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Moses sent up

DEUTERONOMY, XXXIII.

33. 38.

to Mount Nebo.

shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel.

that selfsame day, saying, (9) Get thee a Num. 20. 25, 28 & shalt see the land before thee; but thou up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I

CHAPTER XXXIII.-(1) And this is

give unto the children of Israel for a Num. 20. 12, 13 & the blessing, wherewith Moses the man

possession: (50) and die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people; as "Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people: (51) because 'ye trespassed against me among the children. of Israel at the waters of MeribahKadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst

1

1

27. 14.

Kadesh.

of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. (2) And he said,

The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined Or Strife at forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them. (3) Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand: and they

2

of the children of Israel. (52) Yet thou Heb., a fire of sat down at thy feet; every one shall

law.

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Mount Nebo. The particular peak of the "Abarim ("mountains beyond Jordan," or passages of Jordan"), where Moses was to die, was not mentioned before. "The rugged summit of mount Nebo rises abruptly 4,000 feet above the plain (where the Israelites were encamped), and still retains its name, with unchanged meaning, in the Arabic Neba, or height" (Conder's Bible Handbook, p. 254).

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(50, 51) And die in the mount. as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor... because ye trespassed against me.-It may be asked why Moses and Aaron should both have been made to ascend a mountain to die. I believe a clue to the reason may be found in the words and act which constituted their transgression. They were bidden to speak to the rock in Kadesh, and they struck it. The words which Moses used on that occasion were, "Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this cliff (Selagh)? The last words of the sentence are emphatic; and the rock is described as a cliff, not by the name given to the Rock in Horeb (Tzûr). The emphasis laid upon these words has been much discussed by Jewish commentators, though it escapes English readers. I suspect that the mistake Moses and Aaron made, in thinking it needful to strike the cliff, also led them to think it necessary to ascend it, instead of gathering the congregation together beneath it, and speaking to it from below. This view harmonises with the spiritual significance of the act. The smitten Rock in Horeb was Christ; the Cliff not to be smitten in Kadesh pointed also to Christ, ascended now, needing only the prayer of faith to call down all that He will give. And so Moses himself taught, in some of his latest words. "It is not in heaven that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us? But the word is nigh thee, in thy mouth."

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(1) Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel.-The title man of God is here used for the first time. Its counterpart is to be found in chap. xxxiv. 5: "Moses the servant of Jehovah died." The more any man is a "servant to Jehovah," the more is he a 66 man of Elohim" to his fellow-men. After Moses, Elijah and Elisha are more especially Testament. described by this title (man of God") in the Old

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The appearance of God on Sinai is described as a sunrise. His light rose from Sinai, and the tops of the hills of Seir caught its rays. The full blaze of light shone on Paran. (Comp. Ps. 1. 2: Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.") He came with ten thousands of saints is a mere mistranslation. The preposition is "from," not "with." If the verb "he came," in the fourth line, is taken to refer to God. we must translate: 'He came from ten thousands of saints" (to sinful men). Rashi takes "from" to mean "part of." There came some of His ten thousands of saints, but not all of them." I believe the true translation is what I have given. The law itself was 'ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator" (Gal. iii. 19). It is called "the word spoken by angels in Heb. ii. 2. The language of Dan. vii. 10—“ A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him: thousand thousands ministered unto Him"-supplies a complete parallel. The fiery law came from the ten thousands on " His right hand;" or from them, and from His right hand. This construction is by far the most simple, and agrees with what we read elsewhere. (3) Yea, he loved.-The connection appears to be this

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The Blessing of Reuben,

receive of thy words.

DEUTERONOMY, XXXIII.

(4) Moses com- a Ex. 28. 30. manded us a law, even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob. (5) And he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of or. Let Israel were gathered together.

(6) Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few.

(7) And this is the blessing of Judah : And he said, Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah, and bring him unto his people : let his hands be sufficient for him; and be thou an help to him from his enemies.

All His saints are in Thy hand :

2

tea h, &c.

them

Judah, and Levi.

(8) And of Levi he said,

Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah; (9) who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children: for they have incense Or let them put observed thy word, and kept thy covenant. (10) 1 They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law: they shall put incense before thee, and

3 Heb., at thy nose. Whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar.

(the hand of Him who spake on Sinai, and now "speaketh from heaven")

And they are seated at Thy feet;

(the feet of the same heavenly Prophet. Comp. Matt. v. 1, 2)

Every one shall receive of Thy words."

Or, possibly, He, that prophet, will take of thy (i.e., of Moses') words. We know he did so.

(4, 5) "[Of] the law which Moses commanded us,

The inheritance of the congregation of Jacob,
When he (Moses) was king in Jeshurun,

In the gathering of the heads of the people,
The tribes of Israel together."

This fourth verse, from its form, is evidently not what Moses said, but an explanatory parenthesis, inserted by the writer, who was probably Joshua. Upon He was king in Jeshurun," Rashi says, "The Holy One, blessed be He! the yoke of His kingdom is upon them for ever." It may be so. "When the Lord your God was your king," is Samuel's description of the whole history of Israel previous to himself.

The certainty that the King of kings, the Messiah of Israel, was and is the Lawgiver and Teacher, and Keeper of all saints, and that there are none of that character who do not "sit at the feet of Jesus," makes the real meaning of the passage perfectly plain, even though the exact grammatical relation of the clauses may be not beyond dispute.

(6) Let Reuben live, and not die.-666 'Live' in this world." says Rashi, "and 'not die' in the world to come." That his misdeed should not be remembered Gen. xxxv. 22). Rashi also notices the juxtaposition of this record with the sentence, "the sons of Jacob were twelve." Reuben was not cut off, but he was disinherited (1 Chron. v. 1), and his father's blessing had so much in it of disapproval, that Moses' prayer for him was not unnecessary.

And let not his men be few.-The sentence is difficult. The LXX. insert Simeon, "let Simeon be many in number." But there is no need for this. The most terrible destruction ever wrought in Israel by the word of Moses came on Dathan and Abiram (who were Reubenites), when "they and all that appertained to them went down alive into the pit." We cannot say how far the tribe was diminished by this terrible visitation and the plague that followed (Num. xvi.), but the fighting men of the tribe had slightly decreased in the second census (Num. i. 21 and xxvi. 7), and only two of all the twelve tribes had a smaller force than Reuben

at this time. It seems best, therefore, to take the whol verse as applying to Reuben, and the negative in the first clause as covering the second clause also. "Let not his men be a (small) number." The omission of Simeon may be accounted for by his coming within the inheritance of Judah, in Canaan, and enjoying the blessing and protection of that most distinguished tribe. Rashi also takes this view.

The words

(7) And this (he said) of Judah. which follow are a kingly blessing: "Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah, and bring him to his people." In other words, when we think of "the Lion of the tribe of Judah," "Thy kingdom come." Rashi reminds us of the many prayers in Old Testament history which were heard from Judah's lips. The prayers of David and Solomon; of Asa and Jehoshaphat; of Hezekiah against Sennacherib; and, we may add, of King Manasseh, and Daniel the prophet-were all "the voice of Judah." The last line of Old Testament history is a prayer of Judah by the mouth of Nehemiah,

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Remember me, O my God, for good." The psalms of David, again, are all "the voice of Judah." And, best of all, every prayer of our Lord's is "the voice of Judah" also. The remainder of the blessing is easily understood. The hands" of Judah embrace those Hands which were "sufficient" for the salvation of mankind. "His enemies" include all, even to Death, the "last enemy," whom God shall subdue under His feet.

(8) And of Levi.-Next to Joseph, this tribe has the largest share in Moses' last words, as we might naturally expect, it being his own tribe. The character of the priest is the principal subject. The blessing may be thus paraphrased: "Let thy Thummim and thy Urim (the chief high-priestly ornaments) be ever with some saintly man of thine, like him whom thou (Israel) didst tempt in Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah (Moses' own departed brother Aaron is alluded to, for the people murmured against them both in both places), like him (Eleazar or Phinehas) who said to his father and to his mother, ‘I have not seen him,' &c. These are the priests that shall teach Jacob thy judgments and Israel thy law." The conduct of the tribe of Levi at Sinai is alluded to, when they stood by Moses and slew the idolaters. Who headed them on that occasion we are not told. Eleazar or Phinehas may be intended. The conduct of Phinehas (in Num. xxv.) is also a case in point. As Rashi observes, "his father and his mother, his brethren and children cannot be taken literally, because the tribe of Levi on the whole was faithful. The fathers,

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Of Benjamin, and Joseph,

DEUTERONOMY, XXXIII.

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Let thy Thummim and thy Urim.-See Exod. xxviii. 30. Thy Thummim and thy Urim" may refer to Israel, or to Levi, or to Jehovah Himself. In the last case, He must be thought to have tried Levi at Massah, and striven with Moses and Aaron at the waters of Meribah. It is not at all easy to distribute the pronouns with certainty in this speech.

If the writer of Deuteronomy was unconscious of any difference between priest and Levite, how is the mention of Urim and Thummim to be explained?

(11) Bless, Lord, his substance. This petition is consistent with the enactment that Levi should have no land. But a blessing on his substance means a blessing to the whole land of Israel. Levi's substance was Israel's tithe.

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Smite through the loins of them that rise against him.-Rashi refers to the great war begun by the Asmonæans. Mattathias, the father of the Maccabees, was a priest of the sons of Joiarib from Jerusalem" (1 Macc. ii. 1). In the time of Athaliah and of Antiochus Epiphanes alike, the restorers of the worship of Jehovah, and the deliverers of the nation from a foreign yoke, were priests.

(12) And of Benjamin.-It is generally agreed that this blessing points to the site of the place which Jehovah chose out of all the tribes of Israel, Jerusalem, in the tribe of Benjamin. The Hebrew is divided thus:

"Unto Benjamin he said, Beloved of Jehovah !
He (Jehovah) will dwell in security upon him,
Covering him over all the day.

And between his shoulders (mountain slopes) He
hath taken up His abode."

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and of Zebulun

(15) and for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills, (16) and for the precious things of the earth and fulness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren. (17) His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.

(18) And of Zebulun he said,

The deep that coucheth beneath. Rashi observes that "the deep ascends in vapour, and also gives moisture from below."

(14) And for the precious fruits.-The "increase of the sun," and "precious things put forth from month to month " (or by night when the moon rules), are

next alluded to.

(16) The good will of him that dwelt in the bush-is a blessing peculiar to Moses. It contains an exquisite piece of interpretation. From the fact that Jehovah revealed Himself to Moses in a flame of fire in a bush, the man of God drew the thought that He presented Himself as dwelling in it; and thus he has furnished God's Church with this comfort for all ages, that His human temple, although it burn with fire, can never be consumed.

The last part of verse 16 is taken direct from Gen. xlix. 26.

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Separated from his brethren.-Heb., nâzîr. Is it altogether unreasonable to suppose that this particular feature in Joseph's history, when he was sold into Egypt," and "separated from his brethren," may be part of the meaning of "Nazarene" when applied to our Lord in Matt. ii. 23 ?

(17) They are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.Rashi refers this to the ten thousands slain by Joshua, the Ephraimite leader, and the thousands slain by Gideon, who was of the tribe of Manasseh. He expounds nearly the whole of the verse in reference to Joshua and the conquest of Canaan. There is an obvious similarity in the song of the Israelitish women after the defeat of the Philistines, "Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands." The people "pushed to the ends of the earth" are taken to be the thousands and ten thousands of conquered Canaanites and Midianites. For a similar metaphor, see 1 Kings xxii. 11. Otherwise the ten thousands of Ephraim and the thousands of Manasseh would be the two-horned power of Joseph. (Comp. Dan. viii. 3, 20 for a simile of the same kind.)

(18) Zebulun

and Issachar were united with Judah, in the leading division of Israel in the wilderness. The warlike character of the first of these two, and the more peaceful wisdom of the second, are illustrated by Judges v. 18 and 1 Chron. xii. 32, 33. (Comp. Jacob's blessing of Issachar in Gen. xlix. 14, 15.)

The Blessing of Issachar, Gad, DEUTERONOMY, XXXIII.

Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out; and, Issachar, in thy tents. (19) They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness: for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasures hid in the sand.

(20) And of Gad he said,

Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad: he dwelleth as a lion, and teareth the arm with the crown of the head. (21) 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, he executed the justice of the LORD, and his judgments with Israel.

(22) And of Dan he said,

1 Heb., ciele.

2 Or. Under thy
shoes shall be
iron.

(19) They shall call the people unto the mountain. Or, they shall give the mountain-call to the peoples-i.e., they shall call the tribes of Israel to Mount Moriah to offer the sacrifices of righteousness. (See 2 Chron. xxx. 11, 18 for an illustration of this.)

(20) Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad.The mountains of Gilead shut him in.

He dwelleth as a lion.-See 1 Chron. xii. 8, for eleven Gadites, "whose faces were as the faces of lions."

(21) The first part.-The first territory conquered by Moses was distributed between Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh.

A portion of the lawgiver is interpreted by Rashi as the field of the "burial-place" of the lawgiver. But this can hardly have been in the mind of Moses.

He came with the heads of the people.The Gadites with their companion tribes passed over Jordan to the conquest of Canaan by Moses' order.

(22) Dan is a lion's whelp.-Jacob compared him to a serpent and an adder. The lion of the tribe of Dan is not like the lion of the tribe of Judah.

He shall leap from Bashan. - The taking of Laish is probably referred to. It was a sudden, treacherous surprise, like the spring of a lion on his prey (Judges xviii. 27, 28). The "hill of Bashan" is opposed to God's hill in Ps. lxviii. 15. The "kine of Bashan are reproved (Amos iv. 1). The "bulls of Bashan " represent the enemies of Christ in Ps. xxii. 12. O Naphtali possess thou the west (literally, the sea) and the south. This is not easy to interpret literally. The only sea in Naphtali's inheritance was the Sea of Galilee. If we look on to the days when that sea becomes famous in Holy Scripture, we find our Saviour dwelling in the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali," and through his Galilean followers possessing the west and the south, taking the "nations for his inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for His possession."

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(24) Let Asher be blessed with children.It can be translated "more blessed than all sons." Rashi quotes an old saying, "You will not find among all the tribes one so blest with children as Asher, and I cannot say why."

Let him be acceptable to his brethren, and . . . dip his foot in oil.-The fertility of

Dan, Naphtali, and Asher.

Dan is a lion's whelp: he shall leap from Bashan.

(23) And of Naphtali he said,

O Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the LORD: possess thou the west and the south. (24) And of Asher he said,

Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil. (25) 2Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.

(26) There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky. (7) The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms and he shall thrust out the

Asher's inheritance is probably alluded to. There is no tribe of which so little is recorded in history. The happiest lives are sometimes the least eventful. (25) Thy shoes shall be iron and brass.— Perhaps we should rather read, thy bars shall be iron and brass. The word here rendered “shoes" in the Authorised Version does not occur elsewhere. The nearest word to it means "locks" or "fastenings." It is also uncertain whether the whole sentence belongs to the blessing of Asher, or to all Israel. It seems most likely that, as Asher's territory was at the northern end of Palestine, close to the pass by which the most formidable invaders must enter in, an assurance is here given that the frontier of Israel should be safe. "Iron" and "brass" are mentioned together in connection with gates and bars in Ps. cvii. 16; Isa. xlv. 2. But they are not usually connected with "shoes" in the Old Testament.

And as thy days, so shall thy strength be.The word for "strength" does not occur elsewhere in the Old Testament, but the Targums and the LXX., and other authorities, seem to agree in its interpretation, and the form of the word points to this meaning, "strength," so that there is little doubt as to its correctness. But the meaning of the clause is variously given by Jewish authorities. "Thy strength in old shall be as the strength of thy youth;" or, "As thou spendest thy days (in doing the will of the Holy One or not), so shall thy strength be.”

age

(26) There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun.-Their rock is not as our Rock. For Jeshurun, see note on chap. xxxii. 15.

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(27) The eternal God is thy refuge. — The word "thy is not represented in the original. Ma'ônah, the word for refuge, differs very slightly from the "refuge" of Ps. xc. 1, Lord, thou hast been our refuge in generation and generation," which are also the words of Moses. The same word is used of the "habitation of Jehovah in heaven (chap. xxvi. 15). Perhaps we ought to connect this clause with what precedes, and render the passage thus:

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The Land shown to Moses.

DEUTERONOMY, XXXIV.

1 Or, shall be sub-
dued.

enemy from before thee; and shall say, a Jer. 23. 6.
Destroy them. (28) a Israel then shall
dwell in safety alone: the fountain of
Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and
wine; also his heavens shall drop down
dew. (29) Happy art thou, O Israel:
who is like unto thee, O people saved
by the LORD, the shield of thy help,
and who is the sword of thy excellency! Or, The hill.
and thine enemies shall be found liars
unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon
their high places.

CHAPTER XXXIV.-(1)And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho.

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b ch. 3. 37; 2 Mac.
2.4.

c Gen. 12. 7 & 13.
15.

(28) Israel then shall dwell in safety-i.e., in confidence and security. "In His days (the days of Messiah) Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely" (Jer. xxiii. 6), but not until they learn to rest upon the everlasting arms."

(29) Thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee.-See Ps. lxvi. 3: Through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves (ie., lie) unto thee." The idea is, that the enemies of the conqueror will hasten to throw themselves at his feet, protesting that they were always his friends. (Compare Shimei's repentance on the occasion of David's return to Jerusalem, 2 Sam. xix. 18.)

XXXIV.

DEATH OF MOSES.

(1) Pisgah. See Num. xxi. 20. The word seems to mean a height.

(1, 2) The Lord shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, and all Naphtali ... unto the utmost sea-that is, He showed him all the land which was to be given to these several tribes. Whether He then showed it to him under the names which are given here or not is a question we cannot answer. Many deeply interesting queries suggest themselves here. Did Moses go up alone? or did Joshua accompany him? Who wrote these particulars of what was shown to him, and how were the particulars known? I am disposed to believe that as Elijah and Elisha "still went on and talked," until that chariot of fire appeared which "parted them both asunder," so it was with Moses and Joshua-that Moses' minister attended him until Jehovah withdrew him from his sight. But it speaks well for Joshua's character-in fact, it is altogether characteristic of the man--that in this record of the death of the great lawgiver he should have concealed himself and every other figure from sight except Jehovah and His servant Moses. Rashi, in his comment on this scene, says that the Lord showed Moses not only the land, but what should happen therein, in every part. But of this we know nothing. We know that the spectacle was complete. Probably "the eye that was not dim" was enabled to see farther than human eye ever saw from such a height before. "The utmost sea " is full fifty miles away from that spɔt.

Death of Moses.

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And the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, (2) and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea, (3) and the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar. (4) And the LORD said unto him, "This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.

(5) So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. (6) And he buried him in a valley in the land of

(3) And the south-i.e., the Negeb. And the plain-i.e., the plain of Jordan. The valley of Jericho.-The city of palm trees may or may not be identical with that place.

(4) This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it. "That thou mayest go and say to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, The oath which He sware to you, the Holy One, blessed be He! hath performed it," is Rashi's comment. But in Paradise they scarcely needed Moses to tell them of His faithfulness.

(5) So (better, and) Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord.- Literally, upon the mouth of the Lord, and hence the Jewish interpretation that he died by a kiss! But the language of the sacred narrative is too simple to need even this interpre tation. For many years it had been the habit of Moses to do everything "at the mouth of the Lord." Only one fatal mistake mars the record of obedience. It was but one last act of obedience to lie down and die at the word of Jehovah. It is extraordinary, when we consider the story of Moses' last days, how wholly self is cast aside. There is no anxiety about the unseen world, and no positive expression of hope. St. Paul says far more than Moses about his prospects in the life to come. To Moses, death is a source of anxiety on account of his people, and a source of pain to himself, because he cannot go over Jordan and see the works of Jehovah on the other side. Beyond this, his reticence is absolute, and his calm silence is sublime. But he died in the company of Jehovah, and may well have felt that he would not lose His presence in the other world. Underneath were the everlasting arms," as he had said but just before. Jehovah was with him, and he feared no evil. He was so fearless, that it does not seem to have occurred to him to say that he did not fear.

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(6) And he buried him.-Moses is alone in this honour. The Son of God was buried by sinful men. Moses was buried by Jehovah.

But no man knoweth of his sepulchre.I have always believed that the contention between Michael and the devil about the body of Moses (Jude v. 9) was, in fact, a struggle for his body-that Moses was to be raised from the dead, and that Satan re.

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