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a Num. 13. 28.

Crossing Jordan.

wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

CHAPTER IX.-(1) Hear, O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven, (2) a people great and tall, the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the children of Anak! (3 Understand ch. 4. 24; Heb. for thou art a stiffnecked people. (7) Re

a

therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a 'consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee.

(4) Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the LORD thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the LORD hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD doth drive them out from before thee. (5) Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the

IX.

12. 29.

c Ex. 24. 18 & 34.28.

B.C. 1491.

d Ex. 31. 18.

EXHORTATION TO REMEMBER THE SINS OF THE
EXODUS.

(1) Hear, O Israel.—A fresh portion of the exhortation begins here. The cause of Israel's conquest of Canaan is not to be sought in their own merit, but in the choice of Jehovah.

Thou art to pass.-Literally, thou art passing: i.e., just about to pass.

Nations greater and mightier than thyself. -If this is true (and there is no reason to doubt it), the responsibility of the conquest does not rest with Israel; they were the Divine executioners. (See Note on Josh. v. 13, 14.)

Cities

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fenced up to heaven.-Comp. the expression in Gen. xi. 4, "a city and a tower whose top may reach unto (literally, is in) heaven." So here, cities great and fortified in the heavens." Was St. Paul thinking of this expression when he said, "We wrestle against spiritual wickedness in the heavenly regions?" (Eph. v. 12).

(2) Whom thou knowest.-The pronoun is emphatic. The twelve spies, two of whom were still living, had seen them (Num. xiii. 33), and their fame was doubtless notorious. It seems to have been a common saying, possibly among the Anakim themselves, "Who will stand up to the children of Anak?” No one could be found to face them.

(3) Understand therefore.-Literally, the connection seems to be this: "The children of Anakim thou knowest-thou knowest also (the same word) to-day, that it is Jehovah thy God Himself that passeth over before thee, a consuming fire. He will destroy them, and He will make them to bow down before thee. And thou shalt make a conquest of them, and speedily

(6) Understand therefore, that the LORD thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness;

member, and forget not, how thou provokedst the LORD thy God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the LORD. (8) Also in Horeb ye provoked the LORD to wrath, so that the LORD was angry with you to have destroyed you.

(9) When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights, I neither did eat bread nor drink water: (10) and the LORD delivered unto me two tables of stone written

annihilate them, according as Jehovah hath commanded thee."

(4) But for the wickedness.-"Say not in thine heart, in my righteousness,' when it is in consequence of their wickedness that Jehovah is dispossessing them from before thee."

(5) Not for thy righteousness... dost thou go. The pronoun is emphatic. There is no reason why thou of all others shouldest be thus honoured.

(6) Understand therefore.-Literally, and thou knowest. Three times the formula occurs in these verses. "The children of Anak thou knowest; and thou knowest the Lord thy God; and (thirdly) thou knowest thyself too."

A stiffnecked people.-The metaphor seems to be taken from a camel or other beast of burden, who hardens his neck, and will not bend it for the driver.

(7) Remember, and forget not.-More abruptly in the original, "Remember-do not forget-how thou hast stirred the indignation of Jehovah."

Rebellious. Not simply rebels, as Moses called them (in Num. xx. 10) at Meribah, but provoking rebels rebels who rouse the opposition of Him against whom they rebel.

(8) Also.—Even in Horeb. In the very sight of the mountain of the Law, the Law was flagrantly violated. (9) I neither did eat bread nor drink water. -This fact is not related in Exodus concerning the first forty days which Moses spent in Mount Sinai "with his minister Joshua." It might be supposed or implied, but it is not recorded.

(10) Two tables of stone. Of these tables it is said in Exod. xxxii. 16, " the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables."

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with the finger of God: and on them was written according to all the words, which the LORD spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. (11) And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the LORD gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant. (12) And the LORD said unto me, "Arise, get thee down quickly from hence; for thy people which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves; they are quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image.

a Ex. 32. 7.

b Num. 11. 1, 3.

(13) Furthermore the LORD spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: (14) lete Ex. 17.7. me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven: and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they. (15) So I turned and came down from the mount, and the mount burned with fire: and the a Num. 11. 34. two tables of the covenant were in my two hands. (16) And I looked, and, behold, ye had sinned against the LORD your God, and had made you a molten calf: ye had turned aside quickly out of

(12) Arise, get thee down.-The words recorded here and in verses 13, 14, are given at length in Exod. xxxii. 7, &c. Moses' intercession at that time is recorded also.

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(15) So I turned .-This verse nearly repeats Exod. xxxii. 15.

(16) Ye had turned aside quickly.-The words of Jehovah in verse 16, repeated here, and also recorded in Exod. xxxii. 8. There is nothing so sad in human experience as the rapidity with which good resolutions and impressions fade from the natural heart of man. (17) I .

brake them before your eyes.This shows that the act was deliberate on Moses' part. He did not simply drop the tables in his passion before they reached the camp; he deliberately broke the material covenant in the face of the people, who had broken the covenant itself. When we remember the effect of hastily touching not the tables of the Law themselves, but the mere chest that contained them, in after-times, we may well believe that the breaking of these two tables was an act necessary for the safety of Israel. In Exod. xxxiii. 7, we read that Moses placed the temporary tabernacle outside the camp at the same time. The two actions seem to have had the same significance, and to have been done for the same reason.

(18) And I fell down before the Lord, as at the first, forty days and forty nights.—Moses had already interceded for them in Sinai before he came down on the fortieth day (Exod. xxxii. 11-14). He now spent forty days and nights in the work of intercession. We are not to understand that the first

in the Wilderness.

the way which the LORD had commanded you. (17) And I took the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and brake them before your eyes. (18) And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which ye sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. (19) For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith the LORD was wroth against you to destroy you. But the LORD hearkened unto me at that time also. (20) And the LORD was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him and I prayed for Aaron also the same time. (21) And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, and ground it very small, even until it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount.

(22) And at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattaavah, ye provoked the LORD to wrath. (23) Likewise when the LORD sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, Go up and possess the land which I have given you;

forty were so spent. At that time he received the pattern of the tabernacle and the directions for the priesthood, which he did not deliver to Israel until after he descended from Sinai the second time. (See Exod. xxiv. 18 to xxxi., and xxxv. 1, &c.) During the first forty days, Joshua was with Moses in the mount (probably to help in taking the pattern for the tabernacle); during the second forty Moses was alone.

(19) For I was afraid.-In Heb. xii. 21, the words "I exceedingly fear " are (in the Greek) identical with these.

(20) I prayed for Aaron also.-Jewish commentators ascribe the loss of Aaron's two sons (Lev. x. 1, 2) partly to God's anger at this time.

(21) I took your sin . . . and I cast the dust thereof into the brook.-The stream from the rock in Horeb not only gave Israel drink, but bore away their "sin" upon its waters. "And that Rock was Christ." This identification of the sin with the material object is in harmony with the Law in Leviticus, where "sin" and sin-offering "-" trespass" and "trespassoffering"-are respectively denoted by a single word.

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(22) At Taberah.-The first place mentioned after they left Sinai.

At Massah. The last scene described before they reached it. Sinai is made the centre of provocation.

At Kibroth-hattaavah.-The first encampment named after Sinai. It is not certain that they halted at Taberah. (See Num. xi.)

(23) Ye rebelled against the commandment.— Literally, the mouth of Jehovah.

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then ye rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God, and ye believed him not, nor hearkened to his voice. (24) Ye have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you.

(25) Thus I fell down before the LORD forty days and forty nights, as I fell down at the first; because the LORD had said he would destroy you. (26) I prayed therefore unto the LORD, and said, O Lord God, destroy not thy people and thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed through thy greatness, which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand. (27) Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; look not unto the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin: (28) lest the land whence thou broughtest us out say, "Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land which he promised them, and

a Num. 14. 16.

b Ex. 34. 1.

1 Heb., words.

Ye believed him not-when He encouraged you to go up.

Nor hearkened to his voice-when He forbad you. (See on chap. i. 32, 43.)

(24) Ye have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you. This is one side of the truth. The other may be found in the words of Balaam, which Jehovah Himself put into his mouth: "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, nor seen perverseness in Israel" (Num. xxiii. 21). (See also Deut. xxxi. 16.)

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(25) Thus I fell down ..-Literally, And I fell down before Jehovah forty days and forty nights, as I had fallen down (originally on the fortieth day) when the Lord said He would destroy you: i.e., when He told Moses of the calf.

(26) I prayed therefore . . and said.-The words that follow are very similar to those which are recorded in Exod. xxxii. 11-13. Moses appears to be alluding to his first intercession here, before he descended from Sinai for the first time.

(27) Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.-This is found exactly in Exod. xxxii. 13. Very few of the words used by Moses in the second forty days are found in Exodus. (See Exod. xxxiv. 9.) (29) Thy people. which thou broughtest out. So Exod. xxxii. 11. It is noticeable that God said to Moses, "Thy people which thou broughtest out have corrupted themselves" (Exod. xxxii. 7). Moses said, "Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people which thou hast brought forth?"

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of their Rebelliousness.

because he hated them, he hath brought them out to slay them in the wilderness. (29) Yet they are thy people and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest out by thy mighty power and by thy stretched out arm.

CHAPTER X.-(1) At that time the LORD said unto me, 'Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood. (2) And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark. (3) And I made an ark of shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand. (4) And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the LORD spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the

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was given after Moses had seen the glory of God (Exod. xxxiii.) from the cleft in the rock, but before the forty days spent in intercession. Rashi, the Jewish commentator, thinks there were two arks: one to go out to war, and the other to remain in the tabernacle. But there is no foundation for this statement. There may, of course, have been a temporary receptacle for the tables made by Moses (like the temporary tabernacle mentioned in Exod. xxxiii. 7), to receive them until the completion of the ark which Bezaleel was to make. This was not put in hand until after Moses descended with the second pair of tables. (See Exod. xxxv. &c.)

(2) And I will write on the tables.-It is a common error to suppose that Moses wrote the Law the second time. The mistake arises from the change of person in Exod. xxxiv. 28, where the same pronoun "he" refers first to Moses, and then to Jehovah. But there is no doubt as to the fact or its spiritual meaning. The tables of stone represent the "fleshy tables of the heart," as St. Paul teaches us in 2 Cor. iii. 3. The first pair of tables were like the heart of Adam, which came fresh from the hand of his Maker, with the word of the Law written on them. But this perished by the fall, beneath the mountain of the Law. The humanity which ascended to receive the Spirit for us was prepared by the Mediator on earth. The "second man receives "the new covenant," "not the letter, but the Spirit," which puts God's laws in men's minds, and writes them in their hearts, making them God's temple. Thus the ark and the tabernacle which received the Law are a figure of God's human temple, and of the renewed heart of man.

(4) According to the first writing, the ten commandments.-The words written on the second tables were the same which had been written on the first.

In the day of the assembly.-Or, in New Testament language, "the day of the Church." The Pentecost of the Old Testament was the day when "the letter was given; the Pentecost of the New

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fire in the day of the assembly: and the a Num. 33. 30.
LORD gave them unto me. (5) And I
turned myself and came down from the
mount, and put the tables in the ark
which I had made; and there they Num. 20. 28.
be, as the LORD commanded me.

Levi Separated.

covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day. (9) e Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren; the LORD is his inheritance, according as the LORD thy God promised him. (10) And I stayed in the mount, according to the 1 first time, forty days and forty nights; and the LORD hearkened unto me at that time also, and the LORD would not destroy thee. (11) And the LORD said 1 Or, former days. unto me, Arise, 2 take thy journey before the people, that they may go in and possess the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give unto

(6) And the children of Israel took their journey from Beeroth of the children of Jaakan to "Mosera: there Num. 18. 20. Aaron died and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest's office in his stead. (7) From thence they journeyed unto Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Jotbath, a land of rivers of waters.

(8) At that time the LORD separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the

2 Heb., go in jour them.

ney.

Testament was the day of the "Spirit that giveth life." Each of these aspects of God's covenant produced a Church after its kind.

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(5) I put the tables in the ark which I (had) made; and there they be.-Or, and they were there, or they continued there. According to the narrative in Exodus, the ark in which the tables ultimately remained was made afterwards. The English reader must not be misled by the word had" in "I had made." There is no pluperfect in Hebrew. The time of an action is determined not so much by the form of the verb as by its relation to the context. "I put the tables in the ark which I made, and they remained there," is the literal sense. "I made may very well mean I caused to be made," and refers to the ark which Bezaleel constructed under Moses' di. rections.

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(6, 7) On these verses, which are among the most difficult in Deuteronomy, see a separate Excursus. The difficulty is two-fold. First, the account of Israel's marches about the time of Aaron's death is given in a different form here to that which we have in Num. xx., xxi., and xxxiii. Secondly, there is the further question why Aaron's death should be recorded here. It appears to have taken place before Moses began the delivery of the discourses in Deuteronomy. It is separated by thirty-nine years from the incidents which Moses is recapitulating in this passage. The Jewish commentator Rashi gives a very curious tale to account for the allusion to Aaron's death in this place. But though his theory is mythical, he seems to hit the main point, which is that Israel re-visited in their journey round the land of Edom four places where they had previously encamped, and among them Mosera, or Moseroth, the district in which Mount Hor, where Aaron died, was situated. There is no impossibility in this; in fact, it is highly probable, and would partly account for the statement in Num. xxi. 4, that "the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way." It was just about this time that the fiery serpents came.

If the connection of these verses with the train of thought in Moses' mind is spiritual, the difficulty may be solved. The death of the priest of Israel, whose first representative Aaron was, is spiritually identical with the destruction of the first pair of tables, the death of the first Adam and of all mankind in the person of

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our representative, the Lord Jesus Christ. After that death He "ariseth as "another priest, made not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life." Thus the incident is connected with what goes before. The separation of the tribe of Levi "to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord," i.e., "to bear the burden of the Law," is the same thing in another form. It deprives them of an earthly inheri tance, just as He whose representatives they were gave Himself an offering and sacrifice to God; and "His life is taken from the earth."

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Further, the names of the places themselves have in this aspect a spiritual significance. From certain wells of water "-the wells of the children of Jaakan (crookedness) the people of God take their journey to the scene of the high priest's death. From thence to Hor-hagidgad, or Gudgodah, the mount of the "troop," or "band" (Sinai is the mount of the "congregation in the Old Testament, Zion in the New), and thence to a land of rivers of water. It is only another way of relating how from the wells of the Law we pass to the rivers of living water opened by the Gospel. But we must pass by way of the cross of Christ.

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(8) At that time-i.e., at Sinai, after Moses' second descent from the mount, not at the time of Aaron's death. Yet the death of Aaron and the separation of the tribe of Levi are similar events in their way: both alike lose territorial inheritance through bearing the burden of the Law.

To bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister unto him, and to bless in his name.-A recent critic has said that the writer of Deuteronomy knows no distinction between priests and Levites. (See on this point chap. xi. 6.) Rashi's note on this verse is better: "To bear the ark (He separated)-the Levites; to stand before Jehovah to minister to Him, and to bless in His name the priests."

(9) The Lord is his inheritance.-As He was the inheritance of Aaron, Moses' brother, whom he had recently taken to Himself, and to whose death Moses had just referred.

(11) And the Lord said unto me, Arise, take thy journey before the people, that they may go in.-" Although ye had turned aside from following Him, and had erred in the (matter of the) calf, He said to me, Go, lead the people " (Rashi).

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(12) And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, (13) to keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good? (14) Behold, the

a Ps. 24. 1.

b 2 Chron. 19. 7:

10. 34; Rom. 2.
11;

Eph. 6. 9; Col. 3.
25; 1 Pet. 1. 17.

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of Israel.

d

judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. (19) Love ye therefore the stranger for ye were strangers in Job. 34. 19 Acts the land of Egypt. (20) Thou shalt fear Gal. 26. the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name. (21) He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible. things, which thine eyes have seen. (22) Thy fathers went down into Egypt e with threescore and ten persons; and now the LORD thy God hath made thee fas the stars of heaven for multitude.

e ch. 6. 13; Matt.
4. 10: Luke 4. 8.

d ch. 13. 4.

heaven and the heaven of heavens is the
LORD's thy God, a the earth also, with
all that therein is. (15) Only the LORD
had a delight in thy fathers to love
them, and he chose their seed after
them, even you above all people, as it is
this day. (16) Circumcise therefore the
foreskin of your heart, and be no more
stiffnecked. (17) For the LORD your God e Gen. 46. 27; Ex.
is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a
great God, a mighty, and a terrible,
which regardeth not persons, nor
taketh reward: (18) he doth execute the

1.5.

Gen. 15. 5.

(12) And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee.-"Although ye have done all this, still His tender mercies and His affection are set upon you, and after all that ye have sinned before Him, He doth not ask anything of you but to fear," &c. (Rashi). The Rabbis have drawn this exposition from hence: "Everything is in the hand of Heaven (to bestow), save only the fear of Heaven." But it is written elsewhere, "I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.' (Comp. also Micah vi. 8; Matt. xxiii. 23.)

(15) Only.—“The whole world belongs to Jehovah, and for all that He chose thy fathers above all people."

(16) Circumcise

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your heart.-" For circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter (Rom. ii. 29). The verse literally runs thus: Circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and ye will harden your neck no more. It is the same line of thought as St. Paul's (Gal. v. 16) “Walk in the Spirit, and (then) ye will not fulfil the lust of the flesh."

(17, 18) A great God, a mighty, and a terrible

he doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow.-" Behold (says Rashi) His might! And close beside His might thou mayest find His humility." It is not otherwise in later passages of Scripture: "He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. He telleth the number of the stars, and calleth them all by their names."

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(18) And loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.-An inclusive expression. The whole substance of Jacob our father was included in the prayer for this. "If God will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on (Rashi). (19) For ye were strangers.-" The blemish which is upon thyself thou shalt not notice in thy neighbour " (Rashi). The provision made for the stranger throughout the Old Testament Scriptures has another cause besides: "For I was a stranger, and ye gathered me in." (See a Sermon on "The Stranger" in Silver Sockets, and other Shadows of Redemption.)

CHAPTER XI.-) Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.

(20) Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; him shalt thou serve.-In the New Testament, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. It was our Lord's last answer to the tempter in the wilderness. The order of the Hebrew gives the emphasis. Jehovah thy God shalt thou fear, Him shalt thou serve, and to Him shalt thou cleave; "and (adds Rashi) after all these qualities are established in thee, then thou shalt swear by His name." At least His name would not be profaned in such a case.

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(22) Thy fathers went down.-The simple and natural form of this allusion conveys a strong impres sion of the truth of the facts. If the marvellous increase of Israel in the time allowed by the sacred narrative presents a difficulty, we must remember that the Bible consistently represents the multiplication as the fulfilment of a Divine promise, and not purely natural. But the testimony of the First Book of Chronicles must not be overlooked. The genealogy of Judah, given in the second and fourth chapters of that book, discloses a very extensive multiplication, a good deal of which must lie within the period of the sojourning in Egypt. The family of Hezron is particularly to be noticed. Of a certain descendant of Simeon it is written (1 Chron. iv. 27), "And Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brethren had not many children, neither did all their family multiply like to the children of Judah." (!) Modern calculations are perhaps not quite adequate to deal with such a rate of increase as this. (See also the Note on chap. xxxii. 8.)

XI.

(1) Therefore.-There is no break here in the original. "The Lord thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God."

And keep his charge.-Literally, keep his keeping, i.e., all that is to be kept in obedience to Him.

Alway.-Literally, all the days. (Comp. “I am with you all the days" in Matt. xxviii. 25.) Israel must not omit one day in keeping the charge of Jehovah, for

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