_MOSES CONTINUES TO RELATE HOW GOD GAVE THEM THE LAW OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS FROM MOUNT SINAI, AND HOW THE PEOPLE ENTREATED THAT THEY MIGHT NO MORE HEAR THE LORD SPEAKING OUT OF THE MIDST OF THE FIRE._ _Before Christ 1451._... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 3. _THE LORD MADE NOT THIS COVENANT WITH OUR FATHERS_— According to Houbigant, the word _fathers_ here signifies, not their immediate predecessors, but their remote progenitors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were not the inheritors of the land of Canaan. Moses considers not the covenant itse... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 4. _THE LORD TALKED WITH YOU FACE TO FACE_— See Exodus 33:11. REFLECTIONS.—Moses summons the people, as many as could come within hearing, to attend the charge that he was farther to deliver; and needful it was, that they should thoroughly know what they were so solemnly bound to obey. He cal... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 14, 15. _THAT THY MAN-SERVANT AND THY MAID-SERVANT MAY REST, AS WELL AS THOU_— Mercy towards men, as well as piety towards God, was, as we learn from this, one great reason for the institution of the sabbath. Here, Moses omits that reason for the institution which is mentioned Exodus 20.; nam... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 16. _THAT IT MAY GO WELL WITH THEE IN THE LAND,_ &C.— The promise added to the fifth commandment, as cited by the apostle, is in these words, _That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth._—As to which, it must first be observed, that it ought to be rendered _on the l... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 29. _O THAT THERE WERE SUCH AN HEART IN THEM,_ &C.— God was pleased with the disposition of fear and reverence which they expressed towards his divine majesty; and, after the manner of men, delivers a most earnest wish, that the same good disposition might always continue, that they might be... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 32. _YE SHALL NOT TURN ASIDE,_ &C.— A phrase signifying their strict observance of God's laws, and a steadfast persisting in the path of their duty. It is a metaphor taken from a traveller, who, being once set into the right way, ought not to deviate from it. See chap. Deuteronomy 4:2 Deutero... [ Continue Reading ]