_MOSES INFORMS THEM, THAT GOD WAS ABOUT TO DESTROY THE CANAANITES FOR THEIR INIQUITIES; AND TO GIVE THE LAND TO THE ISRAELITES; NOT BECAUSE OF THEIR RIGHTEOUSNESS, BUT ON ACCOUNT OF THE FIDELITY AND CONSTANCY OF THE DIVINE PROMISES._ _Before Christ 1451._... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 1. _THOU ART TO PASS OVER JORDAN THIS DAY_— i.e. _At this time;_ or, as we should say in English, _You are now preparing to pass over Jordan. Day_ is often put for _time_ in the Scripture. Moses delivered this discourse in the eleventh month of the last year of their journey; and it was not t... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 2. _WHO CAN STAND BEFORE THE CHILDREN OF ANAK!_— The strength and valour of this people were so great, that they became proverbial. They were vanquished by Joshua, who made them flee to the Philistines, where, it should seem, a remnant of them lived till the time of David; for Goliah and his... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 3. _SO SHALT THOU DRIVE THEM OUT—QUICKLY_— Not the whole seven nations, whom, he had said before, God would drive _out by little and little,_ chap. Deuteronomy 7:22 but so many as to make a settlement for the Israelites in Canaan. They were to attack the nations successively; but when they at... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 6. _UNDERSTAND, THEREFORE, THAT—NOT—FOR THY RIGHTEOUSNESS_— Moses repeats three times, in this and the foregoing verse, the same thing; because he well knew the heart of man so prone to vanity, and the character of the Israelites so self-prepossessed. Nothing was more important than to convin... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 7. _REMEMBER—HOW THOU PROVOKEDST THE LORD THY GOD_— The following expressions are very energetic: we evidently see in them the design of Moses to mortify the pride of the Israelites, by giving them an humbling view of their various rebellions and murmurings. _Also,_ in the next verse, should... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 9. _I NEITHER DID EAT BREAD NOR DRINK WATER_— Dr. Shaw observes, that "the eastern nations in general are great eaters of bread; it being computed that three persons in four live entirely upon it, or, at least, upon such compositions as are made of barley or wheat flour. Frequent mention is m... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 21. _AND I TOOK YOUR SIN_— That is to say, the occasion or matter of your sin, the idol which you had made: it is a metonymy frequently found in Scripture. See Isaiah 31:7.... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 24. _YE HAVE BEEN REBELLIOUS,_ &C.— Thus Moses, in a very short sentence, excludes all idea of merit, and substitutes in its stead that of the greatest demerit and obstinacy.... [ Continue Reading ]
_VER._ 25. _THUS I FELL DOWN BEFORE THE LORD FORTY DAYS_— Having mentioned the above instances of their preservation, he returns to what he had begun to say (ver. 18.) concerning his intercession with God for a pardon, which he could not obtain without great importunity. See the passages in the marg... [ Continue Reading ]