CHAPTER XXXI _Moses, being one hundred and twenty years old and about to die,_ _calls the people together, and exhorts them to courage and_ _obedience_, 1-6. _Delivers a charge to Joshua_, 7, 8. _Delivers the law which he hod written to the priests, with a_ _solemn charge that they should read... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Deuteronomy 31:2. _I AM A HUNDRED AND TWENTY YEARS OLD_] The life of Moses, the great prophet of God and lawgiver of the Jews, was exactly the same in length as the time Noah employed in preaching righteousness to the antediluvian world. These _one hundred and_ _twenty_ years were divided int... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Deuteronomy 31:3. _JOSHUA, HE SHALL GO OVER BEFORE THEE_] Numbers 27:17, c.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Deuteronomy 31:6. _BE STRONG_] חזקו _chizku_, the same word that is used Exodus 4:21; Exodus 9:15, for _hardening_ Pharaoh's heart. See the notes there. The Septuagint, in this and the following verse, have, Ανδριζου και ισχυε, _Play the man, and be strong_; and from this St. Paul seems to hav... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Deuteronomy 31:8. _THE LORD - DOTH GO BEFORE THEE_] To prepare thy way, and to direct thee. _HE WILL BE WITH THEE_] Accompany thee in all thy journeys, and assist thee in all thy enterprises. _HE WILL NOT FAIL THEE_] Thy expectation, however strong and extensive, shall never be disappointed:... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Deuteronomy 31:9. _MOSES WROTE THIS LAW_] Not the whole Pentateuch, but either the discourses and precepts mentioned in the preceding chapters, or the book of _Deuteronomy_, which is most likely. Some of the rabbins have pretended that Moses wrote _thirteen_ copies of the whole Pentateuch; t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Deuteronomy 31:10-5. _AT THE END OF_ EVERY _SEVEN YEARS-THOU SHALT READ_ _THIS LAW_] Every _seventh year_ was a year of _release_, Deuteronomy 15:1, at which time the people's minds, being under a peculiar degree of solemnity, were better disposed to hear and profit by the words of God. I supp... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Deuteronomy 31:16. _BEHOLD, THOU SHALT SLEEP WITH THY FATHERS_] שכב _shocheb_, thou _shalt lie down_; it signifies to rest, take rest in sleep, and, metaphorically, to _die_. Much stress cannot be safely laid on this expression to prove the immortality of the soul, or that the people in the ti... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Deuteronomy 31:18. _I WILL SURELY HIDE MY FACE_] Withdraw my approbation and my protection. This is a general meaning of the word in Scripture.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Deuteronomy 31:19. _WRITE YE THIS SONG_] The song which follows in the next chapter. Things which were of great importance and of common concern were, among the ancients, put into verse, as this was found the best method of keeping them in remembrance, especially in those times when _writing_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Deuteronomy 31:21. _THIS SONG SHALL TESTIFY AGAINST THEM_] Because in it their general defection is predicted, but in such a way as to show them how to avoid the evil; and if they did not avoid the evil, and the threatened punishment should come upon them, then the song should testify against... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Deuteronomy 31:26. _TAKE THIS BOOK OF THE LAW_] The standard copy to which all transcripts must ultimately refer: another copy was put into the bands of the priests. Deuteronomy 31:9, Deuteronomy 31:9.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Deuteronomy 31:27. _WHILE I AM YET ALIVE - YE HAVE BEEN REBELLIOUS_] Such was the disposition of this people to act contrary to moral goodness that Moses felt himself justified in inferring what would take place from what had already happened. 1. NEVER was a people more fully and faithfully... [ Continue Reading ]