Commentary on Harmony of the Law Volume 2 Complete John Calvin
JOHN CALVIN
43. So I spoke unto you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord, and went presumptuously up into the hill.
43. Loquutus sum haec apud vos sed non audistis, ac rebelles fuistis ori Jehovae, et temere egistis ut ascenderetis in montem.
44. And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah.
44. Itaque egressus est Amorrhaeus qui habitabat in monte in occursum vestri, et vos persequuti sunt, quemadmodum facere solent apes, et contriverunt vos in Seir usque Horma.
45. And ye returned, and wept before the Lord; but the Lord would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you.
45. Et reversi flevistis coram Jehova: sed non exaudivit Jehova vocem vestram, nec auscultavit vobis.
46. So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode there,
46. Et mansistis in Cades diebus multis, secundum numerum dierum quibus mansistis.
41. Then ye answered and said unto me. The repentance was too late, which impelled the Israelites to their unseasonable effort of activity; although, as I have above explained, they did not truly and seriously repent, since, when they ought patiently to have borne the chastening of God, they endeavored to shake it off, and to drive it far away from them by a new act of disobedience. In a word, they did nothing else but kick against the pricks. But such is the energy of men, when their own fancy leads them, that they will dare anything which God forbids. But herein did their far worse folly betray itself, in that, when they were again withheld, they still refuse to obey. Besides, He does not merely forbid them to fight, but denies them His assistance. What then could be more monstrous than that, in opposition to God's will, and when the hope of His assistance was withdrawn, they should engage in what they had just before obstinately refused to attempt under His auspices, and by His command, and with the sure promise of success? And yet, so does hypocrisy blind men's minds, that they imagined they were correcting and compensating for the evil which they doubled. Moses then relates how they received the reward which they deserved; as much as to say, that, although they might be slow to learn, still they were made acquainted,