Deuteronomy 31:1--34:12
hundred <03967> [I am an.]
The life of Moses, the great prophet of Jehovah and lawgiver of the Jews, was exactly the same in length as the time Noah employed in preaching righteousness to the antediluvian world. These one hundred and twenty years were divided into three remarkable periods. Forty years he lived in Egypt, in the court of Pharaoh, acquiring all the learning and wisdom of the Egyptians (Ac 7:20, 23); forty years he sojourned in Midian, in a state of preparation for his great and important mission (Ac 7:29, 30); and forty years he guided, led, and governed the Israelites under the express direction and authority of God: in all 120 years.
able ... get <03201 03318> [I can no more.]
cross <05674> [Thou shalt not.]
God <0430> [thy God.]
Joshua <03091> [and Joshua.]
[Jesus.]
Lord <03068> [And the Lord.]
commandment <04687> [according.]
strong <02388> [Be strong.]
fear ... tremble <03372 06206> [fear not.]
fail <07503> [he will not fail.]
strong <02388> [Be strong.]
accompany <0935> [for thou must.]
going <01980> [he it is that.]
fail <07503> [he will be.]
Moses <04872> [Moses.]
gave <05414> [delivered.]
priests <03548> [the priests.]
carry <05375> [which bare.]
appear <07200> [to appear.]
place <04725> [in the place.]
read <07121> [thou. shalt read.]
Gather <06950> [Gather.]
<0582> [men.]
hear .... learn <08085 03925> [that they may.]
death <04191> [that thou must die.]
commission <06680> [I may give.]
present ................... themselves <03320> [presented.]
die <07901> [thou shalt.]
die <07901> [sleep. Heb. lie down.]
{Shochaiv,} "lying down:" it signifies to rest, take rest in sleep, and metaphorically, to die. Though much stress cannot be safely laid upon this expression to prove the immortality of the soul, or that the people, in the time of Moses, had a distinct notion of its separate existence; yet is was understood in this sense by Jonathan, who paraphrases the words thus: "Thou shalt lie down in the dust with thy fathers; and thy soul {nishmatoch) shall be laid up in the treasury of the life to come, with thy fathers."
prostitute <02181> [and go a.]
reject .... break <05800 06565> [forsake me.]
break ... covenant <06565 01285> [break my.]
anger <0639> [my anger.]
abandon <05800> [I will forsake.]
hide ... face <06440 05641> [hide my face.]
Though this may allude to the withdrawing of the {Shechinah,} or visible appearance of Jehovah, yet the general meaning of the expression in Scripture is, the withdrawing of his approbation and protection, of which his visible appearance was formerly the sign and pledge.
[befal them. Heb. find them.]
disasters <07451> [Are not these.]
song ................. song <07892> [this song.]
teach ....................... Israelites <03925 01121> [and teach it.]
Put ...... mouths <07760 06310> [put it in their.]
witness <05707> [a witness.]
brought <0935> [when.]
flowing <02100> [floweth.]
eat <0398> [eaten.]
become fat <01878> [waxen fat.]
turn <06437> [then.]
song <07892> [this song.]
A sacred song, appointed to be composed by Moses, doubtless under divine inspiration; which the people were required to learn, and teach to their children from generation to generation.
against <06440> [against. Heb. before. I know.]
have in mind <06213> [go about. Heb. do.]
Joshua <03091> [he gave Joshua.]
take <0935> [shalt bring.]
writing ...... words <01697 03789> [writing the words.]
carried ... ark <0727 05375> [bare the ark.]
beside <06654> [in the side.]
witness <05707> [a witness.]
know <03045> [I know.]
stubbornness <06203 07186> [stiff neck.]
rebelled <04784> [ye have been.]
Gather ....... elders <06950 02205> [Gather unto me.]
heavens ...... witness <08064 05749> [call heaven.]
corrupt yourselves ... turn <07843 05493> [corrupt yourselves.]
Disaster .............. wickedly <07451> [and evil.]
days ... come <03117 0319> [the latter days.]
drop <06201> [drop.]
showers <07241> [as the showers.]
proclaim <07121> [Because.]
acknowledge <03051> [ascribe.]
Rock <06697> [the Rock.]
work <06467> [his work.]
ways <01870> [all his.]
God <0410> [a God.]
unjust <05766> [without.]
unfaithful .............. sin <07843 03971> [They have corrupted themselves. Heb. He hath corrupted to himself.]
sin <03971> [their spot, etc. or, that they are not his children, that is their blot.]
perverse <06141> [a perverse.]
repay <01580> [requite.]
foolish <05036> [O foolish.]
father <01> [thy father.]
[hath brought.]
made .... established <06213 03559> [made thee.]
Remember <02142> [Remember.]
past generations <01755> [many generations. Heb. generation and generation.]
Ask <07592> [ask.]
Most <05945> [Most.]
inheritance <05157> [divided.]
up .... set <05324> [he set.]
Lord's <03068> [the Lord's.]
possession <02256> [lot. Heb. cord.]
found <04672> [found.]
guarded <05437> [led him. or, compassed him. he instructed.]
protected <05341> [he kept.]
Lord <03068> [the Lord.]
foreign <05236> [no strange.]
travel <07392> [ride.]
honey <01706> [honey.]
butter <02529> [Butter.]
Bashan <01316> [of Bashan.]
fat ............ best <02459> [the fat.]
juice <01818> [blood.]
Jeshurun <03484> [Jeshurun.]
kicked <01163> [kicked.]
fat ...... fat <08080> [waxen fat.]
deserted <05203> [then he.]
Rock <06697> [the Rock.]
jealous ...... enraged <07065 03707> [provoked.]
abhorrent <08441> [abominations.]
sacrificed <02076> [sacrificed.]
God <0433> [not to God. or, which were not God.]
gods <0430> [to gods.]
new ...... come along <02319 0935> [to new gods.]
Rock <06697> [the Rock.]
put out of mind <07911> [forgotten.]
Lord <03068> [And when.]
took .... despised ........ enraged <05006 03708> [abhorred them. or, despised.]
sons <01121> [of his sons.]
reject <05641> [I will hide.]
perverse <08419> [a very.]
children <01121> [children.]
jealous ................ jealous <07065> [moved me.]
worthless <01892> [with their vanities.]
jealous ..... enraging ............ jealous ................. enrage <07065 03707> [I will.]
fire <0784> [For a fire.]
burns <03344> [shall burn. or, hath burned. lowest.]
consumes <0398> [shall consume. or, hath consumed.]
<04144> [foundations.]
increase ... disasters <07451 05595> [heap mischiefs.]
them <03615> [spend.]
starved <04198> [burnt.]
plague <07565> [burning heat. Heb. burning coals.]
teeth <08127> [the teeth.]
creatures that crawl <02119> [serpents.]
sword <02719> [sword.]
inside <02315> [within. Heb. from the chambers. destroy. Heb. bereave. the young.]
adversaries <06862> [lest their.]
say <0559> [they should.]
power <03027> [Our hand, etc. or, Our high hand and not the Lord hath done all this.]
wish <03863> [O that.]
comprehend what <0995> [they would.]
one ... chase <07291 0259> [one chase.]
delivered them <03588 04376> [sold them.]
handed <05462> [shut them.]
vine ....... Sodom <05467 01612> [of the vine of Sodom. or, worse than the vine of Sodom, etc.]
grapes ....... grapes <06025> [their grapes.]
poison <02534> [the poison.]
revenge <05359> [To me.]
foot <07272> [their foot.]
day <03117> [for the day.]
rushing <06264> [the things.]
Lord <03068> [For the.]
change <05162> [repent.]
power <03027> [power. Heb. hand. none.]
ate ... best <02459 0398> [eat the fat.]
rise <06965> [let them.]
refuge <05643> [your protection. Heb. an hiding for you.]
[I, even I.]
god <0430> [no god.]
kill <04191> [I kill.]
resist ... power <05337> [neither.]
sharpen <08150> [whet.]
execute <07725> [I will.]
hate <08130> [them that hate.]
arrows <02671> [make mine.]
chief <06546> [revenges.]
The word {par“th,} rendered revenges, a sense in which it never seems to be used, has rendered this passage very obscure. As the word {paira} signifies the hair of the head, both in Hebrew and Arabic, Mr. Parkhurst and others render {mairosh par“th,} "from the hairy head;" but to have this sense, the words should rather have been {mippar“th rosh,} according the Hebrew idiom. The word {far“u,} in Arabic, however, also denotes a prince or chief; and the words may be literally rendered, with the LXX., [apo kephales archonton echthron,] "from the head of the chiefs of the enemies." The hyperbaton, or transposition of words from their grammatical order, is very observable in this verse; the third member forming a continuation of the first, and the fourth of the second.
Cry <07442> [Rejoice. or, Praise his people, ye nations; or, Sing ye.]
O ye nations.
avenge <05358> [avenge.]
take <07725> [render.]
atonement <03722> [will be.]
recited <01696> [spake.]
Joshua <01954> [Hoshea. or, Joshua.]
[A.M. 2553. B.C. 1451. An. Ex. Is. 40. Adar.]
hill country ... Mount <02022> [mountain.]
look <07200> [and behold.]
join ............... joined <0622> [be gathered.]
Aaron <0175> [as Aaron.]
both .... rebelled <04603> [ye trespassed.]
Meribah <04808> [Meribah-Kadesh. or, strife at Kadesh.]
both .... rebelled ......................... respect <04603 06942> [because ye.]
blessing <01293> [the blessing.]
man <0376> [the man.]
came ... Sinai <0935 05514> [came from Sinai.]
ten thousand <07233> [ten thousands.]
fiery <01881 0799> [a fiery law. Heb. a fire of law.]
loves <02245> [he loved.]
holy ones <06918> [all his saints.]
sit <08497> [they sat.]
receiving <05375> [shall receive.]
Moses <04872> [Moses.]
inheritance <04181> [the inheritance.]
king <04428> [king.]
Jeshurun <03484> [Jeshurun.]
bring <0935> [and bring.]
power <03027> [let his hands.]
help <05828> [and be thou.]
Thummim <08550> [Let thy.]
godly <02623> [with thy.]
challenged ... Massah <05254 04532> [prove at.]
said <0559> [Who said.]
seen <07200> [I have not.]
kept <08104> [for they.]
teach <03384> [They shall teach. or, Let them teach, etc.]
offer incense <07760 06988> [they shall put incense. or, let them put incense.]
whole offering <0639 03632> [before thee. Heb. at thy nose. whole.]
goods <02428> [his substance.]
be pleased with <07521> [accept.]
undercut ....... attack <04272> [smite.]
beloved <03039> [The beloved.]
protects ..... time <02653 03117> [cover him.]
Joseph <03130> [Joseph.]
dew <02919> [the dew.]
harvest <04022> [the precious.]
produced <01645> [put forth. Heb. thrust forth. moon. Heb. moons.]
earth <0776> [the earth.]
pleasure <07522> [the good.]
top of ... head <06936> [and upon the top.]
set apart <05139> [separated.]
firstborn <01060> [the firstling.]
horns <07161> [his horns.]
wild ox <07214> [unicorns. Heb. an unicorn. he shall push.]
thousands <07233> [the ten thousands.]
summon peoples <05971 07121> [call the people.]
summon ......... sacrifice <07121 02076 03243> [they shall.]
abundance <03243 08228> [suck of.]
Blessed <01288> [Blessed.]
dwell <07931> [he dwelleth.]
tear <02963> [teareth.]
best <07225> [the first part.]
portion <02513> [a portion.]
set aside <05603> [seated. Heb. cieled. he came.]
Naphtali ..... Naphtali <05321> [O.]
possess <03423> [possess.]
Asher .... Asher ... blessed <01288 0836> [Asher be blessed.]
favored by <07521> [let him be.]
dip <02881> [let him dip.]
bars of your gates <04515> [Thy shoes, etc. or, Under thy shoes shall be iron.]
lifelong <03117> [and as thy.]
God <0410> [none.]
Jeshurun <03484> [Jeshurun.]
rides <07392> [rideth.]
everlasting <06924> [eternal.]
refuge <04585> [refuge.]
eternal <05769> [underneath.]
driven out <01644> [thrust.]
Israel <03478> [Israel.]
fountain <05869> [the fountain.]
heavens <08064> [his.]
joy <0835> [Happy.]
delivered <03467> [saved.]
shield <04043> [the shield.]
sword <02719> [the sword.]
cringe <03584> [found liars. or, subdued.]
trample <01869> [thou shalt.]
Mount <02022> [the mountain.]
Pisgah <06449> [Pisgah. or, the hill.]
showed ..... land <07200 0776> [shewed him.]
Dan <01835> [Dan.]
<0314> [unto.]
city .... date <05892 08558> [the city of palm.]
Zoar <06820> [Zoar.]
land <0776> [This is the land.]
see <07200> [I have caused.]
Moses <04872> [So Moses.]
died ..... land <04191 0776> [died there.]
buried <06912 01516> [he buried him.]
120 <03967> [an hundred.]
eye <05869> [his eye.]
vitality departed <05127 03893> [natural force abated. Heb. moisture fled.]
mourned ... Moses ................ Moses <01058 04872> [wept for Moses.]
full .... spirit <07307 04392> [full of the spirit.]
Moses ...................... Moses <04872> [Moses.]
son ..................... Israelites <01121> [the children.]
arose <06965> [there arose.]
<03068> [the Lord.]
signs <0226> [In all the signs.]
Rather, "with respect to all the signs and wonders," etc.
CONCLUDING REMARKS ON DEUTERONOMY AND THE PENTATEUCH. Thus ends the book of Deuteronomy, and with it the Pentateuch, commonly called the Law of Moses; a work every way worthy of God its author, and only less than the New Testament, the Law and Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Its antiquity places it at the head of all the writings in the world; and the various subjects it embraces render it of the utmost importance to every part of the civilized world. Its philosophy, history, geography, and chronology entitle it to the respect of the whole human race; while its system of theology and religion demonstrably proves it to be a revelation from God. The Law of Moses is more properly the Law of Jehovah, [t“rƒh <\\See definition 08451\\> yeh“vƒh <\\See definition 03068\\>,] torath yehowah, the grand title of the Pentateuch. Could we conceive Moses to have been the author of this system, we must consider him more than mortal:--no wisdom of man has ever yet invented such a Code of Laws. His merit, however, has been disputed, and his laws severely criticised, by persons whose interest it was to prove religion a cheat, because they had none themselves. To some, whose mental taste and feeling are strangely perverted, everything in heathenism wears not only the most fascinating aspect, but appears to lay claim to and possess every excellence; and hence they have called up Confucius, Menu, Zoraster, and Mohammed himself, to dispute the palm with Moses! On this subject in general, it may be just necessary to add, that the utmost that can be said of all laws, merely human, is, that they restrain vices, through the terror of punishment. God's law not only restrains vice, but it infuses virtue. It alone brings man to the footstool of his Maker; and keeps him dependent on the strong for strength, on the wise for wisdom, and on the merciful for grace. It abounds with promises of support, and salvation for the present life, which no false system dared ever to propose: every where, Moses, in the most confident manner, pledges his God for the fulfilment of all the exceeding great and precious promises, with which his laws are so plentifully interspersed; and while they were obedient they could say, "Not one word hath failed us, of all the good things which the Lord our God spake concerning us." Who that dispassionately reads the Pentateuch, that considers it in itself and in its reference to that glorious Gospel which it was intended to introduce, can for a moment deny it the palm of infinite superiority over all the systems ever framed or imagined by man? Well might the Israelitish people triumphantly exclaim, "There is none like the God of Jeshurun!" and with what striking propriety does the glorious legislator add, "Happy art thou, O Israel! who is like unto thee? O people, saved of the Lord!" Finally, the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, which are amassed in these five books, have enriched the whole civilized earth, and, indeed, greatly promoted that very civilization. They have been a kind of text-book to almost every writer on geology, geography, chronology, astronomy, natural history, ethics, jurisprudence, political economy, theology, poetry, and criticism, from the time of Moses to the present day--books to which the choicest writers and philosophers in Pagan antiquity, have been deeply indebted; and which were the text-books to all the prophets--books from which the flimsy writers against Divine Revelation have derived their natural religion, and all their moral excellence--books written in all the energy, and purity, of the incomparable language in which they are composed; and lastly, books, which for importance of matter, variety of information, dignity of sentiment, accuracy of facts, impartiality, simplicity, and sublimity of narration, tending to improve and ennoble the intellect and ameliorate the physical and moral condition of man, have never been equalled, and can only be paralleled by the Gospel of the Son of God! Fountain of endless mercy, justice, truth, and beneficence! How much are thy gifts and bounties neglected by those who do not read this law; and by those who having read it, are not morally improved by it, and made wise unto salvation!
