CHAPTER XXIX.

18

1 Moses exhorteth them to obedience, by the memory
of the works they have seen. 10 All are presented
before the Lord to enter into his covenant.
The great wrath on him that flattereth himself
in his wickedness. 29 Secret things belong unto
God.

THESE are the words of the covenant, which
the LORD commanded Moses to make with
the children of Israel in the land of Moab,
beside the covenant which he made with
them in Horeb.

2 And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, 'Ye have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land;

3 The great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles:

4 Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.

5 And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.

6 Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the LORD your God.

7 And when ye came unto this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us unto battle, and we smote them:

8 And we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance unto the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half tribe of Manasseh.

9 Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.

10 Ye stand this day all of you before the LORD your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel,

11 Your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water:

12 That thou shouldest "enter into covenant with the LORD thy God, and into his oath, which the LORD thy God maketh with thee this day:

13 That he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, 1 Exod. 19. 4. 2 Chap. 4. 6. Josh. 1. 7. 1 Kings 2. 3. 7 Or, stubbornness, 8 Heb. the drunken to the thirsty. 11 Gen. 19. 24, 25.

and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

14 Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath;

15 But with him that standeth here with us this day before the LORD our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day:

16 (For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; and how we came through the nations which ye passed by;

17 And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them :)

18 Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth "gall and wormwood;

19 And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add "drunkenness to thirst:

20 The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.

21 And the LORD shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law :

22 So that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses which the LORD hath laid upon it;

23 And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, "like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:

24 Even all nations shall say, "Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?

25 Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which he made with Heb. dungy gods. 5 Or, a poisonfull herb. 6 Heb. rosh. 9 Heb. is written. 19 Heb. wherewith the LORD hath made it sick. 12 1 Kings 9. 8. Jerem. 22. 8.

3 Heb. pass.

them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt:

26 For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not "given unto them:

27 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book:

28 And the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.

29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

13 Or, who had not given to them any portion.

14 Heb. divided.

"SHOE"-EGYPTIAN SANDALS.-Verse 5.

Verse 5. "Your clothes are not waxen old upon you, &c.”—The Rabbins add many circumstances to explain and magnify this miracle, stating that the clothes and shoes grew with the growth of the individual who wore them; but, as Patrick observes, there was no need of this, as the clothes of the persons that died would serve for their children when they reached their stature. The miracle, as expressed in the text, would be that the clothing which the Hebrews had brought with them from Egypt, and which they afterwards obtained as spoil from the Egyptians and Amalekites, did not wear out during their long wanderings. The great majority of interpreters in ancient and modern times understand the miracle literally as expressed in the text; but there are also a considerable number of commentators, of piety and learning equally unquestioned, who do not take the text literally, but suppose it to express figuratively, that God had at all times kept them provided with sufficient clothing; or, that they were never, through mere poverty, reduced to wear their clothes and sandals till they were old and torn: just as Isa. xlviii. 21, "They thirsted not when he led them through the deserts," is not literally true, as they sometimes did thirst severely; but it is true figuratively, as their thirst was appeased by miraculous supplies of water. It is also observed, that if intended to be literally understood, so great a miracle would scarcely have been mentioned in so cursory a manner, not being at all noticed in the regular history, like all the other miracles, and only slightly referred to in exhortatory portions of the present book. It is further observed that God is not represented to work miracles, except when natural means fail; and yet here is one of the greatest for which it is difficult to discover the occasion, as the people had numerous flocks of sheep and goats, and herds of cattle, which would amply supply them with wool, hair, and skins for their clothes and sandals; and that they knew how to spin and weave we see from Exod. xxxv. 25. They might also probably, if necessary, have obtained such articles by traffic with their Arabian neighbours. These arguments seem to have great weight; and while we would repel indignantly any attempt to explain away the detailed and manifest exhibitions of the Divine power which the sacred books contain, we rather incline to the opinion that the present text should be figuratively understood. Dr. Graves, indeed, in his Lectures on the Pentateuch,', contends for the literal understanding, on the ground that even though the above interpretation were admitted, still linen, “the most necessary and the least lasting part of the dress of every class," could only be obtained by miracle. But this is judging the customs of the East by those of Europe, and the wants of nomades by those of settled people. At this day the Bedouin Arabs do not generally wear any linen, but only a sort of woollen mantle wrapped around their naked bodies; and it is not only probable that the mass of the Israelites-while they also were wandering shepherds, and at a period so much more ancient—in like manner dispensed with linen, but that they even continued to do so long after their settlement in Canaan.

11. "From the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water."-These seem to have been regarded by the Hebrews as the lowest offices of useful service, and were commonly performed by slaves and aliens. The "hewers of wood" probably not only felled the wood in the first instance and brought it to the towns, but also chopped it up for daily use as fuel. Fire-wood is usually brought to houses in rough branches, and cut up from time to time, as wanted; the trunk being reserved for building and carpentry. In Oriental towns, water is not conveyed to the several streets and houses by pipes or trenches. It must all be fetched from the river or the wells. In towns, this is seldom done by the householders themselves, or by their servants. There are men who make it a trade to supply every day, to regular customers, the quantity of water required. This they carry about in a well prepared goat-skin, which is slung to the back in the manner represented in our cut, the neck, which is usually brought under the arm and compressed by the hand, serving as the mouth of this curious, but exceedingly useful vessel. Persons of larger dealings have an ass which carries two skins at once, borne like panniers: and we have known very prosperous water-carriers who had ox skins carried on a horse. These men, continually passing to and fro with their wet bags through the narrow streets, are great nuisances in the towns, from the difficulty of avoiding contact with them. The care taken to avoid them, in some degree answers to that which people exhibit in our own streets to avoid carriages and carts. There are no draught vehicles in Asiatic towns; and the water-carriers with their bags, together with the "hewers of wood,” bearing large faggots on their own backs or the backs of horses or mules, form the only obstructions which usually occur in the streets, narrow as they are. In a time of public calamity the water-carriers are the last to discontinue their labour; and their doing so is a sure indication that the distress has become most intense and imminent, and is indeed

a great calamity in itself. The writer remembers that, when this happened, in the time when a severe plague was raging, Europeans, who were quite alive to the importance of maintaining a strict quarantine in their own houses, were, nevertheless, obliged to to go out through the town to fetch water for themselves from the distant river.

the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.

11 For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.

say,

12 'It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?

13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?

14 But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.

15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;

16 In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest

3 Rom. 10. 6, &c.

live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;

18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.

19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

20 That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD Sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

4 Chap. 4. 26.

CHAPTER XXXI.

1 Moses encourageth the people. 7 He encourageth Joshua. 9 He delivereth the law unto the priests to read it in the seventh year to the people. 14 God giveth a charge to Joshua, 19 and a song to testify against the people. 24 Moses delivereth the book of the law to the Levites to keep. 28 He maketh a protestation to the elders.

AND Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel.

2 And he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: also the LORD hath said unto me, 'Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.

3 The LORD thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt sess them and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the LORD hath said.

pos

4 And the LORD shall do unto them as he did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and unto the land of them, whom he destroyed.

5 And the LORD shall give them up before your face, that ye may do unto them according unto all the commandments which I have commanded you.

6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy

1 Num. 20. 12. Chap. 3. 27.

God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

7 And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.

8 And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.

9 And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and unto all the elders of Israel.

10 And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles,

11 When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing.

12 Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law:

Num, 27. 21. 3 Chap. 7. 2. 4 Chap. 15. 1.

21 And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their And the LORD said unto Moses, Be-imagination which they go about, even now, hold, thy days approach that thou must die: before I have brought them into the land call Joshua, and present yourselves in the which I sware. tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation.

13 And that their children, which have I not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it. 14

7 Heb. before. 8 Heb. do. 9 Josh. 1. 6.

Verse 24. "Made an end of writing the words of this law in a book.”—In order to give the reader some idea of the probable form and material of this most ancient book, and the other books mentioned in the sacred volume, we shall here state a few leading facts on the general subject, accompanying the statement by such engraved illustrations, from authentic sources, as seem calculated to render more distinctly intelligible the information supplied. It will be observed that our present notice is limited to such portable writings as may more or less properly come under the denomination of "book." As we shall not enlarge the subject by investigating the chronological priority in the use of the different substances employed, we shall find it convenient to arrange our brief remarks under the heads of Vegetable, Metallic, and Animal Substances. Most of those we shall notice, or probably all, were, in due order of time, known to the Jews, as we either know positively from Scripture, or else may, with tolerable certainty, infer from their connections with other nations. It may be therefore more useful to view the subject connectedly, than to take it up in fragments, as the several passages bring the details under our notice.