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(42) that the slayer might flee thither, a Josh. 20. 8.
which should kill his neighbour una-
wares, and hated him not in times past;
and that fleeing unto one of these cities
he might live: (43) namely, a Bezer in
the wilderness, in the plain country, of
the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead,
of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan,
of the Manassites.

d

3.3.

with the Israelites.

which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even unto mount Sion, which is Hermon, (49) and all the plain on this side Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.

d

CHAPTER V.-(1) And Moses called e Num. 21. 33; ch. all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and 1keep, and do them. (2) The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. (3) The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day. (4) The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire, (5) (I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to shew you the word of the LORD: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying,

1 Heb., keep to do
them.

(44) And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel: (45) these are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which ch.3. 17. Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt, (46) on this side Jordan, in the valley over against Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel 'smote, after they were come forth out of Egypt: (47) and they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, which were on this side Jordan to- Ex. 2. 2, &c.; ward the sun rising; (48) from Aroer,

(43) Bezer is as yet unidentified.

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e Ex. 19. 5.

Lev. 26.1; Ps. 81.

10.

Ramoth in Gilead, though famous in the history of Israel as the scene of Ahab's death and of the anointing of Jehu (1 Kings xxi. and 2 Kings ix.), is also as yet unknown.

Golan has given a name to the district of Gaulonitis. But it is as yet also unknown. We may hope that when the survey of Eastern Palestine is concluded, these ancient sites will be recovered.

SECOND DISCOURSE.

(44-49) These words form an introduction to the second discourse, which occupies the larger portion of the book-from chap. v. 1 to the end of chap. xxvi. There is no real break between. The present introduction differs from what we find in chap. i. 1. There is no intimation that this portion of Deuteronomy was a repetition of what had been delivered between Sinai and Kadeshbarnea. What follows is said to have been spoken in the land of Sihon and Og, after the conquest by Israel.

(46) On this side Jordan.-Literally, on the other side. The same expression in verse 47 is defined by the addition, "toward the sun-rising."

The whole passage (verses 44-49) may be editorial, and added by Joshua in Canaan. But there is no necessity for this view.

(48) Mount Sion.-See Note on chap. iii. 9.

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(6) fI am the LORD thy God, which

The statutes and judgments.-The religious ordinances and institutions, and the general requirements. The mention of these is prefixed to the Decalogue, of which they are only the application-to a special people under special circumstances. More precisely, the words apply rather to what follows the Decalogue than to the Ten Commandments themselves. (See chap. vi. 1.)

(2) The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.-It must never be forgotten that the Law is a covenant in its very form. (See Note on verse 6.)

(3) Not... with our fathers, but with us.— That is, according to the usage of the Hebrew language in drawing contrasts, not only with our fathers (who actually heard it), but with us also, who were in the loins of our fathers, and for whom the covenant was intended no less than for them; and, in fact, every man who was above forty-two at the time of this discourse might actually remember the day at Sinai.

(4) The Lord talked with you face to face. -Yet they saw no manner of similitude (chap. iv. 12), i.e., no visible form; but the very words of God reached their ears. So in Exod. xx. 22, "Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven."

(5) In this verse a colon seems too large a stop after "the word of the Lord." Perhaps it should rather be read thus: "I stood between Jehovah and you at that time (for ye were afraid by reason of the fire), and ye went not up into the mount." The cause of their not going up into the mount was not their fear, but the express prohibition of Jehovah, as may be seen by Exod. xix.

(6) I am the Lord thy God.—It should never be forgotten that this sentence is an integral part of the Decalogue, and also the first part. The declaration of Divine relationship, with all that it implies-the covenanted adoption of Israel by Jehovah-precedes all the

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brought thee out of the land of Egypt, 1 Heb., servants.
from the house of bondage. (7) Thou
shalt have none other gods before me.

a Ex. 34. 7.

Commandments.

the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. (15) And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God come Gen. 2. 2; Heb. manded thee to keep the sabbath day.

(8) Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth: (9) thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am ab Jer. 32. 18. jealous God, "visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, (10) and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.

b

(11) Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

4.4.

d Matt. 5. 21.

(12) Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee. (13) Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: (14) but e Luke 18. 20.

requirements of the Law. The Law is, therefore, primarily a covenant in the strictest sense.

(7) Thou shalt have none other gods before me.-Literally, upon my face, in addition to my presence; or, as Rashi says, "in any place where I am, that is, in the whole world.' "Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit, or whither shall I flee from Thy face?" Idols are, at the very best, only masks which man puts upon the face of God, insulting to His dignity, and tending to conceal Him from our view.

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(10) Them that love me.-We have an echo of this commandment in the words of our Saviour: "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John xiv. 15). The promise of His presence with us through the "other Comforter" compensates for the absence of any visible image. As love in this verse is practical, so is hatred in the previous verse. To hate God is to disobey His commandments.

(11) Take . . . in vain.-Literally, Thou shalt not put the name of Jehovah thy God to vanity: i.e., to anything that is false, or hollow, or unreal. Primarily, it is false swearing that is forbidden here; but the extension of the principle to vain and rash swearing, or the light use of the Name without real cause, is sufficiently obvious.

(16) Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

(17) Thou shalt not kill.

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(12—15) The language of this commandment is identi. cal with the form it takes in Exodus only so far as the 13th and 14th verses are concerned; and even here the special mention of the ox and the ass is confined to Deuteronomy. The introduction and the close of the command, which gives the reason for it, are different here. The reason drawn from the creation is not mentioned; the reason drawn from the exodus is. This fact illustrates the observation that in Deuteronomy we find "the Gospel of the Pentateuch." If for the exodus of Israel we substitute here "the exodus of Christ, which He accomplished at Jerusalem," not so much by His death as by His resurrection, we have a reason for keeping not the Sabbath, but the Lord's Day.

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It is worth while to observe that the Israelites had express authority given them to enforce the observance of the Sabbath upon Gentiles, when these could be regarded as strangers within their gates." The words Isa. lvi. 6 seem to show that "strangers" who "took hold of the covenant" of Jehovah were expected to 'keep His sabbath from polluting it." For an example of its enforcement, see Nehemiah xiii. 16, 20, 21.

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If any difficulty is felt at the variation of the form of the commandment from that which we have in Exodus, it should be observed, first, that the command itself is not altered, as appears by verses 13, 14, compared with Exod. xx. 9, 10; and secondly, that in this exhortation Moses calls Israel to hear the statutes and judg ments which he, as their mediator, commands them, and that he is free to enforce them by such reasons as may seem to him best.

(16) That it may go well with thee . . .-In this form St. Paul cites the commandment in the Epistle to the Ephesians (chap. vi. 2, 3). As to what may be made of this promise, see a Note on chap. xxii. 7, and a quotation from the Talmud on the point.

(17-20) The wording of these four commandments is the same with that of Exod. xx.

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or his manservant, or his maidservant, Rom. 7.7.
his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is
thy neighbour's.

c Ex. 19. 19.

(22) These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me. (23) And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that a ch. 4. 33. ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders; (24) and ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice

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Recited by Moses.

flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? (27) Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.

e

(28) And the LORD heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me; and the LORD said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken. (29) O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever! (30) Go say to them, Get you into your tents again. (31) But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou

out of the midst of the fire: we have 1 Heb., add to hear. shalt teach them, that they may do

seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth. (25) Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we 1 hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, then we shall die. (26) For who is there of all

e Ex. 20. 19.

(21) His field.-These words are not found in Exod. xx. The children of Israel had now become, or were just about to become, landowners; hence the addition is appropriate in this place. There is also another slight verbal alteration. One word only is used for "covet "in Exod. xx. 17; here two are employed. The idea of the one is to "delight in," and the other to "lust after."

(22) He added no more-i.e., He spoke no more in this manner; or, there were only ten commandments. So verse 25: "If we add to hear"-i.e., in this fashion.

(23-27) The speech of the elders to Moses is more fully and exactly described here than in Exod. xx., where it is briefly summarised as expressing the mind of the whole people.

(25) Why should we die ?—The instinctive dread of death awakened by the Divine presence, and especially by the declaration of the Divine law, bears eloquent testimony to the truth that man was made to bear the Divine likeness, and to live a holy life.

(26) For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard. A famous passage in the Talmud makes all nations hear the words of the Law, every people in its own language. The thought is remarkable as bringing out a further analogy between the revelation at Sinai and the revelation on the Day of Pentecost, when every man heard in his own language the wonderful works of God.

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them in the land which I give them to possess it. (32) Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. (33) Ye shall walk in all the ways which

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(28-31) And the Lord heard the voice of your words. .-The Divine comment on the words of the people is recorded only in Deuteronomy; but in order to obtain a complete record of it, we must refer to chap. xviii. 18, 19. It will appear by comparison of the two passages that the promise of the prophet like unto Moses was given at this very time: They have well said all that they have spoken. I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in His mouth." It is not a little remarkable that He who gave the Law from Sinai "in blackness and darkness and tempest" should, on that very day, acknowledge the need of a different form of teaching for His people, and should promise it then and there. But it must not be forgotten that He "whose voice then shook the earth" is the very same Person who "speaketh from heaven" now. He who pronounced the Law in the letter writes it on the heart by His Spirit. The Angel of the covenant and the Prophet like unto Moses are one. He who gave the Law on Sinai died under it on Calvary, and provided for its observance for ever.

(29) O that there were such an heart in them. -Literally, Who will give that there shall be this heart in them, to fear me, and to keep all my commandments all the days? He who asked the question has also supplied the answer: "I will put my laws in their hearts, and in their minds will I write them." Or, more exactly, in Heb. viii. 10, "Giving my laws into

The Law

DEUTERONOMY, VI.

the LORD your God hath commanded 1 Heb., pass over.
you, that ye may live, and that it may
be well with you, and that ye may pro-
long your days in the land which ye
shall possess.

Explained.

(3) Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land a ch. 10.12: Matt. that floweth with milk and honey.

22. 37; Mark 12.

30; Luke 10. 27.

CHAPTER VI.-(1) Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: (2) that thou mightest fearch. 11. 18. the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.

2 Heb., whet, or,
sharpen.

their understanding, I will also write them upon their hearts." The need of a Mediator like themselves was well stated by the people; it was also met by Him who said, "They have well said all that they have spoken."

VI.

FIRST PORTION OF THE COMMENTARY ON THE LAW (chaps. vi.-xi.).

(1) These are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord. . . commanded... that ye might do them in the land. After the Decalogue itself has been recapitulated, Moses proceeds to apply its principles to the conduct of Israel in the promised land. The first part of the application is more general, and concerns the relation of Israel to Jehovah, who has brought them from Egypt through the wilderness to the promised land. This portion concludes with chap. xi. The precepts that follow are particular, and concern the land of Israel viewed as the seat of (1) the worship and (2) the kingdom of Jehovah. But the whole discourse, from chap. iv. 44 to the end of chap. xxvi., is presented to us as one unbroken whole. (See Introduction for a complete analysis.)

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The commandments.-Literally, this is the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments. The commandment" is the duty imposed on Israel by the covenant of the ten words-its application to their daily lives. This application includes (1) statutes, religious ordinances, or institutions; and (2) judg. ments, requirements, actual rules of behaviour. The two words "statutes" and "judgments," in the original, may sometimes represent two aspects of the same thing. For example, the Passover is an or dinance, or 'statute," or, as we should say, an "institution." The rules for its observance are “judgments," or requirements. The thing itself is permanent; the rules for its observance may vary. It was originally eaten standing, and in haste. But after Israel was at rest, it was eaten by them reclining, and in an attitude of repose. Again, the moral law as a whole was eternal; but its application to the life of Israel was very different from its application to ourselves. The word here rendered "commandments" is now commonly employed by the Jews to signify any religious duty or good work.

(4) Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD: (5) and a thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. (6) And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: (7) and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and

(3) That ye may increase mightily . . . in the land. The position of Israel in the land, and their continuance therein, depended entirely on their fulfilment of the purpose for which they were brought there the observance of the Law of Jehovah, as it applied to their peculiar situation.

(4, 5) Hear, O Israel . . .-These two verses are styled by our Lord "the first and great commandment" in the Law. The first words of the Talmud concern the hours when this form should be recited in daily morning or evening prayer" Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah." The unity of Jehovah, as opposed to the belief in "gods many and lords many," is the key-note of the Jewish faith. "We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity." But this truth, though visible in the Old Testament by the light of the New, was not expli. citly revealed until it came forth in history, when the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world, and both sent the Holy Spirit to represent Him in the Church.

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(5) With all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.-The word "heart" has been taken both as thought" and “ affection." Hence, perhaps, the four terms, "heart, mind, soul, and strength," which we find in St. Mark xii. 30. Rashi says upon the expression "all thy heart "with both natures (the good and evil nature). "With all thy soul" he expounds thus: "Even though He take it (thy life) from thee." And "with all thy might" he paraphrases in a truly practical and characteristic fashion, "With all thy money, for you sometimes find a man whose money is dearer to him than his life (or body)." Or, as an alternative, "in every condition which He allots to thee, whether prosperity or chastisement. And so He says in David, 'I will take the cup of salvation (deliverances), and I will call on the name of the Lord' (Ps. cxvi. 13); and again. 'I shall find trouble and heaviness, and I will call on the name of the Lord"" (verses 3, 4.) It is an interesting illustration of the passage, though the verbal connection on which it is based will not hold.

(7) And thou shalt teach them diligently.The same Jewish commentator remarks that there should be no hesitation in answering anything that a man might ask. Had this system of education been carried

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thine eyes.

upon thine hand,
frontlets between

(9) And thou shalt write

God in the Promised Land.

LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.

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them upon the posts of thy house, and 1 Heb., bondmen, your God, as ye tempted him in

on thy gates.

(10) And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy

or, servants.

Massah. (17) Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.

fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and toch. 10. 12, 20 & (18) And thou shalt do that which is

Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, (11) and houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not;

a

13. 4.

c Matt. 4. 7.

d Ex. 17.2.

:

right and good in the sight of the
LORD that it may be well with thee,
and that thou mayest go in and possess
the good land which the LORD sware
unto thy fathers, (19) to cast out all
thine enemies from before thee, as the
LORD hath spoken.

when thou shalt have eaten and be
full; (12) then beware lest thou forget
the LORD, which brought thee forth out
of the land of Egypt, from the house
of bondage. (13) Thou shalt fear the
LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt
swear by his name. (14) Ye shall not go 2 Heb., to morrow. shalt say unto thy

(20) And when thy son asketh thee 2 in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD our God hath commanded you? (21) then thou

after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; (15) (for the LORD thy God is a jealous

God among you) lest the anger of the 3 Heb., evil.

on from the first, the history of Israel would have been very different from what it is.

(8) And thou shalt bind them . . .-From this precept the Jews derive the use of the Tephillin, the portions of the Law which they bind upon the head or arm when about to pray.

(10-13) The song of Moses supplies a prophetic comment upon this in chap. xxxii. 15: “Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked . . . then he forsook God." "In all time of our wealth, good Lord, deliver us."

(13) Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him.-Literally, Jehovah thy God thou shalt fear, and him shalt thou serve: i.e., Him only, as translated by the LXX., and cited by our Lord in His temptation. It is remarkable that all His answers to the tempter were taken not only from Deuteronomy, but from one and the same portion of Deuteronomychaps. v.-x. inclusive-the portion which applies the principles of the Decalogue to Israel's life.

And shalt swear by his name.-Comp. Exod. xxiii. 13. " Make no mention of the name of other gods." The principle was not unknown to the patriarchs. Laban appealed to the "God of Nahor," but "Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac" (Gen. xxxi. 53). (Comp. Jer. v. 7: “Thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by

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son, We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand: (22) and the LORD shewed signs and wonders, great and 3 sore,

As ye tempted him in Massah.- How did they tempt Him in Massah? By raising the unbeliev ing question, "Is the Lord among us, or not?" (Exod. xvii. 7). Even by the side of Satan upon the giddy pinnacle of the Temple, our Saviour refused to doubt the care of Jehovah. He would not throw Himself from thence into the arms of the angels to escape Satan, but "He endured as seeing Him who is invisible." To this standard of action Israel was called in face of the powers of evil. But it was not always realised.

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(18) And that thou mayest go in and possess. -This should be taken with what follows, "Possess," SO as to cast out all thine enemies from before thee (verse 19). There was no question now whether Israel should pass the Jordan; but how far the conquest of Canaan would be completed, or within what period of time, depended upon their faithfulness to His decrees. That it was delayed by their disobedience is clear from Judges ii. 20-23.

(20) What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments.-These three words appear for the first time together in the introduction to this discourse (chap. iv. 45). The Law, or Torah, includes charges, and institutions, and requirements. The Decalogue itself is primarily the Torah; the charge which follows may come under the head of "testimony." The "statutes" and "judgments" more properly describe the contents of the chapters from chaps. xi.-xxvi. inclusive.

(21) The Lord brought us out of Egypt.The simple explanation of the obligations of the Law given in these verses is based upon the message of Jehovah to Israel from Sinai, in Exod. xix. 3-6: "Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto my

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