X. (1) AT THAT TIME THE LORD SAID UNTO ME. — The forty days of intercession alluded to in the previous chapter followed this command (Exodus 34:28). HEW THEE TWO TABLES OF STONE... AND MAKE THEE AN ARK. — The command to make the ark was given in the former period of forty days (Exodus 25:10); the c... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I WILL WRITE ON THE TABLES. — It is a common error to suppose that _Moses wrote_ the Law the second time. The mistake arises from the change of person in Exodus 34:28, where the same pronoun “he” refers first to Moses, and then to Jehovah. But there is no doubt as to the fact or its spiritual me... [ Continue Reading ]
ACCORDING TO THE FIRST WRITING, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. — The words written on the second tables were the same which had been written on the first. IN THE DAY OF THE ASSEMBLY. — Or, in New Testament language, “the day of the Church.” The Pentecost of the Old Testament was the day when “the letter” wa... [ Continue Reading ]
I... PUT THE TABLES IN THE ARK WHICH I (HAD) MADE; AND THERE THEY BE. — Or, _and they were there,_ or _they continued there._ According to the narrative in Exodus, the ark in which the tables ultimately remained was made afterwards. The English reader must not be misled by the word “had” in “I _had_... [ Continue Reading ]
On these verses, which are among the most difficult in Deuteronomy, see a separate Excursus. The difficulty is two-fold. First, the account of Israel’s marches about the time of Aaron’s death is given in a different form here to that which we have in Numbers 20:21, 33. Secondly, there is the further... [ Continue Reading ]
AT THAT TIME — _i.e.,_ at Sinai, after Moses’ second descent from the mount, not at the time of Aaron’s death. Yet the death of Aaron and the separation of the tribe of Levi are similar events in their way: both alike lose territorial inheritance through bearing the burden of the Law. TO BEAR THE A... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD IS HIS INHERITANCE. — As He was the inheritance of Aaron, Moses’ brother, whom he had recently taken to Himself, and to whose death Moses had just referred.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD SAID UNTO ME, ARISE, TAKE THY JOURNEY BEFORE THE PEOPLE, THAT THEY MAY GO IN. — “Although ye had turned aside from following Him, and had erred in the (matter of the) calf, He said to me, Go, lead the people” (Rashi).... [ Continue Reading ]
AND NOW, ISRAEL, WHAT DOTH THE LORD THY GOD REQUIRE OF THEE. — “Although ye have done all this, still His tender mercies and His affection are set upon you, and after all that ye have sinned before Him, He doth not ask anything of you but to fear,” &c. (Rashi). The Rabbis have drawn this exposition... [ Continue Reading ]
ONLY. — “The whole world belongs to Jehovah, and for all that He chose thy fathers above all people.”... [ Continue Reading ]
CIRCUMCISE... YOUR HEART. — “For circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter” (Romans 2:29). The verse literally runs thus: _Circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and ye will harden your neck no more._ It is the same line of thought as St. Paul’s (Galatians 5:16) “Walk i... [ Continue Reading ]
AND LOVETH THE STRANGER, IN GIVING HIM FOOD AND RAIMENT. — An inclusive expression. The whole substance of Jacob our father was included in the prayer for this. “If God will... give me bread to eat and raiment to put on” (Rashi).... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR YE WERE STRANGERS. — “The blemish which is upon thyself thou shalt not notice in thy neighbour” (Rashi). The provision made for the stranger throughout the Old Testament Scriptures has another cause besides: “For _I was a stranger,_ and ye gathered me in.” (See a Sermon on “The Stranger” in _Sil... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU SHALT FEAR THE LORD THY GOD; HIM SHALT THOU SERVE. — In the New Testament, “Thou shalt _worship_ the Lord thy God, and him _only_ shalt thou serve.” It was our Lord’s last answer to the tempter in the wilderness. The order of the Hebrew gives the emphasis. “Jehovah thy God shalt thou fear, Him... [ Continue Reading ]
THY FATHERS WENT DOWN. — The simple and natural form of this allusion conveys a strong impression of the truth of the facts. If the marvellous increase of Israel in the time allowed by the sacred narrative presents a difficulty, we must remember that the Bible consistently represents the multiplicat... [ Continue Reading ]