XXXII. (1) GIVE EAR, O YE HEAVENS, AND I WILL SPEAK; AND HEAR, O EARTH, THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH. — Comp. the opening of Isaiah 1:2, which is almost identical, excepting that the two words for “hearing” are transposed.... [ Continue Reading ]
MY DOCTRINE. — Or, _my learning, that which I receive_ — a not very common, but beautiful expression in the Hebrew. Everything that comes down from the “Father of lights” is handed on by one heavenly messenger to another, until it falls upon the heart of man, in just that form in which he can best r... [ Continue Reading ]
(3) — “For (or when) it is the Name JEHOVAH that I utter; Give ye greatness to our God.”... [ Continue Reading ]
HE IS THE ROCK, HIS WORK IS PERFECT: FOR ALL HIS WAYS ARE JUDGMENT: A GOD OF TRUTH AND WITHOUT INIQUITY, JUST AND RIGHT IS HE. — No such combination of all the words for _uprightness, sincerity, equity,_ and _reliability_ is to be found elsewhere in all Scripture. This is the character of _the Rock.... [ Continue Reading ]
(5) — “He (Israel) hath destroyed himself. Their undutifulness,[5] that is their blot, [5] Literally, _they are no sons to him._ (Comp. Deuteronomy 32:20.) A froward and crooked generation!” These first two lines are given up as hopeless by many interpreters, not because the words are difficult... [ Continue Reading ]
(6) “It is Jehovah that ye requite thus! A people foolish and unwise! Is not He thy Father that hath gotten thee? He made thee and establisheth thee.” The first line is an exclamatory question. A question and an exclamation have the same name in the Rabbinical writings. “Hath gotten” in the third... [ Continue Reading ]
The fourfold division of this verse is manifest.... [ Continue Reading ]
Comp. Deuteronomy 21:16. “when the Most High made nations to inherit, When He parted the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the peoples, According to the number of the sons of Israel. For the portion of Jehovah is His people, Jacob the cord [7] of His inheritance_”_ [7]_ i.e.,_ limit. The allusio... [ Continue Reading ]
The whole of this verse is in the pictorial present in the Hebrew — “He findeth him in a desert land, In a waste howling wilderness; He compasseth him about, He instructeth him, He guardeth him as the apple of his eye.” HE FOUND HIM. — This beautiful expression is common to the Old and New Testame... [ Continue Reading ]
(11, 12) “As an eagle awakeneth her nest, Over her young she broodeth, She spreadeth out her wings, she taketh up each one of them, She beareth him on her pinions: Jehovah alone leadeth him, And a stranger-god is not with Him.” The eagle in Hebrew is masculine. He is one of the creatures that is... [ Continue Reading ]
KIDNEYS OF WHEAT. — The metaphor is literally translated from the Hebrew. The kidneys are enclosed in the very best of the fat of the animal, fat that was strictly reserved for God’s altar by the Levitical Law.... [ Continue Reading ]
JESHURUN is a diminutive — a term of endearment. Either “the child of the upright,” or “the beloved Israel.” The letters of the diminutive of Israel, if slightly abbreviated, would make “Jeshurun.” It is peculiar to Deuteronomy (here and in Deuteronomy 33:5; Deuteronomy 33:26) and Isaiah (Isaiah 44:... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SACRIFICED UNTO DEVILS, NOT TO GOD. — St. Paul repeats this expression in 1 Corinthians 11:20. GODS THAT CAME NEWLY UP. — Literally, _that came from close at hand._ Compare the description of the idol in Isaiah 44:15, easily made from the firewood; and see also Wis. 13:13, “A carpenter taking... [ Continue Reading ]
OF THE ROCK THAT BEGAT THEE. — “_The Rock hath begotten thee forgetful, and thou hast forgotten God that travailed with thee”_ is another possible translation of this verse. The expression in the second clause is found also in Psalms 90:2 (a prayer of Moses), “Before the mountains were brought forth... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD SAW... ABHORRED. — Comp. Jeremiah 14:21.... [ Continue Reading ]
A VERY FROWARD GENERATION. — Literally, _a generation of perversities._ CHILDREN IN WHOM IS NO FAITH. — Literally, _children!_ — _there is no relying on them._ (Comp. Deuteronomy 5:5.) Faith is not used in the sense of “belief” or “confidence,” but as in the expression to “keep faith,” or to “break... [ Continue Reading ]
(21) “They have made me jealous with a no-god; They have provoked me with their vanities: And I will make them jealous with a no-people; With a foolish nation will I provoke them.” St. Paul comments on this in Romans 10, as proving that Israel was informed of the calling of the Gentiles, and comp... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR A FIRE IS KINDLED IN MINE ANGER. — Quoted by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 15:14, and comp. Jeremiah 17:4). THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE MOUNTAINS. — Rashi says, “Jerusalem, which is founded on the mountains,” as it is said, “Jerusalem, the mountains are about her” (Psalms 125:2).... [ Continue Reading ]
MISCHIEFS. — Literally, _ills._ Comp. Ezekiel 5:16 : “I will send upon them _the evil arrows of famine..._ I will _increase_ the famine upon them.”... [ Continue Reading ]
(24, 25) “Consumed[8] with hunger, and devoured with pestilence, and bitter destruction — [8] Or, possibly, “_Regaled_ with hunger, and _fed with bread_ of pestilence and bitter destruction,” &c. I will also send the tooth of the beasts upon them, with the poison of crawling things of the dust. O... [ Continue Reading ]
The argument of these verses is such as no man would dare to put into the mouth of the Most High. Moses had pleaded it (in Numbers 14:13; Exodus 32:12), but none but Jehovah Himself would say for Himself, “_I feared the wrath of the enemy.” _... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHAVE THEMSELVES STRANGELY. — Possibly, _misunderstand it,_ or _take note of it_ (as a strange thing).... [ Continue Reading ]
VOID OF COUNSEL. — Literally, _perishing in counsels,_ or, perhaps, _spoiling the plans_ of Jehovah. Yet they said, “Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not _perish_ from the priest, nor _counsel_ from the wise, nor the word from the prophet” (Jeremiah 18:18).... [ Continue Reading ]
CONSIDER THEIR LATTER END. — Have _some discernment as to their hereafter,_ what their destiny was, and what they will miss, if they fail to fulfil it.... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW SHOULD ONE (OF THEIR ENEMIES) CHASE A THOUSAND (OF THEM). — Comp. the verse in Deuteronomy 28:25, and more especially Leviticus 26:8; Leviticus 26:17; Leviticus 26:36. HAD SOLD THEM. — Here first used of Jehovah. It is a common expression in the book of Judges (Deuteronomy 2:14; Deuteronomy 3:8;... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THEIR ROCK. — Perhaps this may be taken, _For their rock_ (the enemies’ God) is _not as our Rock_ (Jehovah), _and yet our enemies are judges, i.e., lords, over us._ So Rashi takes it. The verse should be read as a parenthesis. The argument would be this: No cause can be found for the defeat of I... [ Continue Reading ]
THEIR VINE — _i.e._, Israel’s,” not the enemies; going back to Deuteronomy 32:30, “Their Rock,” _i.e.,_ Israel’s Rock, “had sold them... for their vine is of the vine of Sodom.” Comp. Hosea 10:1 : _“Israel is an empty vine;_ he bringeth forth fruit unto himself;” and Isaiah 5:2; Isaiah 5:7 : “He loo... [ Continue Reading ]
IS NOT THIS LAID UP? — “This” is generally taken to refer to what follows, but it is not clear. It may refer to the fact that “He looked for grapes, and the vine brought forth wild grapes.”... [ Continue Reading ]
TO ME BELONGETH VENGEANCE, AND RECOMPENCE. — In the Epistle to the Hebrews (Hebrews 10:30) this sentence is quoted with the first clause of Deuteronomy 32:36, “For we know Him that said, Vengeance belongeth unto me. I will recompense, saith the Lord.” And so in Romans 12:19. THEIR FOOT SHALL SLIDE... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE LORD SHALL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE. — Quoted in Hebrews 10:30, in connection with the previous verse. According to this view “shall judge” means “shall punish,” not “shall defend.” AND REPENT HIMSELF FOR HIS SERVANTS. — Or, _and will be comforted over His servants._ Comp. Ezekiel 5:13, “I will cau... [ Continue Reading ]
I, EVEN I, AM HE, AND THERE IS NO GOD WITH ME. — There are many very similar passages in Isaiah 41-46; but none of them _exactly_ reproduces this sentence. I KILL, AND I MAKE ALIVE. — This was repeated by Hannah in her song, “The Lord killeth and maketh alive_”_ (1 Samuel 2:6). Comp. also Isaiah 43... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR I LIFT UP MY HAND. — This is the form in taking an oath. (Comp. Revelation 10:5.) The two verses may be connected thus: “For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, As I live for ever, if I whet my lightning sword, and my hand take hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and rep... [ Continue Reading ]
MY SWORD SHALL DEVOUR FLESH. — Comp. Isaiah 66:16 : “For by fire and by _His sword_ will the Lord plead with _all flesh,_ and _the slain of the Lord shall be many”_ WITH BLOOD. — Literally, _from the blood of the slain and of the captivity, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy._ Judgment m... [ Continue Reading ]
REJOICE, O YE NATIONS, WITH HIS PEOPLE.[9] — This is cited by St. Paul to show that the Gentiles must also “glorify God for His mercy” in sending Jesus Christ. But it is not wholly fulfilled yet. “If the fall of God’s people was the wealth of the world... what will the receiving of them be. but life... [ Continue Reading ]
JOSHUA TAKES UP THE HISTORY. (44) HE, AND HOSHEA THE SON OF NUN. — Why should Joshua be called Hoshea in this place? His name was apparently changed to Joshua at the time when he entered the promised land with the eleven others who searched it out (Numbers 13:8; Numbers 13:16). Now that he is about... [ Continue Reading ]
SET YOUR HEARTS UNTO ALL THE WORDS. — Rashi compares Ezekiel 40:4 : “Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and _set thine heart upon all_ that I shew thee.” WHICH YE SHALL COMMAND. — Rather, _that ye may command your children to observe to do all the words of this law._ Obvi... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR IT IS NOT A VAIN THING FOR YOU. — Not too light a thing for you, not unworthy of your attention. IT IS YOUR LIFE. — For the last time in this book the people are assured that the very end of their existence in Canaan was the observance of the law of Jehovah as the law of the land.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD SPAKE UNTO MOSES THAT SELFSAME DAY. — The day in which he spake the song in the ears of all Israel.... [ Continue Reading ]
GET THEE UP INTO THIS MOUNTAIN ABARIM. — See Numbers 27:12. The same command was given there, and was answered by Moses with the prayer for a successor, which was granted. All that is narrated between that passage and this may be considered as preliminary to Moses’ departure. MOUNT NEBO. — The part... [ Continue Reading ]
AND DIE IN THE MOUNT... AS AARON THY BROTHER DIED IN MOUNT HOR... BECAUSE YE TRESPASSED AGAINST ME. — It may be asked why Moses and Aaron should both have been made to ascend a mountain to die. I believe a clue to the reason may be found in the words and act which constituted their transgression. Th... [ Continue Reading ]