_A.M. 2553. B.C. 1451._ The song of Moses contains the preface, Deuteronomy 32:1; Deuteronomy 32:2. A high character of God, Deuteronomy 32:3. A recital of the great things God had done for them, and of their carriage toward him, Deuteronomy 32:7. A prediction of judgments for their aggravated impi... [ Continue Reading ]
“This very sublime ode,” says Dr. Kennicott, “is distinguished even by the Jews, both in their manuscripts and printed copies, as being poetry. In our present translation it would appear to much greater advantage if it were printed hemistically: and the translation of some parts of it may be much im... [ Continue Reading ]
_My doctrine shall drop as the rain_ As nothing is more grateful to the thirsty earth than gentle showers, so there cannot be any thing more acceptable to those who are desirous of knowing the divine will than the revelation of it. And as the dew and rain gently falling soften and refresh the earth,... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will publish the name of the Lord_ His glorious excellences and righteous actions, by which he hath made himself known as a man is known by his name, and by which it will appear both that there is no blame to be laid upon him whatsoever befalls you, and that it is gross madness to forsake such a... [ Continue Reading ]
_He is a rock_ Stable in his nature, invincible in his power, fixed and immutable in his counsels, promises, and ways; so that if there should be a sad change in your affairs, remember that this proceeds from yourselves, and from the change of your ways toward God, and not from God, _with whom is no... [ Continue Reading ]
_They have corrupted themselves_ Notwithstanding that God hath fully displayed these excellences in his dealings with the Israelitish nation, yet how corrupt and ungrateful hath been their behaviour! _Their spot_ The wickedness with which they are stained; _is not of his children _ Plainly shows the... [ Continue Reading ]
_O foolish people and unwise!_ Fools and double fools! Fools, indeed, to disoblige one on whom you so entirely depend! Who hath bewitched you to forsake your own mercies for lying vanities? _Bought thee _ That hath redeemed thee from Egyptian bondage. _Made thee_ Not only in a general, by creation,... [ Continue Reading ]
_The days of old_ The events of ancient days or former ages, and thou wilt find that I had a respect unto thee not only in Abraham's time, but long before it.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Their inheritance_ When God, by his providence, allotted the several parts of the world to several people, which was done, Genesis 10:11. _When he separated_ Divided them in their languages and habitations, according to their families. _He set the bounds_ That is, he disposed of the several lands a... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord's portion is his people_ Highly prized and loved by him, Exodus 19:5. As if he had said, The Israelites are that portion of mankind whom God was pleased to redeem out of bondage, and to make his peculiar people. It is no wonder, therefore, that he has so great a regard for them, and takes... [ Continue Reading ]
_He found him in a desert land_ Not by chance, but as it were looking out and seeking for him. He did, indeed, manifest himself to Israel in Egypt; but it was in the wilderness of Sinai that God found him in an eminent manner, revealed his will to him, entered into covenant with him, and imparted hi... [ Continue Reading ]
_As an eagle stirreth up her nest_ The nest is here put for the young ones in the nest. The eagle is observed by naturalists to have a most tender affection to her young, and therefore the care of God over Israel is here well illustrated thereby. By her voice she encourages and stirs them up to fly,... [ Continue Reading ]
So With such tenderness and care; _the Lord alone did lead him_ When they were shut up in Egypt, as in their nest, whence they durst not venture to fly or stir, he taught, and encouraged, and enabled them to fly out from that bondage; he dealt tenderly with them, bearing with their infirmities, keep... [ Continue Reading ]
_He made him ride on the high places_ To conquer their strongest holds on the mountains, and their cities fenced with walls of the greatest height and strength: _to ride upon_ being, in the phraseology of Scripture, to subdue and conquer. Or, he put him in possession of a country full of lofty and f... [ Continue Reading ]
_Milk of sheep_ Le Clerc renders it, _Milk of sheep and goats;_ the Hebrew word signifying both. _With fat of lambs_ Or, lambs well fatted. The fat, indeed, wherewith the inwards were covered was not to be eaten by them, but offered to God; yet that fat which was mixed with the flesh they might eat.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jeshurun_ Israel is called _Jeshurun_, both here and chap. Deuteronomy 33:5; Deuteronomy 33:26; as also Isaiah 44:2. Some consider the word as being derived from שׁור, _shur, to see_, and think the appellation was given them because they were so highly favoured with divine manifestations. But it is... [ Continue Reading ]
_They provoked him to jealousy_ Speaking after the manner of men. See on Numbers 25:11. The word expresses not only the hot displeasure and indignation of God, but also the ground of it, which was Israel's falseness to him, whom they had accepted as their husband, and their spiritual whoredom with o... [ Continue Reading ]
_Of the Rock that begat thee_ Of God, one of whose titles this is; or of Christ, the rock that is said to have followed the Israelites in the wilderness, (1 Corinthians 10:4,) of which they drank, and whom they tempted. Moses still speaks in the prophetic style, representing what appeared present to... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will see what their end will be_ I will make them and others see what the fruit of such actions shall be. _No faith_ No fidelity. They were notoriously perfidious, and had so often broke their covenant with God, that they were not to be trusted when they made profession of repentance. To the trut... [ Continue Reading ]
_They have provoked me to anger with their vanities_ By vanities here are meant the fictitious deities of the nations with whose worship the Israelites corrupted themselves: see Jeremiah 8:19; Jeremiah 14:22. _I will move them to jealousy_, &c. God here threatens to repay their frequent revolts from... [ Continue Reading ]
_For a fire is kindled in mine anger_ In this verse are predicted the dreadful calamities which God would bring upon the land of Judea, in words which seem to import the total ruin of it. Devouring judgments are here compared to fire, as they are also Ezekiel 30:8; Amos 2:5. And from hence to Deuter... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will spend mine arrows upon them_ Even empty my quiver, and send upon them all my plagues, which, like arrows shot by a skilful and strong hand, shall speedily reach, and certainly hit and mortally wound them. The judgments of God are often compared to arrows, Job 6:4; Psalms 38:2; Psalms 91:5. _... [ Continue Reading ]
_Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy Their rage against me_, as it is expressed Isaiah 37:28; their furious reproaches against my name, as if I were cruel to my people, or unable to deliver them. This is spoken after the manner of men; and the meaning is, that it would have been righteo... [ Continue Reading ]
_O that they were wise_ O that they would duly and wisely consider the dealings of God toward them, and so happily prevent the evils that will otherwise befall them in the generations to come _How should one chase a thousand_ One Israelite. _Except their rock had sold them_ Their God, who was their... [ Continue Reading ]
_Their rock is not as our rock_ The gods of the heathen are not wise, and powerful, and gracious, like Jehovah. _Our enemies being judges_ Who, by their dear-bought experience, have often been forced to acknowledge that our God is far mightier than they and their false gods together.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Their vine is the vine of Sodom_ God had planted Israel a noble vine, a right seed, but they turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine, Jeremiah 2:21. Their principles and practices became corrupt and abominable. _Their grapes are grapes of gall_ Their fruits are loathsome to me, mischievo... [ Continue Reading ]
_Their vine is the poison of dragons_ An expression of the same import with the former, signifying their fruits or works to be most depraved and pernicious, (Revelation 17:2,) and so resembling the poison of dragons. _The cruel venom of asps_ The venom of asps is called _cruel_, because it is accoun... [ Continue Reading ]
_Is not this laid up in store with me?_ That is, all their wickedness spoken of before, or the vengeance he is going to mention in the following verses. This, by Le Clerc, and many others, is referred to the vengeance which God would inflict on the enemies of the Jews. But surely the verses with whi... [ Continue Reading ]
_To me belongeth vengeance_ As the supreme Lord and Judge of the world, whose power no force can resist, from whose knowledge no secret can be concealed, and from whose justice no art can escape. _Their feet shall slide_ Though they think themselves immoveably fixed in their power and prosperity, th... [ Continue Reading ]
_For the Lord_, &c. The Hebrew particle here rendered _for_, may properly be translated _nevertheless_, as it is Isaiah 9:1: for here, it seems, a new paragraph begins; and having spoken of the dreadful calamity which would come upon his people, he now turns his discourse into a more comfortable str... [ Continue Reading ]
_He shall say_ The Lord, before he deliver his people, will first convince them of their former folly in forsaking him for idols. _Which did eat_ That is, to whom you offered sacrifices and oblations, after the manner of the Gentiles. _Let them rise up and help you_ If they can. Or, perhaps, instead... [ Continue Reading ]
_See now_ Open your eyes and be convinced by your own sad experience what vain and impotent things idols are. _I am he_ The only true, omnipotent, and irresistible God. _There is no god with me_ As I have no superior, so neither have I any equal. _I kill and I make alive_ I am the arbiter of life an... [ Continue Reading ]
_I lift up my hand to heaven_ I solemnly swear I will do what here follows. It was the custom to stretch out the hand in swearing, Genesis 14:22. _And say, I live for ever_ As surely as I live for ever, I will whet my sword, &c. _If I whet_ If once I begin to prepare for war, and for the execution o... [ Continue Reading ]