Moses gave not any inheritance: the Moses haereditatem: Jehova Deus (continued)
COMMENTARY ON JOSHUA
29. And Moses gave inheritance unto the half tribe of Manasseh: and this was the possession of the half tribe of the children of Manasseh by their families.
29. Dedit praeterea Moses dimidiae tribui Manasse: fuitque dimidiae tribui filiorum Manasse per familias suas:
30. And their coast was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the towns of Jair, which are in Bashan, threescore cities:
30. Fuit, inquam, terminus eorum a Mahanaim omnis Basan totius regni Og regis Basan, et omnes Havoth-Jair, quae sunt in Basan, sexaginta urbes.
31. And half Gilead, and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan, were pertaining unto the children of Machir
31. Et dimidium Gilead, et Astaroth, et Edrei, urbes regni Og in Basan, filiorum Machir, filii Manasse, dimidiae parti filiorum Machir, per familias suas.
the son of Manasseh, even to the one half of the children of Machir by their families.
32. These are the countries which Moses did distribute for inheritance in the plains of Moab, on the other side Jordan, by Jericho, eastward.
32. Istae sunt hereditates quas tradidit Moses in campestribus Moab a transitu Jordanis ipsi Jericho ad orientem.
33. But unto the tribe of Levi Moses gave not any inheritance: the LORD God of Israel was their inheritance, as he said unto them.
33. Tribui autem Levi non dedit Moses haereditatem: Jehova Deus Israel ipse est haereditas eorum, quemadmodum dixit illis.
15. And Moses gave unto the tribe, etc What he seemed to have said with sufficient clearness he now follows more fully in detail, not only that the reading might incite the people to gratitude, seeing the divine goodness recorded in public documents, and, as it were, constantly before their eyes, but also that each might enjoy his inheritance without molestation and quarrel. For we know how ingenious human cupidity is in devising pretexts for litigation, so that no one can possess his right in safety unless a plain and perspicuous definition of his right make it impossible to call it in question. That country had been given without casting lots. It was therefore open
JOHN CALVIN
to others to object that the just proportion had not been kept, and that the inequality behooved to be corrected. Therefore, that no unseasonable dispute might ever disturb the public peace, the boundaries are everywhere fixed by the authority of God, and disputes of every kind are removed by setting up landmarks. God does not by one single expression merely adjudge the whole kingdom of Sihon to the tribe of Reuben, but he traces their extreme limit from Aroer to the banks of the Arnon, and thus, making an entire circuit, contracts or widens their territory so as not to leave the possession of a single acre ambiguous. Moreover, how useful this exact delineation was may be learned from profane history, where we everywhere meet, not only with invidious but pernicious disputes among neighbors as to their boundaries.
We may add that the care which the Lord condescended to take in providing for his people, and in cherishing mutual peace among them, demonstrates his truly paternal love, since he omitted nothing that might conduce to their tranquillity. And, indeed, had not provision been thus early made, they might have been consumed by intestine quarrels. 136
I again beg my readers to excuse me if I do not labor anxiously in describing the situation of towns, and am not even curious in regard to names. Nay, I will readily allow those names which it was thought proper to leave as proper nouns in Hebrew to be used appellatively, and so far altered as to give them a Latin form. 137
It is worthy of notice, that when the land of the Midianites is referred to, the princes who ruled over it are called Satraps of Sihon, to let us know that they shared in the same overthrow, because they had involved themselves in an unjust war, and belonged to the government of Sihon, an avowed enemy. And to make it still more clear that they perished justly, it is told that among the slain was Balaam, by whose tongue they had attempted to wound the Israelites more grievously than by a thousand swords; 138 just as if it had been said that in that slaughter they found the hostile banner, by
French, "Et de faict, s'il n'euste pourveu a cela de bonne heure, ils se fussent mangez et consumez les uns les autres en debatant entre eux;" "And in fact, had not this been provided for in good time, they would have eaten and consumed one another while debating among themselves." — Ed.
French, "Qui plus est, je suis content qu'on traduise en d'autres langues certains noms, qu'il m'a semble bon de laisser ici en la langue Hebraique comme noms propres;" "Moreover, I am content that certain words which I have thought good to leave here in the Hebrew tongue as proper names be translated into other languages." — Ed.
The curious contradictions in the behavior of this remarkable man whose fate is here recorded, and analogous exemplification's of them in ordinary life, are admirably delineated by Bishop Butler in a sermon on the subject. — Ed.