challoner) --- Philo says, they were not to enter the court of the temple. See Lamentations 1:10. Others think they could not embrace the Jewish religion, Exodus 12:48. But this privilege could not be refused. Most probably the custom of making eunuchs is forbidden, and if any were found among the Jews, they should not be admitted to any place of authority. Isaias (lvi. 5,) speaks of some faithful eunuchs, to whom God will give a place in his house; but he alludes to those of the new law, who embrace the state of celibacy, Matthew 19:12. Eunuchs were rejected from the magistracy among the Romans; and when some were at last received, it was deemed unnatural, as their disposition is generally cruel and selfish. Omnia cesserunt Eunucho Consule monstra. (Claud. in Eutrop. I.) (Calmet) --- Those who had the misfortune among the Jews to be eunuchs, did not perhaps (Haydock) lose the right of citizenship. (Tirinus) |
| Deuteronomy 23:2 | A mamzer, that is to say, one born of a prostitute, shall not enter into the church of the Lord, until the tenth generation. | Mamzer, etc. The author of the Vulgate adds the explication of mamzer, which only occurs again, Zacharias 9:6. It may in both places denote a stranger, or one of a different religion from the Jews, as Jephte was the son of a prostitute, (Judges 11:1,) and yet became a judge of Israel. But strangers, as long as they professed a false religion, could not be entitled to the privileges of Jewish citizens; and even after they had relinquished their false worship, they were bound to wait ten whole generations, or a long time, before they could fill the posts of honour and command. (Calmet) --- This, however, seems to be contrary to the disposition made in favour of the Idumeans and Egyptians, who were admitted in the third generation. A mamzer may, therefore, be (Haydock) a bastard of a different nation from the Jews, (Menochius) which was not the case of Jephte. (Haydock) --- The Rabbins specify three sorts of mamzers: 1. those born of parents who, by the law, are forbidden to marry, being too near akin; 2. those who are the fruit of adultery, or some criminal commerce, which is punished with death; and 3. those whose birth subjects the parents to be cut off or retrenched from the people. (Selden, Jur. 5:16.) --- The Septuagint, etc., exclude the children "of a harlot," which is the sense of mamzer in the canon law. The Christian Church rejects such from holy orders, and the Athenians would not suffer bastards to offer sacrifice in the city, but only in the Cynosarge, dedicated to Hercules, whose birth was hardly legitimate. In a word, some understand that mamzer comprises all concerning whose birth any doubts might be entertained. (Calmet) --- It is observable, that such often imitate the wicked conduct of their parents; in which case, they are unfit for the magistracy; and though they may live a very exemplary life, the law is intended to discourage such practices in parents, which may entail dishonour and loss upon their children; that, if they be not sufficiently restrained by their own personal disgrace, they may at least by the love for their innocent offspring. (Haydock) --- Tenth. In the 11th generation, when the stain was obliterated, the descendant might become a magistrate. (Menochius) --- Some understand that they were excluded for ever, as when the judges of the Areopagus ordered a man to appear again before them in 100 years' time, they meant that his cause was entirely rejected. (Vatable; Casaub. in Athen. vi.) |
| Deuteronomy 23:3 | *The Ammonite, and the Moabite, even after the tenth generation, shall not enter into the church of the Lord, for ever: 2 Esdras 13:1. | Ever. This shews that the former verse only excludes bastards for a time. But why are these nations treated with more severity than the Edomite and Egyptian? Because their enmity seemed to proceed from pure malice, and they attempted to ruin the souls of the Hebrews by lust and by idolatry, without any prospect of interest to themselves. Their parents were also of very base origin, and Abraham had rescued their father, Lot, from destruction; so that for his children to oppose with such virulence the descendants of Abraham, manifested a degree of ingratitude and perversity. (Calmet) --- They had found their attempts to hurt Israel abortive, and yet ceased not to persecute their near relations, (Haydock) by drawing them into carnal sins. Those who are obstinate in their evil ways, can never be rightly received into the Church of God. (Worthington) --- Achior and Ruth embraced the Jewish religion, but it does not appear that they were admitted to places of trust, Judith 14:6. (Haydock) --- These regulations were observed till the Babylonian captivity, while the genealogies might be ascertained. (Calmet) --- In cases of extraordinary merit, as in that of Achior, the Ammonite, (Judith xiv.,) a dispensation might be granted. (Tirinus) |
| Deuteronomy 23:4 | Because they would not meet you with bread and water in the way, when you came out of Egypt: *and because they hired against thee Balaam, the son of Beor, from Mesopotamia in Syria, to curse thee: Numbers 22:5.; Josue 24:9. | Water: the necessaries of life. This inhumanity is highly resented. --- Son. Hebrew, "of Beor, of Pethor, a city of Mesopotamia, to curse thee." (Haydock) (Numbers 22:5.) |
| Deuteronomy 23:5 | And the Lord thy God would not hear Balaam, and he turned his cursing into thy blessing, because he loved thee. | |
| Deuteronomy 23:6 | Thou shalt not make peace with them, neither shalt thou seek their prosperity all the days of thy life for ever. | Peace. Hebrew, "ask or seek not their peace nor their advantage" as a nation; keep at a proper distance; have no familiarity with them. (Haydock) --- Their vices, not their persons, are to be hated. David behaved in a friendly manner with the king of Ammon, 2 Kings 10:2. He was afterwards forced to make war upon the people, though, without such extraordinary provocations, war was not to be declared against them. (Calmet) --- Prosperity. Have no intercourse with them. (Menochius) --- Septuagint, "Salute them not, wishing them what may tend to their peace and advantage." |
| Deuteronomy 23:7 | Thou shalt not abhor the Edomite, because he is thy brother: nor the Egyptian, because thou wast a stranger in his land. | Brother. Esau and Jacob were twins. --- Land. The Egyptians had for some time afforded the Hebrews an asylum in their country, and though the kings had of late persecuted them, the people seem not to have entered into the views of their rulers, and spared the male children notwithstanding their cruel edicts. They gave them also very rich presents before their departure, Exodus 12:35. Gratitude required that these things should be considered, (Haydock) and God orders his people generously to pass over the subsequent ill treatment of these two nations. |
| Deuteronomy 23:8 | They that are born of them, in the third generation shall enter into the church of the Lord. | Lord. The Rabbins explain this of the permission to marry the grand-children of such as had embraced the Jewish religion, though some of them suppose that an Idumean or an Egyptian woman might be taken to wife, as Solomon took the daughter of Pharao; but the Israelites could not give their children in marriage to the men of those nations. The grand-children of converts are rather hereby entitled to the privileges of other Jewish citizens. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 23:9 | When thou goest out to war against thy enemies, thou shalt keep thyself from every evil thing. | Thing, rapine, libertinage, etc., which are but too common among soldiers. (Calmet) --- We know what instructions St. John the baptist gave to those who followed that lawful profession, Luke 3:14. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 23:10 | If there be among you any man, that is defiled in a dream by night, he shall go forth out of the camp, | Camp of the Levites, according to the Rabbins. (Calmet) --- Bonfrere explains this of priests. (Menochius) --- But it rather refers to all who dwelt in the camp, where the ark seems to have been generally present, along with the armies, ver. 14., and Numbers 31:6. (Calmet) --- It is not clear, however, that the law alludes to any other camp, but that in the midst of which the tabernacle was fixed; and Calmet, elsewhere, denies that the ark commonly followed the army. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 23:11 | And shall not return, before he be washed with water in the evening: and after sun-set he shall return into the camp. | Water of the fountain. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 23:12 | Thou shalt have a place without the camp, to which thou mayst go for the necessities of nature, | |
| Deuteronomy 23:13 | Carrying a paddle at thy girdle. And when thou sittest down, thou shalt dig round about, and with the earth that is dug up thou shalt cover | Girdle. Hebrew azon, means "a balance," as the Hebrews generally carried weights, etc., about them, Deuteronomy 25:13. Moderns translate, "a paddle upon thy weapon," But the Septuagint seem to have read ezor, "a girdle," (Calmet) which is more intelligible, as the Jews were accustomed to carry the necessary utensils, money, etc., not in their pockets, as we do, but in a bag, which they fixed to their girdles, or belts. All the Jews who dwelt in the camp, were bound to have a paddle, for the purpose here mentioned. (Haydock) --- Josephus (Jewish Wars 2:7,) observes, that the Essenians always made use of one, with which they made a hole a foot deep, and covered it with their robes, that nothing indecent might be exposed to view. (Haydock) --- The Turks still follow the same custom, when they are encamped. (Busbec, ep. iii.) (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 23:14 | That which thou art eased of: (for the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thy enemies to thee:) and let thy camp be holy, and let no uncleanness appear therein, lest he go away from thee. | No uncleanness. This caution against suffering any filth in the camp, was to teach them to fly the filth of sin, which driveth God away from the soul. (Challoner) Those who have had the misfortune to fall into the sink of iniquity, must not fail to use the sharp instrument of compunction, with which they may hide the enormity of their crimes. (Haydock) --- Incessanter terram mentis nostrae poenitentiae dolore confodiat et....abscondat. (St. Gregory, Mor. 3:13.) --- In a camp where three million people were collected, if some such regulation had not been made, great and serious inconveniences would have ensued. The lawgiver, therefore, descends to several particulars which to us might appear minute; but besides the obvious meaning, which is very rational, the words convey other mystical instructions of the highest importance. God was pleased to assume the character of a powerful monarch, residing among his people, and hence every appearance of indecency must be removed. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 23:15 | Thou shalt not deliver to his master the servant that is fled to thee. | To thee, from among the Gentiles. The promised land was thus declared a land of liberty, (Calmet) to encourage poor slaves to embrace the service of the true God, and to flee from the slavery of the devil, and from the society of those who adored him in their idols. The whole earth belongs to the Lord, and He was thus pleased to punish those who might claim a right to these slaves. (Haydock) --- Some believe that the price was given to the owner, at the public expense. The Rabbins allow this privilege of an asylum, only to those who fled from a foreign country, or from an infidel master, to embrace the true religion. Circumcision was given to them as an inviolable mark of liberty. (Chaldean) Those who had been sold for their crimes, or for debt, by the sentence of the judge, could not claim this exemption. (Grotius, Jur. 3:7.) --- Philo (de humanit.) says, it would be unjust to give up a slave who has sought refuge with us. We ought either to reconcile him to his master, or sell him to another, and give the price to the former owner. Some translate the Hebrew in a contrary sense, "Thou shalt not shut up the slave who has fled to thee from his master," as if it were unjust to refuse to deliver him up. But the law points out some cases where it is lawful for a slave to flee away, and consequently people must be allowed to receive him. The following verse is decisive in favour of this explanation. |
| Deuteronomy 23:16 | He shall dwell with thee in the place that shall please him, and shall rest in one of thy cities: give him no trouble. | |
| Deuteronomy 23:17 | There shall be no whore among the daughters of Israel, nor whoremonger among the sons of Israel. | Israel. Some hence very erroneously infer, that before this prohibition the thing was not criminal. (Selden, Jur. 5:4.) Notwithstanding the law, such lewd practices continued to be very common. The original expresses that both the women and the men were consecrated, "kadash," in all probability to some idol, whom they intended to honour by abominable prostitutions, a thing very common in all the East, as we learn both from profane and sacred authors. (Aten. 13:5.) (4 Kings 23:7.) The men were called the effeminate, 3 Kings 14:24. (Calmet) --- Some copies of the Septuagint have a double translation of this verse, and add, "None of the daughters of Israel shall bear the mysteries, nor shall any of the sons of Israel be initiated (in these mysteries of idols) to make every vow." Telesphoros denotes a strumpet for hire, ver. 18; or, according to Vossius, one who is initiated or performs the pagan mysteries, as fornication and idolatry, commonly go together in the sacred writers. Hesychius seems to understand, that it refers to "the house where a person has been delivered of a child." But Tertullian (pudic. ix.) explains it thus, "No one....shall pay tribute;" as telos means tribute, (Haydock) and the Jews are supposed to have refused to pay any to the Romans on the authority of this verse. See Casaub. in Baruch 2:19. (Grotius) (Calmet) --- But it seems far more probable, that it is a farther elucidation of the text, and prohibits that scandalous impiety by which may were not ashamed publicly, like dogs, to commit the most obscene actions, and to present the hire of their bodies to the idols, Micheas 1:7. (Clement of Alexandria, Exhort.; Villalpand in Ezechiel xliii.) We could hardly give credit to those who have attested such things, did not God here find it necessary to caution his people not to fall into such blindness and delusion. That the poor ignorant idolater should think by these means to appease those gods who, while here on earth, had been infamous for the like excesses, needs not so much to excite our surprise. But that the Gnostics, Manichees, and other heretics, almost of all ages since the light of the gospel shone forth, should have thought that they could honour the true God by abusing the flesh, is truly astonishing. Yet they gave into this delusion, by first persuading themselves that the flesh was the creature of an evil principle, fighting against the author of the spirit and of all good, with whom they intended to take part. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes. Yea, there is a way that seemeth to a man right, and the ends thereof lead to death, Proverbs 12:15., and 16:25. These wretches grounded their opinion on the authority of their gods, or of the Scripture. Will this excuse be admitted by the Sovereign Judge? But these delusions are perhaps now at an end. --- A principle, however, is still maintained of a far more pernicious tendency, inasmuch as it strikes at the root of every law, divine and human. This horrible doctrine was inculcated by J. Wesley for above thirty years, as we have already observed, Deuteronomy 16:22. "O natural man," says he, (Serm. on Orig. Sin,) "thou canst do [no] good. Thy natural actions are sin; thy civil actions are sin; thy religious actions are sin. As many thoughts, words, and actions, so many sins; for nothing but sin comes from thee. Thy duties are sins. Can an evil tree bring forth good fruit?" Thus Scripture teaches him that to work for one's family, to pay taxes, to pray, read the Scriptures, or even to believe, will be a sin! "Knowest thou not that thou canst do nothing but sin, till thou art reconciled to God?" (Sermon on the Righteousness of Faith.) Hence arose the Still-Methodists, Jour. iv. p. 92.. Even after this celebrated reformer had begun, when almost 70 years of age, to discover "the subtle poison, which he says, (Jour. viii. p. 90,) has infected, more or less, almost all, from the highest to the lowest among us," it is astonishing that he still acknowledges those who were infected with it, as the "real children of God by faith." Many of these, he says, (serm. on the law) lay it down as an unquestionable truth, that when we are come to Christ, we have done with the law; and that in this sense, Christ is the end of the law to every one that believeth. We need, therefore, no longer wonder that the pagans should think they honoured their idols by prostitution, (which on other occasions they condemned as "a great disgrace," oneidos mega, as Musonias calls it,) since in this enlightened age, a man of no mean abilities, and far advanced in years, a man who requires that all the preachers in his connexion shall conform to his Sermons and Notes on the New Testament, or be superceded, (Jour. xx. p. 34,) could decide that those who maintain this principle, and make it a branch of their religion to break the law of God on purpose, are the "real children of God by faith;" people, "whom God has taken out of the world." As well might he say that a man may live on subtle poison, and please God, by following a doctrine than which "nothing can be more false," as he styles this very principle of Antinomianism, to which he and his preachers had "leaned" for such a length of time. "If, says a great admirer of his, Mr. Fletcher, (1 Check, 4th letter,) the three first propositions of the minutes are scriptural, Mr. Wesley may well begin the remaining part, by desiring the preachers in his connexion to emerge along with him from under the noisy billows of prejudice, and to struggle quite out of the muddy streams of Antinomian delusions, which have so long gone over our heads, and carried so many souls down the channels of vice into the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone." This is then to be the abode of those whom "God has taken out of the world, and who are real children of God by faith!" This is the heaven, of which they may boast in dying that they are infallibly sure of! At least, the man whom they have so eagerly followed as their judge, has passed this woful sentence upon them, as if he had a mind to laugh at their credulity. If he join us also in the same condemnation, and say, "I have the same assurance that Jesus is the Christ, and that no Romanist can expect to be saved, according to the terms of his covenant;" (Jour. iii. p. 94.) we are not solicitous about his good opinion; we have not chosen him for our judge, nor have his writings given us reason to think that he knew the nature of our covenant. If he did, so much the more dreadful must have been his reckoning with that unerring Judge, before whom he has appeared 20 years ago. It is the glory and happiness of the Catholic Church, that no one attempts to assail her, but he presently betrays the spirit by which he is inspired, the spirit of calumny, and of the perverse application of Scripture. It was thus that our divine head was treated by the father of lies, who alleged Scripture to encourage suicide, or presumption, Matthew 4:6. So in the various points of faith which Mr. Wesley attacks, he shamefully misrepresents our doctrine, that he may have something to oppose. We have seen how unjustly he accuses us of idolatry, Deuteronomy 16:22. But in order, perhaps, to comfort us with the reflection, that we have many partners in guilt, he represents the Protestants as equally criminal. "They set up their idols in their churches; you set up yours in your heart....O how little is the difference before God! How small pre-eminence has the money worshipper at London over the image worshipper at Rome; or the idolizer of a living sinner over him that prays to a dead saint." (Word to a Protestant.) How much soever the Protestants may be entangled in this species of idolatry, they do not at least pretend to authorize it by the principles of religion, as some of the Methodists have done. Witness the man with whom J. Wesley conversed at Birmingham. "Do you believe that you have nothing to do with the law of God? He answered, I have not, I am not under the law....Have you also a right to all the women in the world? Yes, if they consent. And is not this a sin? Yes, to him who thinks it is a sin; but not to those whose hearts are free. The same thing that wretch, Roger Ball, affirmed in Dublin. Surely these are the first-born children of Satan." (Journal vi. p. 133.) Witness Mr. Fletcher, a celebrated clergyman in the Methodist connexion, who has informed us that Antinomian principles and practices had spread like wild fire among the Methodists. "Nor need I go far, says he, for a proof of this sad assertion. In one of his (Wesley's) societies, not many miles from my parish, a married man, who professed being in a state of justification and sanctification, growing wise above what is written, despised his brethren as legalists, and his preachers as persons not clear in the gospel. He instilled his principles into a serious young woman; and what was the consequence? Why, they talked about finished salvation in Christ, and the absurdity of perfection in the flesh, till a perfect child was conceived and born; and, to save appearances, the mother swore it to a travelling man that cannot be heard of. Thus, to avoid legality, they plunged into hypocrisy, fornication, adultery, perjury, and the depth of ranterism, etc." (Check 1:Let. 2.) But enough of such absurdity. We may now easily believe to what length the dissolute examples and maxims of the heathenish mythology, would lead their unhappy votaries, when we behold the purest lessons of the gospel so strangely perverted. (Haydock) --- Whoremonger. It is very probable, that the Scripture here means such as were guilty of unnatural impurities, "consecrated," as it were, to some idol of lust, as these crimes were common under several faithless kings of Israel and of Juda, 3 Kings 15:12., and 22:47. Simple prostitutes are styled zona. (Calmet) --- God will not allow these to be publicly tolerated, though they contrived but too often in private to ensnare the hearts of God's people, 3 Kings 3:16. (Tirinus) --- Onkelos translates, "No Israelite shall give his daughter in marriage to a slave, nor take one for his son's wife," as the contract would be null, according to the Rabbins, for want of liberty. (Calmet) --- He may, perhaps, have given this singular turn to this verse, because the preceding one speaks of fugitive slaves. |
| Deuteronomy 23:18 | Thou shalt not offer the hire of a strumpet, nor the price of a dog, in the house of the Lord thy God, whatsoever it be that thou hast vowed: because both these are an abomination to the Lord thy God. | Dog. Many explain this in a figurative sense, as we have done in the last verse, to denote the public impudence by which some thought to honour their gods. (Haydock) --- Such impiety the Lord abhors, though practiced by all the surrounding nations, as ancient records unanimously attest. How incredible soever it might otherwise appear, that a false notion of religion, joined to a natural depravity, could prompt people to such excesses, we cannot call in question the veracity of so many historians. See Herodotus i, and ii.; Just.[Justinian?], 18:6.; Eusebius, praep. 4:6.; St. Augustine, City of God 4:10; and the sacred writers, Baruch 6:42., and Proverbs 19:13. The Rabbins explain dog literally, and observe that a prostitute, or one who has had any commerce with a man with whom it was not lawful for her to marry, could not offer what she had thus gained to the Lord, nor what had been received in exchange for a dog. Josephus ([Antiquities?] 4:8,) understands it of such hunting or shepherds' dogs as had been lent for hire to propagate the breed. Maimonides thinks that what the strumpet had received in kind, could not be presented, but with the price of it she might buy suitable victims. But Josephus and Philo admit of no such exceptions. They reject all sorts of presents made by strumpets, in detestation of their crimes; and it was probably from the same motive that the Jews concluded it was unlawful to put the price of blood into the treasury of the temple, Matthew 27:6. In the Christian Church, the offerings of public sinners were not received, even to be distributed among the poor. These would not even take an alms from the hands of St. Afra, while she remained a courtesan of Augsbourg. Even the pagan emperor, Severus, refused to admit into the sacred treasury the tribute arising from such unworthy means. (Lamprid.) --- Some believe that Moses forbids the price of a dog to be presented, as the Egyptians had a sovereign respect for dogs; and many nations offered them in sacrifice, particularly for expiation. All the Greeks purified themselves, by making a dog be carried round them. (Bochart, p. 1, B. 2:56.) Isaias (lxvi. 3,) seems to insinuate that dogs were sometimes immolated. St. Augustine, (q. 38,) and others, believe that dogs are not to be redeemed, as the first-born of other things are, probably because they were too mean, and the price too insignificant to purchase another victim. But we may adhere to the explication which was first proposed. (Calmet) --- Both. The dog was an unclean animal, and strumpets defiled their own bodies, and draw down the indignation of that God, who is a pure Spirit, and loves chaste souls. Without are dogs and sorcerers, and unchaste, and murderers, and servers of idols. (Apocalypse 22:15.) (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 23:19 | Thou shalt not lend to thy brother money to usury, nor corn, nor any other thing: | |
| Deuteronomy 23:20 | But to the stranger. To thy brother thou shalt lend that which he wanteth, without usury; that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all thy works in the land, which thou shalt go in to possess. | To the stranger. This was a dispensation granted by God to his people, who being the Lord of all things, can give a right and title to one upon the goods of another. Otherwise the Scripture every where condemns usury, as contrary to the law of God, and a crying sin. See Exodus 22:25., Leviticus 25:36, 37., 2 Esdras 5:7., Psalm 14:5., and Ezechiel 18:8, 13, etc. (Challoner) --- The stranger means the devoted nations of Chanaan, etc., whom God authorized his people to destroy. "Exact usury of him whom thou mayst kill without a crime," says St. Ambrose., (de Tob. C. 15,) though this principle will not always excuse usury. This practice was always considered as unjustifiable, except when God gave permission to his people to get by this means the possession of the property of the stranger, the right to which he had already given to them; unless we may consider, that he only tolerates this practice towards the stranger, on account of the hard-heartedness of the Jews. Christ has now expressly declared it unlawful for any one. See Exodus 22:25. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 23:21 | When thou hast made a vow to the Lord thy God, thou shalt not delay to pay it: because the Lord thy God will require it. And if thou delay, it shall be imputed to thee for a sin. | Delay, beyond the time appointed. (Menochius) --- If no time was specified, the vow must be fulfilled without any unnecessary procrastination. See Numbers 30:2. (Haydock) --- Vows induce an obligation which before did not exist. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 23:22 | If thou wilt not promise, thou shalt be without sin. | |
| Deuteronomy 23:23 | But that which is once gone out of thy lips, thou shalt observe, and shalt do as thou hast promised to the Lord thy God, and hast spoken with thy own will, and with thy own mouth. | |
| Deuteronomy 23:24 | Going into thy neighbour's vineyard, thou mayst eat as many grapes as thou pleasest: but must carry none out with thee. | Thee. Hebrew, "thou shalt not put into thy vessel," or basket. This privilege is restrained by the Chaldean, etc., to vintagers. But Josephus ([Antiquities?] 4:8,) extends it to all; and he says, that those who did not even invite travellers to partake of their grapes, and other fruit, were to be punished with 39 lashes. |
| Deuteronomy 23:25 | If thou go into thy friend's corn, thou mayst break the ears, and rub them in thy hand: but not reap them with a sickle. | |
| Deuteronomy 24:0 | Divorce permitted to avoid greater evil: the newly married must not go to war: of men-stealers, of leprosy, of pledges, of labourer's hire, of justice, and of charity to the poor. | |
| Deuteronomy 24:1 | If *a man take a wife, and have her, and she find not favour in his eyes for some uncleanness: he shall write a bill of divorce, **and shall give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. Matthew 5:32.; Matthew 19:7.; Mark 10:4. | Year of the World 2553. Uncleanness. Tertullian (contra Marc. iv.) reads, "if she be found guilty of any impurity," negotium impudicum. Septuagint, "unseemly action;" and many learned commentators suppose that Moses only allows a divorce in cases of adultery, or in those which render the woman dangerous to a family, as if she had the leprosy, or some other infectious disorder, or was likely to corrupt the morals of her children, or if she were barren. The Pharisees were divided among themselves in determining the sense of this law, (Calmet) and they endeavoured to inveigle our Saviour, by proposing the question to him. If it were lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause, quacumque ex causa, or for any reason whatsoever, Matthew 19:3. (Haydock) --- Our Lord does not take notice of the limitation here added by Moses; (Matthew 5:31.) nor do the Pharisees, when he asks them, What did Moses command you? (Mark 10:3.) Whence it seems, that the liberty which was taken was very great, and that the limitation was not regarded. Our Saviour, nonetheless, alludes to it, when he admits that Moses permitted a divorce, in case of adultery. But he recalls them to the institution of marriage, and will no longer allow people to marry again, even in this case, as Moses had been forced to permit the Jews, on account of the hardness of their heart. (Calmet) --- Before this permission, the Jews were therefore, it seems, much addicted to this practice. --- Bill. The law does not command divorces; but in case the parties come to such a determination, it requires a bill to be given to the woman. The Jews require the greatest formality in drawing it up, and witnessing it, and they say the divorce must take place upon a fountain or river. (Schikard. Jur. 3:9.) --- Munster gives this form of a bill: "The 4th day of the month of Sivan, of the year 5293 from the creation of the world, in this place and in this city of N, T.[I,?] N, son of N, had a mind to divorce, and has divorced N, daughter of N, who hitherto has been my wife; and I grant her leave to go whither she has a mind, and to marry whomsoever she pleases, so that no one shall hinder her. In witness whereof, I have given her this bill of divorce, according to the ordinances of Moses and of Israel." The Jews still assert their right to put away their wives. (Buxt. Syn. xxix.) (Calmet) --- But it is sinful for them, or for any other, to marry the woman divorced, till the first husband be dead. If they do, they are guilty of adultery, as our Saviour and St. Paul repeatedly inculcate. (St. Augustine, de Adult. Conj. 1:11.) (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 24:2 | And when she is departed, and marrieth another husband, | |
| Deuteronomy 24:3 | And he also hateth her, and hath given her a bill of divorce, and hath sent her out of his house or is dead: | |
| Deuteronomy 24:4 | The former husband cannot take her again to wife: because she is defiled, and is become abominable before the Lord: lest thou cause thy land to sin, which the Lord thy God shall give thee to possess. | Defiled. This insinuates that the second marriage was a real adultery, (Calmet) and only tolerated by the law to prevent greater evils. (Haydock) --- It might be said indeed that the woman was defiled, with regard to her former husband, who could not take her back without condemning his former proceeding (Calmet); as he would seem to have only lent her for some mean consideration. (Menochius) --- Domitian took the privilege of a judge from a Roman knight, who had resumed his wife after he had divorced her for adultery. (Suetonius, viii.) But how then is the woman abominable before the Lord? Some say the thing itself is extremely dishonourable, as the Hebrew intimates, though the woman have done nothing but what the law allows. Grotius believes that the man might take back his wife, at any time, before she was married to another. But the Rabbins limit this privilege to three months after the date of separation. God forbids his priests to marry with those who had been divorced, as it is to be presumed that they have not been rejected by their former husbands without good reason, Leviticus 21:7. The man who cohabits with an adulteress, is deemed a fool; (Proverbs 18:22,) and some have believed, that it was necessary to put such away. But St. Paul advises a reconciliation, 1 Corinthians 7:11. --- To sin, or to incur the punishment due to it. (Calmet) --- If the state connived at the transgression of the law, the judgments of God would fall upon the people. |
| Deuteronomy 24:5 | When a man hath lately taken a wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall any public business be enjoined him, but he shall be free at home without fault, that for one year he may rejoice with his wife. | Wife. This indulgence was granted to those who had married a widow also. Hebrew, "a new wife," as she was new to him, (Haydock) which right he could not claim, if he only resumed the one whom he had divorced. (R. Salom.; Drusius) See Deuteronomy 20:7. |
| Deuteronomy 24:6 | Thou shalt not take the nether, nor the upper millstone to pledge: for he hath pledged his life to thee. | Life, or the means of supporting himself. (Haydock) --- The upper millstone was deemed the less necessary. In more ancient times it was customary to dry the wheat by fire, and afterwards to pound it in a mortar. Then millstones were invented, which slaves of the meanest condition had to turn. Pliny ([Natural History?] 18:10,) mentions, that some few water-mills were used in his time. But this useful invention had been neglected, till Belisarius restored it again in the fifth century, when he was besieged in Rome by the Goths. (Procop.) --- Jonathan, and the paraphrast of Jerusalem, explain this quite in a different sense: "Thou shalt not use any enchantment for the consummation of marriage, since it would be to destroy the lives of the children to be born." |
| Deuteronomy 24:7 | If any man be found soliciting his brother of the children of Israel, and selling him shall take a price, he shall be put to death, and thou shalt take away the evil from the midst of thee. | Soliciting. Hebrew, "stealing a soul;" (Menochius) or decoying one to a distance from home, where he may have an opportunity of selling him for a slave. (Haydock) (Exodus 21:16.) |
| Deuteronomy 24:8 | Observe diligently that thou incur not the stroke of the leprosy, but thou shalt do whatsoever the priests of the Levitical race shall teach thee, according to what I have commanded them, and fulfil thou it carefully. | Leprosy. Do nothing which may expose you to the danger of being infected, and if you have the misfortune to contract it, obey the directions of the priests. (Calmet) --- It seems from this and the following verse that God frequently punished disobedience to his ministers, as he did Mary [Miriam], (Numbers xii.,) by inflicting upon them this shameful disorder. (Haydock) --- So he punished king Ozias, 2 Paralipomenon xxvi. (Menochius) --- The design of this precept is, therefore, not so much to order people not to contract a disease, which they cannot perhaps always avoid, as to caution them against pride and rebellion. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 24:9 | *Remember what the Lord your God did to Mary, in the way when you came out of Egypt. Numbers 12:10. | |
| Deuteronomy 24:10 | When thou shalt demand of thy neighbour any thing that he oweth thee, thou shalt not go into his house to take away a pledge : | Pledge. This was left to the choice of the debtor, provided he gave sufficient. The Athenian and Roman laws allowed a person to search his neighbour's house, for what he had lost: but he was to enter covered only with a short garment round his middle, (Calmet) to prevent his taking away any thing which did not belong to him. |
| Deuteronomy 24:11 | *But thou shalt stand without, and he shall bring out to thee what he hath. Exodus 22:16. | |
| Deuteronomy 24:12 | But if he be poor, the pledge shall not lodge with thee that night, | Night, if it be a garment or bed covering, which may be necessary for the poor man. (Haydock) --- By allowing the creditor to keep the pledge such a short time, God wished to discourage the taking of any from such as were in real distress. (Menochius) --- The same regulation required, that if a necessary implement for labour, during the day time, was pledged, it should be returned in the morning. (Calmet) --- This was done every day, to admonish the creditor and the debtor to exercise mercy and justice in their respective situations. The debtor was to remember to do his utmost in order to pay his debts. (St. Augustine, q. 41.) --- These daily debts were not remitted in the sabbatic years, according to the Rabbins, whose opinion seems very hard and inconsistent. (Haydock) --- Solomon advises not to stand bond for another's debts, Proverbs 20:16., and 22:26. Many nations in the Indies allowed no action at law to recover debts, as the creditor ought to have taken his precautions before he parted with his money or merchandize. (Stoboeus.; Strabo, xv.) (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 24:13 | But thou shalt restore it to him presently before the going down of the sun: that he may sleep in his own raiment, and bless thee, and thou mayst have justice before the Lord thy God. | Justice, or mercy, which never enters the breast of the unjust, Proverbs 12:10. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 24:14 | *Thou shalt not refuse the hire of the needy, and the poor, whether he be thy brother, or a stranger, that dwelleth with thee in the land, and is within thy gates: Leviticus 19:13.; Tobias 4:15. | Hire. Hebrew, "Commit no violence (or fraud) towards an hired servant," Leviticus 19:13. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 24:15 | But thou shalt pay him the price of his labour the same day, before the going down of the sun, because he is poor, and with it maintaineth his life: lest he cry against thee to the Lord, and it be reputed to thee for a sin. | Maintaineth: encourageth him. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "in it he placeth his hope." (Haydock) --- Day labourers are obliged to support themselves and families with their wages; (Menochius) so that if they agree to have them paid every day, it would be an injustice to detain them. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 24:16 | *The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children for the fathers, but every one shall die for his own sin. 4 Kings 14:6.; 2 Paralipomenon 25:4.; Ezechiel 18:20. | Sin. Judges have no right to punish any but those who have transgressed. (Calmet) --- God may for reasons known to himself, which cannot be unjust, visit the sins of the fathers upon their children; (Exodus 20:5) and hence, (Josue vii.) he ordered the family of Achan to be involved in his punishment. Temporal sufferings, or death itself, are not however always a misfortune. They frequently prove a source of inconceivable blessings, Romans 5:3. (Haydock) --- The Rabbins understand, that fathers and children are not to be received as witnesses against each other, (Onkelos) which seems foreign to the sense of the present law. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 24:17 | Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless, neither shalt thou take away the widow's raiment for a pledge. | Pervert. Thou shalt not pass an unjust sentence upon any one, particularly (Haydock) upon those who are least able to defend themselves. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 24:18 | Remember that thou wast a slave in Egypt, and the Lord thy God delivered thee from thence. Therefore I command thee to do this thing. | This thing. It is uncertain whether this refer to the preceding or to the following law. It may be applied to both, as the remembrance of the Egyptian slavery might teach God's people not to oppress, but rather to shew mercy to those in distress. As the same thing is however repeated, ver. 22, it seems more probable that the present verse forbids any oppression. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 24:19 | When thou hast reaped the corn in thy field, and hast forgot and left a sheaf, thou shalt not return to take it away: but thou shalt suffer the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow to take it away: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the works of thy hands. | Forgot. The Rabbins say, that both the owner and the labourers must forget the sheaf: but this is a vain subtlety. (Calmet) --- Josephus ([Antiquities?] 4:8,) is more agreeable to the spirit of the law, when he (Haydock) observes that gleanings, and some of the fruit of the vine and olive trees, were to be left on purpose for the poor, Leviticus 19:9. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 24:20 | If thou have gathered the fruit of thy olive-trees, thou shalt not return to gather whatsoever remaineth on the trees: but shalt leave it for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. | |
| Deuteronomy 24:21 | If thou make the vintage of thy vineyard, thou shalt not gather the clusters that remain, but they shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. | |
| Deuteronomy 24:22 | Remember that thou also wast a bondman in Egypt, and therefore I command thee to do this thing. | |
| Deuteronomy 25:0 | Stripes must not exceed forty. The ox is not to be muzzled. Of raising seed to the brother. Of the immodest woman. Of unjust weight. Of destroying the Amalecites. | |
| Deuteronomy 25:1 | If *there be a controversy between men, and they call upon the judges: they shall give the prize of justice to him whom they perceive to be just: and him whom they find to be wicked, they shall condemn of wickedness. | Year of the World 2553. |
| Deuteronomy 25:2 | And if they see that the offender be worthy of stripes: they shall lay him down, and shall cause him to be beaten before them. According to the measure of the sin shall the measure also of the stripes be: | Down, tying him to a low pillar; (Menochius) (Grotius) though many assert, that the criminal was forced to lie prostrate on the ground, as the Jews still do, in Germany, when they undergo this punishment. (Buxtorf, Syn. 20.) The Jews do not commonly give above 39 strokes, and double the number is inflicted on the back, from what fall upon the breast. |
| Deuteronomy 25:3 | Yet so, *that they exceed not the number of forty: lest thy brother depart shamefully torn before thy eyes. 2 Corinthians 11:24. | Eyes. Hebrew, "depart covered with confusion (or more vile) before thy eyes." Hence the Jews do not consider this chastisement as ignominious. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 25:4 | *Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out thy corn on the floor. 1 Corinthians 9:9.; 1 Timothy 5:18. | Not muzzle, etc. St. Paul understands this of the spiritual labourer in the church of God, who is not to be denied his maintenance, 1 Corinthians 9:8, 9, 10. (Challoner) --- Other labourers, and even beasts, must likewise be treated with humanity. It was formerly the custom in Egypt, Judea, Spain, etc., to have a clean spot in the field, round a tree, where during the heat of the day, they spread the sheaves, and made oxen continually go round, to tread out the corn. Some had the ill nature to muzzle them, or to cover their mouths with dung; (Aeliian 4:25,) whence arose the proverb, "an ox in a heap" of corn, to denote a miser, who amidst plenty will not eat. (Suidas.) --- Moses condemns this cruelty; as it is not just, says Josephus, to refuse these animals so small a recompence for the assistance which they afford us in procuring corn. (Calmet) --- Besides this literal sense, God had principally in view the mystical one, which St. Paul unfolds to us. (Menochius) --- Paine hence takes occasion to ridicule priests, who, he says, "preach up Deuteronomy, for Deuteronomy preaches up tithes." But this book enjoins them no more that other books of Scripture, and common reason dictates that the labourer is worthy of his hire. If the artizan, etc., will not work for nothing, why should priests spend their lives and fortunes, for the benefit of the people, without deriving any advantage from them? Who has served in the wars at his own charge at any time? (1 Corinthians 9:7.) Whether the mode of paying tithes be the most eligible, for the support of God's ministers, is a question of smaller importance. It may at least plead a very high antiquity, (Haydock) as it was in force 400 years before the law of Moses. Abraham paid tithes to Melchisedeck, who was both king and priest; and Pisistratus received tithes from the people of Athens, to be expended in the public sacrifices, and for the general good. (Laert. in Solone.; Watson, let. 2.) |
| Deuteronomy 25:5 | *When brethren dwell together, and one of them dieth without children, the wife of the deceased shall not marry to another: but his brother shall take her, and raise up seed for his brother: Matthew 22:24.; Mark 12:19.; Luke 20:28. | Together, as the sons of Juda did: (Genesis 38:8,) though custom (Calmet) and analogy extend this to other brothers, at least to those who live in the promised land, and have the inheritance in common, as appears from the history of Ruth, Ruth 1:13, etc. Noemi supposes that all the sons whom she might have had, would have been under the same obligation towards her daughter-in-law. The Rabbins restrain this law as much as they can, asserting that if the deceased left an adopted or natural child, the brother need not marry his widow, nor was any obliged but the next in age, and not married. St. Justin (q. 132,) teaches the reverse. (Calmet) --- Half-brothers were included, (Menochius) and indeed every relation, in order, who, upon the refusal of the next heir, wished to take possession of the deceased person's land, Ruth 4:(Haydock) --- The Jews no longer observe this law, as they have not possession of Chanaan. (Cuneus 1:7.) --- Fagius asserts that it was neglected after the captivity of Babylon, because the inheritances were confounded. (Calmet) --- This, however, does not seem to have been the opinion of those who have undertaken to reconcile the genealogy of our Saviour, given by Sts. Matthew and Luke, by supposing that St. Joseph was the son of Jacob by birth, and of Heli according to the law. (St. Hilary) Africanus says, (Ep. to Aristides) that "Heli dying without issue, Jacob was obliged to marry his widow, by whom he had Joseph, a descendant of Solomon by Jacob, and of Nathan by Heli," as their common mother, Esta, had married successively Mathan and Melchi, (or rather Mathat) who sprung from those two branches of David's family. (Dupin) (Haydock) --- The Athenians followed a similar regulation with respect to orphan young women, whom the next of kin were bound to marry and to endow. The Tartars assert their right to marry the widows of their brethren. The Egyptians did not consider the marriage as real, nor any relationship contracted, in case the woman had no issue, on which principle there was no impediment to prevent the brother from marrying the widow of his brother. On other occasions such contracts were declared illegal, Leviticus 18:16. (Calmet) --- This was a positive law, (Worthington; Genesis xxxviii.) which admitted of an exception. |
| Deuteronomy 25:6 | And the first son he shall have of her, he shall call by his name, that his name be not abolished out of Israel. | Name. Josephus ([Antiquities?] 4:8,) takes this literally, as St. Augustine once did, though afterwards he retracted that opinion, (B. 2:12,) on considering that Booz called his son Obed, and not Mahalon, which was the name of the first husband of Ruth, Ruth 4:17. (Calmet) --- Houbigant thinks some omissions have taken place in the very short genealogy of David, mentioned in that chapter, and instead of Obed, he would substitute Jachin, as the first-born of Ruth. He thinks that Solomon alluded to two of his ancestors, when he styled the two pillars before the temple Jachin and Booz. "In strength it shall stand or establish," 3 Kings 7:21. Hebrew, "the first-born which she beareth shall arise (or succeed) in the name (or by the right and title) of his brother." See Numbers 24:3. (Haydock) --- Name is sometimes put for succession, (Calmet) or instead of another. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 25:7 | But if he will not take his brother's wife, who by law belongeth to him, the woman shall go to the gate of the city, and call upon the ancients, and say: *My husband's brother refuseth to raise up his brother's name in Israel: and will not take me to wife. Ruth 4:5. | |
| Deuteronomy 25:8 | And they shall cause him to be sent for forthwith, and shall ask him. If he answer: I will not take her to wife: | |
| Deuteronomy 25:9 | The woman shall come to him before the ancients, and shall take off his shoe from his foot, and spit in his face, and say: So shall it be done to the man, that will not build up his brother's house: | In his face, or presence, upon the ground, as appears from the Gemarra of Jerusalem, where we read this form: (Haydock) "In our presence, (the three judges are specified) N, widow of N, hath taken off the shoe of N, son of N. She brought him before us, and took off the shoe from his right foot, and spat in our presence, so that we saw her spittle upon the ground; and she said to him, So shall he be treated who will not establish the house of his brother." Before this ceremony took place, the widow was obliged to wait three months, to prove that she was not in a state of pregnancy; for if she were, the brother could not marry her. He was never obliged to do it, but if he refused he was deemed infamous. The taking off the shoe was intended to humble him, as well as to shew that he relinquished all his claim to the inheritance. Josephus ([Antiquities?] 5:11,) says, that Ruth gave the relation who would not marry her, a slap on the face, or rather as it ought to be printed "she spat in his face," which was a mark of the greatest ignominy, Deuteronomy 12:14., Isaias 50:6., and Matthew 26:67. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 25:10 | And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of the unshod. | Unshod. Those who have no consideration for their brethren, or for the commonwealth, deserve to be despised. Much more do they who are appointed pastors of the Church, if they do not zealously endeavour to increase the number of God's servants, whom they must attach to him, and not to themselves. Thus the disciples of St. Paul were known by the general name of Christians. (St. Augustine, contra Faustus 32:10.) (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 25:11 | If two men have words together, and one begin to fight against the other, and the other's wife, willing to deliver her husband out of the hand of the stronger, shall put forth her hand, and take him by the secrets: | |
| Deuteronomy 25:12 | Thou shalt cut off her hand, neither shalt thou be moved with any pity in her regard. | In her regard: words supplied also by the Septuagint conformably to the context. (Calmet) --- The indecency and impudence of the woman, left her no excuse; (Haydock) though the Rabbins falsely maintain, that she might transgress this law in case of necessity, and might cut off the hand of her husband's antagonist. (Grotius) (Calmet) --- She would thus put the man in danger of having no posterity. (Menochius) --- If even the imminent danger of her husband would not authorize her to act in this manner, when the person was stripped to fight, how severely will God punish all wanton liberties! |
| Deuteronomy 25:13 | Thou shalt not have divers weights in thy bag, a greater and a less: | |
| Deuteronomy 25:14 | Neither shall there be in thy house a greater bushel and a less: | |
| Deuteronomy 25:15 | Thou shalt have a just and a true weight, and thy bushel shall be equal and true: that thou mayst live a long time upon the land which the Lord thy God shall give thee. | |
| Deuteronomy 25:16 | For the Lord thy God abhorreth him that doth these things, and he hateth all injustice. | Injustice. Proverbs 20:10. To have a greater weight for buying, and a less one for selling, is the way to grow rich here, or to obtain the mammon of iniquity; though, when such mean practices are detected, the man who cheats often loses more than he had gained; and at any rate, must either make restitution, if possible, or receive the wages of his unjust labour and craft in the world to come. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 25:17 | *Remember what Amalec did to thee in the way when thou camest out of Egypt: Exodus 17:8. | Amalec. This order for destroying the Amalecites, in the mystical sense, sheweth how hateful they are to God, and what punishment they are to look for from his justice, who attack and discourage his servants when they are but just come out, as it were, of the Egypt of this wicked world, and being yet weak and faint-hearted, are but beginning their journey to the land of promise. |
| Deuteronomy 25:18 | How he met thee: and slew the hindmost of thy army, who sat down, being weary, when thou wast spent with hunger and labour, and he feared not God. | God. This circumstance is not mentioned, Exodus 17:14. |
| Deuteronomy 25:19 | Therefore when the Lord thy God shall give thee rest, and shall have subdued all the nations round about in the land which he hath promised thee: thou shalt blot out his name from under heaven. See thou forget it not. | Heaven. Destroy him entirely, a sentence which Saul was ordered to put in execution, 1 Kings xv. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 26:0 | The form of words with which the first-fruits and tithes are to be offered. God's covenant. | |
| Deuteronomy 26:1 | And when thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God will give thee to possess, and hast conquered it, and dwellest in it: | It. The land where Moses was speaking, which had been already conquered, was no less under the obligation of paying the first-fruits, etc., than Chanaan, and the parts of Syria which were promised to the Israelites. (Haydock) --- All the products of the earth seem to have been liable to be offered, (Matthew 23:23,) in proportion as they ripened, at the feasts of the Passover and of Pentecost, (Calmet) and of tabernacles. (Menochius) --- Yet we find no mention here of the therumah, or offering, of which the Rabbins speak so much, as distinct at least from the first-fruits, which were heaved both by the priest and the offerer towards heaven and earth, on the right and left hand. Each (Calmet) landholder, (Haydock) and even the king himself, was bound to bring his own basket to the temple, and to recite the words here prescribed. The wheat and barley were first winnowed, and the grapes and olives made into wine and oil. Before the offering was made to the Lord, no one was allowed to taste any of the produce, Leviticus 23:10., and Numbers 18:12, etc. Whether legumes were to be tithed, seems a matter of dispute. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 26:2 | Thou shalt take the first of all thy fruits, and put them in a basket, and shalt go to the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his name may be invocated there: | |
| Deuteronomy 26:3 | And thou shalt go to the priest that shall be in those days, and say to him: I profess this day before the Lord thy God, that I am come into the land, for which he swore to our fathers, that he would give it us. | |
| Deuteronomy 26:4 | And the priest taking the basket at thy hand, shall set it before the altar of the Lord thy God: | |
| Deuteronomy 26:5 | And thou shalt speak thus in the sight of the Lord thy God: The Syrian pursued my father, who went down into Egypt, and sojourned there in a very small number, and grew into a nation great and strong, and of an infinite multitude. | The Syrian. Laban. See Genesis xxvii. (Challoner) --- Hebrew, "My father was a Syrian, poor, (or ready to perish) and he went down," etc. The ancestors of Jacob had, in effect, come from beyond the Euphrates, and he had dwelt in Mesopotamia for twenty years. But the translation of the Septuagint seems preferable, "My father abandoned (apebalen) Syria." (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 26:6 | And the Egyptians afflicted us, and persecuted us, laying on us most grievous burdens: | |
| Deuteronomy 26:7 | And we cried to the Lord God of our fathers: who heard us, and looked down upon our affliction, and labour, and distress: | |
| Deuteronomy 26:8 | And brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand, and a stretched-out arm, with great terror, with signs and wonders: | Terror. Septuagint, "with surprising visions," (Hebrew) or "with astonishing prodigies," etc. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 26:9 | And brought us into this place, and gave us this land, flowing with milk and honey. | |
| Deuteronomy 26:10 | And therefore now I offer the first-fruits of the land, which the Lord hath given me. And thou shalt leave them in the sight of the Lord thy God, adoring the Lord thy God. | God, with profound humility, acknowledging that all comes from him, (Haydock) and praying for a continuance of his fatherly protection. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 26:11 | And thou shalt feast in all the good things which the Lord thy God hath given thee, and thy house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is with thee. | Feast. The Jews could not yet be required with propriety to raise themselves to delights purely spiritual, Deuteronomy 12:7. Strabo (x.) observes, that the Greeks and barbarians accompanied their sacrifices with feasting and music, which served to take off their thoughts from earthly concerns, and gave them a sort of foretaste of the divinity. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 26:12 | When thou hast made an end of tithing all thy fruits, in the third year of tithes, thou shalt give it to the Levite, and to the stranger, and to the fatherless, and to the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled: | Third. It has been remarked (chap. 14:28., and Leviticus 27:30,) that the Jews gave two tithes every year, the second was for feasts at Jerusalem, or on the third year, at home, if there was not also a third tithe due on that year. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 26:13 | And thou shalt speak thus in the sight of the Lord thy God: *I have taken that which was sanctified out of my house, and I have given it to the Levite, and to the stranger, and to the fatherless, and to the widow, as thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, nor forgotten thy precepts. Deuteronomy 14:29. | Taken. Hebrew, "burnt." (Calmet) --- I have brought all that was due, (Tirinus) so that no more can be found in my house than what the fire would have spared, if it had been thrown into it. |
| Deuteronomy 26:14 | I have not eaten of them in my mourning, nor separated them for any uncleanness, nor spent any thing of them in funerals. I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God, and have done all things as thou hast commanded me. | Mourning. It was then unlawful to taste what was set apart for the Lord, and even to touch a thing, at that time, would render it unclean, Osee 9:4. Others explain it thus: I have not eaten, how much soever I was distressed; or, I eat it with a cheerful heart. But these interpretations seem unnatural. Spencer (Rit. 2:24,) thinks rather that the Jews thus disclaim having given any worship to Isis, whom the Egyptians invoked after the harvest, with mournful cries. (Diod. Sic. I.) About the same season of the year, lamentations were also made for the death of Adonis, (Marcel. xxii.) and for that of Osiris. (Firminus.) --- The Phoenicians mourned in like manner for the desolate appearance of the earth, after the fruits were collected. The Egyptians thought that Isis had discovered fruits and corn, and therefore offered the first-fruits to her. But the Jews are here taught to refer all such favours to God alone, and they testify that they have taken no part in the superstitious rites of other nations, nor spent any thing in funerals. Hebrew, "upon the dead;" Osiris, etc., here styled uncleanness, by way of contempt. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 26:15 | *Look from thy sanctuary, and thy high habitation of heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou didst swear to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey. Isaias 63:15.; Baruch 2:16. | |
| Deuteronomy 26:16 | This day the Lord thy God hath commanded thee to do these commandments and judgments: and to keep and fulfil them, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul. | This day. In this last solemn harangue of Moses, the covenant between God and his people was ratified. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 26:17 | Thou hast chosen the Lord this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and keep his ceremonies, and precepts, and judgments, and obey his command. | |
| Deuteronomy 26:18 | *And the Lord hath chosen thee this day, to be his peculiar people, as he hath spoken to thee, and to keep all his commandments: Deuteronomy 7:6. | |
| Deuteronomy 26:19 | And to make thee higher than all nations which he hath created, to his own praise, and name, and glory: that thou mayst be a holy people of the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken. | To his own praise. Hebrew, Septuagint, etc., "higher...in praise, reputation, and glory." (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 27:0 | The commandments must be written on stones: and an altar erected, and sacrifices offered. The observers of the commandments are to be blessed, and the transgressors cursed. | |
| Deuteronomy 27:1 | And Moses, *with the ancients of Israel, commanded the people, saying: Keep every commandment that I command you this day. | Year of the World 2553. Ancients, particularly the priests, ver. 9. (Haydock) --- These exhorted the people to observe diligently, what they had all heard from the mouth of Moses, Deuteronomy 5:1:(Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 27:2 | And when you are passed over the Jordan into the land which the Lord thy God will give thee, thou shalt set up great stones, and shalt plaster them over with plaster, | Stones. The Latin translation of the Samaritan copy, defines the number to be two, (Exodus 20:18,) and shews that the law, which was to be written upon them, was no other than the decalogue, to which the curses and blessings here recorded have a direct reference. When no number is specified, the dual is commonly understood. (Haydock) (Leviticus 12:5, etc.) --- Two large stones would be sufficient to contain the words of the decalogue, and they would more strikingly represent the two tables written with the finger of God. They were probably first polished, and the letters raised upon them in relievo, as the Arabic marbles in the University of Oxford are done. The white plaster being then used to fill up the interstices between the letters of black marble, the words would appear very plainly. (Kennicott, Dis. 2.) --- Others think that a high and durable monument was raised both for an altar and for the inscription, though some would allow four others for this purpose. (Calmet) --- Plaster. The Hebrew does not specify all over; and Houbigant supposes, that the cement was only used to join the stones together. Neither do the Hebrew or Septuagint intimate that the plaster was laid on for the purpose of writing more easily. |
| Deuteronomy 27:3 | That thou mayst write on them all the words of this law, when thou art passed over the Jordan: that thou mayst enter into the land which the Lord thy God will give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, as he swore to thy fathers. | That, etc. Hebrew and Septuagint, "And thou shalt write upon them (stones) all the words of," etc. (Haydock) --- This law, the decalogue, (Masius in Josue 8:32,) or all the laws of Moses, leaving out the historical parts of his work, or the 20th and three following chapters of Exodus, or the discourses of Moses in this book, etc. Josue, in effect, wrote upon stones the Deuteronomy of the law of Moses, which Josephus explains of the curses and blessings inscribed upon the two sides of the monument, as an abridgment of the whole law. (Calmet) --- The Jordan is not in Hebrew expressly, but in the Septuagint. After the Israelites had crossed this river, they were thus to make a solemn profession of their adherence to the law of God, (Haydock) as they did (ver. 12,) after they had taken Hai; though Josephus insinuates, that they deferred for five years the accomplishment of what is here required. (Tirinus) |
| Deuteronomy 27:4 | Therefore when you are passed over the Jordan, set up the stones which I command you this day in Mount Hebal, and thou shalt plaster them with plaster: | Hebal. It affords a matter of surprise to Ludolf, that this barren mountain of cursing, (ver. 13,) should be fixed upon by God, for the erection of his altar and for solemn feasting, instead of Garizim, which is most luxuriant. Reland believes that their very names designate sterility and fruitfulness. But we must observe that the Samaritan copy, both here and Exodus xx., specifies that Garizim was to be the place so highly distinguished. Almost all interpreters agree in condemning the Samaritans of a wilful corruption of their text, on this account. But Kennicott adduces several very plausible arguments in their defence, and even throws the blame upon the Jews, who are accused of having taken similar liberties with their text, by St. Jerome, (Galatians 3:10,) in leaving out the word col, all, which he found in the Samaritan Pentateuch, (ver. 26,) as well as in St. Paul. It is remarkable that the Protestant "version allows the corruption of the present Hebrew copies. For as it inserts other necessary words elsewhere, so here, says the Doctor, it inserts the word all, noting it with a different character, as deficient in the present Hebrew." Another plain instance of fraud is acknowledged by many of the Jews, (Judges 18:30,) where, because the grandson of their lawgiver became the first priest of Michas' idol, in the tribe of Dan, they have inserted an n over or in the name of Moses, to change it into Manasseh. "The letter nun was written, says Jarchi, in order to change the name for the honour of Moses." (Talmud, fol. 109.) Michaelis adduces the same reason from Abendana, (Gottingen, comment. 4, 1753) thus acknowledging a wilful corruption made by the Jews, which in the former volume he had asserted had never yet been clearly proved against them. Kennicott himself had once been of the same persuasion. Josue 15:60, eleven cities are omitted, perhaps originally by mistake, though St. Jerome thinks that they may have been left out by the ancient Jews, because Bethlehem Ephrata is there described as in the tribe of Juda, agreeably to the prophecy of Micheas 5:2. It seems, therefore, that the Jews were as capable of falsifying the text as the Samaritans. Their hatred against the latter was also excessive, insomuch that they vented all sorts of imprecations against them, and even decreed, "that no Israelite eat of any thing that is a Samaritan's, nor that nay Samaritan be proselyted to Israel, nor have nay part in the resurrection." (R. Tanchum.) (Walton, proleg. 11. 4.) --- Hence we read, (John 4:9,) the Jews do not communicate with the Samaritans. See Ecclesiasticus 1. 25.[l. 28.?] Many passages of the New Testament set the character of the latter, however, in a more favourable light than that of the Jews. They were open to conviction, on the preaching of Christ and of the apostles. See St. Chrysostom on John iv., and the history of the Samaritan cured of the leprosy, whose behaviour, contrasted with the ingratitude of the nine Jews, obtained the glorious approbation of the Son of God, who disdained not to describe himself, on another occasion, under the character of the good Samaritan, Luke x., and xvii. The Samaritans are also acknowledged by the Jews themselves, to be more zealous for the law of Moses, and more rigid observers of the letter of it, than the people of their own nation. (Obadias; Hottinger.) --- It is not probable, therefore, that they would designedly interpolate that very law, which alone they received as of divine authority among the writings of the prophets. Besides, what interest could they have on this occasion to substitute Garizim? As they had possession of both the mountains in question, if they had known that Hebal had been honoured with the altar, etc., what hindered them from building their temple upon it? What could be the reason why Joatham chose Mount Garizim as the place from which he might address the men of Sichem, to bring them to a sense of their duty? unless because he was convinced not only that Abraham had sacrificed there when he first came into Chanaan, (Genesis 12:6,) but also that God had chosen it for the place where his covenant with Israel should be ratified, as soon as the Israelites had taken possession of the country. But it may be said all the ancient versions agree with the Hebrew. No doubt those which have been taken from that text agree with it. But the Samaritans have a version in their own dialect, and another in Arabic, both which were in the possession of Walton, who believes that the former "was made not long after the days of Esdras, while the Samaritans and the Jews followed the same religion." This, as well as the Arabic, which is extant in this place, both in its own and in the Samaritan character, all admit the word Garizim; and the Greek version, which some believe was made from the same text soon after the reign of Alexander the Great, (Hottinger) if it really ever existed, must no doubt have retained the same reading. These versions claim a higher antiquity than that of the Septuagint. But in reality the versions can prove nothing on either side, in the present case, as the interpolation is supposed to have taken place before they were made, and soon after the building of the famous temple of Sanaballat, which Prideaux places about the year 409, B.C. This temple chiefly enkindled the mortal hatred of the Jews against the Samaritans; and as it was built upon Mount Garizim, they were afraid lest they might from this text conciliate greater authority to that place, and assert that it was the house of the sanctuary, as they afterwards did, having priests of the stock of Aaron, who there offered holocausts, when Benjamin visited them above 400 years ago. Their claim however was unjustifiable, and their priesthood schismatical. Though Moses commanded that an altar should be erected on one of these mountains, he did not determine that the ark was to remain there for ever, nor does he seem to have decided where it was to be fixed. God afterwards chose Mount Sion for his habitation, and revealed his will by his prophets. These the Samaritans ought to have obeyed, as well as the pastors, whom the Almighty had commissioned to determine all difficult matters, Deuteronomy 17. The text before us decides nothing in their favour. The substitution of Hebal makes nothing against them, much less does it establish the pretensions of the Jews, who, if they had intended to authorize the building of the temple at Jerusalem, ought rather, it should seem, to have written Moria or Sion. As they have not done this, perhaps it may be as well to admit that this variation may have originally happened, by the inadvertency or malice of some transcriber of great authority, whose copy being followed by others for some time, without any criminal design, might at last supersede the proper word, particularly when the erroneous reading was become common, and was found to annoy an enemy. Authors of great eminence are forced, at least, to account for many variations of equal importance in this manner. It seems difficult to lay the blame of such mistakes upon a whole nation, which can never be prevailed upon to join in the collusion so heartily, but that some man of more conscience than the rest will expose the imposture. When this variation took place, we may well suppose that the copies of the law were not very numerous. After a succession of wicked princes had reigned in Judea, they drew down the vengeance of God upon the whole nation, and almost all were led away captives to Babylon, where they remained seventy years. In this state of confusion, while impiety overflowed the land, how few would have an opportunity or a will to take an exact copy of the law! Some have thought that it was almost entirely forgotten in the days of Joas. Others have asserted that Esdras had to write afresh, as it were by inspiration, all that had been given by the more ancient sacred penmen. These opinions are not indeed to be admitted, but they shew that many have supposed that the copies of the law were once exceedingly scarce. Perhaps they were never more so than when the Jews were just returning from captivity, the time when the schismatical temple of Garizim was erected, and when, we have before observed, this variation is supposed to have taken place. Josephus, though a bitter enemy of the Samaritans, speaks with hesitation respecting the precise situation of the altar prescribed by Moses. The ancient Fathers seem to have taken no notice of this controversy, perhaps because it was not yet agitated with so much heat as it has been since. Our Saviour condemns neither party. If however the Samaritan copy be in this respect interpolated, as we know the reason of it, the authority of the whole Pentateuch must not on that account be rejected, as Houbigant well observes. The Jews objected to the Samaritans, that they had inserted the word Sichem: (chap. 11:30,) "I have said to you, O Samaritans, ye have falsified your law: for ye say the plain of More which is Sichem. [they add Sichem of their own accord.] We ourselves indeed confess that the plain of Moreh is Sichem." (Eliezer.) --- Lightfoot, who mentions these words, (V. 2:p. 505,) expresses great surprise at this Jew's accusing the Samaritans of so slight a matter, and at his not at all mentioning that far greater subornation as to Mount Garizim. What seems still more wonderful is, that no such accusation is brought against them in that famous dispute which Josephus ([Antiquities?] 13:3,) informs us took place before king Ptolemy, in which the parties bound themselves by oath to produce their proofs according to the law; and yet the historian mentions not one text from it, nor does he insinuate that the Samaritans were arraigned on account of any wilful corruption, which might then have been so easily proved. The king condemned them unheard, if we believe Josephus, though the Samaritans give quite a different account, and say that Ptolemy decreed the victory to them. (Act. Erud. Lips. 1691.) See Josue 8:30. (Kennicott) (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 27:5 | And thou shalt build there an altar to the Lord thy God, *of stones which iron hath not touched, Exodus 20:25.; Josue 8:31. | Stones: the same as those which composed the monument, (Calmet) or rather different from them, (Menochius) as those were polished, ver. 2. |
| Deuteronomy 27:6 | And of stones not fashioned nor polished: and thou shalt offer upon it holocausts to the Lord thy God. | Polished. Hebrew simply, "of whole stones." |
| Deuteronomy 27:7 | And shalt immolate peace-victims, and eat there, and feast before the Lord thy God. | |
| Deuteronomy 27:8 | And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law plainly and clearly. | And clearly. Hebrew, "very plainly;" (Haydock) so that they might be easily read. Some Rabbins say that Josue wrote them in 70 different languages, that all nations might read them. Happy expedient! (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 27:9 | And Moses, and the priests of the race of Levi, said to all Israel: Attend, and hear, O Israel: This day thou art made the people of the Lord thy God: | |
| Deuteronomy 27:10 | Thou shalt hear his voice, and do the commandments and justices which I command thee. | |
| Deuteronomy 27:11 | And Moses commanded the people in that day, saying: | |
| Deuteronomy 27:12 | These shall stand upon Mount Garizim to bless the people, when you are passed the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Juda, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. | Garizim. The children of Jacob, by Lia and Rachel, have the more honourable function of blessing, while those of the handmaids, with Ruben and Zabulon, the first and the last sons of Lia, at their head, on Hebal, have to answer to the various curses which were to be proclaimed by the priests and Levites, ver. 14. These were stationed with the ark, between the two mountains; and when they pronounced, for example, "Blessed is he that maketh not a graven or molten thing," etc., those on Garizim answered Amen; and when they turned towards those on Hebal, and said, Cursed, etc., they replied in like manner. In the mean time, the body of the Levites might be with the other five tribes on Mount Garizim, though the priests, and those of greater dignity, might remain beside the ark, to perform this sacred function; as we read in Josue that they were stationed between the two divisions of the army. (Bonfrere) --- Some think that Levi is placed with the rest only according to the order of his birth, and that Joseph stands for two tribes. (Vatable) --- Josephus asserts, that the whole army was divided into two parts, as well as the tribe of Levi, part of which stood on each of the mountains. Then the tribes on Garizim prayed that God would bless the observers of his law; and those on Hebal answered, Amen; and after they had repeated the same blessings, those on Garizim made a similar acclamation. In like manner, they repeated the curses one after another. (Calmet) --- But this would make both the mountains equal in dignity. He places the altar likewise, with the inscription of blessings and curses on each side of it, in the midst of the valley, or rather nearer to Garizim; as he says it was not far from Sichem, which was built at the foot of that mountain, on the north side, while Hebal lay still farther to the north of the city, and being scorched with the sun-beams, was rendered fruitless and unpleasant. (Haydock) --- If Josephus afterwards (Antiquities 5:1,) say that the altar was on Hebal, we must either acknowledge that his work has been there interpolated, or that he contradicts himself. Kennicott also takes notice of a strange mistake in the grand edition of St. Ephrem, in the Latin translation, by Benedict; which, in opposition to the Syriac, has (ver. 13,) "these shall rise to curse on Mount Garizim," though Hebal is universally allowed to be the mount of cursing. |
| Deuteronomy 27:13 | And over-against them shall stand on Mount Hebal to curse: Ruben, Gad, and Aser, and Zabulon, Dan, and Nephtali[Nephthali?]. | |
| Deuteronomy 27:14 | *And the Levites shall pronounce, and say to all the men of Israel, with a loud voice: Daniel 9:11. | Pronounce. Hebrew, "answer," as the older Protestant editions, 1540, etc., had it; though "our last translators, 1613, says Kennicott, in this, as in several other instances, altered for the worse," shall speak. A select company of Levites in the valley, repeated what had been declared from Hebal. |
| Deuteronomy 27:15 | Cursed be the man that maketh a graven and molten thing, the abomination of the Lord, the work of the hands of artificers, and shall put it in a secret place: and all the people shall answer, and say: Amen. | Thing. Protestants, any....image. They insert the word any, and translate image, as they almost constantly do where idols are meant, to make the ignorant believe, that all images are to be rejected with the utmost abhorrence, as cursed things. Why then do they not observe the injunction themselves? (Chap. 16:22.) (Haydock) --- Secret. The magistrates had to punish all acts of public idolatry with the utmost severity. But God will not suffer those to escape who do such things even in the most private manner. --- Amen, truly; (Calmet) so be it. |
| Deuteronomy 27:16 | Cursed be he that honoureth not his father and mother: and all the people shall say: Amen. | Honoureth not. Hebrew, "curseth." Septuagint, "despiseth." See Leviticus 20:9. --- "Exodus 21:17., Moses proclaimed, He that curseth his father or (Hebrew and) mother, shall die the death." But here he goes still farther, and denounces a curse on those who make light of (Hebrew makle, vilipendit) their parents; or, as Denis the Carthusian expresses it not amiss, on him "who does not honour, by shewing them obedience in due time, or by not relieving their wants as far as possible; and chiefly, if instead of honouring, he curses and uses opprobrious language towards them." "I have made this remark, says Amama, (p. 376,) in order to admonish the Germans and the Dutch that this passage has been translated by Luther with too great carelessness, curseth, as if the same Hebrew word, kalal, were here used as in the text of Exodus. But those who are not too brazen, will confess that the Hebrew text, and the more accurate versions, require greater reverence to be shewn to parents. Etiam illi judicabunt qui nondum aere lavantur." This author, in his animadversions upon the Vulgate, often takes occasion to mention the blunders "of B. Luther," as well as of the Septuagint and other interpreters; for he seems to be satisfied with no version which has hitherto been published. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 27:17 | Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's landmarks: and all the people shall say: Amen. | Landmarks, contrary to the prohibition, Deuteronomy 19:14. The Rabbins say that Cain first adopted such distinctions. The ancient Greeks placed little pillars at the end of their fields, with the name of the owner engraven upon them. (Pollux, 3:9.) --- All Thrace was divided in this manner. (Xenophon, Anab.) |
| Deuteronomy 27:18 | Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of his way: and all the people shall say: Amen. | Blind; or, according to the Rabbins and Grotius, those who are on a journey, and do not know the road. "Cursed, said Diphilis, is the man who does not tell the right road." Those who lead the simple astray, are no less blameable, Leviticus 19:14. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 27:19 | Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, of the fatherless, and the widow: and all the people shall say: Amen. | |
| Deuteronomy 27:20 | Cursed be he that lieth with his father's wife, and uncovereth his bed: and all the people shall say: Amen. | |
| Deuteronomy 27:21 | Cursed be he that lieth with any beast: and all the people shall say: Amen. | |
| Deuteronomy 27:22 | Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or of his mother: and all the people shall say: Amen. | |
| Deuteronomy 27:23 | Cursed be he that lieth with his mother-in-law: and all the people shall say: Amen. | Mother. Some copies of the Septuagint have "daughter-in-law;" and some Latin manuscripts add, "Cursed is he who sleepeth with his neighbour's wife; and all the people shall say, Amen." (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 27:24 | Cursed be he that secretly killeth his neighbour: and all the people shall say: Amen. | Secretly, as is commonly the case; though such as committed murder in public, were equally if not more guilty. (Haydock) --- Assassins, traitors, and those guilty of calumny, etc., are to be abhorred. |
| Deuteronomy 27:25 | Cursed be he that taketh gifts, to slay an innocent person: and all the people shall say: Amen. | |
| Deuteronomy 27:26 | Cursed be he that abideth not in the words of this law, and fulfilleth them not in work: and all the people shall say: Amen. | In the. The Samaritan, Septuagint, and St. Paul (Galatians 3:10,) read, in all the words, etc., which must probably be understood of the principal points of the law, specified in the preceding verses. (Calmet) See ver. 4. --- The Jews could derive no advantage from the omission of the word all, as the general proposition would be equivalent. (Capellus.) --- Some are of opinion, that the blessings which Moses ordered to be proclaimed, were the reverse of these curses, ver. 12. But, is that man truly blessed who observes one point of the law, while he perhaps is transgressing the rest? At this rate, the same man might be blessed and cursed at the same time. (Kennicott) --- They are more probably, therefore, expressed in the following chapter, where the observance of all the commandments is previously required. The curses are denounced indefinitely, to imply that those who transgress the law, must stand before an unerring Judge, to receive an adequate punishment in eternity for their crying sins against the law, which was given on Mount Horeb, Deuteronomy 29:1. Against such criminals the preceding curses are levelled. But those recorded in the ensuing chapter, are of a temporary nature, and to be publicly inflicted without delay upon those who refuse to adhere to the service of the Lord. "God had made such a covenant with the Israelites, says Houbigant, that he would so long uphold their republic as they should worship the true God." (Haydock) --- The foregoing curses may thus refer to the ten commandments; ver. 15, denounces vengeance against all who transgress the first table of the law, which relates to God; ver. 16, sanctions the honour due to parents; ver. 18, 24, and 25, condemn those who injure or kill; as ver. 20, 21, 22, and 23, do those who are guilty of impurity; ver. 17, curseth those who steal; and ver. 19, those who bear false witness; ver. 26, is intended as a general sanction of the law, as the two last commandments secure the observance of it most effectually, by forbidding even the thought or desire of doing evil. See Kennicott, Dis. 2:p. 86. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 28:0 | Many blessings are promised to the observers of God's commandments: and curses threatened to transgressors. | |
| Deuteronomy 28:1 | Now *if thou wilt hear the voice of the Lord thy God, to do and keep all his commandments, which I command thee this day, the Lord thy God will make thee higher than all the nations that are on the earth. | Year of the World 2553. Earth. Similar denunciations are made, Leviticus xxvi. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 28:2 | And all these blessings shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: yet so if thou hear his precepts. | All these blessings, etc. In the Old Testament, God promised temporal blessings to the keepers of his law, heaven not being opened as yet; and that gross and sensual people being more moved with present and sensible things. But in the New Testament, the goods that are promised us are spiritual and eternal: and temporal evils are turned into blessings. |
| Deuteronomy 28:3 | Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed in the field. | Field. Wherever thou art, all thy undertakings shall prosper. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 28:4 | Blessed shall be the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the droves of thy herds, and the folds of thy sheep. | Womb. This was most fully verified in the birth of the Messias, as the Holy Ghost insinuated, by causing St. Elizabeth to address these words to the mother of Jesus Christ, Luke 1:42. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 28:5 | Blessed shall be thy barns, and blessed thy stores. | Barns. Hebrew tene, is translated (chap. 26:2,) basket, in which bread was kept, and served up at table. Loaves were placed thus in baskets, near the altar of holocausts. --- Stores. What thou hast laid up for thy provisions in corn, fruit, etc. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 28:6 | Blessed shalt thou be coming in and going out. | Out, in all thy actions and affairs, (Menochius) at home and abroad; in peace and war. |
| Deuteronomy 28:7 | The Lord shall cause thy enemies, that rise up against thee, to fall down before thy face: one way shall they come out against thee, and seven ways shall they flee before thee. | Down. Hebrew, "dead." Septuagint, "bruised to pieces," ver. 25. (Calmet) --- Seven. This denotes the confusion and hurry with which the enemy shall endeavour to escape. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 28:8 | The Lord will send forth a blessing upon thy storehouses, and upon all the works of thy hands: and will bless thee in the land that thou shalt receive. | |
| Deuteronomy 28:9 | The Lord will raise thee up to be a holy people to himself, as he swore to thee: if thou keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways. | |
| Deuteronomy 28:10 | And all the people of the earth shall see that the name of the Lord is invocated upon thee, and they shall fear thee. | Upon thee; so that thou art called God's people (Calmet) with truth. (Menochius) --- He has taken thee under his protection, and defended them [thee?] against every attack. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 28:11 | The Lord will make thee abound with all goods, with the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy cattle, with the fruit of thy land, which the Lord swore to thy fathers that he would give thee. | |
| Deuteronomy 28:12 | The Lord will open his excellent treasure, the heaven, that it may give rain in due season: and he will bless all the works of thy hands. And thou shalt lend to many nations, and shalt not borrow of any one. | Lend. To do this with usury, is far from being a blessing; but to be able to assist those who are in distress, is a happiness; particularly for that nation which as yet does not know the merit of evangelical poverty. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 28:13 | And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail: and thou shalt be always above, and not beneath: yet so if thou wilt hear the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, and keep and do them, | Tail, as he had promised, ver. 1. (Menochius) --- You shall have dominion over others. (Calmet) --- So Isaias 9:14, says, the Lord shall destroy the head, (the magistrate) and the tail, or (ver. 15,) the lying prophet. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 28:14 | And turn not away from them, neither to the right hand, nor to the left, nor follow strange gods, nor worship them. | |
| Deuteronomy 28:15 | *But if thou wilt not hear the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep, and to do all his commandments and ceremonies, which I command thee this day, all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee. Leviticus 26:14.; Lamentations 2:17.; Baruch 1:20.; Malachias 2:2. | All these curses, etc. Thus God dealt with the transgressors of his law in the Old Testament: but now he often suffers sinners to prosper in this world, rewarding them for some little good they have done, and reserving their punishment for the other world. |
| Deuteronomy 28:16 | Cursed shalt thou be in the city, cursed in the field. | |
| Deuteronomy 28:17 | Cursed shall be thy barn, and cursed thy stores. | |
| Deuteronomy 28:18 | Cursed shall be the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy ground, the herds of thy oxen, and the flocks of thy sheep. | |
| Deuteronomy 28:19 | Cursed shalt thou be coming in, and cursed going out. | |
| Deuteronomy 28:20 | The Lord shall send upon thee famine and hunger, and a rebuke upon all the works which thou shalt do: until he consume and destroy thee quickly, for thy most wicked inventions, by which thou hast forsaken me. | Rebuke, or "curse." Septuagint, the pestilence, (Calmet) or destruction, (analosin.) (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 28:21 | May the Lord set the pestilence upon thee, until he consume thee out of the land, which thou shalt go in to possess. | |
| Deuteronomy 28:22 | May the Lord afflict thee with miserable want, with the fever and with cold, with burning and with heat, and with corrupted air and with blasting, and pursue thee till thou perish. | Cold. The word occurs no where else. The Chaldean, Syriac, etc., have the reverse, "heat." --- Blasting. In the original, either the mildew destroying the corn, (Haydock) or the jaundice, which attacks the human body, may be meant. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 28:23 | Be the heaven, that is over thee, of brass: and the ground, thou treadest on, of iron. | Of brass, and yield no rain. (Menochius) --- Pindar says, (Pyth. x.) "The heaven of brass they never can ascend." See Leviticus 26:19. |
| Deuteronomy 28:24 | The Lord give thee dust for rain upon thy land, and let ashes come down from heaven upon thee, till thou be consumed. | Consumed. Protestants, "The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, till thou be destroyed." (Haydock) --- The dust coming instead of rain, shall render the land more barren. (Calmet) --- In those dreary regions, where clouds of sand and dust overwhelm the poor traveller, the Israelites would have a good idea what inconveniences would attend such a state of the atmosphere, if it were only for a short continuance. But when it was intended for destruction, how could they possibly support life! |
| Deuteronomy 28:25 | The Lord make thee to fall down before thy enemies; one way mayst thou go out against them, and flee seven ways, and be scattered throughout all the kingdoms of the earth: | Scattered, as they are at present. The real import of the Hebrew is doubtful. Some agree with the Vulgate and Septuagint; (Haydock) others translate, Thou shalt be trembling, an object of astonishment and horror. Others, All who see thee shall quake; they shall insult over thee, wagging their head. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 28:26 | And be thy carcass meat for all the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the earth, and be there none to drive them away. | Away. No threat could be more terrible to the Jews. They did not refuse burial to those who had been hung on the gibbet, Deuteronomy 21:23. Even the high priest, if he should find a corpse in the field, was obliged to bury it; though he was not allowed, on other occasions, to attend the funeral of his relations. God threatens the impious king (Calmet) Joachim, that he shall be buried with the burial of an ass, Jeremias 22:19. (Haydock) --- The ancient Christians allowed the sacred vessels to be sold, in order to bury the dead. "For we shall not suffer the figure and the work of God to be exposed a prey to the wild beasts and birds." (Lactant. 6.) |
| Deuteronomy 28:27 | The Lord strike thee with the ulcer of Egypt, and the part of thy body by which the dung is cast out, with the scab and with the itch: so that thou canst not be healed. | Egypt. See Deuteronomy 6:15, and 28:60., Exodus 9:9, and 15:25., or with such diseases as those with which he afflicted Egypt. (Calmet) --- Out. Hebrew, "with the emerods, scab, and itch," 1 Kings 5:6, 12. |
| Deuteronomy 28:28 | The Lord strike thee with madness, and blindness, and fury of mind, | Madness, folly, or phrensy; with such Saul was attacked, and David feigned himself (1 Kings 21:13,) to be in a similar condition at the court of Achis. |
| Deuteronomy 28:29 | And mayst thou grope at mid-day as the blind is wont to grope in the dark, and not make straight thy ways. And mayst thou at all times suffer wrong, and be oppressed with violence, and mayst thou have no one to deliver thee. | Ways. Is not this visibly the present condition of the Jews, amid the blaze of the gospel light, the miracles and divine conduct of the Son of God! They shut their eyes, and will not acknowledge him for the Messias. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 28:30 | Mayst thou take a wife, and another sleep with her. Mayst thou build a house, and not dwell therein. Mayst thou plant a vineyard, and not gather the vintage thereof. | Her. Job makes use of the same imprecation, Job 31:10. Let my wife be the harlot of another. But he immediately subjoins, For this is a heinous crime, etc., which may be applied, both to him who seeks to commit an impure action, (ver. 9,) and to those who attempt to punish it by a similar abomination. No person is allowed to wish that a sin may be committed. The Hebrew and Septuagint very properly render all these imprecations in the future tense. "Thou shalt marry (or betroth) a wife, and another man shall," which, no doubt, would be an intolerable provocation. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 28:31 | May thy ox be slain before thee, and thou not eat thereof. May thy ass be taken away in thy sight, and not restored to thee. May thy sheep be given to thy enemies, and may there be none to help thee. | Slain, (immoletur,) for a feast, and not for a sacrifice. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 28:32 | May thy sons and thy daughters be given to another people, thy eyes looking on, and languishing at the sight of them all the day, and may there be no strength in thy hand. | Hand. Hebrew also, "thy hand shall not be lifted up towards God." Targum of Jerusalem says, Thou shalt possess nothing, wherewith thou mayest render God propitious. (Calmet) --- Thou shalt not be able to rescue, (Menochius) or to assist thy distressed children. |
| Deuteronomy 28:33 | May a people which thou knowest not, eat the fruits of thy land, and all thy labours: and mayst thou always suffer oppression, and be crushed at all times, | A people. The Gentiles, whom the Jews so much despised, and whom the Scripture styles, not a nation, have supplanted the Israelites, and entered into the inheritance, which they had lost by their prevarications, Romans 10:19. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 28:34 | And be astonished at the terror of those things, which thy eyes shall see. | Astonished. Hebrew, "go mad," become stupified at such a scene of misfortunes. |
| Deuteronomy 28:35 | May the Lord strike thee with a very sore ulcer in the knees and in the legs, and be thou incurable from the sole of the foot to the top of thy head. | |
| Deuteronomy 28:36 | The Lord shall bring thee, and thy king, whom thou shalt have appointed over thee, into a nation, which thou and thy fathers know not: and there thou shalt serve strange gods, wood, and stone. | Thy king. Nabuchodonosor thus led Joachin and Sedecias, with almost all their people, captives to Babylon, 4 Kings xxiv., and 25:7. --- Stone. The ten tribes mixed with other nations, (Calmet) and for the most part followed their idolatrous worship. Only some few returned with the tribes of Juda, Benjamin, and Levi, and became more careful than before not to irritate God by that hateful sin. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 28:37 | And thou shalt be lost, as a proverb and a bye-word to all people, among whom the Lord shall bring thee in. | Lost. Hebrew, "an object of desolation, a fable and a mockery." Septuagint, "thou shalt be a riddle, a parable, and an example," to employ the thoughts and tongues of all nations, who will not be able to comprehend the greatness of thy distress. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 28:38 | *Thou shalt cast much seed into the ground, and gather little: because the locusts shall consume all. Micheas 6:15.; Aggeus 1:6. | All: so that the little which thou mayst gather will not be worth mentioning. (Haydock) --- Hebrew also may signify, "Thy field shall produce a great deal, and give thee abundant expectations, but the locusts shall consume it," to mortify thee the more. |
| Deuteronomy 28:39 | Thou shalt plant a vineyard, and dig it, and shalt not drink the wine, nor gather any thing thereof: because it shall be wasted with worms. | |
| Deuteronomy 28:40 | Thou shalt have olive-trees in all thy borders, and shalt not be anointed with the oil: for the olives shall fall off, and perish. | |
| Deuteronomy 28:41 | Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, and shalt not enjoy them: because they shall be led into captivity. | |
| Deuteronomy 28:42 | The blast shall consume all the trees and the fruits of thy ground. | Blast. This is a different word from that mentioned, ver. 22. Tselatsal may here probably denote a grasshopper, which delights in the shade, and has a shrill note. In hot countries it does great hurt to trees, etc. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 28:43 | The stranger that liveth with thee in the land, shall rise up over thee, and shall be higher: and thou shalt go down, and be lower. | Lower. Hebrew repeats this word, to signify the utmost abjection. (Haydock) --- The Fathers gather hence the glorious superiority to which the Christian Church is raised. (Origen, Rom. ii.) (Theodoret, q. 34.) |
| Deuteronomy 28:44 | He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him. He shall be as the head, and thou shalt be the tail. | |
| Deuteronomy 28:45 | And all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue and overtake thee, till thou perish: because thou heardst not the voice of the Lord thy God, and didst not keep his commandments and ceremonies, which he commanded thee. | |
| Deuteronomy 28:46 | And they shall be as signs and wonders on thee, and on thy seed for ever. | For ever. The nations which were employed by God to scourge the Jews, recognized that they were the instruments of his indignation. We are accustomed to consider many evils as the necessary appendages of human nature; but the surprising misfortunes, with which God visited his people, subjecting them to the Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans, could not be taken in this light. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 28:47 | Because thou didst not serve the Lord thy God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things: | Things: as in gratitude thou oughtest to have done. On the contrary, the more the Jews were cherished by God, the more insolent they became, Deuteronomy 32:15. |
| Deuteronomy 28:48 | Thou shalt serve thy enemy, whom the Lord will send upon thee, in hunger, and thirst, and nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put an iron yoke upon thy neck, till he consume thee. | |
| Deuteronomy 28:49 | The Lord will bring upon thee a nation from afar, and from the uttermost ends of the earth, like an eagle that flieth swiftly: whose tongue thou canst not understand: | Swiftly. The Chaldeans are designated in the same manner, Jeremias 5:5., and Ezechiel 17:3, 12. The Romans also carried an eagle, as their chief standard, and the rapidity of their conquests astonished all the world. |
| Deuteronomy 28:50 | A most insolent nation, that will shew no regard to the ancients, nor have pity on the infant, | Insolent. Hebrew, "of a fierce countenance." It is well known how the Babylonians treated the princes of the Jews. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 28:51 | And will devour the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruits of thy land: until thou be destroyed, and will leave thee no wheat, nor wine, nor oil, nor herds of oxen, nor flocks of sheep: until he destroy thee, | Until thou be destroyed. This was not expressed in the Septuagint. |
| Deuteronomy 28:52 | And consume thee in all thy cities, and thy strong and high walls be brought down, wherein thou trustedst in all thy land. Thou shalt be besieged within thy gates in all thy land, which the Lord thy God will give thee: | |
| Deuteronomy 28:53 | *And thou shalt eat the fruit of thy womb, and the flesh of thy sons, and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God shall give thee, in the distress and extremity wherewith thy enemy shall oppress thee. Lamentations 4:10.; Baruch 2:2-3. | Womb; a cruelty which the Jews were guilty of in the sieges of Samaria and of Jerusalem. See Baruch 2:2, 13., Lamentations 2:20., and iv., and 4 Kings 6:28., and Josephus, Jewish Wars 7:8. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 28:54 | The man that is nice among you, and very delicate, shall envy his own brother, and his wife, that lieth in his bosom, | Delicate, (luxuriosus,) abandoned to his pleasures. Josephus (Jewish Wars 6:11,) seems to have had this passage in view, when he informs us, that parents and children snatched from each other's mouths the wretched food, with which they endeavoured to support themselves. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 28:55 | So that he will not give them of the flesh of his children, which he shall eat: because he hath nothing else in the siege and the want, wherewith thy enemies shall distress thee within all thy gates. | |
| Deuteronomy 28:56 | The tender and delicate woman that could not go upon the ground, nor set down her foot for over-much niceness, and tenderness, will envy her husband who lieth in her bosom, the flesh of her son, and of her daughter, | Envy. Hebrew, "her eye shall be evil towards the husband of her bosom," etc. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 28:57 | And the filth of the after-births, that come forth from between her thighs, and the children that are born the same hour. For they shall eat them secretly, for the want of all things, in the siege and distress wherewith thy enemy shall oppress thee within thy gates. | And the filth, etc. They will eat the child just born, through extreme hunger, Lamentations 2:20. The Chaldean, Septuagint, etc., agree with the Vulgate, which conveys an idea of the most horrible distress. (Calmet) --- Indeed it is so horrible and disgusting, that we find no vestiges in history of the completion of the prophecy, taken in this sense. Some, therefore, explain the original: "And her feast, or dressed meat, (shall be) between her feet, even of her own children, which she shall bring forth." (Bate, p. 71.; Parkhurst on itsoth.) Others believe that the Hebrew is corrupted by the insertion of b before another b, in children; and by the transposition or addition of i in the first word; so that to translate, with the generality of interpreters, "She shall grudge ever bit, or her eye shall be evil towards her husband, and towards her son, and towards her daughter, and towards her afterbirth....and towards her sons which she shall have brought forth," seems absurd enough. For if the woman's eye be evil towards her son, and towards her afterbirth, (which, however, is incapable of depriving her of food) what need of repeating, and towards her sons? Yet the present construction requires this translation; though it is obvious that the woman must have been actuated in a different manner, with respect to these different things, as all allow that she was afraid lest those who were grown up, how dear soever to her, might deprive her of her abominable food, while her eye was evil towards her afterbirth, (or secundines, if the word ssolithe can have this meaning) because she was designing to eat it privately. The Septuagint translate Korion, "the skin," or Chorion, "a little girl," (Houbigant) unless (Haydock) the former word may rather have this signification. Hill. --- The Arabic deviates a little from the Hebrew, "She will deny her husband, her son, and her daughter, her secundines, which fall from her." If, therefore, the two corrections proposed by Houbigant, and approved by Kennicott, (who produces for one of them (ubnie) the authority of the oldest Hebrew manuscript in England) be admitted, all will be clear and conformable to the event. "56. Her eye shall be evil towards....her son, and towards her daughter. 57. And she shall boil, (ubossilthe, instead of ubossolithe) that which cometh out from between her feet, even her children, (ubnie, not ubobnie) which she shall bear; for she shall eat them, for want of all things, secretly." This prophetical and terrible denunciation was realized in the siege of Samaria, when two women agreed to eat their own children, one of whom was actually boiled, and the very word here in dispute is used, 4 Kings 6:29. (Kennicott) --- And in the last siege of Jerusalem, we read (Josephus, [Antiquities?] 7:8,) of a mother killing her own child, to satisfy the cravings of hunger and rage against the rioters who had repeatedly plundered her house. Her name was Mary. She also boiled her suckling infant, and actually devoured a part of it. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 28:58 | If thou wilt not keep, and fulfil all the words of this law, that are written in this volume, and fear his glorious and terrible name: that is, The Lord thy God: | |
| Deuteronomy 28:59 | The Lord shall increase thy plagues, and the plagues of thy seed, plagues great and lasting, infirmities grievous and perpetual. | Increase. Hebrew, distinguish, or render thy plagues wonderful. (Calmet) --- Perpetual. Hebrew, "lasting." (Haydock) See ver. 27. |
| Deuteronomy 28:60 | And he shall bring back on thee all the afflictions of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of, and they shall stick fast to thee. | |
| Deuteronomy 28:61 | Moreover the Lord will bring upon thee all the diseases, and plagues, that are not written in the volume of this law, till he consume thee: | |
| Deuteronomy 28:62 | And you shall remain few in number, who before were as the stars of heaven for multitude, because thou heardst not the voice of the Lord thy God. | |
| Deuteronomy 28:63 | And as the Lord rejoiced upon you before, doing good to you, and multiplying you: so he shall rejoice, destroying and bringing you to nought, so that you shall be taken away from the land which thou shalt go in to possess. | |
| Deuteronomy 28:64 | The Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the farthest parts of the earth to the ends thereof: and there thou shalt serve strange gods, which both thou art ignorant of, and thy fathers, wood and stone. | |
| Deuteronomy 28:65 | Neither shalt thou be quiet, even in those nations, nor shall there be any rest for the sole of thy foot. For the Lord will give thee a fearful heart, and languishing eyes, and a soul consumed with pensiveness: | Fearful, dejected, distrustful. The Jews are under continual alarms. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 28:66 | And thy life shall be as it were hanging before thee. Thou shalt fear night and day, neither shalt thou trust thy life. | Thy life, being in danger from all sides. The Fathers explain this verse of the behaviour of the Jews towards their Messias, who was crucified before their eyes; and still they will not believe in him, though he is their life, (chap. 30:20,) the way, the truth, and the life, John 14:6., and 1:4. (St. Leo; St. Augustine, contra Faustus 16:22, etc.) (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 28:67 | In the morning thou shalt say: Who will grant me evening? and at evening: Who will grant me morning? for the fearfulness of thy heart, wherewith thou shalt be terrified, and for those things, which thou shalt see with thy eyes. | |
| Deuteronomy 28:68 | The Lord shall bring thee again with ships into Egypt, by the way whereof he said to thee, that thou shouldst see it no more. There shalt thou be set to sale to thy enemies for bond-men and bond-women, and no man shall buy you. | With ships, so that thou wilt have no means of escaping by flight. (Menochius) --- The Romans had a fleet in the Mediterranean, with which thy would probably convey the captives into Egypt. Josephus (Antiquities 12:2, etc., and Jewish Wars 7:16,) informs us, that many of the Jews had been conveyed into that country after Jerusalem had been ruined by the Chaldeans; (Calmet) and after it was at last destroyed by the Romans, some of "those who were above 17 years of age, were sent thither in chains to work at the public works;" others were reserved to grace the victor's triumph, or "to be destroyed by the sword, or by wild beasts in the theatres, while those who were under 17, were sold. During the time that Fronto was making the selection, 12,000 were starved to death, either by the cruelty of their keepers, or because they refused food; the multitudes causing it to be very scarce. In the course of the war 97,000 were taken prisoners, and in the siege 1,100,000 perished. For then the whole nation was shut up in prison, as it were by fate, and the city was besieged when full of inhabitants," at the feast of the Passover; "so that the number of those whom the Romans slew publicly, or took prisoners, was greater than ever was destroyed," at once, "by the fury of man, or by the wrath of God." (Ibid.[Josephus, Jewish Wars?] Deuteronomy 17.) Pompey had carried away many captives into Egypt about 120 years before. Pharao Sesac took and pillaged the city, under Roboam, 2 Paralipomenon 12:2. --- That. Hebrew, "by the way concerning which I spoke to thee (that is, by returning back, through this wilderness, as thou formerly desiredst,) thou shalt see it no more." --- Set to sale, (venderis,) literally, "shall be sold." After the Jews had been sold, their new masters could not find any to take them off their hands. (Haydock) --- Buy you. Protestants, "there ye shall be sold....and no man shall buy you." Can a man be sold without being bought? Whereas if the verb hithmaccartem was rendered, and ye shall offer yourselves for sale, the sense would be proper, and expressive of the most bitter sufferings." (Kennicott) --- Hegesippus (V. 47,) says, "there were many to be sold, but few purchasers; because the Romans disdained receiving the Jews as slaves, nor were there any Jews left to redeem their countrymen." |
| Deuteronomy 29:0 | The covenant is solemnly confirmed between God and his people. Threats against those that shall break it. | |
| Deuteronomy 29:1 | These *are the words of the covenant, which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel, in the land of Moab: beside that covenant which he made with them in Horeb. | Year of the World 2553. Covenant renewed, and confirmed with an oath, ver. 12. (Menochius) --- Horeb. Thus the speech of Moses is concluded, (Calmet) and consequently this verse should be at the end of the last chapter, as it is placed in the celebrated editions of Michaelis and Houbigant. The latter observes that, beside that covenant, etc., shews, that the curses there recorded, are not by way of explication of those mentioned in the preceding 27th chapter, "but of a quite different kind. The former are denounced against those who violate the law of the decalogue, which was given at Horeb; neither do they threaten that the chastisements shall be inflicted in this life: the latter maledictions threaten present punishments, and those of a public nature." See Deuteronomy 27:26. (Haydock) --- Josue put in execution in a more solemn manner, what Moses here describes, (Josue 8:30,) to intimate that Jesus would give the last finishing to the outlines of the old covenant. |
| Deuteronomy 29:2 | And Moses called all Israel, and said to them: *You have seen all the things that the Lord did before you in the land of Egypt to Pharao, and to all his servants, and to his whole land. Exodus 19:4. | |
| Deuteronomy 29:3 | The great temptations, which thy eyes have seen, those mighty signs, and wonders. | Seen. Many who were present had seen the plagues of Egypt, and what the Israelites themselves had suffered in the wilderness. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 29:4 | And the Lord hath not given you a heart to understand, and eyes to see, and ears that may hear, unto this present day. | Hath not given you, etc. Through your own fault, and because you resisted his grace. (Challoner) --- If they had not been guilty, Moses would never have made them this reproach. "But he shews that they could not understand or obey, without God's assistance,....and yet if....it be wanting, si adjutorium Dei desit, the vice of man is not on that account, deserving of excuse, since the judgments of God are just, though they be hidden." (St. Augustine, q. 50.) --- Others explain it thus: Hitherto you have not been able to discern the designs of God in your regard: but now, being on the point of crossing the Jordan, to take possession of the land which God had promised to your fathers, you ought to place an unbounded confidence in him. Others read with an interrogation, which entirely removes the evil interpretation of the wicked, who pretend that God requires impossibilities. "Hath not the Lord?" etc. (Calmet) --- God sometimes delivers people over to a reprobate sense, and to their own will. (Theodoret, q. 37.) (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 29:5 | *He hath brought you forty years through the desert: your garments are not worn out, neither are the shoes of your feet consumed with age. Deuteronomy 8:2. | |
| Deuteronomy 29:6 | You have not eaten bread, nor have you drunk wine or strong drink: that you might know that I am the Lord your God. | Bread, etc., as your ordinary food, (Menochius) though they might have both bread and wine on some occasions; as when they adored the calf, etc. (St. Augustine, q. 51.) See Deuteronomy 8:4. (Calmet) --- Your God, by providing a miraculous food for you. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 29:7 | And you came to this place: *and Sehon, king of Hesebon, and Og, king of Basan, came out against us to fight. And we slew them, Deuteronomy 3:1. | |
| Deuteronomy 29:8 | And took their land and delivered it for a possession to *Ruben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasses. Deuteronomy 3:15.; Numbers 32.; Josue 13:8.; Josue 22:4. | |
| Deuteronomy 29:9 | Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and fulfil them: that you may understand all that you do. | Understand. Hebrew, "succeed in all your undertakings." (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 29:10 | You all stand this day before the Lord your God, your princes, and tribes, and ancients, and doctors, all the people of Israel, | Doctors. Hebrew Shoterim. Septuagint Grammateisagogeis, (Calmet) "officers, heralds," etc. Deuteronomy 1:15., and 19:18., they are translated magistros, "masters or magistrates." (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 29:11 | Your children and your wives, and the stranger that abideth with thee in the camp, besides the hewers of wood, and them that bring water: | Besides, (exceptis,) which may signify all were present; or rather that the strangers of Egypt, etc., who were employed in servile offices, were alone excluded, as having no part in the covenant made with the Israelites. (Calmet) --- St. Jerome seems to have rendered min, praeter, in the latter sense; but the Chaldean, Septuagint, etc., take it in the former, as if none at all were absent, from the highest to the lowest. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 29:12 | That thou mayst pass in the covenant of the Lord thy God, and in the oath which this day the Lord thy God maketh with thee: | Pass; alluding to the custom of people who pass between the victims, when they engage in a solemn covenant, as Abraham did, Genesis 15:10. --- Oath. Septuagint, "imprecations," specified in the preceding chapters, ver. 14. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 29:13 | That he may raise thee up a people to himself, and he may be thy God, as he hath spoken to thee, and as he swore to thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. | |
| Deuteronomy 29:14 | Neither with you only do I make this covenant, and confirm these oaths, | |
| Deuteronomy 29:15 | But with all that are present and that are absent. | Absent. Hebrew, "with him that standeth here this day before the Lord, and with him that is not here with us this day." If all were present, (ver. 11,) the absent must here denote the posterity of the Israelites yet unborn. (Haydock) --- God made the covenant with Abraham and with his seed, before he had any children in the world. |
| Deuteronomy 29:16 | For you know how we dwelt in the land of Egypt, and how we have passed through the midst of nations; and passing through them, | |
| Deuteronomy 29:17 | You have seen their abominations and filth, that is to say, their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which they worshipped. | Idols. Hebrew, "you have seen their abominations and their filth, (or idols,) wood," etc. Septuagint, "their abominations and their idols." |
| Deuteronomy 29:18 | Lest perhaps there should be among you a man or a woman, a family or a tribe, whose heart is turned away this day from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of those nations: and there should be among you a root bringing forth gall and bitterness. | Bitterness; an Israelite, who cherishes now in his heart any idol, (Haydock) and who may draw God's judgments upon the people, (Calmet) or induce them to follow his wicked example. (Haydock) --- Let all watch over their children, lest they fall off. Chaldean, "Let there be none among you now, whose heart may be filled with the sin of pride." See Acts 8:13., and Hebrew 12:15., where this text is cited. The Hebrew seems to allude to some very bitter herbs. Rass is mentioned as growing in the ground, and the juice of it is often alluded to, Osee 10:4., Jeremias 8:13., and Psalm 68:22. Lane is generally joined with the former term, and God threatens to make the faithless Israelites eat of it, Jeremias 9:15., and Proverbs 5:4. It may denote a poisonous bitter herb, as well as rass, which signifies "the head, gall, wormwood, aconite," etc. (Calmet) --- The root designates a mind secretly infected with idolatry, and the appetite, being once drunken with pleasures, thirsteth still more. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 29:19 | And when he shall hear the words of this oath, he should bless himself in his heart, saying: I shall have peace, and will walk on in the naughtiness of my heart: and the drunken may consume the thirsty. | The drunken, etc.: absumat ebria sitientem. It is a proverbial expression, which may either be understood as spoken by the sinner, blessing, that is, flattering himself in his sins with the imagination of peace, and so great an abundance as may satisfy, and as it were, consume all thirst and want; or it may be referred to the root of bitterness, spoken of before, which being drunken with sin may attract, and by that means consume such as thirst after the like evils. (Challoner) --- St. Jerome seems to have translated sephoth by assumat, as the manuscripts and interpreters read, before the correction of Sixtus V, who adopted the other signification of the Hebrew absumat. (Calmet) --- The sense however seems to be the same, as evil communications corrupt good manners, the wicked draw on those who before were dry, or thirsty, and superior to the allurements of pleasure, but not quite so sincere and constant as to shut out from their hearts the desire of tasting, what the man of the world so highly extols, and thus the just give way to the temptation, and become the companion of the libertine and of the idolater, and of course share in his destruction. The feasts of the idols were generally celebrated with the most dissolute mirth, which seemed more congenial to the depraved heart of man, than the sober feasts, which the Lord allowed his people. The drunken revellings in honour of Bacchus, who was worshipped in Arabia, etc., were a disgrace to human nature. Yet it is well known with what eagerness the deluded pagans joined in these religious sports. How prone to such excesses the Israelites also were, sacred history too plainly shews, so that they might well be described as thirsty, and willing to imitate those who were already drunk with dissolute pleasures; and this proverbial warning was not unnecessary to remind them what they had to expect from such conduct, at least if the people should become generally addicted to the service of idols. The most terrible chastisements mentioned below, (ver. 20, etc., and in the preceding chapters, and still greater, Deuteronomy 28:61,) hung over their guilty heads. But the man who should give occasion to such a defection from the Lord, and, like Jeroboam, cause Israel to sin, must remember that he will have to suffer for the sins of all those whom he has perverted. Hence this cutting remark almost always accompanies the mention of Jeroboam's name, He made Israel to sin. Such a one walked in the way, or imitated the sins of the house of Jeroboam, etc. A similar infamy and destruction attend arch-heretics and impostors. (Haydock) --- Chaldean translates, "Let him not say.....lest he should add sins of ignorance to sins of pride." (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "lest the innocent be involved in the destruction of the sinner." Cornelius a Lapide would leave out the negation, and translate, "that the innocent may be," etc. (Menochius) --- Bonfrere believes that the earth is to be understood; "and the earth drunken or deluged with rain, may take away its former dryness, yet so as to be rendered unfit for cultivation." The proverb affects those who wish for things which will prove destructive to them: so the man who expects to derive great pleasure and advantage from the practice of idolatry, will be miserably deceived, and will only bring on his own ruin; or, if his passions be gratified for a moment, he must, if he die in that state, endure eternal torments in destruction from the face of the Lord. Homer (Odyssey) says, "Crimes prosper not; the low outstrips the quick." Festina lente. Hasten slowly, is an old and useful admonition. Ebria, a drunken woman, is a very indifferent partner for one that is sober at a dance. (Haydock) --- The flesh being indulged, presently perverts the understanding. (Du Hamel) |
| Deuteronomy 29:20 | And the Lord should not forgive him: but his wrath and jealousy against that man should be exceedingly enkindled at that time, and all the curses that are written in this volume should light upon him: and the Lord should blot out his name from under heaven, | Enkindled, (fumet.) Literally, "smoke." (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "the anger (literally, nose)....smoke." The Greeks and Romans adopt similar expressions, to denote the wrath and eagerness with which a person is actuated. "Fierce anger always sits upon his nose." (Theocrit.) So Persius says, Disce, sed ira cadat naso, rugosaque sanna. |
| Deuteronomy 29:21 | And utterly destroy him out of all the tribes of Israel, according to the curses that are contained in the book of this law and covenant: | |
| Deuteronomy 29:22 | And the following generation shall say, and the children that shall be born hereafter, and the strangers that shall come from afar, seeing the plagues of that land, and the evils wherewith the Lord hath afflicted it, | |
| Deuteronomy 29:23 | Burning it with brimstone, and the heat of salt, so that it cannot be sown any more, nor any green thing grow therein, *after the example of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha, Adama and Seboim, which the Lord destroyed in his wrath and indignation: Genesis 19:24. | Of salt. This salt was of a bituminous or sulphureous nature, which would burn like oil, and was sometimes used in lamps. (Herodotus, 2:62; Pliny, [Natural History?] 2:104.) It dried up the moisture of the earth, and rendered it barren. For which reason, it was scattered upon such places as were no longer to be cultivated, or inhabited. Abimelech sowed some on the ruins of Sichem, Judges 9:45. It seems that Palestine now feels the effects of this curse; as, for the most part, it is uncultivated, and a desert, though once so flourishing. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 29:24 | And all the nations shall say: *Why hath the Lord done thus to this land? what meaneth this exceeding great heat of his wrath? 3 Kings 9:8.; Jeremias 22:8. | |
| Deuteronomy 29:25 | And they shall answer: Because they forsook the covenant of the Lord, which he made with their fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt: | |
| Deuteronomy 29:26 | And they have served strange gods, and adored them, whom they knew not, and for whom they had not been assigned: | Knew not, as their gods. (Menochius) --- Indeed the gods of the heathens, were for the most part more recent than the days of Abraham, or of Moses, and only newly come up; (chap. 32:17,) which was a sufficient proof that they were not gods. (Haydock) --- Assigned. It seems, as if God had in a manner abandoned other nations to the dominion of idols, while he chose Israel for his peculiar people. Hence, if they followed another god, they were to be treated as rebels. Hebrew may have another sense, "and from whom they have received nothing," Chaldean and Syriac. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "gods to whom they were not faithful, (or whom they did not believe) and whom I did not appoint for them." Even while the people pretended to follow the worship of idols, they could surely place no confidence in them, knowing that they were either mere creatures, or even the work of their own hands. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 29:27 | Therefore the wrath of the Lord was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this volume: | |
| Deuteronomy 29:28 | And he hath cast them out of their land, in anger and in wrath, and in very great indignation, and hath thrown them into a strange land, as it is seen this day. | |
| Deuteronomy 29:29 | Secret things to the Lord our God: things that are manifest, to us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law. | Secret things, etc. As much as to say, secret things belong to, and are known to God alone: our business must be to observe what he has revealed and manifested to us, and to direct our lives accordingly. (Challoner) --- The nations full of surprise, at the miseries, which were inflicted upon the Jews, and upon their country, could not comprehend what might have brought on so severe a chastisement, as they little suspected that it was their worshipping those gods, which they themselves adored, ver. 2. But those who had been converted, and had been able to penetrate the secrets of God, by means of his gracious revelation, answered, (ver. 25, etc.,) that idolatry had been the chief cause of such inconceivable distress, and a crime of no less enormity, the refusing to acknowledge the true God, in the person of the Messias, and the putting him even to a disgraceful death, when he came unto his own, (John 1.,) had served to complete their misery. (Haydock) --- Moses resumes his discourse, and says that these chastisements had been reserved in the treasury of God's wrath, and he had not denounced them to their father; but now, since he had told them so plainly, what they had to expect, they would be inexcusable if they ran into the danger. Hebrew may signify, "The secrets of the Lord....are manifest to us." He has shewn us this favour, in preference to other nations, Psalm 146:20. (Vatable) --- Secret things are known to God, while those only which are manifest can be discerned by men. (Theodoret, q. 38.) (Worthington) --- Amama wonders at the negligence of B. Luther's version; and observes, that his commentators illustrate "the word of Luther, not of God," in this place, p. 378. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 30:0 | Great mercies are promised to the penitent: God's commandment is feasible. Life and death are set before them. | |
| Deuteronomy 30:1 | Now *when all these things shall be come upon thee, the blessing, or the curse, which I have set forth before thee: and thou shalt be touched with repentance of thy heart among all the nations, into which the Lord thy God shall have scattered thee, | Year of the World 2553. Or the curse. The sequel shews that this would prove their portion, and that they would have to do penance among all the nations. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 30:2 | And shalt return to him, and obey his commandments, as I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul: | |
| Deuteronomy 30:3 | The Lord thy God will bring back again thy captivity, and will have mercy on thee, and gather thee again out of all the nations, into which he scattered thee before. | Before. The Jews are still in expectation of this deliverance, as they say this prediction does not relate to the captivity at Babylon. But Nehemias understood it in this sense, (2 Esdras 1:8,) though it will not have its perfect accomplishment till the latter days, when the Israelites will embrace the true faith, Romans 11:25. |
| Deuteronomy 30:4 | If thou be driven as far as the poles of heaven, the Lord thy God will fetch thee back from thence, | Poles. The arctic and antarctic, the northern and southern poles; that is, into the most distant regions. (Menochius) --- Hebrew, "the end of heaven," where it seems to rest upon the earth. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 30:5 | *And will take thee to himself, and bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it: and blessing thee, he will make thee more numerous than were thy fathers. 2 Machabees 1:29. | Fathers. Some sinners have risen to greater eminence by sincere repentance, than others who have offended less. (Worthington) See Luke 7:47. |
| Deuteronomy 30:6 | The Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed: that then mayst love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, that thou mayst live. | Circumcise. Septuagint, "purify." Chaldean, "take away the folly from." After the captivity, idolatry was never very prevalent among the Jews. (Haydock) --- But this prediction will not be fulfilled till the Jews acknowledge the Messias. (Calmet) --- Those whose hearts are circumcised, as God here promises, are enabled to love him above all things; and no doubt he will fulfil what he has thus engaged to do, with regard to some. (Worthington) (St. Augustine, q. 53.) |
| Deuteronomy 30:7 | And he will turn all these curses upon thy enemies, and upon them that hate and persecute thee. | |
| Deuteronomy 30:8 | But thou shalt return, and hear the voice of the Lord thy God, and shalt do all the commandments which I command thee this day: | |
| Deuteronomy 30:9 | And the Lord thy God will make thee abound in all the works of thy hands, in the fruit of thy womb, and in the fruit of thy cattle, in the fruitfulness of thy land, and in the plenty of all things. For the Lord will return to rejoice over thee in all good things, as he rejoiced in thy fathers: | Fathers. He will again take pleasure in bestowing favours upon thee, (Calmet) of a spiritual and more lasting nature. Hence the Jews may understand that they have not yet repented, as they ought to do; since they have been under the wrath of God for above 1500 years. (Salien) (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 30:10 | Yet so, if thou hear the voice of the Lord thy God, and keep his precepts and ceremonies, which are written in this law: and return to the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul. | |
| Deuteronomy 30:11 | This commandment, that I command thee this day, is not above thee, nor far off from thee: | Above. Hebrew, "separated, unknown," etc. Septuagint, "too heavy." St. Paul (Romans 10:6,) adapts this to the Christian law, which is the perfection of that given by Moses. The precepts of Jesus Christ are well known, and easily accomplished (Calmet) by the sincere lover of justice, (Haydock) assisted by powerful grace. (St. Augustine, q. 54.) St. Peter (Acts xv.) insinuates, that it was very difficult under the old law, to comply with all the regulations, at a time when the sacraments did not convey such great graces. (Du Hamel) |
| Deuteronomy 30:12 | Nor is it in heaven, that thou shouldst say: Which of us can go up to heaven, to bring it unto us, and we may hear and fulfil it in work? | Work. There is no need of studying the mysteries of astrology, as the Magi do, to understand the will of God. (Grotius) --- St. Paul adds, (ver. 7.) or who shall descend into the deep? which is not in [the] Hebrew. (Calmet) --- But he probably alludes to the following verse, as the sea is often styled the deep. It was not necessary for the Jews, or for Christians, (Haydock) to undertake long voyages, to discover the true God, as the ancient philosophers were obliged to do; and after they had obtained some idea of the truth, they were afraid to declare it, on account of the prejudices of the people. (Calmet) --- But the most illiterate among us, may easily obtain sufficient knowledge to regulate his life. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 30:13 | Nor is it beyond the sea: that thou mayst excuse thyself, and say: *Which of us can cross the sea, and bring it unto us that we may hear, and do that which is commanded? Romans 10:6. | |
| Deuteronomy 30:14 | But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayst do it. | Heart. Septuagint add, "and in thy hands." Thou art often obliged to talk about the law, and to learn it by heart. Nothing hinders thee, with the grace of God, from putting it in practice. (Calmet) --- No teacher could more plainly inculcate the liberty of the human will. (Theodoret, q. 38.; St. Augustine, de Nat. 69.; St. Ambrose; etc.) (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 30:15 | Consider that I have set before thee this day life and good; and on the other hand, death and evil: | Evil. Obedience will insure eternal life: but if thou give the preference to evil, the second death must be thy portion, ver. 19. (Haydock) (Ecclesiasticus 15:17.) (Menochius) --- It may also refer to the goods and evils of the present life, of which Moses has been speaking. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 30:16 | That thou mayst love the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways, and keep his commandments and ceremonies, and judgments; and thou mayst live, and he may multiply thee, and bless thee in the land, which thou shalt go in to possess. | |
| Deuteronomy 30:17 | But if thy heart be turned away, so that thou wilt not hear, and being deceived with error, thou adore strange gods, and serve them: | |
| Deuteronomy 30:18 | I foretell thee this day that thou shalt perish, and shalt remain but a short time in the land, to which thou shalt pass over the Jordan, and shalt go in to possess it. | |
| Deuteronomy 30:19 | I call heaven and earth to witness this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Choose therefore life, that both thou, and thy seed may live: | I call. He begins his canticle in the same emphatical manner, (chap. 22.) as Isaias does his prophecy. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 30:20 | And that thou mayst love the Lord thy God, and obey his voice, and adhere to him (for he is thy life, and the length of thy days), that thou mayst dwell in the land, for which the Lord swore to thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that he would give it them. | He is. From God all advantages are derived. We may render the Hebrew, with the Septuagint, "Because this is thy life (Calmet)....to dwell," etc. By observing the law of God, long life and possession of the promised land can be alone attained. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 31:0 | Moses encourageth the people, and Josue, who is appointed to succeed him. He delivereth the law to the priests. God foretelleth, that the people will often forsake him, and that he will punish them. He commandeth Moses to write a canticle, as a constant remembrancer of the law. | |
| Deuteronomy 31:1 | And *Moses went, and spoke all these words to all Israel, | Year of the World 2553. Went. Began. (Menochius) --- "Concluded." Septuagint, continued, or, just before he dismissed the audience, he spoke to them as follows. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 31:2 | And he said to them: I am this day a hundred and twenty years old, I can no longer go out and come in, especially as the Lord also hath said to me: *Thou shalt not pass over this Jordan. Deuteronomy 3:27.; Numbers 27:13. | Come in, to conduct you. (Menochius) --- Especially. Hebrew, "and the Lord." It was not the want of strength, which hindered Moses from continuing to perform his arduous functions, as he was still full of vigour both in soul and body; (chap. 34:7.; Calmet) but it was his submission to the will of God, who had resolved thus to punish his former diffidence. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 31:3 | The Lord thy God then will pass over before thee: he will destroy all these nations in thy sight, and thou shalt possess them: and this Josue shall go over before thee, as the Lord hath spoken. | Then. This word is not in Hebrew or the Septuagint; neither does Moses mean to insinuate, that God would take his place in conducting the people; but only that after he should be no more, the divine Providence would no less watch over his people, and direct the councils of Josue, who stood beside him. (Haydock) --- The ark preceded the army, (Josue iii.) and God invisibly put the enemies of Israel to flight. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 31:4 | And the Lord shall do to them *as he did to Sehon and Og, the kings of the Amorrhites, and to their land, and shall destroy them. Numbers 21:24. | |
| Deuteronomy 31:5 | Therefore when the Lord shall have delivered these also to you, *you shall do in like manner to them as I have commanded you. Deuteronomy 7:2. | |
| Deuteronomy 31:6 | Do manfully, and be of good heart: fear not, nor be ye dismayed at their sight: for the Lord thy God he himself is thy leader, and will not leave thee, nor forsake thee. | |
| Deuteronomy 31:7 | And Moses called Josue, and said to him before all Israel: *Take courage, and be valiant: for thou shalt bring this people into the land which the Lord swore he would give to their fathers, and thou shalt divide it by lot. Josue 1:6.; 3 Kings 2:2. | Called. Hebrew, "unto Josue." He did this publicly that no dispute might arise after his death, respecting the choice of a successor. (Haydock) --- Lot. Hebrew and Chaldean, "thou shalt put them in possession of it." (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 31:8 | And the Lord who is your leader, he himself will be with thee: he will not leave thee, nor forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed. | |
| Deuteronomy 31:9 | And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the ancients of Israel. | This law of Deuteronomy. (Menochius) --- Some think that he had written so far before he came to the assembly, as well as the Canticle; because God commanded him the same day to ascend the mount, Deuteronomy 32:48. (Calmet) --- But Moses did not speak the discourses recorded in this book, at one time. After he had, therefore, dismissed the people with his blessing, and with an assurance that God would be with their newly appointed leader, he committed to writing what he had delivered by God's order, at different times, and gave a copy of the Pentateuch to the priests, who were to keep it carefully on the side of the ark, and explain it to the people, particularly every seventh year. The Jews understand this law to mean the whole Pentateuch. It may denote also, more particularly (Haydock) Deuteronomy, as far as this place, or the 27th, and three subsequent chapters of it. He gave two copies; one to be deposited beside the ark, and the other (ver. 26,) to be kept by the priests. In all contracts of consequence, this method is observed, one copy being laid carefully by, and the other left in the hands of those who may be concerned, Jeremias 32:12. The Rabbins say that 13 copies were taken; one for each of the 12 tribes, and one to be placed on the side of the ark. But of this new assertion we must not expect to hear any proof. --- Priests, whose duty it is to instruct the people, Malachias 2:7. (Calmet) --- Ancients, or magistrates, who must put the law in execution, and guide their decisions by it. (Haydock) --- The mention of the ark in this place, is to insinuate that the book was to be deposited on one side of it, ver. 26. The priests might carry the ark, if they thought proper, (Menochius) as they did sometimes on the more solemn occasions; (Josue ii., and vi., and 1 Kings 4:4,) though the duty belonged to the Levites, Numbers iii., and 4:The pagans placed their sacred books in their temples, under the care of the priests, who were obliged to transcribe them. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 31:10 | And he commanded them, saying: After seven years, in the year of remission, in the feast of tabernacles, | Years commenced. Hebrew, "at the extremity of seven years." The sabbatic years began at the expiration of every six years, (Haydock) after the land of Chanaan was conquered, (Calmet) or perhaps after the passage of the Jordan, which took place soon after this discourse was made. Josue spent above six years in the conquest of the country, and then divided it among the tribes. The seventh year was the first year of remission; as the Israelites, particularly on the east side of the Jordan, had already enjoyed the benefits of the country for a considerable time. If they had been required to wait till the whole had been conquered, no sabbatical year would have been of obligation before the reign of Solomon, as he had still some of the devoted nations to subdue. See Exodus xxiii., and Leviticus xxv. (Salien, in the year before Christ 1463) At this time, the ark was removed from Galgala to Silo, where it remained about 350 years, Josue xviii. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 31:11 | When all Israel come together, to appear in the sight of the Lord thy God, in the place which the Lord shall choose, thou shalt read the words of this law before all Israel, in their hearing, | Thou shalt. Septuagint, "you shall read." Josephus says, the high priest had to perform this office; while the Rabbins assert, that the chief magistrate, Moses, and his successors, the kings of Juda, had to read the law publicly. The princes did this in the court of the temple, designed for the women, as they also were bound to hear it. We find that Josias read aloud in the temple the words of the covenant, which have been lately discovered, 4 Kings 23:2. (Calmet) --- But Esdras, a Levite, did the like; (1 Esdras 8:2,) and the command seems to be directed chiefly to the priests, from whose number Moses was not excluded, Psalm 98:6. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 31:12 | And the people being all assembled together, both men and women, children and strangers, that are within thy gates: that hearing they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and keep, and fulfil all the words of this law: | Children, (parvulis.) Those who were above 12 years of age, attended the festivals as much as possible, particularly the three great ones. Even little children came to the temple, when they did not live at too great a distance. The lawgiver knew of what importance it was to inspire their tender minds with a love and respect for religion, and for the laws. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 31:13 | That their children also, who now are ignorant, may hear, and fear the Lord their God, all the days that they live in the land whither you are going over the Jordan to possess it. | |
| Deuteronomy 31:14 | And the Lord said to Moses: Behold the days of thy death are nigh: call Josue, and stand ye in the tabernacle of the testimony, that I may give him a charge. So Moses and Josue went, and stood in the tabernacle of the testimony: | In the court, as none but priests were allowed to enter the tabernacle. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 31:15 | And the Lord appeared there in the pillar of a cloud, which stood in the entry of the tabernacle. | |
| Deuteronomy 31:16 | And the Lord said to Moses: Behold thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, and this people rising up, will go a whoring after strange gods in the land to which it goeth in to dwell: there will they forsake me, and will make void the covenant, which I have made with them: | |
| Deuteronomy 31:17 | And my wrath shall be kindled against them in that day: and I will forsake them, and will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured: all evils and afflictions shall find them, so that they shall say in that day: in truth it is because God is not with me, that these evils have found me. | My face, as one indignant and much displeased. (Calmet) --- I will withdraw my special protection and favours from them. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 31:18 | But I will hide, and cover my face in that day, for all the evils which they have done, because they have followed strange gods. | |
| Deuteronomy 31:19 | Now therefore write you this canticle, and teach the children of Israel: that they may know it by heart, and sing it by mouth, and this song may be unto me for a testimony among the children of Israel. | This canticle, which will be given in the following chapter. Hence this law, (ver. 9,) may comprise not only what had gone before, but also the remaining part of the book of Deuteronomy. This Moses would write before his death, and deliver entire, with the preceding books, to be kept with the utmost care, by the priests, as a testimony to remind all of what had happened in past ages, and what would befall the transgressors of God's law. (Haydock) --- The canticle, containing an abridgment of the book of Deuteronomy, (Calmet) as the latter did of the whole law, was to be copied out more frequently, (Haydock) and committed to memory. Some suppose that Moses and Josue are here ordered to see this put in execution. Others think that Moses gives this commission to the priests. --- That they. Hebrew, "put it in their mouths, (Calmet) that this song may be a witness for me against," etc. God foresaw that the Israelites would prove rebellious; but he leaves them without excuse, as they could not plead ignorance. (Haydock) --- This testimony against them was written in the form of a canticle, that it might be more easily remembered. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 31:20 | For I will bring them into the land, for which I swore to their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey. And when they have eaten, and are full, and fat, they will turn away after strange gods, and will serve them: and will despise me, and make void my covenant. | Despise, (detrahent,) "detract," (Haydock) and represent me as an unjust and weak God. Hebrew, "they will despise, or blaspheme," etc. Septuagint, "they will irritate me." (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 31:21 | And after many evils and afflictions shall have come upon them, this canticle shall answer them for a testimony, which no oblivion shall take away out of the mouth of their seed. For I know their thoughts, and what they are about to do this day, before that I bring them into the land which I have promised them. | Thoughts. Hebrew, "imagination." Septuagint, "wickedness." --- Them. Hebrew, "concerning which I swore." Septuagint add, "to their fathers." (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 31:22 | Moses therefore wrote the canticle, and taught it the children of Israel. | |
| Deuteronomy 31:23 | And the Lord commanded Josue, the son of Nun, and said: Take courage, and be valiant: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I have promised, and I will be with thee. | The Lord. Hebrew has not this word, so that it would seem as if Moses had given this charge to Josue; but the context shews (Calmet) that it was the Lord; (ver. 14.) for he swore to give the land of Israel. The Septuagint insert the words Moses and the Lord. "And Moses commanded Josue....the land which the Lord swore." (Haydock) --- This is the first time that God addresses Josue, in order to confirm his authority. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 31:24 | Therefore after Moses had wrote the words of this law in a volume, and finished it: | |
| Deuteronomy 31:25 | He commanded the Levites, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying: | |
| Deuteronomy 31:26 | Take this book, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God: that it may be there for a testimony against thee. | Side. But not within, (Menochius) according to the generality of interpreters, whom Calmet follows, Exodus 25:10. But here he adopts the contrary opinion of Jonathan and Grotius, and asserts that this writing, containing the 29th, 30th, and 31st chapters, on thin boards, was placed in the ark, beside the tables of the law, in the same manner as the Philistines placed it in a coffer of gold, 1 Kings 6:8. We read (3 Kings 8:9,) that there was nothing in the ark except the two tables, which might be true at the time that book was written; though St. Paul (Hebrews 9:4,) tells us, that the golden pot, and the rod of Aaron, were in the ark. If they were there in the days when the author of the first book of Kings lived, the passage in question must be understood with these exceptions. (Calmet) --- This difficulty cannot, however, be now easily decided, as the Scripture often uses the word in to denote near to, etc., ver. 14. The coffer of the Philistines might also be on the outside of the ark. (Haydock) --- Thee. This act of ratification of the covenant, which had been made at Horeb, 39 years before, (Calmet) was placed in or near the ark. (Haydock) --- The three chapters, of which it probably consisted, seem to have been what was discovered in the reign of Josias; as the threats and blessings which they contain, would naturally tend to make a strong impression upon all, 4 Kings 22:8. (Calmet) --- Kennicott thinks that Helcias discovered the very manuscript, which Moses had written with his own hand, and which he deposited neither in, nor fastened to any side of the ark, but only placed by the side (mitsad, juxta, Noldius) of it, or upon the same table; so that it might not be taken by the Philistines, but kept in some suitable place. (Dis. ii.) It is surprising that Huet cites Jonathan as delivering this sentiment, in capsa ad latus dextrum. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 31:27 | For I know thy obstinacy, and thy most stiff neck. While I am yet living, and going in with you, you have always been rebellious against the Lord: how much more when I shall be dead? | |
| Deuteronomy 31:28 | Gather unto me all the ancients of your tribes, and your doctors, and I will speak these words in their hearing, and will call heaven and earth to witness against them. | |
| Deuteronomy 31:29 | For I know that, after my death, you will do wickedly, and will quickly turn aside from the way that I have commanded you: and evils shall come upon you in the latter times, when you shall do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him by the works of your hands. | |
| Deuteronomy 31:30 | Moses therefore spoke, in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel, the words of this canticle, and finished it even to the end. | |
| Deuteronomy 32:0 | A canticle for the remembrance of the law. Moses is commanded to go up into a mountain, from whence he shall see the promised land, but not enter into it. | |
| Deuteronomy 32:1 | Hear, *O ye heavens, the things I speak, let the earth give ear to the words of my mouth. | Year of the World 2553, Year before Christ 1451. Speak. Hebrew and Septuagint, "Heaven attend, and I will speak." (Haydock) --- Never was there an exordium more pompous, or better adapted to the subject. Moses calls those who never die to witness what he asserts, as if to insinuate that these truths ought never to be forgotten. See Numbers 4:6. Virgil (Aeneid xii.) imitates this style, Esto nunc sol testis et haec mihi terra precanti, (Calmet) which he puts in the mouth of Aeneas, to whom Latinus replies, Haec eadem Aenea, terram, mare, sidera juro. |
| Deuteronomy 32:2 | Let my doctrine gather as the rain, let my speech distil as the dew, as a shower upon the herb, and as drops upon the grass. | Gather, as rain does from vapours; (Menochius) so let the sum of what I have taught you be collected into this short canticle, and penetrate your hearts. (Haydock) --- Chaldean, "may my discourse be as delightful as the rain." Septuagint, "may my apophthegm (or sententious discourse, Calmet) be expected with earnestness, like rain," when the soil is thirsty. (Haydock) --- Preachers are compared to clouds, and their speech to rain, Isaias 60:8., and Ecclesiasticus 39:4. --- Drops. Some explain this and the former term in the original, of "a stormy and vehement shower," while others attach this idea only to the last part of the sentence. (Calmet) --- The lawgiver wishes to engage the hearts of his audience by mildness, though he is forced also to thunder, in order to rouse their attention, ver. 15. (Haydock) --- Sound doctrine produces much fruit in good dispositions, as rain causeth the seed to push forth which has been sown in an excellent soil. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 32:3 | Because I will invoke the name of the Lord: give ye magnificence to our God. | Invoke, or praise. (Vatable) --- Magnificence; admire and fear his greatness. (Calmet) --- The first duty of men is to praise God, the next to confess their sins, ver. 5. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 32:4 | The works of God are perfect, and all his ways are judgments: God is faithful, and without any iniquity, he is just and right. | Right. You cannot complain of having been first abandoned by God. All his works and proceedings are entitled to praise. Hebrew, "This rock, (hatsur) his works are perfect." (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "God, his works are true." (Haydock) --- God is often styled a rock, to denote this strength, ver. 18., and Psalm 62:8. |
| Deuteronomy 32:5 | They have sinned against him, and are none of his children, in their filth: they are a wicked and perverse generation. | Filth, or idolatry. The fidelity of God is contrasted with the infidelity of his people, who deserve not to be called his children. The Septuagint, Chaldean, Syriac, and Arabic, seem to have read in a different manner from what the Hebrew does at present. (Calmet) --- As it stands it is quite unintelligible: Corrupit, non filii ejus, macula eorum. Two letters have been carelessly inserted, and la has been placed after lu, contrary to the Samaritan text, which is perfectly clear: "They are corrupted, they are not his, but filii maculae, children defiled." (Houbigant, prol. 75.) --- Capellus (p. 288,) condemns the Septuagint as he follows a wrong punctuation, and translates, "they did not sin against him, reprehensible children;" whereas, it more properly signifies, "they sinned, not his, but children deserving reprehension, (or children of blame, they did not belong or stick close to him) being a crooked and perverse generation." (Haydock) --- Their wickedness cannot be attributed to God. He is no less powerful and holy, though they have given themselves up to the service of idols. (St. Augustine, q. 55.) (Calmet) --- He had given them all necessary instructions and assistance; so that, finding them always prone to evil, the more favours he heaped upon them, he was on the point of exterminating all the guilty at once, ver. 26. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 32:6 | Is this the return thou makest to the Lord, O foolish and senseless people? Is not he thy father, that hath possessed thee, and made thee, and created thee? | Possessed thee, as his peculiar inheritance. (Menochius) --- Hebrew, "has purchased thee, made thee, and established thee." The Septuagint render this last word like the Vulgate as they seem to have read, ibnoc. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 32:7 | *Remember the days of old, think upon every generation: ask thy father, and he will declare to thee: thy elders, and they will tell thee. Job 8:8. | |
| Deuteronomy 32:8 | When the Most High divided the nations: when he separated the sons of Adam, he appointed the bounds of people according to the number of the children of Israel. | Israel. He suffered the people of Chanaan to occupy as much land as would be requisite for the Israelites. Septuagint, "according to the number of the angels of God." Hence many of the ancients gathered that there were seventy angel guardians of provinces, and as many languages; while others did not pretend to determine the exact number. But the version which they have followed, is in opposition to all the rest. (Calmet) --- They have also disputed on this occasion, whether the elect will be equal in number to the good angels, as St. Gregory thinks; (hom. 34, in Luke xv.) or they will only fill up the places of those who have fallen. See Mag. Sent. 2:9. Abenezra observes, that interpreters understand this text as alluding to the dispersion of nations, (Genesis xi.) when God decreed that the land of the seven nations should belong to and be sufficient for the Israelites. (Amama) (Haydock) --- The Hebrew may be rendered, "He fixed the limits of each people. At that time the children of Israel were few in number, (9) when the Lord chose his people," etc. Long after the division of the earth, (which the Lord had ordered, Acts 17:26,) the Israelites were very few in number, as Jacob observes, Genesis 34:30. See Deuteronomy 26:5., and Psalm 104:9, 12. (Calmet) --- But this explication does not satisfy Houbigant, (p. 76, Prol.) no more than that of Le Clerc. He is convinced that a word has been transposed, and another left out, as the Samaritan copy has Israel twice, and he would therefore translate, "He divided his people according to the number of the sons of Israel." In his eternal decrees, He allotted twelve portions of land in Chanaan to the descendants of Jacob, and these Josue was ordered to mark out for them. See Josue 4:5. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 32:9 | But the Lord's portion is his people: Jacob the lot of his inheritance. | Lot. Hebrew literally, "the cord," in allusion to the ancient method of dividing lands with a cord. Herodotus (II. 6,) observes, that the length of one, in the Upper Egypt, was 60 stadia, or 7700 paces, while it was only half as much in the Lower Egypt. |
| Deuteronomy 32:10 | He found him in a desert land, in a place of horror, and of waste wilderness: he led him about, and taught him: and he kept him as the apple of his eye. | He found. Septuagint and Chaldean, "he gave him what was sufficient, in the desert land." God made a choice of a nation destitute of every thing, that they might confess with gratitude that they had received all from him. (Calmet) --- "Taught him" both by "instructions," and by various "chastisements." Septuagint, epaideusen. (Haydock) --- The space of forty years was necessary (Calmet) to eradicate the propensity to evil, and the corrupt manners of the Hebrews, who were therefore conducted through a wilderness, where they might not be contaminated by the company of other nations, (Haydock) but might have leisure to meditate on the law of God. (Calmet) --- Eye, with the utmost care. (Menochius) --- He protected those whom he had chosen out of pure mercy. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 32:11 | As the eagle enticing her young to fly, and hovering over them, he spread his wings, and hath taken him, and carried him on his shoulders. | Shoulders, as (Exodus 19:4,) upon the wings of eagles. It is said that the eagle hovers over the nest, to encourage her young ones to fly, and when she sees them exhausted, she takes them upon her back. This similitude shews the extreme affection of God towards his people. Hebrew and Chaldean may also be, "as an eagle makes (Calmet; or stirs up) her nest, hatches her young, spreads her wings over them, and bears them upon her wings, so the Lord alone was his leader." (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 32:12 | The Lord alone was his leader: and there was no strange god with him. | With him, to stand up in their defence, though the Israelites adored but too many others in the desert. |
| Deuteronomy 32:13 | He set him upon high land: that he might eat the fruits of the field, that he might suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the hardest stone. | High land, in a place of safety, both against the enemy, and the inundations of water. The Nile renders Egypt like one continued sea for about 80 days, in the summer season. (Calmet) --- God had already begun to put the Israelites in possession of the fertile countries east of the Jordan, where there were several high mountains. (Haydock) --- But when this canticle should be recited, in after ages, they would also enjoy the other regions, which had been promised unto them, on the west. Moses speaks, like a prophet, of things to come, as if they were already past. (Menochius) --- Stone. Bees make honey in such places, and olive trees flourish on the side of a hill. Vestiges still remain of the industry with which the Jews have formerly cultivated their territory, supporting the earth with walls (Calmet) when it was in danger of falling down, or of becoming barren, for want of moisture. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 32:14 | Butter of the herd, and milk of the sheep, with the fat of lambs, and of the rams of the breed of Basan: and goats with the marrow of wheat, and might drink the purest blood of the grape. | Butter or "cream," as the former article was probably not yet discovered, Genesis 18:8. (Calmet) --- The proofs of this assertion, from the original, chemath, and from the Scripture, frequently representing butter as a liquid, seem not, however, very solid. See Judges 5:25., and Proverbs 30:33. The Septuagint have literally, "the butter of oxen," but the latter name includes all of the species. (Haydock) --- Basan. The Septuagint have, "the young of bulls and of he-goats;" though they generally translate "fat sheep." See St. Jerome in Isaias liii. --- Wheat. Hebrew, "fat of the kidneys of wheat." --- Grape. See Genesis 49:11. Androcides wrote to Alexander, who loved wine too much, "when thou art about to drink wine, remember, O king, that thou art drinking the blood of the earth." (Pliny, [Natural History?] 14:15.) |
| Deuteronomy 32:15 | The beloved grew fat, and kicked: he grew fat, and thick and gross, he forsook God who made him, and departed from God his Saviour. | Beloved. Hebrew yeshurun, is supposed to be a diminutive of Israel, Deuteronomy 33:5., and 26. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked; thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God, which made him, and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation." This sudden change of persons is not found in the Septuagint. "And Jacob eat, and was filled, and the beloved kicked; he grew fat, thick, and broad, and he abandoned God....and revolted from God his Saviour." (Haydock) --- Temporal prosperity occasioned the revolt of the Jews against their benefactor. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 32:16 | They provoked him by strange gods, and stirred him up to anger with their abominations. | |
| Deuteronomy 32:17 | They sacrificed to devils and not to God: to gods whom they knew not: that were newly come up, whom their fathers worshipped not. | Devils. Hebrew, "to the destroyers, or to those of the fields." See Leviticus 17:7., and Baruch 4:7, 35. (Calmet) --- Knew not. Septuagint, "revered not." (Haydock) --- Hebrew may be, "who knew them not," who had bestowed nothing upon them, Deuteronomy 29:26. --- Come up. Hebrew, "of the neighbourhood;" gods whose origin they knew, (Calmet) as well as the people who had given them that title; (Haydock) gods of human invention. (Menochius) --- Novelty allureth to the worship of idols and to heresy. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 32:18 | Thou hast forsaken the God that begot thee, and hast forgotten the Lord that created thee. | Created. Septuagint, "gave thee food." Hebrew, "of the rock that begat thee, thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee, (Haydock) or praises thee," the source of thy felicity. (Calmet) --- Calvin (Institutes 1:11. 9[19?],) to insinuate that Catholics adore pictures, as the Israelites did the golden calf, pretends that they could not have forgotten that God delivered them out of Egypt. Thus he contradicts the Scriptures! (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 32:19 | The Lord saw, and was moved to wrath: because his own sons and daughters provoked him. | Daughters. The women of Israel, who were not less addicted to idolatry than the men. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 32:20 | And he said: I will hide my face from them, and will consider what their last end shall be: for it is a perverse generation, and unfaithful children. | From them. The Jews themselves acknowledged, in the siege of Jerusalem, that God had abandoned and given up to destruction his once beloved people. (Josephus, Jewish Wars 7:8.) (Calmet) --- Consider, or look on their utter ruin with indifference, or rather with complacency. (Haydock) --- I will laugh at your destruction, Proverbs 1:16. (Calmet) --- God loves without seeing any preceding merit in his creatures, but he never abandons them till they have first proved unfaithful. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 32:21 | They have provoked me with that which was no god, and have angered me with their vanities: *and I will provoke them with that, which is no people, and will vex them with a foolish nation. Jeremias 15:14.; Romans 10:19. | Vanities. Septuagint, "idols." (Haydock) --- Nation. The Gentiles were of this description, when they were called to the true faith. This excited the indignation of the Jews, as they would neither enter heaven themselves, nor suffer others to obtain that happiness, Romans 1:19. (Theodoret, q. 41.) "An association bound together by law, constitutes a nation. A multitude which has no laws, or bad ones, is unworthy of the name." (Grotius) --- The Jews looked upon all others with sovereign contempt. (Calmet) --- Now, in their turn, they are despised. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 32:22 | A fire is kindled in my wrath, and shall burn even to the lowest hell: and shall devour the earth with her increase, and shall burn the foundations of the mountains. | A fire. He alludes to the destruction of Sodom, (Calmet) which may be considered as a figure of that which will overtake the whole world at the last day, and excruciate both the souls and the bodies of the reprobate in the flames of hell. (Haydock) --- Fire also denotes war, the horrors of which overwhelmed the Jews both at the first and the last sieges of Jerusalem. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 32:23 | I will heap evils upon them, and will spend my arrows among them. | Arrows. Pestilence, famine, war, sickness, and death, are termed the arrows of God. |
| Deuteronomy 32:24 | They shall be consumed with famine, and birds shall devour them with a most bitter bite: I will send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the fury of creatures that trail upon the ground, and of serpents. | Birds. This refers in a particular manner to those who are deprived of sepulture, and hung on a gibbet, Deuteronomy 27:26. Josephus (Jewish Wars 6:12,) informs us, that the multitude of Jews who were to be crucified, was so great, that sufficient wood could not be procured to make crosses for them, nor was there place for them to stand. Hebrew, "they shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat;" (Haydock) or with the disease called the carbuncle. (Calmet) --- But the Septuagint and Chaldean explain it of "birds." (Haydock) --- Bite. Septuagint, "with a painful contraction of the nerves." Chaldean, "infested with evil spirits." --- Beasts. Thus God forced the people of Samaria to obey his law, 4 Kings 17:25. --- Fury, "venom." (Pagnin) (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 32:25 | Without, the sword shall lay them waste, and terror within, both the young man and the virgin, the sucking child with the man in years. | |
| Deuteronomy 32:26 | I said: Where are they? I will make the memory of them to cease from among men. | Men. Hebrew, "I said I will disperse or exterminate them." Samaritan, "my fury shall consume them." We may translate, "I had resolved to destroy them; 27. But," etc., (Calmet) or Protestants, "I said I would scatter them into corners, and would....were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy," etc. --- Where are they? in the mouth of God, shews an utter destruction, so that no vestiges of them remain. Their memory is perished. (Haydock) --- God sometimes defers punishing the sinner for just reasons. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 32:27 | But for the wrath of the enemies, I have deferred it: lest perhaps their enemies might be proud, and should say: Our mighty hand, and not the Lord, hath done all these things. | Wrath. The enemies of the Israelites wished nothing more than their destruction. If therefore God had gratified this desire, by punishing his people, as they deserved, the enemy would have presently insinuated, that He had not been able to drive them out, or that (Haydock) he was fickle, etc. --- Mighty. (excelsa;) "lifted up." This expression shews the pride and insolence of those who make use of it, as if they despised God and all his laws. Procopius mentions this wicked inscription, to be still seen at Rome, "I lift up my hands to (or against) God, who destroyed me, though innocent, in the 20th year of my age." Pos. Procius, (Calmet) who seems to have been a woman, quae vixi, etc. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 32:28 | They are a nation without counsel, and without wisdom. | Wisdom. Interpreters generally explain this and the eight following verses, of those nations whom God employed to scourge his people, though some understand it all of the Israelites. (Calmet) --- The words may be applied to all who transgress the law of God, as this is a sure mark of folly and impiety, and the Lord earnestly wishes that all should be converted, ver. 29. True wisdom reflects on the past, present, and future, (Worthington) in order to make provision for the last great conflict. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 32:29 | *O that they would be wise, and would understand, and would provide for their last end. Jeremias 9:12. | |
| Deuteronomy 32:30 | How should one pursue after a thousand, and two chase ten thousand? Was it not because their God had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up? | Thousand. In the battles which the Israelites had fought, the hand of God had appeared so visibly in their defence, giving them the victory over nations much more numerous, (Calmet) that all must confess their defeat must be in punishment of some former transgression, and that it is not the mighty hand of the enemy, but God himself, who chastises his people, as he had foretold, Deuteronomy 28:7, 25, 49. (Haydock) --- Of this the neighbouring nations were convinced, as Achior declared to the Holofernes, Judith 5:17. When the Hebrews neglected the law of God they were oppressed, and their conversion was presently rewarded with liberty, (Calmet) and a profusion of blessings. |
| Deuteronomy 32:31 | For our God is not as their gods: our enemies themselves are judges. | Judges. The Egyptians, Amalecites, etc., had witnessed the miracles which God had now wrought for 40 years' time, in favour of his people. (Haydock) --- They knew also how the Israelites had been punished for their sins. (Menochius) --- Though they followed a false religion themselves, they could discern the beauty of the true one. (Worthington) --- Video meliora proboque---Deteriora sequor. (Ovid) |
| Deuteronomy 32:32 | Their vines are of the vineyard of Sodom, and of the suburbs of Gomorrha: their grapes are grapes of gall, and their clusters most bitter. | Bitter. The enemies of Israel, were of an accursed progeny. (Haydock) --- They imitated the vices of those wicked cities. Moses cautioned his people to beware of the root of bitterness, Deuteronomy 29:18. (Calmet) --- If they should neglect the admonition, and become like the Chanaanites, they knew what they had to expect. (Haydock) --- Their works being hateful to the Lord, (Menochius) he would surely punish them. The fruits which grow near the lake of Sodom, though sometimes fair to the eye, (Haydock) are full of dust, "black and empty, they fall to ashes," in cinerem vanescunt. (Tacitus v.; Josephus, Jewish Wars 5:5.) Growing on a bituminous soil, they could not but have a disagreeable taste. (Calmet) --- The authors of the Universal History call in question what the ancients have reported concerning the fruits of Sodom. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 32:33 | Their wine is the gall of dragons, and the venom of asps, which is incurable. | |
| Deuteronomy 32:34 | Are not these things stored up with me, and sealed up in my treasures? | Treasures. Whether we refer to the preceding remarks to the faithless Israelites, whose corruption was less pardonable, as they had received so many favours from above, or to their proud and cruel enemies, who exceeded the bounds of moderation in their wars, God keeps an exact account of all, and will shortly punish both, according to their deserts. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 32:35 | *Revenge is mine, and I will repay them in due time, that their foot may slide: the day of destruction is at hand, and the time makes haste to come. Ecclesiasticus 28:1.; Romans 12:19.; Hebrews 10:30. | Time. Men are eager to punish their enemies, for fear lest they should escape. But God defers his chastisements frequently in this world, designing to make his enemies feel the weight of his indignation for all eternity. How consoling it is for the just, to think they have God for an avenger. "If thou, says Tertullian, remit the injury, which thou hast received, into his hands, he is the avenger....How much ought patience to endure, in order to make God a debtor." Adeo satisidoneus patientiae sequester Deus. --- That. Septuagint, "when" (Calmet) they shall fall and come to ruin. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 32:36 | The Lord will judge his people,* and will have mercy on his servants: he shall see that their hand is weakened, and that they who were shut up have also failed, and they that remained are consumed. 2 Machabees 7:6. | People who have been guilty, that he may spare them, when they repent. (Menochius) --- "He will give judgment in favour of his people," etc. (Houbigant) --- Servants. He will not involve the innocent in the ruin of the rebellious. (Menochius) --- But, at the same time, he will have them to be convinced that their salvation came not from themselves. He will assist them when all human aid has proved abortive, (Haydock) and when they are reduced to the utmost distress. See Isaias 35:3., and 3 Kings 21:21. Those who may have thought themselves secure in their sins, will not escape punishment. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 32:37 | And he shall say: *Where are their gods, in whom they trusted? Jeremias 2:28. | |
| Deuteronomy 32:38 | Of whose victims they ate the fat, and drank the wine of their drink-offerings: Let them arise and help you, and protect you in your distress. | Wine. Hence the Jews abhor the wine of Christians, whom they consider as the greatest enemies of God. The pagans were accustomed to make libations to their idols, even in their ordinary repasts. (Calmet) --- The fat was always sacred to God, Leviticus 3:17. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 32:39 | See ye that I alone am, and there is no other God besides me: *I will kill, and I will make to live: I will strike, and I will heal, **and there is none that can deliver out of my hand. 1 Kings 2:6.; Tobias 13:2.; Wisdom 16:13.; Job 10:7.; Wisdom 16:15. | |
| Deuteronomy 32:40 | I will lift up my hand to heaven, and I will say: I live for ever. | For ever. God can swear by no one greater than himself, Hebrews 6:13. |
| Deuteronomy 32:41 | If I shall whet my sword as the lightning, and my hand take hold on judgment: I will render vengeance to my enemies, and repay them that hate me. | Lightning, equally terrible and penetrating: fulminis acta modo. (Virgil, Aeneid ix.) (Calmet) --- Judgment, to punish with rigour my declared enemies. (Haydock) --- These verses seem to regard the idolatrous nations, (Menochius) though God will not fail to punish the guilty, wherever they may be found. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 32:42 | I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh, of the blood of the slain and of the captivity, of the bare head of the enemies. | Enemies. I will tear the crown from off their head. Chaldean, I will destroy the king, as well as the meanest captives. Protestants, "from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy." At the very first I will completely destroy them. (Haydock) --- I will punish them for the slaughter and captivity of my people, whom they have shaved, as a mark of their servile condition. (Menochius) --- Their bare head, or vain counsels, will be detected and punished. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 32:43 | *Praise his people, ye nations, for he will revenge the blood of his servants: and will render vengeance to their enemies, and he will be merciful to the land of his people. 2 Machabees 7:6. | People. Though God afflicted the Israelites for a time, he was always disposed to receive them to his favour again, upon their repentance; and he will even receive them into his Church, before the day of judgment, Romans 11:25. (Calmet) --- This decided predilection for them, would naturally induce other nations to praise them. Grabe's Septuagint reads, "Rejoice ye heavens with him, and let all the sons of God adore him, and let all the angels of God strengthen them, because He revengeth the blood of his sons; and he will continue to do so, and he will punish his enemies, and will render to those who hate him; and the Lord will purify the land of his people." (Haydock) --- In some editions of the Septuagint, after Let all the angels of God adore him, (cited [in] Hebrews 1:6.; Cappel.) they read, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people, which St. Paul quotes, Romans 15:10; and then they add, "And Moses wrote this canticle on that day, and he taught it to the children of Israel; (Calmet) 44. and Moses came forth to the people, and spoke all the words of this law, in the ears of the people, he and Jesus, the son of Nave," by which name they designate Josue, the son of Nun. (Haydock) --- He assisted Moses in singing the canticle, as his colleague in office, to whom the obligation of withdrawing the people from idolatry would henceforth devolve. (Menochius) --- God always preserved some of the Jews from the general corruption, till the time of the Messias. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 32:44 | So Moses came and spoke all the words of this canticle, in the ears of the people, and Josue, the son of Nun. | |
| Deuteronomy 32:45 | And he ended all these words, speaking to all Israel. | |
| Deuteronomy 32:46 | And he said to them : Set your hearts on all the words which I testify to you this day: which you shall command your children to observe and to do, and to fulfil all that is written in this law: | |
| Deuteronomy 32:47 | For they are not commanded you in vain, but that every one should live in them: and that doing them, you may continue a long time in the land whither you are going over the Jordan to possess it. | Live. Hebrew, "it is your life." They were to cherish the law as their own lives; for their prosperity and length of days depended on their observance of it. |
| Deuteronomy 32:48 | And the Lord spoke to Moses the same day, saying: | |
| Deuteronomy 32:49 | Go up into this mountain Abarim, (that is to say, of passages) unto Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, over-against Jericho: and see the land of Chanaan, which I will deliver to the children of Israel to possess, and die thou in the mountain. | Passages. The author of the Vulgate has given this explication of Abarim. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 32:50 | When thou art gone up into it, thou shalt be gathered to thy people, *as Aaron thy brother died in Mount Hor, and was gathered to his people: Numbers 20:26.; Numbers 27:13. | |
| Deuteronomy 32:51 | *Because you trespassed against me, in the midst of the children of Israel, at the waters of contradiction, in Cades, of the desert of Sin: and you did not sanctify me among the children of Israel. | Cades. Hebrew, "at the waters of Meriba-Cadesh," etc. |
| Deuteronomy 32:52 | Thou shalt see the land before thee, which I will give to the children of Israel, but thou shalt not enter into it. Numbers 20:12.; Numbers 27:14. | Into it. By repeating this reproach and judgment, God excited in his servant the most lively sentiments of repentance for his fault, Numbers xx. (Haydock) --- Aaron had been deprived of the sight of this delightful country. If they had been labouring for its acquisition alone, the reflection must have been very cutting. But they had a better country in view, though they had greatly desired to enter into that land which was to be ennobled and purified by the birth and blood of the Son of God. (Haydock) --- Having received the order from God in the evening, after Moses had taught his canticle to the people, he immediately set his house in order, and on the following morning he gave his last blessing to the tribes of Israel, and was attended by the chiefs to the foot of the mountain. (Salien) |
| Deuteronomy 33:0 | Moses, before his death, blesseth the tribes of Israel. | |
| Deuteronomy 33:1 | This is the blessing wherewith the man of God, Moses, blessed the children of Israel, before his death. | Blessing. The Fathers, St. Augustine, (q. 56,) etc., explain this of the Christian Church, rather than of the Synagogue. (Theodoret) --- Man of God. A title given to a prophet, 1 Kings 2:27., and 9:6. The prophets often speak of things to come, as if they were past, as we have seen in the conduct of Balaam, Numbers 24:3. Moses here delivers his last testament, and speaks as one no longer in the world, so that there is no reason to affirm that this chapter has been added by another hand; (Calmet) though Kennicott thinks it probable. He suggests, that the first verses of this blessing have been corrupted in the Hebrew and should be translated: 2. He, Jehovah, came from Sinai, and he arose upon them from Seir; (Judges 5:4.) 3. He shone forth from Mount Pharan, and he came from Meriba-Cadesh. (Numbers 20:1. 13.) From his right hand a fire shone forth upon them. 4. Truly he loved the people, and he blessed all his saints. 5. For they fell down at his feet, and they received of his words. 6. He commanded us a law, the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob. 7. And He became king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people were assembled, together with the tribes of Israel. See (Dis. 1:p. 423,) the arguments which he produces in favour of this version. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 33:2 | And he said: The Lord came from Sinai, and from Seir he rose up to us: he hath appeared from Mount Pharan, and with him thousands of saints. In his right hand a fiery law. | Pharan. Habacuc 3:3, mentions this apparition. See also Psalm 67:9. --- Saints. God was accompanied by legions of angels, when he delivered the law to the Israelites, who are styled a nation of saints, Numbers 16:3. Septuagint, "he hastened from Mount Pharan, with ten thousands to Cades. At his right hand are his angels attending." (Haydock) --- Kodesh does not mean saints, but holiness, or the city of Cades; and the preceding word, which Protestants translate, with ten thousands, more probably refers to another title of the city, as it is specified Meriba-Cadesh, Deuteronomy 32:51., and Ezechiel 48:28. (Kennicott) --- Law. Chaldean, "from the midst of the fire he has given us a law, written with his own hand." We may translate, "He hath shone from Mount Pharan, and multitudes accompanied him. The Holy One, who hath in his hand fire and the law." See Isaias 6:3. God conducted his people, like a victorious general, through the wilderness, frequently appearing to them to strike terror into the rebellious. (Calmet) --- When he first descended upon Sinai, his glory shone on Pharan and Seir, as it were in its progress thither. (Menochius) --- The law is styled fiery, not only because it was given from the midst of flames, but also because it was to be put in execution with the utmost rigour. (Haydock) --- But doth is Chaldean, and no where else used for the law in the books written before the captivity, nor is it acknowledged by the Septuagint, Syriac, etc. Perhaps it was originally aur, as it is in the Samaritan version, "shone forth," conformably to a similar passage, Habacuc 3:4. "His brightness was as the sun, horns, or rather splendours (issuing forth) from his hand," etc. (Kennicott) |
| Deuteronomy 33:3 | He hath loved the people, *all the saints are in his hand: and they that approach to his feet, shall receive of his doctrine. Wisdom 3:1.; Wisdom 5:5. | People, (populos.) God loves and watches over all, but particularly (Calmet) over the nation which he has chosen. (Chaldean) See Wisdom 3:1., and Isaias 49:16. --- Doctrine. It was formerly the custom for disciples to sit at their master's feet, (Acts 22:3,) as it is still in the eastern countries. (Bellon. 3:12.) Septuagint, "and these are under thee;" (Haydock) subject to thy orders. (Calmet) --- Hebrew is here extremely confused: "Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand, and they eat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words." Moses here addresses the Lord. How could he say therefore, all his, etc.? whose saints, and in whose hand? The Vulgate and Chaldean have not the same difficulty, as they read, in his hand, bidu. But the Syriac has, "and he blessed all his saints." Boroc is not very unlike the present Hebrew bidoc, (Kennicott) r and d being frequently mistaken for each other, and i as often neglected by the Hebrew copyists. (Haydock) --- The Samaritan version confirms this alteration; and the text also has the v, and, at the beginning, which makes the whole to be clearly connected, particularly if we allow that c, which stands for thy, has been substituted for v, his, in the following words, thy feet and thy words, which ought to be his, as all the context speaks of God in the third person. This is agreeable to the Vulgate and to the Septuagint also, in the last instance. In the former, the Hebrew is printed thy foot, though the Samaritan and several manuscripts read thy feet. Instead of yissa, "he shall receive," (Haydock) the plural ought to be substituted, v being omitted both at the beginning and end, as it is in the name of Benaihu, 1 Paralipomenon 11:22. See 2 Kings 23:20. The Samaritan, Syriac, and Arabic, read and they received, (Kennicott) and the Vulgate, they shall receive. The Septuagint seem to refer this to Moses, "And Moses received from his words, the law which he enjoined to us." (Haydock) --- That Moses should speak of himself, in this manner, seems very unaccountable, and therefore a word may perhaps have crept in, on account of its resemblance with the following term, Mursse. If it has not, Moses must have assumed the title of king, (ver. 5,) which he seems nevertheless to have disclaimed; (chap. 17:14,) and there was none in Israel before Saul, 1 Kings 8:7. (Kennicott) --- We may, however, suppose that he puts these words in the mouths of the people, who would repeat this blessing after he was dead, and mention with gratitude, how Moses had delivered to them so excellent a law, and administered the affairs of state with all the power and dignity of a king. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 33:4 | Moses commanded us a law, the inheritance of the multitude of Jacob. | Moses. He expresses himself as if the people were speaking. The change of persons is very frequent in this discourse. --- Inheritance. So the psalmist (Psalm 118:111,) says, I have purchased thy testimonies for an inheritance for ever. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 33:5 | He shall be king with the most right, the princes of the people being assembled with the tribes of Israel. | He shall, etc. Erit rex, may perhaps be as well rendered indefinitely, "There shall be a king;" or, with the Septuagint, "And there shall be over the beloved a ruler," as (Haydock) some understand this of Moses, others of Saul, though it most probably refers to God himself, who gave the law, and was acknowledged, in the most solemn manner, for the king of Israel. --- Right. Hebrew yishurun, a term which St. Jerome translates, with the Septuagint, (Calmet) Deuteronomy 32:15, the beloved, as it is supposed to be a diminutive of Israel, to express greater tenderness. Thus Cicero called his daughter Tulliola. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 33:6 | Let Ruben live, and not die, and be he small in number. | Number. This is conformable to the prophecy of Jacob, who deprived Ruben of his birth-right, on account of incest. He is even treated with indulgence, in being permitted to form one of the tribes. Yet some copies of the Septuagint, Syriac, (Theodoret q. 42,) and many interpreters, take this in a quite contrary sense, "let him be numerous, or not few;" the negation being supplied from the former part of the verse, which is not unusual in Hebrew. See Genesis 2:6., Psalm 9:19., and Proverbs 31:1, etc. The tribe of Ruben was in effect more numerous than those of Gad, Joseph, or Benjamin. Simeon receives no blessing, probably on account of the crimes for which so many of that tribe were exterminated, (Numbers 1:23., and 26:14.; Calmet,) and particularly Zambri, one of the chief princes, Numbers xxv. (Worthington) --- But Grabe's Septuagint applies to Simeon what the rest attribute to Ruben. "And let Simeon be many in number." No solid reason can be given why he should be passed over entirely, as, notwithstanding the infidelity of some of his children, and his own cruelty in not endeavouring to rescue Joseph, etc., he was to form a tribe among his brethren. (Haydock) --- Some, therefore, imagine that he was to share in the blessings of Ruben, or of Levi, (with whom he is joined by Jacob, Genesis 49:5,) or of Juda, near whom he had his allotment of the promised land. Part of the tribe of Simeon afterwards dwelt in the territories of Juda, Josue 19:1., 1 Paralipomenon 4:42., and Judges 1:3. But (Calmet) it is more likely that the name has been omitted or changed in the original, by the mistake of some early transcriber, in like manner as the tribe of Manasses, included in that of Joseph, seems to have been placed for that of Dan, which otherwise would be omitted, Apocalypse 7:6, 8. Some have recourse to a mystery in both these places. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 33:7 | This is the blessing of Juda. Hear, O Lord, the voice of Juda, and bring him in unto his people: his hands shall fight for him, and he shall be his helper against his enemies. | Of Juda, "when he goes to war, and bring him back in peace to his people." (Onkelos) --- The general made a solemn prayer on such occasions; and the Psalm xix. was composed, and is still used, to draw down God's blessing in times of war. Moses thus clearly insinuates that the tribe of Juda should obtain the sovereign authority, though it would not be without opposition, that Israel would submit to David. He begs that God would remove all obstacles. This tribe was always distinguished for its valour. It was directed by God to attack the Chanaanites, under Othoniel, Judges 1:2. But its chief glory appeared under the reigns of David and Solomon. The other tribes were scarcely a match for the single tribe of Juda. (Calmet) --- And he, God. (Menochius) --- If God be for us, who is against us? (Romans 8:31.) (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 33:8 | To Levi also he said: Thy perfection and thy doctrine be to thy holy man, whom thou hast proved in the temptation, and judged at the waters of contradiction: | Holy man. Aaron and his successors in the priesthood. (Challoner) --- They were adorned with the Urim and Thummim, which are here rendered perfection and doctrine. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "give to Levi his insignia, (delous) and his truth, to the holy man, the same whom they tried at the temptation, they spoke ill of him at the waters," etc. It was in consequence of the seditious conduct of the Israelites that the two brothers betrayed a want of confidence in God, and were excluded from the land of promise, as Moses often reminds them, Deuteronomy 3:26. (Haydock) --- Temptation. The place which goes by this name is at Raphidim, near Horeb, Exodus 17:6. But the word here probably includes all the other places, where the Hebrews tempted God, and particularly that, where so holy a man as Aaron was permitted to fall. (Calmet) (Numbers 20:12.) --- The priesthood is the peculiar blessing and honour of the tribe of Levi. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 33:9 | *Who hath said to his father, and to his mother: I do not know you; and to his brethren: I know you not: and their own children they have not known. These have kept thy word, and observed thy covenant, Exodus 32:27.; Leviticus 10:5. | Who hath said, etc. It is the duty of the priestly tribe to prefer God's honour and service before all considerations of flesh and blood: in such manner as to behave as strangers to their nearest akin, when these would withdraw them from the business of their calling. (Challoner) --- The Levites shewed no mercy to such of their brethren as had adored the golden calf, Exodus 32:28, 29. The Chaldean, and many able interpreters, consider them here as judges, who must not be biased in passing sentence, by any natural affection. (Vatable) --- Others think they must not assist at the funerals of their relations, Leviticus 21:10. (Calmet) --- But the two former opinions seem much better. (Haydock) --- Covenant. Priests ought to be more exemplary in their conduct than other men. (Worthington) --- It is their duty also to instruct others, and to inculcate the observance of the law, as Hebrew and Septuagint more clearly specify. "They shall teach thy judgments to Jacob, and thy law to Israel." (Haydock) --- They were appointed judges (chap. 17:8., and 19:17,) and monitors, Osee 4:6., etc. |
| Deuteronomy 33:10 | Thy judgments, O Jacob, and thy law, O Israel: they shall put incense in thy wrath, and holocaust upon thy altar. | Wrath. He seems to allude to the action of Aaron, Numbers 16:46. (Calmet) --- Hebrew has, "incense before thee," (Haydock) as it is explained by the Chaldean, Septuagint, etc. --- Holocaust, of flour, etc., calil; that of beasts was styled áule. See Deuteronomy 13:16. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 33:11 | Bless, O Lord, his strength, and receive the works of his hands. Strike the backs of his enemies, and let not them that hate him rise. | Rise. The martial prowess of the Machabees, who were of this tribe, was conspicuous. (Menochius) --- As the Levites had no portion with the rest, but were to live by tithes, etc., Moses begs that God would bless their labours, (Calmet) and suffer none to defraud them of their right. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 33:12 | And to Benjamin he said: The best beloved of the Lord shall dwell confidently in him: as in a bride-chamber shall he abide all the day long, and between his shoulders shall he rest. | Shall dwell, etc. This seems to allude to the temple being built in the confines of the tribe of Benjamin, (Challoner) on the northern part of Jerusalem. The southern division of the city was in the territory of Juda; and hence Jerusalem is attributed to both, Josue 15:63., and Judges 1:21. (Calmet) --- He rest. The temple was situated on Mount Moria, which was higher than the rest of the city, as the head is above the shoulders. (Menochius) --- Chaldean, "The majesty of the Lord shall dwell in his land." This was the sure ground of confidence to Benjamin. As long as God continued with his people, they had nothing to fear, no more than in a bride-chamber, being under the protection of the most High. (Haydock) --- As Benjamin had been the object of his father's love, so God chose the first king out of his tribe; (Menochius) and by protecting his temple in a more particular manner, secured him. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 33:13 | To Joseph also he said: Of the blessing of the Lord be his land, of the fruits of heaven and of the dew, and of the deep that lieth beneath. | Fruits. Hebrew, "for the precious things of heaven, for the dew," etc., so also it has precious, ver. 14, etc. |
| Deuteronomy 33:14 | Of the fruits brought forth by the sun and by the moon: | Moon; both those which are annual, as wheat, and those which come every month. (Chaldean) The sun and moon greatly contribute to nourish (Haydock) and to bring fruit to maturity. (Pliny, [Natural History?] 2:100. (Calmet) --- Both the tribes of Ephraim and of Manasses inhabited a fertile region. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 33:15 | Of the tops of the ancient mountains, of the fruits of the everlasting hills: | Everlasting hills. Chaldean, "which never fail" to produce an abundant crop. (Haydock) --- The hills of the Israelites were very productive. But when they rebelled against their God, in very deed the hills were liars, and yielded little or nothing, Jeremias 3:23. |
| Deuteronomy 33:16 | And of the fruits of the earth, and of the fulness thereof. The blessing of him *that appeared in the bush, come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the Nazarite, among his brethren. Exodus 3:2. | Thereof, whatever the earth can produce, particularly wheat, etc. The fruits of heaven, (ver. 13,) may denote such as grew on trees. (Calmet) --- Bush; God, who appeared to Moses. (Haydock) --- Nazarite. See the note on Genesis 49:26. (Challoner) --- Joseph was distinguished by God, by his father, and by the king of Egypt, in a particular manner. The high priest was the Nasir in the house of God, (Leviticus 21:12,) as Joseph ws the chief officer, at the court of Pharao. The eastern kings still give this title to their prime minister. (Chardin. Perse. T. 2:5, p. 136.) |
| Deuteronomy 33:17 | His beauty as of the firstling of a bullock, his horns as the horns of a rhinoceros: with them shall he push the nations even to the ends of the earth. These are the multitudes of Ephraim, and these the thousands of Manasses. | Bullock, or cow. Shor, denotes all the species, Deuteronomy 15:19. --- Firstling, is likewise often put for the most excellent. Thus "his beauty, like the finest bullock." The Egyptians had a high esteem for bulls; and Elian (II. 10,) informs us that Mnevis, one of their kings, ordered the people to adore the bull, as the most beautiful of animals. Moses points at the kingdom of Israel, which was chiefly governed by the tribe of Ephraim; or perhaps he alludes to Josue, (Calmet) who was to succeed him, and to conquer the nations on the other side of the Jordan, with so much resolution and ability. (Haydock) --- Rhinoceros, as stronger and more penetrating. See Numbers 32:22. (Calmet) --- Horns, designate strength and beauty, Psalm lxxiv. (Menochius) --- Push, alluding to the manner in which bulls attack their opponents, and hurl them into the air, sparsa ad pugnam proludit arena. (Georg. iii.) (Calmet) --- Some of the Fathers have explained this passage of Jesus Christ, the first-born of the creation, who is possessed of all the treasures of wisdom (Haydock) and beauty, whose strength drew all things to himself, after he had lifted up the nations on his cross, as it were with horns, and rescued them from the power of the devil. (St. Augustine, q. ult.[last]) (Calmet) --- Manasses. To these two tribes, the blessings of their father, Joseph, belong; and their multitudes shall render them very formidable to the nations around them, as long as they obey their God. (Haydock) --- The younger brother, Ephraim, is preferred before the elder, Genesis xlviii. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 33:18 | And to Zabulon he said: Rejoice, O Zabulon, in thy going out: and Issachar, in thy tabernacles. | Out to sea. (Calmet) --- The territory of Zabulon had the Mediterranean sea on the west, and the lake of Tiberias, into which the Jordan flowed, on the east. (Haydock) --- By the advantages of their situation, and by the example of the Tyrians, the people were induced to engage in commerce, and to study the art of navigation. --- Tabernacles. Issachar preferred staying at home to cultivate his rich soil, Genesis 49:13. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 33:19 | They shall call the people to the mountain: there shall they sacrifice the victims of justice. Who shall suck as milk the abundance of the sea, and the hidden treasures of the sands. | Mountain. Full of gratitude to God, who has bestowed such advantages upon them, these tribes shall go with zeal to the place which the Lord shall choose, (Haydock) and invite the people, on the road, to go along with them, to offer sacrifice. (Menochius) --- Perhaps this may allude also to their conduct in the war against Jabin, in which they were particularly active, appointing the place of rendezvous at Mount Thabor, where, though the Scripture be silent, it is probable they would offer a sacrifice of thanks, as they had the prophetess, Debora, along with them, (Calmet) in like manner as Samuel immolated a calf at Bethlehem, (1 Kings xvi.) and Elias a bullock on Mount Carmel, 3 Kings xviii. (Haydock) See 1 Kings 13:12. --- Sands. This blessing chiefly regarded Zabulon, who received the riches of the sea by commerce, bringing home the gold dust which is found among the sand of some rivers. The river Belus, near Ptolemais, was particularly famous for a sort of sand, of which glass was made. Josephus (Jewish Wars 2:17,) says, that near the tomb of Memnon, a bed of such sand is found, about 100 cubits long, which, though many vessels have been filled from it, has never been exhausted. See Pliny, [Natural History?] 5:19., and Strabo, xvi. --- The discovery of glass is supposed to have been the effect of chance; some merchants having placed a nitrous stone under their pot, as soon as it grew hot, and mixed with the sand, which is found near the shore of Tyre, a transparent substance was formed, which the Greeks called ualos, "glass," perhaps in imitation of the Hebrew éul, or "sand," of which it was chiefly composed. (Calmet) --- The Septuagint render this verse, "They shall destroy the nations, and you shall call thither, and there you shall sacrifice,....because the riches of the sea shall suckle thee, and the merchandise of those who inhabit the sea shore." These tribes greatly contributed to overthrow the army of Sisara beside the torrent of Cisson, which divides their territories, Judges 4., and 5. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 33:20 | And to Gad he said: Blessed be Gad in his breadth: he hath rested as a lion, and hath seized upon the arm and the top of the head. | Breadth. The tribe of Gad, etc., slew or drove the Agarites from their neighbourhood, and seized their country, 1 Paralipomenon 5:18, 22. Hebrew, Septuagint, and Chaldean, "Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad," which was verified in Jephte, Josue 11:33. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 33:21 | And he saw his pre-eminence, that in his portion the teacher was laid up: who was with the princes of the people, and did the justices of the Lord, and his judgment with Israel. | He saw, etc. The pre-eminence of the tribe of Gad, to which this alludes, was their having the lawgiver, Moses, buried in their borders; though the particular place was not known. (Challoner) --- Protestants, "and he provided the first part for himself; because there, in a portion of the lawgiver, was he seated, and he came with the heads of the people," etc. Septuagint, "And he saw his first-fruits," (the first conquered country of Sehon and of Og) because there the land of the princes was divided, the leaders of the people being assembled, or who were assembled with the leaders. (Haydock) --- Gad and the two other tribes petitioned for that part of the country, and obtained their request of Moses, Numbers 32:27. --- Israel. This is generally understood of Moses; but it may be explained of the tribe of Gad, which complied with the conditions imposed on him, and on his brethren, by the Lord, when he allotted the land of Galaad to them, Deuteronomy 3:18. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "he executed the justice of the Lord," etc. Septuagint, "the Lord did justice and his judgment with Israel," approving his choice. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 33:22 | To Dan also he said: Dan is a young lion, he shall flow plentifully from Basan. | Basan. As the Jordan rushes with impetuosity (Haydock) from Lais, which was seized by some of this tribe; (Judges xviii.) and as a lion falls on its prey from the mountains of Basan, so shall this tribe give birth to Samson, who was stronger than a lion, (Calmet) and terribly harassed the Philistines, Judges 14:5, 14, etc. When the Danites found themselves straitened for room, they sent a colony, (Haydock) which took possession of Lais, and called it after their own name: one of the fountains of the Jordan was in this place, the other was called Jor, (Menochius) though the river may have a more distant and obscure source in the lake of Phiala, whence Josephus says (Haydock) it runs by a subterraneous passage, to a fountain of Dan. As it then takes its course through the promised land, of which it is the principal river, Dan may thus be said to supply waters abundantly for the whole country. (Menochius) --- But the Hebrew and Septuagint have, "he shall leap from Basan," which must be understood of the lion, since the territory of Dan was very remote from that mountain. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 33:23 | And to Nephthali he said: Nephthali shall enjoy abundance, and shall be full of the blessings of the Lord: he shall possess the sea and the south. | The sea. The lake of Genesareth. (Challoner) --- South. That lake forms the southern extremity of the tribe of Nephthali. (Haydock) --- The Mediterranean, and the countries south of Palestine, are commonly understood in this manner, but they cannot be understood here. (Calmet) --- By means of their neighbours of Tyre and Sidon, (Menochius) and of Zabulon, who lay on the west, (Haydock) they would be supplied with all the luxuries of the sea and of the south. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 33:24 | To Aser also he said: Let Aser be blessed with children, let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil. | Blessed. He alludes to the name of Aser, which has this signification. (Haydock) --- This tribe had been upon the increase in the desert, (Calmet) and now comprised 53,000 warriors. (Haydock) --- The province of Galilee, where Aser dwelt, was one of the most fertile of all Chanaan, and noted for abundance of oil, Genesis 49:20. (Josephus, Jewish Wars 3:2., and 2:22.) (Calmet) --- Oil. So Job (xxix. 6,) says, When I washed my feet with butter. (Menochius) |
| Deuteronomy 33:25 | His shoe shall be iron and brass. As the days of thy youth, so also shall thy old age be. | Iron and brass, to denote the warlike disposition of this tribe. Goliah, and the heroes before Troy, wore boots of brass, 1 Kings 17:6. (Homer) --- The greatest part of the army of Antiochus had even golden nails in their shoe soles, (Val. Max.) while the Romans contented themselves with iron. (Josephus, Jewish Wars 7:3.) --- But this custom was not peculiar to the soldiers. People of all descriptions did the like, either for ornament, or to make their sandals last longer. Empedocles wore brass at the bottom of his sandals; (Laert. viii.) and as one of them was thrown out from the top of Mount Etna, it was discovered that he had destroyed himself in that volcano, to make people suppose (Calmet) that he was a god, and had gone up to heaven. (Haydock) --- St. Clement of Alexandria (Poed. ii.) complains, that some wore such gaudy ornaments in his days. (Calmet) --- This passage is interpreted in a figurative sense by some, as if Aser would trample under his feet and despise the instruments of war, (Jansenius) and would turn those metals to the purposes of agriculture. Others render the Hebrew, "Thy bars shall be of iron and brass, and thy reputation (strength, repose, or sorrow,) shall endure as long as thy life; or May they," etc., in the form of a wish. Moses desires that Aser may be secure against his enemies, as if he had a mind to insinuate, that this tribe would be led captive among the first by Teglathphalasar, 4 Kings 15:29. Many of the cities of this tribe were strongly fortified. (Josephus) --- If we adopt thy sorrow shall, etc., we must observe, that the neighbourhood of Phoenicians exposed the people to continual incursions, (Calmet) and the king of Assyria at last came to complete their ruin. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 33:26 | There is no other god like the God of the rightest: he that is mounted upon the heaven, is thy helper. By his magnificence the clouds run hither and thither. | Rightest, (rectissimi.) Hebrew yeshurun, "the beloved," Israel. (Haydock) --- Thither, as messengers. Hebrew, "The clouds are in his elevation," like so many steps to his throne. Who makest the clouds thy chariot, (ascensum tuum) who walkest upon the wings of the winds, Psalm 103:3. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "He is the great ornament of the firmament." None is like to him in power and majesty. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 33:27 | His dwelling is above, and underneath are the everlasting arms: he shall cast out the enemy from before thee, and shall say: Be thou brought to nought. | Underneath are the everlasting arms. Though the dwelling of God be above in heaven, his arms are always stretched out to help us here below. (Challoner) --- Hebrew, "The eternal God is thy refuge; or, From eternity is the abode of God, or in fine, the protection of the Lord is before, and his eternal arms underneath;" so that nothing can hurt you. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 33:28 | Israel shall dwell in safety, and alone. The eye of Jacob in a land of corn and wine, and the heavens shall be misty with dew. | Alone, without standing in need of the assistance of any other but God. See Numbers 23:9. (Haydock) --- Some of the ancient Germans would have no communication with any other nation; and they depopulated the country around, to keep all at a distance. (Calmet) --- The Chinese seem to be at present nearly of the same disposition, as well as those who inhabit Japan, etc. --- The eye of Jacob. His posterity, by whom he sees the transactions of the world. (Haydock) --- Hebrew the fountain, is taken in the same sense. The country which his descendants enjoyed, was well watered with springs, Numbers 24:7. --- Dew, it will be so abundant. Chaldean, The heavens will drop down dew, Deuteronomy 32:2. |
| Deuteronomy 33:29 | Blessed art thou, Israel: who is like to thee, O people, that art saved by the Lord? the shield of thy help, and the sword of thy glory: thy enemies shall deny thee, and thou shalt tread upon their necks. | Deny thee. Break their word and most solemn treaties. Hebrew, "shall lie unto thee," which will afford thee a just reason to seize their effects. (Haydock) --- Some translate, "the efforts of thy enemies shall be frustrated." --- Necks. Thus Josue ordered the five kings to be treated, (Josue 10:24,) and Tamerlane used Bajazet as a footstool, when he had to mount his horse. (Calmet) --- This fierce Tartarian conqueror, the enemy of the Christian name, humbled the pride of the Turkish emperor, by confining him in a cage of iron, A.D. 1403. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 34:0 | Moses seeth the promised land, but is not suffered to go into it. He dieth at the age of 120 years. God burieth his body secretly, and all Israel mourn for him thirty days. Josue, replenished (by the imposition of Moses' hands) with the spirit of God, succeedeth. But Moses, for his special familiarity with God and for most wonderful miracles, is commended above all other prophets. | |
| Deuteronomy 34:1 | Then *Moses went up from the plains of Moab, upon Mount Nebo, to the top of Phasga, **over-against Jericho: and the Lord shewed him all the land of Galaad, as far as Dan, Deuteronomy 3:27.; Deuteronomy 32:49.; 2 Machabees 2:4. | Year of the World 2553. Phasga was the highest part of Nebo, which was a summit of the Abarim mountains. --- Dan. All the conquered countries east of the Jordan, as far as the source of that river, Deuteronomy 33:22., and Genesis 14:14. (Calmet) --- God miraculously enabled Moses to see so far. (Worthington) |
| Deuteronomy 34:2 | And all Nephthali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasses, and all the land of Juda unto the furthermost sea, | Nephthali, from Libanus to the lake of Genesareth. (Calmet) --- The other three tribes occupied the greatest part of the country southward, as far as Idumea. (Haydock) --- Sea. Hebrew, "the sea behind," or to the west; as, in determining the situation of places, the Jews looked towards the east. Moses took a view of all the countries which the people should possess, as far as the Mediterranean. |
| Deuteronomy 34:3 | And the south part, and the breadth of the plain of Jericho, the city of palm-trees, as far as Segor. | South part: the mountains of Judea. (Calmet) --- Trees. Jericho, (Haydock) or Engaddi. --- Segor was on the south of the Dead Sea. (Calmet) |
| Deuteronomy 34:4 | And the Lord said to him: *This is the land, for which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying: I will give it to thy seed. Thou hast seen it with thy eyes, and shalt not pass over to it. Genesis 12:7.; Genesis 15:18. | This land, which has been just described, is what God chiefly promised to the Patriarchs, comprising the countries on the east, as well as those on the western side of the Jordan. (Haydock) --- To it. But thou shalt be translated to a better land, the land of the living. Moses was now perfectly resigned to the will of God. (Salien) --- He no longer cherished those ardent desires of introducing the people into Chanaan, which he had not long before expressed: as he found that God had decreed that he should be deprived of the honour. He received this refusal as a just punishment of his transgression, and calmly reposed in the Lord. There seems no reason why Moses might not have written the preceding verses at least, though the names of some of the tribes are mentioned, who obtained possession only after his death. As he knew the limits of the promised land, so by the prophetic spirit, he might know that these tribes would be settled in the country; and he does not mark out their divisions with any degree of precision. In a word, there seems to be hardly a single passage in the Pentateuch, which may not have Moses for its author. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 34:5 | And Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there, in the land of Moab, by the commandment of the Lord: | Died there. This last chapter of Deuteronomy, in which the death of Moses is related, was written by Josue, or by some of the prophets. (Challoner) --- Josephus ([Antiquities] 4:9.), Philo, and Origen (contra Cels. 2:p. 95,) believe, however, that Moses wrote the account of his own death. See preface to Deuteronomy. (Haydock) --- Moab, which had formerly belonged to that nation. (Menochius) --- Commandment. Hebrew literally, "the mouth." The Rabbins say God kissed him, and thus released his soul. Some have nevertheless pretended that Moses was translated, like Elias, without dying. (Chaldean; Catharin; etc.) But his death and burial are too clearly mentioned in Scripture. St. Jerome (in Amos viii.) seems, at first view, to countenance the former opinion: but he only speaks of a spiritual translation, and not of the body. (Calmet) --- Josephus thinks that it was to prevent this mistake, that Moses wrote this chapter. |
| Deuteronomy 34:6 | And he buried him in the valley of the land of Moab, over-against Phogor: and no man hath known of his sepulchre until this present day. | He buried him, viz., by the ministry of angels, and would have the place of his burial to be unknown, lest the Israelites, who were so prone to idolatry, might worship him with divine honours. (Challoner) --- St. Michael therefore contended with satan about his body, Jude 9. Some have maintained that Josue and Eleazar performed these last rites to their deceased lawgiver. (Calmet) --- But then some men would have known where he was buried. (Haydock) --- Day. It is pretended that Jeremias discovered the place, 2 Machabees 2:4, 5. He found indeed a hollow cave....and so stopped the door. Yet this does not prove that he found the sepulchre of Moses, (Calmet) who was buried in some valley over-against Phogor, but it is not said in a cave. (Haydock) --- Cajetan infers from the body of Moses not being buried in the mountain, that it was conveyed by angels to some vale, where his attendants could not see him. |
| Deuteronomy 34:7 | Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, neither were his teeth moved. | Eye. Hebrew also, "colour." His sight and complexion were as good as in his youth, though he was 120 years old. --- Moved. The rays "of glory never changed," but attended him to the grave. (Chaldean) Hebrew, "his natural force (and vigour) never left him; or his cheeks did not fall in." (Calmet) --- The Roman Martyrology places the death of Moses on the 4th of September, though the Rabbins say he died in the 12th month. (Salien) |
| Deuteronomy 34:8 | And the children of Israel mourned for him, in the plains of Moab, thirty days: and the days of their mourning, in which they mourned for Moses, were ended. | Days, as they had done for Mary [Miriam] and for Aaron: (Josephus) the usual term was only seven days. (Calmet) --- The Jews would probably have prolonged their mourning for Moses forty days, in honour of the years of his government, if they had not been ordered to cross the Jordan. (Salien) |
| Deuteronomy 34:9 | And Josue, the son of Nun, was filled with the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands upon him. And the children of Israel obeyed him, and did as the Lord commanded Moses. | Because. God was pleased to accompany this exterior sign with his blessing. (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 34:10 | And there arose no more a prophet in Israel, like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, | Moses. No prophet ever appeared with greater dignity, in the old law, than Moses. He behaved in all respects as the envoy of God, who has been pleased to give his character and eulogium, Numbers 12:6., and Ecclesiasticus 45:1. His miracles were most astonishing, performed in the presence both of friends and of enemies, not for a short time, but for a continuance of many years. (Calmet) --- But when we compare Moses with the Messias, his person and law must be regarded indeed as illustrious figures, but infinitely beneath the reality. Moses was liable to failings, which caused him to be debarred from entering the land of promise; and he wore a veil, to shew that his law was only the shadow of a better, and that it could bring nothing to perfection. He works miracles in the name of the Lord, and with a rod: Jesus performs all by the word of his own power, (Hebrews 1:3,) as the sovereign of the world. But though Moses must sink in a comparison with Christ, yet no other personage sustained a more exalted character, or shone with greater splendour, as lawgiver, priest, prophet, ruler of a great and ungovernable people, and a sacred writer of the highest antiquity. Hence the Jews almost adore him. The Mahometans place him next to Jesus and their false prophet. (Haydock) --- The pagans have very probably ascribed many parts of his history to their idols, Bacchus, Mercury, and Typhon; and their greatest philosophers, Pythagoras, Plato, etc., have borrowed many things from his writings. "What, said Numenius, is Plato, but Moses in the Attic language?" See Exodus 34:29.; Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1. and 5.; Josephus, contra Apion I.; Bochart, etc. (Calmet) --- In a word, St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Ambrose, (de Cain 2,) and Philo, represent Moses as the most perfect example of a great and pious leader and legislator. (Salien, the year of the world 2583.) (Haydock) |
| Deuteronomy 34:11 | In all the signs and wonders which he sent by him, to do in the land of Egypt to Pharao, and to all his servants, and to his whole land, | |
| Deuteronomy 34:12 | And all the mighty hand, and great miracles, which Moses did before all Israel. |