understanding is very ancient, for so they practised in the apostles' days; as Paul testified: Of the Jews five times received I forty (stripes) save one; 2 Cor. xi. 24. But the reason which they give is not solid; as when they say, If it had been written FORTY IN NUMBER, I would say it were full forty; but being written, IN NUMBER FORTY, it means the number which reckons forty next after it, that is, thirty-nine. By this exposition they confound the verses and take away the distinction. I rather think this custom was taken up by reason of the manner of their beating forespoken of, which was with a scourge that had three cords, so that every stroke was counted for three stripes, and then they could not give even forty, but either thirtynine or forty-two, which was above the number set of God. And hereof they write thus: When they judge (or condemn) a sinner to so many (stripes) as he can bear, they judge not but by strokes that are fit to be trebled [that is, to give three stripes to one stroke, by reason of the three cords.] If they judge that he can bear twenty, they do not say he shall be beaten with one and twenty, to the end that they may treble the stripes, but they give him eighteen.-Maimon in Sanhedrin, chap. xvii., sec. 2. Thus he that was able to bear twenty stripes, had but eighteen the executioner ⚫smote him but six times, for if he had smitten him the seventh they were counted one and twenty stripes, which was above the number adjudged: so he that was adjudged to forty was smitten thirteen times, which being counted one for three, make thirty-nine. And so R. Bechaios, writing hereof, says, The strokes are trebled; that is, every one is three, and three times thirteen are nine and thirty." : Thy brother be vile, or be contemptible.-By this God teaches us to hate and despise the sin, not the sinner, who is by this chastisement to be amended; as the power which the Lord hath given is to edification, not to destruction, 2 Cor. xiii. 10. Verse 4. Thou shalt not muzzle the ox, &c.] In Judea, as well as in Egypt, Greece, and Italy, they of a deceased brother. A. M. 2553. B. C. 1451. band's brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in An. Ex. Isr. 40. Israel, he will not perform the duty of my husband's brother. Sebat. 8 Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak unto him and if he stand to it, and say, ' I like not to take her; 9 Then shall his brother's wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother's house. r 10 And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed.. 11 When men strive together one with an 1 Gen. xxxviii. 9.- Ruth iv. 10. Or, next kinsman's wife. Ruth iv. 1, 2.—P Ruth. iv. 6. Ruth iv. 7. r Ruth iv. 11. make use of beeves to tread out the corn; and Dr. Shaw tells us that the people of Barbary continue to tread out their corn after the custom of the East. Instead of beeves they frequently made use of mules and horses, by tying by the neck three or four in like manner together, and whipping them afterwards round about the nedders, as they call the treading floors, (the Libycæ area Hor,) where the sheaves lie open and expanded, in the same manner as they are placed and prepared with us for threshing. This indeed is a much quicker way than ours, though less cleanly, for as it is performed in the open air, (Hos. xiii. 3,) upon any round level plot of ground, daubed over with cow's dung to prevent as much as possible the earth, sand, or gravel from rising; a great quantity of them all, notwithstanding this precaution, must - unavoidably be taken up with the grain, at the same time that the straw, which is their chief and only fodder, is hereby shattered to pieces; a circumstance very pertinently alluded to in 2 Kings xiii. 7, where the king of Syria is said to have made the Israelites like the dust by threshing.-Travels, p. 138. While the oxen were at work some muzzled their mouths to hinder them from eating the corn, which Moses here forbids, instructing the people by this symbolical precept to be kind to their servants and labourers, but especially to those who ministered to them in holy things; so St, Paul applies it 1 Cor. ix. 9, &c.; 1 Tim. v. 18. Le Clerc considers the injunction as wholly symbolical; and perhaps in this view it was intended to confirm the laws enjoined in the fourteenth and fifteenth verses of the former chapter. See Dodd and Shaw. In Bengal, where the same mode of treading out the corn is used, some muzzle the ox, and others do not, according to the disposition of the farmer.—Ward. Verse 9. And loose his shoe] It is difficult to find the reason of these ceremonies of degradation. Perhaps the shoe was the emblem of power; and by stripping it off, deprivation of that power and authority was represented. Spitting in the face was a mark of the utmost First-fruits must be A. M. 2553. B. C. 1451. Sebat. A. M. 2553. B. C. 1451. An. Ex. Isr. 40. Sebat. other, and the wife of the one do unrighteously, are an abomi- An. Ex. Isr. 40. draweth near for to deliver her 8 12 Then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not pity her. t 18 How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble 13 Thou shalt not have in thy bag" divers behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; weights, a great and a small. and he feared not God. ignominy; but the Jews, who are legitimate judges in this case, say that the spitting was not in his face, but before his face on the ground. And this is the way in which the Asiatics express their detestation of a person to the present day, as Niebuhr and other intelligent travellers assure us. It has been remarked that the prefix beth is seldom applied to peney; but when it is it signifies as well before as in the face. See. Josh. xxi. 44; xxiii. 9; Esther ix. 2; and Ezek. xlii. 12; which texts are supposed to be proofs in point. The act of spitting, whether in or before the face, marked the strong contempt the woman felt for the man who had slighted her. And it appears that the man was ever after disgraced in Israel; for so much is certainly implied in the saying, ver. 10 And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed. Verse 13. Divers weights] eben vaaben, a stone and a stone, because the weights were anciently made of stone, and some had two sets of stones, a light and a heavy. With the latter they bought their wares, by the former they sold them. In our own 19 Therefore it shall be, a when the LORD thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth the for an inheritance, to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven: thou shalt not forget it. w Exod. xx. 12. Prov. xi. 1; 1 Thess. iv. 6.—y Exod. xvii. 8.- --2 Psa. xxxvi. 1; Prov. xvi. 6; Rom. iii. 18.— 1 Sam. xv. 3.b Exod. xvii. 14. country this was once a common case; smooth, round, or oval stones were generally chosen by the simple country people for selling their wares, especially such as were sold in pounds and half pounds. And hence the term a stone weight, which is still in use, though lead or iron be the matter that is used as a counterpoise but the name itself shows us that a stone of a certain weight was the material formerly used as a weight, See the notes on Lev. xix. 35, 36. Verse 14. Divers measures] Literally, an ephah and an ephah; one large, to buy thy neighbour's wares, another small, to sell thy own by. So there were knaves in all ages, and among all na tions. See the notes on Exod. xvi. 16, and Lev. xix. 35. Verse 18. Smote the hindmost of thee] See the note on Exod. xvii. 8. It is supposed that this command had its final accomplishment in the death of Haman and his ten sons, Esth. iii., vii., ix., as from this time the memory and name of Amalek was blotted out from under heaven, for through every period of their history it might be truly said, They feared not God. CHAPTER XXVI. The First-fruits must be offered to God, 1, 2. The form of confession to be used on the occasion, 3–11. third year's tithe to be given to the Levites and the poor, 12, and the form of confession to be used on this occasion, 13-15. The Israelites are to take Jehovah for their God, and to keep his testimonies, 16, 17. And Jehovah is to take them for his people, and make them high above all the nations of the earth, 18, 19. A. M: 2553. AND it shall be, when thou art for an inheritance, and pos B. C. 1451. An. Ex. Isr. 40. Sebat. come in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee a Exod. xxiii. 19; xxxiv. 26; Num. xviii. 13; NOTES ON CHAP. XXVI. Verse 2. Thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit, 4c.] This was intended to keep them in continual VOL. I. ( 52 ) a A. M. 2553. B. C. 1451. Sebat. sessest it, and dwellest therein; An. Ex. Isr. 40. 2 That thou shalt take of the chap. xvi. 10; Prov. iii. 9. remembrance of the kindness of God, in preserving them through so many difficulties and literally fulfilling the promises he had made to them. God being 801 The confession to be made A. M. 2553. Sebat. DEUTERONOMY. first of all the fruit of the earth, An. Ex, Isr. 40. which thou shalt bring of thy land that the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt b go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose, to place his name there, 3 And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the LORD thy God, that I am come unto the country which the LORD Sware unto our fathers for to give us. 4 And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the LORD thy God. с 5 And thou shalt speak, and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous: 6 And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage: 7 And when we cried unto the LORD God of our fathers, the LORD heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression. b Chap, xii. 5.Gen. xlvi. 1, 6; Exod. i. 11, 14. the author of all their blessings, the first-fruits of the land were consecrated to him, as the author of every good and perfect gift. e Hos. xii. 12.- d Gen. xliii. 1,2; xlv. 7,11. Acts vii. 15.- f Gen. xlvi. 27; chap. x. 22. b Exod. ii. 23, 24, 25; iii. 9; iv. 31. on offering the first fruits. A. M. 2553. Sebat. 8 And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty An. Ex. Isr. 40. hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders: 9 And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey, 10 And now, behold, I have brought the first-fruits of the land, which thou, O LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy God: 11 And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you. 12 When thou hast made an end of tithing all the " tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled; 13 Then thou shalt say before the LORD thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them Exod. xii. 37, 51; xiii. 3, 14, 16; chap. v. 15. Chap. iv. 34.- Exod. iii. 8. m Chap. xii: 7, 12, 18; xvi. 11.- Lev. xxvii. 30; Num: xviii. 24. Chap. xiv. 28, 29. signifies famine, dearth, &c., he thus makes out his version, and this version he defends at large in his notes. It is pretty evident, from the text, that by a Verse 5. A Syrian ready to perish was my father] Syrian we are to understand Jacob, so called from his This passage has been variously understood, both by long residence in Syria with his father-in-law Laban. the ancient versions and by modern commentators. And his being ready to perish may signify the hard The Vulgate renders it thus: Sýrus persequebatur usage and severe labour he had in Laban's service, by patrem meum, "A Syrian persecuted my father." which, as his health was much impaired, so his life The Septuagint thus: Evplav añeßahev å marηp uov, might have often been in imminent danger. "My father abandoned Syria." The Targum thus: Verse 8. With a mighty hand, &c.] See on Deut .34 .Laban arammiah bea | iv לבן ארמאה בעא לאובדא ית אבא leobada yath abba, "Laban the Syrian endeavoured to Verse 11. Thou shalt rejoice] God intends that his destroy my father." The Syriac: "My father was led followers shall be happy; that they shall eat their out of Syria into Egypt." The Arabic: "Surely, Laban the Syrian had almost destroyed my father." The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel: "Our father Jacob went at first into Syria of Mesopotamia, and Laban sought to destroy him." bread with gladness and singleness of heart, praising him. Those who eat their meat grudgingly, under the pretence of their unworthiness, &c., profane God's bounties, and shall have no thanks for their voluntary humility. Thou, and the Levite, and the stranger] They were to take care to share God's bounties among all those who were dependent on them. The Levite has no inheritance, let him rejoice with thee. The stranger has no home, let him feel thee to be his friend and his Father Houbigant dissents from all, and renders the original thus Fames urgebat patrem meum, qui in Ægyptum descendit, "Famine oppressed my father, who went down into Egypt." This interpretation Houbigant gives the text, by taking the yod from the word ' arammi, which signifies an Aramite or Sy-father. rian, and joining it to yeabud, the future for the perfect, which is common enough in Hebrew, and Verse 12. The third year, which is the year of which may signify constrained; and seeking for the tithing] This is supposed to mean the third year of meaning of DN aram in the Arabic the seventh or Sabbatical year, in which the tenths were to be given to the poor. See the law, chap. ( 52 ) a 802 ,arama آرم which unto the Levite, and unto the An. Ex. Isr. 40. stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them: God and Israel A. M. 2553. manded thee to do these statutes Sebat. 17 Thou hast avouched the LORD this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and 14 I have not eaten thereof in my mourn- to keep his statutes, and his commandments, ing, neither have I taken away aught thereof and his judgments, and to hearken unto his for any unclean use, nor given aught thereof voice: for the dead but I have hearkened to the voice 18 And the LORD hath avouched thee this of the LORD my God, and have done accord-day to be his peculiar people, as he hath proing to all that thou hast commanded me. mised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments; r 15 Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey. 16 This day the LORD thy God hath comP Psa. cxix. 141, 153, 176.- -- Lev. vii. 20; xxi. 1, 11; Hos. ix. 4. Isa. Ixiii. 15; Zech. ii. 13.- Exod. xx. 19. - Exod. vi. 7; xix. xiv. 28. But from the letter in both these places it would appear that the tithe was for the Levites, and that this tithe was drawn only once in three years. Verse 14. I have not-given aught thereof for the dead] That is, I have not consecrated any of it to an idol, which was generally a dead man whom superstition and ignorance had deified. From 1 Cor. x. 27, 28, we learn that it was customary to offer that flesh to idols which was afterwards sold publicly in the shambles; probably the blood was poured out before. the idol in imitation of the sacrifices offered to the true God. Perhaps the text here alludes to a similar custom. Verse 17. Thou hast avouched the Lord] The people avouch-publicly declare, that they have taken Jehovah to be their God. Verse 18. And the Lord hath avouched]. Publicly declared, by the blessings he pours down upon them, that he has taken them to be his peculiar people. Thus the covenant is made and ratified between God and his followers. Verse 19. Make thee high above all nations] It is written, Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people, Prov. xiv. 34. While Israel regarded God's word and kept his testimonies, they were the greatest and most respectable.of all nations; but when they forsook God and his law, they became the most contemptible. O Britain, even more highly favoured than ancient Israel! learn wisdom by what they have suffered. It is not thy fleets nor thine ar 19. And to make thee "high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be▾ a' hôly people unto the LORD thy God, as he hath spoken. 5; chap. vii. 6; xiv. 2; xxviii. 9. Ch. iv. 7, 8; xxviii. 1; Psa. cxlviii: 14.- Exod. xix. 6; chap. vii. 6; xxviii. 9; 1 Pet. ii. 9 mies, howsoever excellent and well appointed, that can ultimately exalt and secure thy permanence among the nations. It is righteousness alone. Become irreligious, neglect God's ordinances, profane his Sabbath, despise his word, persecute his followers, and thou art lost. But fear, love, and serve him, and thy enemies shall be found liars, thou shalt defeat their projects, and trample on their high places. THE form of confession when bringing the firstfruits, related ver. 4-10, is both affecting and edifying. Even when brought into a state of affluence and rest, they were commanded to remember and publicly acKnowledge their former degradation and wretchedness, that they might be ever. kept humble and dependent; and they must bring their offering as a public acknow, ledgment to God that it was by his mercy their state was changed, and by his bounty their comforts were continued. If a man rise from poverty to affluence, and forget his former state, he becomes proud, insolent, and oppressive. If a Christian convert forget his former state, the rock whence he was hewn, and the hole of the pit whence he was digged, he soon becomes careless, unthankful, and unholy. The case of the ten lepers that were cleansed, of whom only one returned to give. God thanks, is an awful lesson. How many are continually living on the bounty of God, who feel no gratitude for his mercies! Reader, is this thy state? If so, then expect the just God to curse thy blessings. CHAPTER XXVII. Moses commands the people to write the law upon stones, when they shall come to the promised land, 1-3. And to set up these stones on Mount Ebal, 4; and to build an altar of unhewn stones, and to offer on it burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, 5–7. The words to be written plainly, and the people to be exhorted to obedience, 8-10. The six tribes which should stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, 11, 12, Those who are to stand upon Mount Ebal to curse the transgressors, 13. The different transgressors against whom the curses are to be denounced, 14–26. How the tribes were placed A. M. 2553. An. Ex. Isr. 40. A. M. 2553. AND Moses with the elders of 7 And thou shalt offer peaceIsrael commanded the people, offerings, and shalt eat there, and An. Ex. Isr. 40. saying, Keep all the command- rejoice before the LORD thy God. ments which I command you this day. a Sebat. 8 And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly.. 9 And Moses, and the priests the Levites, spake unto all Israel, saying, Take heed, and hearken, O Israel; this day thou art become the people of the LORD thy God. e 2 And it shall be, on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the LORD. thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaster them with plaster: 3 And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law, when thou art passed over, 10 Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of that thou mayest go in unto the land which the LORD thy God, and do his commandments the LORD thy God giveth thee, a land that and his statutes, which I command thee this floweth with milk and honey; as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee. 4 Therefore it shall be when ye be gone over Jordan, that ye shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in Mount Ebal, and thou shalt plaster them with plaster. 5 And there shalt thou build an altar unto the LORD thy God, an altar of stones thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them. 6 Thou shalt build the altar of the LORD thy God of whole stones: and thou shalt offer burnt-offerings thereon unto the LORD thy God: Josh. iv. 1:- b Josh. viii. 32.- - Ch. xi. 29; Josh. viii. 30. Exod. xx. 25; Josh. viii. 31.- -e Chap. xxvi. 18.- Chap. xi. NOTES ON CHAP. XXVII. Verse 2. Thou shalt set thee up great stones] How many is not specified, possibly twelve, and possibly only a sufficient number to make a surface large enough to write the blessings and the curses on. day. 11 And Moses charged the people the same day, saying, 12 These shall stand upon Mount Gerizim to bless the people, when ye are come over Jordan; Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin : 13 And these shall stand upon Mount Ebal to curse; Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. 14 And the Levites shall speak, and say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice, in- reference to the whole of its grand moral design. See at the end of this chapter. ordered to be written on these stones, some supposing the whole Mosaic law to be intended, others, only the decalogue, I am fully of opinion that the (~n torah) law or ordinance in question simply means the blessings and curses mentioned in this and in the following chapPlaster them with plaster] Perhaps the original ter; and indeed these contained a very-good epitome T DAN TI vesadta otham bassid should be trans-of the whole law in all its promises and threatenings, lated, Thou shalt cement them with cement, because this was intended to be a durable monument. In similar cases it was customary to set up a single stone, or a heap, rudely put together, where no. cement or mortar appears to have been used; and because this was common, it was necessary to give particular directions when the usual method was not to be followed. Some suppose that the writing was to be in relievo, and that the spaces between the letters were filled up by the mortar or cement. This is quite a possible case, as the Eastern inscriptions are frequently done in this way. There is now before me a large slab of basaltes, two feet long by sixteen inches wide, on which there is an inscription in Persian, Arabic, and Tamul; in the two former the letters are all raised, the surface of the stone being dug out, but the Tamul is indented. A kind of reddish paint had been smeared over the letters to make them more apparent. Two Arabic marbles in the University of Oxford have the inscriptions in relievo, like those on the slab of basalt in my possession. In the opinion of some even this case may cast light upon the subject in question. Verse 3. All the words of this law] After all that has been said by ingenious critics concerning the law So Verse 4. Set up these stones—in Mount Ebal] So the present Hebrew text, but the Samaritan has Mount Gerizim. Dr. Kennicott has largely defended the reading of the Samaritan in his second dissertation on the present state of the Hebrew text, and Dr. Parry has defended the Hebrew against the Samaritan in his Case between Gerizim and Ebal fairly stated. has J. H. Verschuir, in his Dissert. Critica. Many still think Dr. Kennicott's arguments unanswerable, and have no doubt that the Jews have here corrupted the text through their enmity to the Samaritans. On all hands it is allowed that Gerizim abounds with springs, gardens, and orchards, and that it is covered with a beautiful verdure, while Ebal is as naked and as barren as a rock. On this very account the former was highly proper for the ceremony of blessing, and the latter for the ceremony of cursing.. Verse 12. These shall stand upon Mount Gerizim to bless the people] Instead of upon Mount, &c., we may translate by, as the particle y al is sometimes used; for we do not find that the tribes did stand on either mount, for in Josh. viii. 33, when this direction |