John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Deuteronomy 14:1



INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 14



In this chapter some cautions are given against the use of some rites and ceremonies in mourning for the dead, with the reason thereof, De 14:1 and instructions about what are lawful to be eaten, and what not, whether of beasts, fishes, or fowl, De 14:3, and concerning eating one sort of tithes both at the place God should choose, and within their own gates, De 14:22.



Ver. 1. Ye are the children of the Lord your God,.... Some of them were so by the special grace of adoption, and all of them by national adoption; which was the peculiar privilege of the people of Israel, and laid them under great obligation to honour and obey the Lord their God, who stood in the relation of a father to them, and they of children to him, Mal 1:6. The Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it "beloved children"; so the apostle calls the saints; the "dear children of God", who therefore ought to be followers of him, Eph 5:1 and for a like reason this relation is observed here, namely, to quicken a regard to the exhortations of the Lord, his cautions, commands, laws, and ordinances, particularly to what follows:



ye shall not cut yourselves; for the dead, as appears from the next clause, as the Heathens did, who not only tore their garments, but their flesh in several parts of their bodies, in their mouths, cheeks, breasts, &c. {r}; and used other extravagant signs of mourning, which the apostle cautions against, 1Th 4:13 and were condemned by the Heathens themselves {s}. Though some think this refers to incisions the Heathens made in their flesh to the honour of their gods, cutting the names of them therein to whom they devoted themselves; or lashing their bodies at the worship of them, as the worshippers of Baal did when they called upon him, 1Ki 18:28 and so the Jerusalem Targum,



"make not marks, marks,''



that is, here and there, in many places, or bruises black and blue by striping and beating themselves, for strange worship, or at it, in honour of their gods; but the former sense seems best to agree with what follows; see Le 19:28,



nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead; by shaving the forepart of their head or their eyebrows, or both, which used to be done in lamentations for the dead; see Jer 16:6 if this could be thought to have any respect to rites and ceremonies used in the worship of dead and lifeless idols, the customs of the Egyptians might be referred to, who are said to shave their heads and their eyebrows in their sacred rites to Isis {t}.



{r} Vid. Virgil. Aeneid. 12. ver. 870, 871. and Servium in Aeneid. 1. ver. 78. and in l. 12. {s} Vid. Cicero de Leg. l. 2. c. 23. and Tusculan. Quaest. l. 3. c. 27. {t} Ambros. Epist. l. 4. c. 30. p. 259.





Deuteronomy 14:2



Ver. 2. For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God,.... Set apart by him from all other people, and devoted to his worship and service, and many of them were sanctified and made holy in a special and spiritual sense; and therefore should not conform to the customs of Gentiles, whether in their extravagant mourning for the dead, or in their religious services; see De 7:6,



and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people, above all the nations that [are] upon the earth; to be his peculiar treasure, to be his peculiar servants and worshippers, to enjoy peculiar blessings and privileges, and behave in a peculiar manner different from all other people; and have no connection with them, especially in things sacred; and, in order to keep them a distinct peculiar people from all others, a peculiar diet was appointed them, that so being prohibited to eat such things as others did, they might be kept out of their company and conversation, and so from being drawn into their idolatrous practices; the rules concerning which follow; see De 7:6.





Deuteronomy 14:3



Ver. 3. Thou shall not eat any abominable thing. That is so either in its own nature, or because forbidden by the Lord; what are such are declared in the following verses.





Deuteronomy 14:4



Ver. 4. These are the beasts which they shall eat,.... That is, which they might lawfully eat of, which were allowed for their food; for they were not obliged to eat of them if they did not choose it:



the ox, the sheep, and the goat; which were creatures used in sacrifice, and the only ones, yet nevertheless they might be used for food if chosen.





Deuteronomy 14:5



Ver. 5. The hart, the roebuck, and the fallow deer,.... All of the deer kind, and very agreeable food; harts were very common in the land of Canaan and parts adjacent; Aelianus says {u} harts are bred in the great mountains in Syria, Amanus, Lebanon, and Carmel: the roebuck, or "dorcas", from whence a good woman had her name, Ac 9:36 is spoken of by Martial {w} as very delicious food, and so are fallow deer; the word "jachmur", here used, having the signification of redness in it, may be used for that sort which are called red deer: it is observed that in the Arabic language it is used for an animal with two horns, living in the woods, not unlike an hart, but swifter than that; and it is asked, is it not the "aloe" or "elch" {x}?



and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois; the wild goat is reckoned by Pliny {y} among the half wild creatures in Africa; according to the philosopher {z} there are none but in Syria, on which Canaan bordered, and were very remarkable ones, having ears a span and nine inches long, and some reached to the ground. The Hebrew name for this creature is "akko"; and there is a fourfooted wild beast, by the Tartarians called "akkyk", and by the Turks "akoim", and which with the Scythians and Sarmatians are to be met with in flocks; it is between a hart and a ram, its body whitish, and the flesh exceeding sweet {a}; it seems to be the same with the "tragelaphus", of which there were in Arabia, as Diodorus Siculus {b} says; the next is the "pygarg", which we so render from the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions, or white buttocks, so called from the hinder part of it being white; a species of the eagle with a white tail is called a "pygarg", but here a four footed animal is meant; and which is mentioned as such, along with hinds, does, and goats, by Herodotus {c}, Aelian {d}, and Pliny {e}: it has its name "dishon", in Hebrew, from its ash colour, and the "tragelaphus", or goat deer, has part of its back ash coloured, and has ash coloured spots or streaks on its sides {f}: some take it to be the "strepsiceros", a kind of buck or goat with writhed horns, which the Africans, as Pliny says {g}, call "addaca", which is thought by some to be a corruption of "al-dashen", so Junius; the Targum of Jonathan takes it for the "unicorn" or "rhinoceros"; and the Talmudists say {h} that the unicorn, though it has but one horn, is free, i.e. lawful to be eaten: the "wild ox" was common in Arabia; Strabo {i} speaks of multitudes of wild oxen in some parts of Arabia, on the flesh of which and other animals the Arabians live; in the Septuagint version it is called the "oryx", which is a creature that has but one horn, and divides the hoof {k}, and so might be eaten; See Gill on "Isa 51:20", the last, the "chamois", has a French name, and is a creature of the goat kind, from whose skin the chamois leather is made; in the figure of its body it seems to approach very much to the stag kind {l}; perhaps it is the same with the "cemas" of Aelian {m}, mentioned by him along with roebucks. Some take it to be the "tarandus", of which Pliny says {n} it is of the size of an ox, has a head bigger than a hart, and not unlike it; its horns are branched, hoofs cloven, and is hairy like a bear. In the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan this is the "pygarg"; these several sorts of beasts were allowed to be eaten; the three first there is no difficulty about them, but the other seven it is hard to determine what they are, at least some of them. Dr. Shaw {o} thinks that the deer, the antelope, the wild bear, the goat deer, the white buttocks, the buffalo, and jeraffa, may lay in the best claim to the "ailee", "tzebi", "yachmur", "akkub", "dishon", "thau", and "zomer", here.



{u} Hist. Animal. l. 5. c. 56. {w} "Delicium parvo", &c. Epigram. l. 13. 93. {x} Castel. Lex. Polyglott. Col. 1. 294. {y} Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 53. {z} Aristot. Hist. Animal. l. 8. c. 28. {a} Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr. vol. 3. p. 415. {b} Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 134. Vid. Plin. l. 8. c. 33. {c} Melpomene, sive, l. 4. c. 192. {d} Hist. Animal l. 7. c. 19. {e} Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 53. {f} Calmet's Dictionary on the word "Pygarg". {g} Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 39. {h} T. Bab. Cholin, fol. 59. 2. {i} Geograph. l. 16. p. 530. {k} Aristot. Hist. Animal, l. 2. c. 1. {l} Supplement to Chambers's Dictionary on the word "Rupricapra". {m} Hist. Animal. l. 14. c. 14. {n} Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 34. 34. {o} Travels, p. 418.





Deuteronomy 14:6



Ver. 6-8. And every beast that parted the hoof,.... In this and the two following verses two general rules are given, by which it might be known what beasts were fit for food and what not; one is if they parted the hoof, and the other if they chewed the cud, such might be eaten; but such that only chewed the cud, but did not divide the hoof, as the camel, hare, and coney, might not be eaten; and so if they divided the hoof, and did not chew the cud, as the swine, they were alike unlawful; See Gill on "Le 11:3",

See Gill on "Le 11:4",

See Gill on "Le 11:5",

See Gill on "Le 11:6",

See Gill on "Le 11:7",

See Gill on "Le 11:8".





Deuteronomy 14:7



Ver. 7. See Gill on "De 14:6"



(The "hare" is this verse may be an animal that is now is extinct but was alive at the time of Moses. It is only other mentioned in Le 11:6,

See Gill on "Le 11:6:". Editor.)





Deuteronomy 14:8



Ver. 8. See Gill on "De 14:6"





Deuteronomy 14:9



Ver. 9,10. These ye shall eat of, all that are in the waters,.... The fishes there, even such as have fins and scales, but they that have not were not to be eaten:

See Gill on "Le 11:9" See Gill on "Le 11:10" See Gill on "Le 11:11" See Gill on "Le 11:12".





Deuteronomy 14:10



Ver. 10. See Gill on "De 14:9"





Deuteronomy 14:11



Ver. 11. Of all clean birds ye shall eat. Which the Targum of Jonathan describes, everyone that has a craw, and whose crop is naked, and has a superfluous talon, and is not rapacious; but such as are unclean are expressed by name in the following verses, so that all except them might be reckoned clean and fit for food. Maimonides {p} observes, that only the number of the unclean are reckoned, so that all the rest are free.



{p} Hilchot. Maacolot Asurot, c. 1. sect. 14.





Deuteronomy 14:12



Ver. 12-18. But these are they of which they shall not eat,.... Jarchi observes, that the unclean birds are particularly mentioned, to teach that the clean sort are more than the unclean, and therefore the particulars of the fewest are given: these are all the same names as in

Le 11:13, excepting one, "the glede", De 14:13 which is a kind of kite or puttock; the Jerusalem Targum renders it the vulture, and the Targum of Jonathan the white "dayetha" or vulture; and Aristotle says {q} there are two sorts of vultures, the one small and whiter, the other larger and of many forms or colours; in Hebrew its name here is "raah", and is thought to be the same with "daah" in Le 11:14 there translated the "vulture", which has its name there from flying, and here from seeing, for which it is remarkable; see Job 28:7 and the letters d and r are pretty much alike, and are sometimes changed, but there is another here, in De 14:13 mentioned, the "dayah", which is not mentioned in Le 11:1, though some think it the same with the "ayah", rendered both here and there the "kite"; perhaps it means another sort of vulture, the black vulture, as the Targum of Jonathan.



{q} Hist. Animal. l. 8. c. 3.





Deuteronomy 14:13



Ver. 13. See Gill on "De 14:12"





Deuteronomy 14:14



Ver. 14. See Gill on "De 14:12"





Deuteronomy 14:15



Ver. 15. See Gill on "De 14:12"





Deuteronomy 14:16



Ver. 16. See Gill on "De 14:12"





Deuteronomy 14:17



Ver. 17. See Gill on "De 14:12"





Deuteronomy 14:18



Ver. 18. See Gill on "De 14:12"





Deuteronomy 14:19



Ver. 19. And every creeping thing that flieth is unclean,.... Which the Targum of Jonathan thus paraphrases;



"all flies and wasps (or hornets), and worms of lentiles and of beans, which are separated from food, and fly as birds, they are unclean;''



See Gill on "Le 11:20",

See Gill on "Le 11:21".





Deuteronomy 14:20



Ver. 20. But of all clean fowls ye may eat. Even of all fowls, but those before excepted; Aben Ezra instances in the locust, as being a clean fowl, that might be eaten; and so the Targum of Jonathan is



"every clean locust ye may eat;''



see Le 11:22.





Deuteronomy 14:21



Ver. 21. Ye shall not eat of anything that dieth of itself,.... This law is repeated from Le 17:15,

See Gill on "Le 17:15":



thou shalt give it unto the stranger that is in thy gates, that he may eat it; not to the proselyte of righteousness, for he might not eat of it any more than an Israelite, and if he did, he was obliged to wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and was unclean until the evening, as in Le 17:15 but to a proselyte of the gate, who took upon him, as Jarchi observes, not to serve idols, one that has renounced idolatry, but has not embraced the Jewish religion; such an one might eat of things that died of themselves, or were not killed in a proper manner. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan call him an uncircumcised stranger or proselyte, who had not submitted to circumcision, as the proselyte of righteousness did:



or thou mayest sell it unto an alien; an idolater, one that was neither a proselyte of righteousness nor of the gate, an entire alien from the commonwealth of Israel; one that was occasionally in the land of Canaan, or was travelling in it or through it, to such an one it might be sold:



for thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God; separated from all others, and devoted to his service, and therefore must live on clean, food and good meat, and not eat what others might:



thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother's milk; this is the third time this law is mentioned; refer to the notes, See Gill on "Ex 23:19",

See Gill on "Ex 34:26"; the reason of which repetition, the Jewish writers say {s}, is, that it is once said to forbid the eating it, a second time to forbid any use of it or profit by it, and a third time to forbid the boiling of it.



{s} Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Kiddushin, c. 2. sect. 9.





Deuteronomy 14:22



Ver. 22. Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed,.... This was a different tithe from that which was made and given to the Levites, and out of which a tithe was taken and given to the priests, and which they only ate of; but this, as appears by the following verse, was what the owners themselves ate of, and so the tithing was left to be made by them themselves, and which they were to be sure to make, and to make it truly and faithfully:



that the field bringeth forth year by year; being ploughed and sowed yearly, the produce of it was to be tithed yearly; the Jewish writers {t} observe on this, that it must be what the earth produces, and is fit for food: and it must be thy seed, which is especially thine, and is not common, but has an owner, and this excludes mushrooms, &c. which thou sowest not, and therefore cannot be called thy seed.



{t} Ib. in Misn. Maaserot, c. 1. sect. 1.





Deuteronomy 14:23



Ver. 23. And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there,.... See De 12:5 there the tithe of all the fruits of the earth was to be eaten; this is the second tithe, as the Targum of Jonathan, and so Jarchi, and which is more particularly described as follows:



the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil: see De 12:7:



and the firstlings of thine herds, and of thy flocks; of which see the note on the above place:



that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always; which such a constant practice would inure unto; see De 10:12.





Deuteronomy 14:24



Ver. 24. And if the way be too long for thee,.... The way from the place where any Israelite might live:



to carry it; the tithe and the firstlings, it would be too expensive or too troublesome in any way that could be devised:



or if the place shall be too far from thee, which the Lord thy God shall choose to set his name there; which by the event appeared to be the city of Jerusalem, and this from some parts of the land of Canaan was very distant:



when the Lord thy God hath blessed thee; with a large increase of the fruits of the earth, and of flocks and herds.





Deuteronomy 14:25



Ver. 25. Thou shalt then turn it into money,.... The tithe, which would be lighter and easier carriage:



and bind up the money in thine hand; put it into a bag or purse, and tie it up and carry it in the hand; which some think was ordered, that it might not be mixed with other money; but it seems only to have respect to journeying, and making it fit for that. The Jewish writers {u}, some of them, give a different sense of the word we render "bind up", and interpret it of marking the silver, or impressing a form, figure, or image on it with the hand; they mean that it must be coined money; so Maimonides {w}, they may not profane the sacred tithe with money not coined, nor with money not current, nor with money which is not in a man's power; for it is said,



in thine hand; which the man is possessed of and is his own property:



and shalt go unto the place which the Lord that God shall choose; carrying the money along with him, for which he sold the tithe.



{u} Bartenora in Misn. Beracot, c. 7. sect. 1. Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Maaser Sheni, c. 11. sect. 2. & in Misn. Sabbat, c. 18. sect. 1. {w} In Misn. Maaser Sheni, c. 11. sect. 2.





Deuteronomy 14:26



Ver. 26. And thou shall bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after,.... He might buy what provision he would with it, what he best liked, and was most agreeable to his appetite:



for oxen, or for sheep; he might purchase beef or mutton, or any other sort of meat that could be got, and was lawful to be eaten, as before directed:



or for wine, or for strong drink; to drink with his food, whether wine or any other liquor; the Targum of Jonathan is, wine new or old, which he chose; but the latter, strong drink, Aben Ezra says, was a liquor made of honey and of dates, of wheat and of barley:



or for whatsoever thy soul desireth; whether eatable or drinkable:



and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God; he having put his name in that place; and dwelling there, as the Lord did in the temple of Jerusalem:



and thou shalt rejoice, thou and thy household; eat their food with cheerfulness and gladness, making a feast of it and keeping it as such, he and his whole family, his wife and children, or as many as were with him; and all males were obliged to appear at the three grand yearly festivals, and it was at one of these this was to be done.





Deuteronomy 14:27



Ver. 27. And the Levite that is within thy gates, thou shalt not forsake him,.... As not from giving him the first tithe, as Jarchi remarks, so he was not to forget him in this; he was not to leave him behind, but take him with him to partake of this entertainment:



for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee in the land: see De 12:12.





Deuteronomy 14:28



Ver. 28. At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year,.... This, according to Aben Ezra, was a third tithe, and did not excuse the second tithe; so says:



"I gave the third tithe to the repair of the temple,'' (Tobit 1:7)



as in one copy, but, according to another, to the stranger, fatherless, and widow, which better agrees with what follows; but the Jewish writers generally understand this as the same with the second tithe, which on the two first years from the sabbatical year was carried to Jerusalem, or money in lieu of it, with which provisions were bought and eaten there, but on the third year were eaten in their own cities with the poor, and in the stead of the other; so says Maimonides {x}, on the third and sixth years from the sabbatical year, after they have separated the first tithe they separate from what remains another tithe, and give it to the poor, and it is called the poor's tithe, and not on those two years is the second tithe, but the poor's tithe, as it is said, "at the end of three years", &c. and still more expressly elsewhere {y}; after they have separated the first tithe every year, they separate the second tithe, De 14:22 and on the third and sixth years they separate the poor's tithe instead of the second; and this was done, not at the latter end of the third year, but, as Aben Ezra interprets it, at the beginning; for the word used signifies an extremity, and the beginning of the year is one extremity of it as well as the latter end of it:



and lay it up within thy gates; not to be hoarded up, or to be sold at a proper time, but to be disposed and made use of as follows.



{x} Hilchot Mattanot. Anayim, c. 6. sect. 4. {y} In Maaser Sheni, c. 1. sect. 1.





Deuteronomy 14:29



Ver. 29. And the Levite, because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,.... Shall come and take the first tithe, according to Jarchi; but though this he was to do, yet is not what is intended here, but he was to partake of the second tithe, or what was in the room of it, the poor's tithe, with whom he is here joined:



and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come; and take the second tithe, as the above writer rightly interprets it, and which he says is the poor's of this year; see De 12:12,



and shall eat and be satisfied; make a plentiful meal, eat freely as at a feast; and, as the same writer observes, they were not obliged to eat it at Jerusalem, according to the way they were bound to eat the second tithe of the two years, that is, the two preceding this:



that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest; as might be expected, when his commands, and particularly those respecting the tithes and firstlings, were obeyed.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Deuteronomy 15:1



INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 15



This chapter treats of a release of debts every seventh year, to which a blessing is promised if attended to, De 15:1, which seventh year of release should not hinder lending to a poor man in distress, even though it was nigh at hand, De 15:7 and of letting servants go free, whether manservant or maidservant, at the end of six years' servitude, De 15:12 but if unwilling to go, and desirous of staying, must have his ear bored through with an awl, and serve to the year of jubilee, De 15:16 and of sanctifying and eating the firstlings of the herd and flock where the Lord directs, De 15:19.



Ver. 1. At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release. Not of servants, for they were not to be dismissed from their service until they had served six years, as is directed to in a following law; for if they were to be set free whenever a sabbatical year came, they might be discharged when they had not served more than a year, or than half a year, or than a month or two. Indeed when the year of jubilee intervened, they were released be it at what time it would; but not in a sabbatical year, which was a year of release of debts, as the following verses show, as well as there was, then a rest of the land from tillage, Le 25:2. Now this was done at the end or extremity of every seventh year; not at the latter end or extremity of it, for if the debt of a poor man might be exacted of him in the year, and until the end of it, it would not in this respect have been a sabbatical year, or a year of rest and quiet; but this was done at the first extremity of it, at the beginning of it, as Aben Ezra and Ben Melech observe; though Maimonides {b} asserts it to be after the seven years were ended; for he says,



"the seventh year releaseth not monies but at the end of it,''



according to De 15:1 that as in De 31:10 after seven years is meant, so the release of monies is after seven years.



{b} Hilchot Shemittah & Yobel, c. 9. sect. 4.





Deuteronomy 15:2



Ver. 2. And this is the manner of the release,.... Or the rules to be observed in making it:



every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; that is, forgive the debt, or free the debtor from any obligation to payment. Some think this was only a release of debts for this year, in which there was no ploughing nor sowing, and so a poor man could not be in any circumstances to pay his debts, but might be exacted afterwards; but it rather seems to be a full release, so as the payment of them might not be demanded, neither this year nor afterwards; indeed, if a person afterwards should be in a capacity to pay his debts, he would be obliged, in conscience, duty, and honour, to pay them, though no reserve was made in this law, which nowhere appears:



he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother: he might receive it, if payment was offered, but he might not demand it, or sue for it; or give his neighbour or brother, whether in a natural or religious sense, any trouble about it: the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it,



"his brother, an Israelite;''



one of the same nation and religion with him, though he might not be related in the bonds of consanguinity:



because it is called the Lord's release; appointed and commanded by him, and was for his honour and glory, as a God gracious and merciful to the poor, and beneficent to those creditors; and which was proclaimed in his name, by the civil magistrate, according to his order; so the Targum of Jonathan,



"because the house of judgment, or the sanhedrim, proclaimed it a release before the Lord.''



Now this was typical of a release of debts, or of forgiveness of sins, which is an act of God's grace through Christ, and for his sake. Sins are called debts, not what men owe to God, for then it would be right to commit them, and they might be committed with impunity, yea, with praise, since it would be doing what is fit and right, and well pleasing to God; but men are debtors to fulfil the law, and in case of failure, or a breach of it, are bound to the debt of punishment; and these debts are very numerous, and men are incapable of paying them: and by a release of these is meant not a liberty of sinning, nor a freedom from the being or bondage of sin, but from the guilt of it, and from obligation to punishment for it; and is properly the forgiveness of sin, which is expressed by various phrases, as a non-imputation, a non-remembrance, a covering, blotting out, and removing of sin, and here typically a release of debts; see Mt 6:12, and God only can make it; he is the creditor, sin is committed against him, and he only can forgive it, which he does freely, fully, and at once, see Lu 7:41.





Deuteronomy 15:3



Ver. 3. Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again,.... Either on the seventh year, or after it:



but that which is thine with thy brother, thine hand shall release; a debt that lies between them, where the one is the creditor, and the other debtor, the creditor shall freely and fully forgive the debtor. So those only are released or forgiven by the Lord who are his own, whom he has reserved for himself, or chosen to everlasting life; who are interested in the covenant of his grace, one article in which is the forgiveness of sins; and who are redeemed by the blood of Christ, a branch of which redemption is remission of sin; and who are called by grace, and believe in Christ, to whom pardon of sins is promised; but those who are foreigners and strangers, and are not the Lord's chosen, redeemed, and called people, have no share in this blessing of grace; nor such who are rich in their own esteem, and need nothing; but those who are poor and unable to pay their debts, and are sensible of their spiritual poverty, and apply to the Lord for the forgiveness of their sins.





Deuteronomy 15:4



Ver. 4. Save when there shall be no poor among you,.... Then such a law could not take place, there would be no debts to be released; for this was never designed to screen rich persons from the payment of their just debts, or whoever were in a capacity of so doing, only such as were really poor, and unable to pay; and it supposes that this might sometimes be the case, that there were none poor in Israel, or needed the benefit of such a law; and, according to the Targum of Jonathan, it is suggested there would be none, if they were observant of the commands of God: and some take it for a promise, rendering the words "nevertheless" {c}, notwithstanding such a law,



there shall be no poor among you; but then it must be understood conditionally: others interpret this as the end to be answered by this law, "to the end {d} there may be no poor among you"; by observing this law, all debts being released once in seven years, it would prevent persons falling into distress and poverty, to such a degree as to be in want, and become beggars; and Julian the emperor observes, that none of the Jews begged {e}, which he attributes to the care that was taken of their poor:



for the Lord shall greatly bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it; which is either a reason why there would be no poor, should they observe the commandments of the Lord; or a reason why they should release the debts of the poor because they were so greatly blessed with a fruitful land, which brought them such an increase, as enabled them to free their poor debtors, when in circumstances unable to pay them.



{c} yk opa "veruntamen", Munster. {d} "To the end that there be not", Ainsworth; so the margin of the Bible. {e} Opera, par. 2. Ep. 49. p. 204.





Deuteronomy 15:5



Ver. 5 Only if thou carefully hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God,.... In his word, and by his prophets; this being the case, there would be no more poor among them, or however they would be so blessed of God, that they would be capable of releasing the debts of the poor, without hurting themselves and their families:



to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day; a phrase often used to put them in mind of the commands of God, and the necessity of keeping them, their temporal happiness depending thereon.





Deuteronomy 15:6



Ver. 6. For the Lord thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee,.... He is faithful that has promised, and he always gives the blessing he promises according to the nature of the promise; if absolute, and without conditions, he gives it without respect to any; but if conditional, as the promises of temporal good things to Israel were, he gives according as the condition is performed:



and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shall not borrow; signifying they should be so rich and increased in goods, and worldly substance, that they should be able to lend to their neighbouring nations round about, but should stand in no need of borrowing of any of them. This is sometimes said of the language of these people, the Hebrew language, that it lends to all, but borrows of none, being an original primitive language; see De 28:12



and thou shalt reign over many nations: which was fulfilled in the times of David and Solomon:



but they shall not reign over thee; that is, as long as they observed the commands of God; otherwise, when they did not, they were carried captive into other countries, and other people reigned over them, as at this day.





Deuteronomy 15:7



Ver. 7. If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren,.... As there would be, according to the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem, if they did not keep the commandments of the law, and continue therein:



within any of thy gates, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee; a native of the land was to be preferred to a foreigner, and a brother, whether in relation or religion, to a proselyte of the gate; and the poor of a city to which a man belonged, to the poor of another city, as Jarchi observes; which he gathers from this phrase,



within any of thy gates: thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy brother; so as not to pity his distressed case, and have no bowels of compassion for him, and feel for his want, and so as not to distribute to his necessities, and relieve him.





Deuteronomy 15:8



Ver. 8. But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him,.... And give him bountifully and liberally; in order to which the heart must be first opened, the affections moved, and a willing mind disposed to give generously:



and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need in that which he wanteth: enough to answer his present exigencies, but not to cause him to abound, or to supply him with things needless and superfluous.





Deuteronomy 15:9



Ver. 9. Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart,.... "Or, thy heart of Belial" {f}; thy worthless heart, and which is without a yoke not subjected to the law of God, as every carnal heart is; and in which Belial, Satan, the prince of this world, works effectually, and inclines to evil thoughts, afflictions, and desires, which are to be guarded against:



saying, the seventh year, the year of release, is at hand: perhaps next year, or within a few months:



and thine eye be evil against thy brother, and thou give him nought; being of an uncompassionate and covetous disposition, shall refuse to give or lend him anything on this consideration, because the year of release will quickly come, when, if poor and unable to pay him, he would be obliged to release his debt:



and he cry unto the Lord against thee; go to the throne of grace, and in prayer bring a charge, and lodge a complaint of unkindness and uncharitableness: and it be a sin unto thee; the Lord shall reckon it as a sin, a very heinous one, and call to an account for it.



{f} leylb Kbbl "corde tuo Belial", Montanus.





Deuteronomy 15:10



Ver. 10. Thou shall surely give him,.... Or lend to him; though lending in such a case and circumstances, that person being extremely poor, and the year of release at hand, is the same as giving. Jarchi remarks that money must be given him, even a hundred times if he asks it; but the limitation is to what he wants, and what is sufficient for his present wants, De 15:8



and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him; grieved at parting with his money he has little or no hope of seeing again, grudging it to him to whom it is given; when, on the other hand, it should he given freely and cheerfully, for God loves a cheerful giver:



because that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all thou puttest thine hand unto; that is, for lending or giving largely, liberally, and cheerfully, to persons in distress; see Pr 11:24.





Deuteronomy 15:11



Ver. 11. For the poor shall never cease out of the land,.... There would be always such objects to exercise their charity and beneficence towards, Joh 12:8, which is no contradiction to De 15:4 for had they been obedient to the laws of God, they would have been so blessed that there would have been none; so the Targums; but he foresaw that they would not keep his commands, and so this would be the case, and which he foretells that they might expect it, and do their duty to them, as here directed:



therefore I command thee, saying, thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother; not give sparingly, but largely, in proportion to the necessities of the poor, and according to the abilities of the lender or giver; and this must be done to a brother, one that is near in the bonds of consanguinity, and to him a man must give or lend first, as Aben Ezra observes, and then "to thy poor"; the poor of thy family, as the same writer:



and to thy needy in the land; that are in very distressed circumstances, though not related, and particularly such as are in the same place where a man dwells; for, as the same writer remarks, the poor of thy land are to be preferred to the poor of another place,





Deuteronomy 15:12



Ver. 12. And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee,.... By others, as by the sanhedrim for theft, for which a man might be sold, but not a woman, as Jarchi observes; but then a father might sell his daughter for an handmaid, if little and under age; and to such cases this law is supposed to refer; see

Ex 21:2 though a man on account of poverty might sell himself:



and serve thee six years; as he was bound to do, if his master lived so long; if he died before the six years were out, he was obliged to serve his son, but not his daughter, nor his brother, nor his heirs, as the Jewish writers affirm {g}: then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee; that is, at the end of the sixth, and beginning of the seventh year; see Ex 21:2.



{g} Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Kiddushin. c. 1. sect. 2.





Deuteronomy 15:13



Ver. 13. And when thou sendest him out free from thee,.... When he discharged him from his servitude, and made him a free man:



thou shall not let him go away empty; without anything to support himself, or to put himself in a way of business; he having in the time of his servitude worked entirely for his master, and so could not have got and saved anything for himself.





Deuteronomy 15:14



Ver. 14. Thou shalt furnish him liberally,.... Not only to supply his present wants, but for his future use, and to set him up in the world: "loading thou shall load him" {h}, so some render the words; give him as much as he can carry, and well stand up under; the word used has the signification of chains wore about the neck for honour or ornament, and so may signify he should be very honourably dismissed, with plain marks of honour and respect; and the order is, to supply him



out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress; with sheep or lambs out of the flock, with corn out of the floor, wheat, or barley, or both, and wine out of the winepress; which take in all the necessaries and comforts of life: of that



wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee thou shall give unto him; be it what it will, and in proportion to it, as of money as well as goods; it is asked, how much shall be given to him? not less than the value of thirty shekels, whether of one kind or whether of many kinds, according to the thirty shekels for the price of a servant, Ex 21:32 {i}. All this may be an emblem both of the servitude the people of God are in to sin, Satan, and the law, while in a state of nature; and of their freedom from it by Christ, and of the sufficiency and fulness of food and raiment, and large measures of divine grace; even all things richly to enjoy, all things pertaining to life and godliness, which are given to them when brought out of that state; who otherwise come out of it destitute of all good things, having neither food nor clothes, nor money to buy either, but have all from Christ freely and fully.



{h} qynet qyneh "onerando oneratis", Munster, Pagninus, Vatablus. {i} Maimon. Hilchot Obedim, c. 3. sect. 14.





Deuteronomy 15:15



Ver. 15. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt,.... Where they were used hardly, and their lives were made bitter in hard bondage; and therefore should show the greater compassion to servants, whose case they could not but sympathize with, and have a fellow feeling of



and the Lord thy God redeemed thee; from the house of bondage and state of slavery, after they had been in it many years:



therefore I command thee this thing today, to release their servants at the end of six years, and not send them away empty, but generously contribute to them at their release; since when he redeemed them he gave them the spoil of Egypt, and of the sea, as Jarchi remarks; they came out of their bondage state with jewels, and gold, and silver, and raiment, even with great substance; and at the Red sea their spoil was increased which they took from Pharaoh and his host when drowned there; now as they came out of their servitude not empty but full, being sufficiently paid for their hard service, so they should remember to give to their servants liberally, when they made them free.





Deuteronomy 15:16



Ver. 16. And it shall be, if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee,.... Out of his house, nor quit his service:



because he loveth thee and thine house; his master and his family, and so loath to leave them, but chooses rather to stay with them than have his liberty; hence the Jews say {k}, if his master has not a wife and children, his ear is not to be bored:



because he is well with thee; lives well with him, is well used by him, wants for nothing, and enjoys peace and quietness, and has everything to make him happy as such a state will admit of, and with the which he is well contented, and highly pleased. This is an emblem of the cheerful and constant obedience of the people of Christ to him their master, flowing from love to him; whom they love above all persons and things, with all their heart and soul, and his house also, the place of his worship, his ordinances, truths, ministers and children; and therefore choose to be where they are, finding that they are there well used, fare well, having bread enough and to spare, spiritual provisions in plenty; are well clothed with the righteousness of Christ, have the good company of the saints and excellent in the earth, in whom is all their delight; and, above all, the presence of their Lord and master, and the smiles of his countenance.



{k} Maimon. in Misn. Kiddushin, c. 1. sect. 2.





Deuteronomy 15:17



Ver. 17. Then thou shall take an awl, and thrust it through his ear unto the door,.... Not of his master's house, but of the sanhedrim, or court of judicature, according to the Targum of Jonathan, before whom he was to be brought, and declare his desire to continue with his master; See Gill on "Ex 21:6",



and he shall be thy servant for ever; that is, unto the jubilee, as the same Targum; for then all servants were released, and so Jarchi calls it the ever of jubilee:



and also unto thy maidservant thou shall do likewise; not bore her ear, for, as both Jarchi and Aben Ezra, and others say, she was not to be bored; though some are of opinion that a maidservant who was willing to continue with her master was to be bored as a manservant; but this respects the manner of dismissing her, or letting her go free, when she was not to go empty, but to be liberally furnished and supplied, as a manservant was.





Deuteronomy 15:18



Ver. 18. It shall not seem hard to thee when thou sendest him away free from thee,.... He should not grudge him his liberty, nor what he gives to him when he dismisses him:



for he hath been worth a double hired servant to thee in serving thee six years; since a hired servant a man is obliged to pay him wages for his work, besides his food, whereas a bondservant received no wages. Aben Ezra remarks, that this proves that a man might not hire himself for more than three years; or however, whereas a hired servant was sometimes hired for so many years, and this is the longest time of any we read of, a servant serving his master six years, his service must be worth double the service of an hired servant, which at most was but three years:



and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thou doest; thus well using thy servants, whether menservants or maidservants.





Deuteronomy 15:19



Ver. 19. All the firstling males that come of thy herd, or of thy flock, thou shalt sanctify unto the Lord thy God,.... According to the law in Ex 13:2.

See Gill on "Ex 13:2";

See Gill on "Ex 13:12";

See Gill on "Ex 13:13";



thou shalt do no work with the firstling of thy bullock: as to plough or tread out the corn with it, which were done with other heifers:



nor shear the firstling of thy sheep; nor was the wool shorn of it to be made use of; one of the Jewish canons runs thus,



"if any man weave an hand's breadth of the wool of a firstling into cloth, the cloth is to be burnt {l}.''



{l} Misn. Orlah, c. 3. sect. 3.





Deuteronomy 15:20



Ver. 20. Thou shalt eat it before the Lord thy God, year by year,.... Which, if understood of male firstlings, as in connection with the preceding verse, only priests might eat of them, being devoted to the Lord; so Jarchi says, to the priest he speaks; but if this respects the Israelites in common, then they must be understood either of female firstlings or second firstlings, which the people voluntarily separated, and which they were not to eat in their own houses,



but in the place which the Lord shall choose, which was the city of Jerusalem; see De 12:5,



thou and thy household; the household of the priest, as Aben Ezra interprets it; but if it designs the same as in De 12:17, then the Israelites and their families are meant.





Deuteronomy 15:21



Ver. 21. And if there be any blemish therein,.... In the firstling, as if it be "lame or blind", or have



any ill blemish: thou shall not sacrifice it unto the Lord thy God; blemishes in any beast made it unfit for sacrifices which were required; and so all peace offerings, vows, and freewill offerings, were to be free from any, Le 22:19, such were not fit for an holy sacrifice or an holy feast.





Deuteronomy 15:22



Ver. 22. Thou shalt eat it within thy gates,.... Though it might not be sacrificed, nor eaten as an eucharistic feast at Jerusalem, it might be eaten as common food in their own houses:



the unclean and the clean person shall eat it alike; such as were ceremonially unclean, by the touch of a dead body or the like, might partake of it with those that were clean, no difference was to be made:



as the roebuck and as the hart; which were clean creatures, and used for food, though not for sacrifice; see De 12:15.





Deuteronomy 15:23



Ver. 23. Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof,.... Of the firstling:



thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water;

See Gill on "De 12:16",

See Gill on "De 12:23",

See Gill on "De 12:24".

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Deuteronomy 16:1



INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 16



This chapter treats of the three grand yearly festivals, of the feast of passover, when, where, and what was to be sacrificed, how to be dressed, and in what manner to be eaten, De 16:1, of the feast of pentecost, when to begin it, where and how it was to be observed, De 16:9, and of the feast of tabernacles, when, where, and how long it was to be kept, De 16:13, which three times in the year all the males were to appear before the Lord, and not empty, De 16:16, an order is given for the appointment of judges in the land, to execute judgment, De 16:18, and the chapter is closed with a caution against planting groves, and setting up images, De 16:21.



Ver. 1. Observe the month of Abib,.... Sometimes called Nisan; it answered to part, of our March, and part of April; it was an observable month, to be taken notice of; it was called Abib, from the corn then appearing in ear, and beginning to ripen, and all things being in their verdure; the Septuagint calls it the month of new fruit; it was appointed the first of the months for ecclesiastic things, and was the month in which the Israelites went out of Egypt, and the first passover was kept in it, and therefore deserving of regard; see Ex 12:2



for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night; for though they did not set out until morning, when it was day light, and are said to come out in the day, yet it was in the night the Lord did wonders for them, as Onkelos paraphrases this clause; that he smote all the firstborn in Egypt, and passed over the houses of the Israelites, the door posts being sprinkled with the blood of the passover lamb slain that night, and therefore was a night much to be observed; and it was in the night Pharaoh arose and gave them leave to go; and from that time they were no more under his power, and from thence may be reckoned their coming out of bondage; see

Ex 12:12.





Deuteronomy 16:2



Ver. 2. Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the Lord thy God,.... In the month Abib, and in the night of that month they came out of Egypt, even on the fourteenth day of it at night, between the two evenings, as the Targum of Jonathan; which was a lamb, and typical of Christ, the passover sacrificed for us, 1Co 5:7



of the flock and the herd; that is, you shall sacrifice also the offerings which were offered throughout the seven days of unleavened bread, and these were both sheep and oxen, Nu 28:19 and are expressly called passover offerings and peace offerings, 2Ch 30:21, for what was strictly and properly the passover was only of the flock, a lamb, and not of the herd, or a bullock; though Aben Ezra says there were some that thought that in Egypt it was only a lamb or a kid, but now it might be a bullock; which he observes is not right. It may be indeed that the word "passover" here is a general term, comprehending the whole passover solemnity, and all the sacrifices of the seven days: the Jews commonly understand this clause of the Chagigah, or feast of the fifteenth day, the first day of unleavened bread, and so the Targum of Jonathan,



"and the sheep and the oxen on the morrow;''



some distinguish them thus, the flock for the duty of the passover, the herd for the peace offerings, so Aben Ezra; or as Jarchi interprets it, the flock of the lambs and kids, and the herd for the Chagigah or festival; in the Talmud {m}; the flock, this is the passover; the herd, this is the Chagigah, so Abendana: there was a Chagigah of the fourteenth day, which was brought with the lamb and eaten first, when the company was too large for the lamb, that their might eat with satiety {n}; but this was not reckoned obligatory upon them {o}, but they were bound to bring their Chagigah on the fifteenth day:



in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name there; that is, at Jerusalem, as the event has shown; hence we read of the parents of our Lord going up to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover, Lu 2:41.



{m} T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 70. 2. {n} Jarchi in loc. Maimon. Hilchot Corban Pesach, c. 8. l. 3. {o} T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 71. 1, 2. Maimon. ut supra, ({n}) c. 10. sect. 13. Aruch in voc. gx, fol. 58. 1.





Deuteronomy 16:3



Ver. 3. Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it,.... With the passover, as the Targum of Jonathan expresses it; that is, with the passover lamb, nor indeed with any of the passover, or peace offerings, as follows; see Ex 12:8



seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread therewith; with the passover; this plainly shows, that by the passover in the preceding verse is not meant strictly the passover lamb, for that was eaten at once on the night of the fourteenth of the month, and not seven days running, and therefore must be put for the whole solemnity of the feast, and all the sacrifices of it, both the lamb of the fourteenth, and the Chagigah of the fifteenth, and every of the peace offerings of the rest of the days were to be eaten with unleavened bread:



[even] the bread of affliction; so called either from the nature of its being heavy and lumpish, not grateful to the taste nor easy of digestion, and was mortifying and afflicting to be obliged to eat of it seven days together; or rather from the use of it, which was, as Jarchi observes, to bring to remembrance the affliction they were afflicted with in Egypt:



for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste; and had not time to leaven their dough; so that at first they were obliged through necessity to eat unleavened bread, and afterwards by the command of God in remembrance of it; see Ex 12:33,



that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life; how it was with them then, how they were hurried out with their unleavened dough; and that this might be imprinted on their minds, the master of the family used {p}, at the time of the passover, to break a cake of unleavened bread, and say, this is the bread of affliction, &c. or bread of poverty; as it is the way of poor men to have broken bread, so here is broken bread.



{p} Haggadah Shel Pesach, in Seder Tephillot, fol. 242. Maimon. Chametz Umetzah, c. 8. sect. 6.





Deuteronomy 16:4



Ver. 4. And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coasts seven days,.... For before the passover they were to search diligently every room in the house, and every hole and crevice, that none might remain any where; see Ex 12:15,



neither shall there be anything of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all night until the morning; which may be understood both of the flesh of the passover lamb, as Aben Ezra, according to Ex 12:10 and of the flesh of flocks and herds, or of the Chagigah; according to Jarchi this Scripture speaks of the Chagigah of the fourteenth, which was not to remain on the first day of the feast (the fifteenth) until the morning of the second day (the sixteenth).





Deuteronomy 16:5



Ver. 5. Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates,.... Or cities, as the Targum of Jonathan, so called because they usually had gates to them, in which public affairs were transacted; but in none of these, only in the city of Jerusalem, the place the Lord chose, might they kill the passover and eat it, and other passover offerings:



which the Lord thy God giveth thee; in the land of Canaan, and which land was given them of God.





Deuteronomy 16:6



Ver. 6. But at the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name in,.... To place the ark and the mercy seat with the cherubim over them, where he caused his Shechinah, or divine Majesty, to dwell; and this was at Jerusalem, where the temple was built by Solomon:



there thou shalt sacrifice the passover; kill and eat the paschal lamb:



at even, at the going down of the sun; between the two evenings it was killed, before the sun was set, and afterwards at night it was eaten; the Targum of Jonathan is,



"and at evening, at the setting of the sun, ye shall eat it until the middle of the night:''



at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt; or as the same Targum,



"the time of the beginning of your redemption out of Egypt;''



which was when Pharaoh rose at midnight, and gave them leave to go; from thence their redemption commenced, though they did not actually set out until the morning.





Deuteronomy 16:7



Ver. 7. And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose,.... The word for "roast" signifies to "boil", and is justly so used, and so Onkelos here renders it, and the Septuagint version both roast and boil; but it is certain that the passover lamb was not to be boiled, it is expressly forbidden, Ex 12:8 wherefore some think the Chagigah is here meant, and the other offerings that were offered at this feast; and so in the times of Josiah they roasted the passover with fire, according to the ordinance of God; but the other holy offerings sod or boiled they in pots, cauldrons and pans, and divided them speedily among the people, 2Ch 35:13, but the passover lamb seems plainly to be meant here by the connection of this verse with the preceding verses; wherefore Jarchi observes, that this is to be understood of roasting with fire, though expressed by this word:



and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents; not in the morning of the fifteenth, after the passover had been killed and eaten on the fourteenth, but in the morning, after the feast of unleavened bread, which lasted seven days, was over; though some think that they might if they would depart home after the passover had been observed, and were not obliged to stay and keep the feast of unleavened bread at Jerusalem, but march to their own cities; and so Aben Ezra observes, that some say a man may go on a feast day to his house and country, but, says he, we do not agree to it; and it appears from the observation of other feasts, which lasted as long as these, that the people did not depart to their tents till the whole was over; see 1Ki 8:66 and with this agrees the Targum of Jonathan,



"and thou shall turn in the morning of the going out of the feast, and go to thy cities.''



Jarchi indeed interprets it afterwards of the second day.





Deuteronomy 16:8



Ver. 8. Six days shalt thou eat unleavened bread,.... In other places it is ordered to be eaten seven days, Ex 12:15 and here it is not said six only; it was to be eaten on the seventh as on the other, though that is here distinguished from the six, because of special and peculiar service assigned to it, but not because of an exemption from eating unleavened bread on it. The Jews seem to understand this of different corn of which the bread was made, and not of different sort of bread; the Targum of Jonathan is, on the first day ye shall offer the sheaf (the firstfruits of the barley harvest), and on the six days which remain ye shall begin to eat the unleavened bread of the new fruits, and so Jarchi:



and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the Lord thy God; a holy convocation, devoted to religious exercises, and the people were restrained, according to the sense of the word, from all servile work, as follows:



thou shalt do no work therein; that is, the business of their callings, their trades and manufactories; they were obliged to abstain from all kind of work excepting what was necessary for the dressing of food, and in this it differed from a sabbath; see Ex 12:16.





Deuteronomy 16:9



Ver. 9. Seven weeks then shalt thou number unto thee,.... And then another feast was to take place, called from hence the feast of weeks, and sometimes Pentecost, from its being the fiftieth day:



begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn; for the sheaf of the wave offering, as the first fruits of barley harvest, which was done on the morrow after the sabbath in the passover week, and from thence seven weeks or fifty days were reckoned, and the fiftieth day was the feast here ordered to be kept; so the Targum of Jonathan,



"after the reaping of the sheaf ye shall begin to number seven weeks;''



see Le 23:15.





Deuteronomy 16:10



Ver. 10. And thou shall keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord thy God,.... The feast of Pentecost, at which time the Spirit was poured down upon the apostles, Ac 2:1



with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand; there were two wave loaves which were ordered to be brought and seven lambs, one young bullock and two rams for a burnt offering, together with the meat and drink offerings belonging thereunto, and a kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs for a peace offering, Le 23:17, and besides all this, there was to be a voluntary contribution brought in their hands; for this was one of those feasts at which all the males were to appear before the Lord, and none of them empty:



which thou shalt give unto the Lord thy God,



according as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee; no certain rate was fixed, it was to be a free gift, and in proportion to a man's abilities, or what the Lord had blessed him with.





Deuteronomy 16:11



Ver. 11. And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God,.... Make a liberal feast, and keep it cheerfully, in the presence of God, in the place where he resides, thankfully acknowledging all his mercies and favours:



thou, and thy son, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates; that dwelt in the same city, who were all to come with him to Jerusalem at this feast, and to partake of it with him:



and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to place his name there; who should be at Jerusalem at this time.





Deuteronomy 16:12



Ver. 12. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt,.... And now delivered from that bondage; the consideration of which should make them liberal in their freewill offering, and generous in the feast they provided, and compassionate to the stranger, widow, and fatherless:



and thou shalt observe and do these statutes; concerning the passover, the feast of unleavened bread, and of Pentecost, and the peace offerings and the freewill offerings belonging to them: and nothing could more strongly oblige them to observe them than their redemption from their bondage in Egypt; as nothing more engages to the performance of good works than the consideration of our spiritual and eternal redemption by Christ, 1Co 6:19.





Deuteronomy 16:13



Ver. 13. Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days,.... Which began on the fifteenth day of Tisri, or September; see Le 23:34, &c.



after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine; and therefore sometimes called the feast of ingathering, Ex 23:16, barley harvest began at the passover, and wheat harvest at Pentecost; and before the feast of tabernacles began, the vintage and the gathering of the olives were over, as well as all other summer fruits were got in.





Deuteronomy 16:14



Ver. 14. And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast,.... At this feast of tabernacles and ingathering of the fruits of the earth, in token of gratitude and thankfulness for the goodness of God bestowed on them; the Targum of Jonathan adds, with the flute and the pipe, making use of instrumental music to increase the joy on this occasion:



thou and thy son, &c. See Gill on "De 16:11"





Deuteronomy 16:15



Ver. 15. Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the Lord thy God,.... The feast of tabernacles still spoken of:



in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose: the city of Jerusalem:



because the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy increase, and in all the works of thine hands; both in the increase of their fields, vineyards, and oliveyards, and also in their several handicraft trades and occupations they were employed in; so Aben Ezra interprets all the works of their hands of merchandise and manufactories:



therefore thou shalt surely rejoice; extremely, heartily, and sincerely, and not fail to express joy on this occasion, and manifest it by a generous freewill offering to the Lord, and a bountiful entertainment for himself, his family, friends, and others.





Deuteronomy 16:16



Ver. 16. Three times a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God,.... This has been observed before, Ex 23:17, and is repeated here for the sake of mentioning the place where they were to appear, which before now was not observed, and indeed it is chiefly for that the other festivals are here recited:



in the place which he shall choose; which though not expressed is now easily understood; and the three times at which they were to appear there were, in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles; or passover, Pentecost, and tabernacles; and of numbers of people going up from the country to each of these feasts, we have instances in the New Testament; to the passover, Lu 2:42, to Pentecost, Ac 2:5, to tabernacles, Joh 7:2,



and they shall not appear before the Lord empty; Aben Ezra observes, the meaning is, not empty of the tribute of the freewill offering of their hand, and which Jarchi more fully explains of the burnt offerings of appearance, and of the peace offerings of the Chagigah, or money answerable to them; which, according to the Misnah {q} was a meah of silver for a burnt offering, and two pieces of silver for the Chagigah, which weighed thirty two barley corns {r}



{q} Chagigah, c. 1. sect. 2. {r} Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.





Deuteronomy 16:17



Ver. 17. Every man shall give as he is able,.... The quantity to be given is not fixed in the law, but the wise men appointed it, as observed on De 16:16 but it is left by the Lord to the generosity of the people, only giving this general rule, that they should do according to their ability, and as the Lord had prospered them; see

1Co 16:2 so Jarchi,



"every man that hath many eatables and much goods shall bring many burnt offerings and many peace offerings.''





Deuteronomy 16:18



Ver. 18. Judges and officers shall thou make thee,.... Judges were fixed in the sanhedrim, or court of judicature, and those that have lawsuits come before them; officers are masters of the staff and whip, and they stand before the judges, and go into markets, streets, and shops, to order the weights and measures, and to smite all that do wrong; and all they do is by order of the judges; so Maimonides {s}: the qualifications of judges to be chosen and constituted by the people are thus described by him. In the sanhedrim, greater or lesser, they place only men wise and understanding, expert in the wisdom of the law, and masters of great knowledge, and that know some of the other sciences, as medicine, arithmetic, astronomy, and astrology, the ways of soothsayers, diviners, and wizards, and the vanities of idolatry, that they may know how to judge them; and they set in the sanhedrim only priests, Levites, and Israelites, who are genealogized; nor do they set an old man there, nor an eunuch, nor a king, but an high priest, if he is qualified with wisdom; and they must be free from blemishes, and of a good stature and appearance, and understand many languages, and not hear by an interpreter; and though all this was not precisely required of the sanhedrim of three judges, yet these same things ought to be in everyone of them, wisdom, and meekness, and fear, and hatred of money, and love of truth, and love of men, and to be of a good report {t} and these were to be placed in



all thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee throughout thy tribes; that is, in every city, as Onkelos, and so Jarchi; and usually the courts of judicature were held in the gates of cities, and it was only in the land of Israel, not without it, that they were obliged to set up courts of judicature, as Maimonides {u} observes; who also asks, how many courts were fixed in Israel, and what the number they consisted of? to which he answers, they fixed at first the great court in the sanctuary, and it was called the great sanhedrim, and its number were seventy one; and again, they set up two courts of twenty three, one at the door of the court, and the other at the door of the mountain of the house (and so in the Misnah) {w}; and they set up in every city in Israel, in which were one hundred and twenty (men or families) or more, a lesser sanhedrim, which sat in the gate, and their number were twenty three judges; in a city in which there were not one hundred and twenty, they placed three judges, for there is no court less than three {x}:



and they shall judge the people with just judgment; give a right and just sentence in all cases that come before them, according to the laws of God, and the rules of justice and equity.



{s} Hilchot Sanhedrin, c. 1. sect. 1. {t} Ib. c. 2. sect. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. {u} Ib. c. 1. sect. 2. {w} Sanhedrin, c. 10. sect. 2. {x} Ib. sect. 3, 4.





Deuteronomy 16:19



Ver. 19. Thou shall not wrest judgment,.... Or pervert it, pass a wrong sentence, or act contrary to justice; this is said to the judges as a direction to them, and so what follows:



thou shalt not respect persons; so as to give the cause on account of outward circumstances and relations; as in favour of a rich man against a poor man merely for that reason, or of a near relation or intimate friend and acquaintance against a stranger, but justice should be administered without favour or affection to any; as Jarchi puts it, he was to make no difference in his address and behaviour to contending parties before him; he was not to be tender and soft to one and hard to the other, or let one stand and another sit:



neither take a gift: as a bribe to give the cause wrong: at Thebes, in Egypt, as Diodorus Siculus {y} relates, in a court on a wall, were images of judges to the number of thirty; in the midst of them was the chief judge; having Truth hanging down from his neck (which seems to be in imitation of the Urim of the high priest of the Jews), his eyes shut, and many books by him; by which image was shown, that judges should receive nothing, and that the chief judge should look to truth only:



for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous; see Ex 23:8 the Jews have a saying, that a judge that takes a bribe, and perverts judgment, does not die of old age, or till his eyes become dim {z}.



{y} Bibliothec. l. 1. c. 45. {z} Misn. Peah, c. 8. sect. 9.





Deuteronomy 16:20



Ver. 20. That which is altogether just shalt thou follow,.... Or "justice", "justice" {a}, strict justice, and nothing else:



that thou mayest live and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee; that is, continue in the possession of it.



{a} qdu qdu





Deuteronomy 16:21



Ver. 21. Thou shall not plant thee a grove of any trees,.... Of any sort of trees, as oaks or any other; not but that it was lawful to plant trees and groves of them, but not for a religious or idolatrous use: particularly



near unto the altar of the Lord thy God, which thou shalt make thee; as the Heathens did near their altars, lest it should be thought to be done for a like superstitious and idolatrous use; which evil the Jews sometimes fell into in the times of wicked reigns, and which their good and pious kings removed and destroyed; see 2Ki 18:4 and Hecataeus {b}, an Heathen historian, relates of the city of Jerusalem, that there were there no image, nor plantation, nor grove, nor any such thing.



{b} Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 4. p. 408.





Deuteronomy 16:22



Ver. 22. Neither shalt thou set up any image,.... Graven or molten, of man, beast, fish, or fowl; the word signifies a "statue or pillar" {c} which was set up for idolatry; for, as Aben Ezra observes, what was not set up for idolatry was not forbidden, as when erected in memory of any action or remarkable event; see Jos 22:10, &c.



which the Lord thy God hateth; as he does every species, of idolatry, or that has any tendency to it; it being so opposite to his being, perfections, and glory; and therefore nothing should be done like it, because it is so hateful to him.



{c} hbum sthlhn, Sept. "statuam", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Tig. vers. Fagius, Drusius, Grotius, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; so Ainsworth.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Deuteronomy 17:1



INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 17



This chapter begins with a caution not to sacrifice anything to the Lord that is blemished or ill favoured, De 17:1, an order is given to put to death men or women guilty of idolatry, where it is clearly proved upon them, De 17:2 and it is directed that when cases are too hard for inferior judges to determine, they should be brought to Jerusalem to the priests, Levites, and judges, which formed the great consistory there, whose sentence was to be adhered unto on pain of death, De 17:8, and rules are given about the choice of a king, and he is informed what he must not do, and what he should do, De 17:14.



Ver. 1. Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the Lord thy God any bullock or sheep wherein is blemish,.... No sacrifice of any sort, whether burnt offering, sin offering, or peace offering, was to have any blemish in it; typical of the unblemished and immaculate Lamb of God, who, being without sin, offered himself without spot to God, and so could take away the sins of others by the sacrifice of himself; see Le 22:18,



[or] any evilfavouredness; any sickness or disease upon it of any sort, which made it ill favoured to the sight, or disagreeable to the smell, or however unacceptable for sacrifice:



for that is an abomination to the Lord thy God; every such blemished and ill favoured sacrifice; see Mal 1:8.





Deuteronomy 17:2



Ver. 2. If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee,.... In any of their cities in the land of Canaan:



man or woman that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the Lord thy God: as all that is wrought is in the sight of the omniscient God; here it means not any kind of wickedness, for there is none lives without committing sin of one sort or another, all which is known to God the searcher of hearts, but such wickedness as is after described:



in transgressing his covenant; that is, his law, and particularly the first table of it, which respects divine worship, and which is in the nature of a marriage contract or covenant; which, as that is transgressed by adultery committed by either party, so the covenant between God and Israel was transgressed by idolatry, which is spiritual adultery, and going a whoring after other gods, as it follows:





Deuteronomy 17:3



Ver. 3. And hath gone,.... The Targum of Jonathan adds, after the evil imagination or concupiscence, lusting after other lovers, and forsaking the true God, and departing from his worship:



and served other gods; strange gods, the idols of the people, other gods besides the true God; the creature besides the Creator:



and worshipped them; by bowing down before them, praying to them, or ascribing their mercies and blessings to them, and giving them the glory of them:



either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven: the two great luminaries, and the planets, constellations, and stars, any of them; which kind of idolatry very early obtained, and was in use at this time among the Heathens, and was an iniquity to be punished by the judge, Job 31:26, which sin, though so strictly forbidden, the people of Israel sometimes fell into, 2Ki 21:3



which I have not commanded: and which is a sufficient reason, in matters of worship, to avoid and abstain from anything, that God has not commanded it; for in things of that nature nothing should be done but what he has ordered, who is a jealous God, and will not suffer any to take upon them to direct what should be done as a religious service and duty; and if any are so presumptuous, they must expect it will be resented; see Isa 1:12 and especially with respect to the object of worship, as here, and which relate to things if not forbid expressly, yet tacitly, to do which was an abomination to the Lord.





Deuteronomy 17:4



Ver. 4. And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and inquired diligently,.... A report of this kind was not to be neglected; though it was not to be concluded upon as certain by hearsay, it was to be looked into, and the persons that brought it thoroughly examined; so the Targum of Jonathan,



"and inquired the witnesses well,''



what proof and evidence they could give of the fact, who the persons were, when and where, and in what manner the sin was committed:



and, behold, [it be] true, [and] the thing certain; upon examining the witnesses the case is plain and out of all question:



that such abomination is wrought in Israel; to do it in any country was abominable, but much more so in the land of Israel, among the professing people of God, who had the knowledge of the true God, and had had so many proofs of his deity, his power and providence, as well as received so many favours and blessings from him, and had such laws and statutes given them as no other people had.





Deuteronomy 17:5



Ver. 5. Thou shall bring forth that man or that woman which have committed the wicked thing,.... Idolatry in any of the above instances: this must be supposed to be done after he or she have been had before a court of judicature, and have been tried and found guilty, and sentence passed on them, then they were to be brought forth to execution:



unto thy gates; the Targum of Jonathan says, unto the gates of your sanhedrim, or court of judicature; but Jarchi observes, that this is a mistake of the paraphrase, for he says, we are taught by tradition that "thy gate" is the gate in which he has served or committed idolatry; and so says Maimonides {d}, they do not stone a man but at the gate where he served or worshipped; but if the greatest part of the city are Heathens, they stone him at the door of the sanhedrim; and this is received from tradition, that "to thy gates" is the gate at which he served, and not where his judgment is finished:



[even] that man or that woman; this is repeated, and the woman as well as the man is expressed, to show that no compassion is to be had on her as is usual, nor to be spared on account of the weakness and tenderness of her sex, but she as well as the man must be brought forth and executed according to her sentence, without any mercy shown; and this is observed to show the resentment of the divine Majesty, and his indignation at this sin:



and shalt stone them with stones until they die; of the manner of stoning men and women, See Gill on "Ac 7:58".



{d} Hilchot Sanhedrin, c. 15. sect. 2.





Deuteronomy 17:6



Ver. 6. At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death,.... The idolater found guilty was to be stoned; two witnesses were sufficient to prove a fact, if three the better, but, on the testimony of one, sentence might not be pronounced. Aben Ezra observes, that some say, if two witnesses contradict two other, a third turns the scale and determines the matter; and others say, that two who are wise men will do, and three of others; and because it is said "at the mouth" of these witnesses, it is concluded, that a testimony should be verbal and not written; should not be recorded, neither in pecuniary cases nor in capital ones, but from the mouth of the witnesses, as it is said "at the mouth", &c. at their mouth, and not from their handwriting {e}:



[but] at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death; so careful is the Lord of the lives of men, that none should be taken away but upon full and sufficient evidence, even in cases in which his own glory and honour is so much concerned.



{e} Maimon. Hilchot Eduth, c. 3. sect. 4.





Deuteronomy 17:7



Ver. 7. The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death,.... Of everyone of them, as Aben Ezra; they were to cast the first stone at him, which would be a further trial and confirmation of their testimony; for if they readily and without reluctance first began the stoning of the idolater, it would not only show their zeal for the honour of the divine Being, but an unconsciousness of guilt in their testimony, and be an encouragement to others to proceed with safety:



and afterwards the hands of all the people; should be employed in taking up stones, and casting at him until he was dead:



so thou shall put the evil away from among you; both the evil man and the evil committed by him, which by this means would be prevented from spreading, seeing by his death others would be deterred from following his example; as well as the evil of punishment, which otherwise would have come upon the nation, had they connived at so gross an iniquity.





Deuteronomy 17:8



Ver. 8. If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment,.... This is spoken to inferior judges in cities in the country, who sometimes might have cases too wonderful and mysterious, as the word signifies, or secret and hidden, such as were out of their reach and beyond their capacity, and so be very difficult for them to determine what should be done:



between blood and blood; that is, whether a man is guilty of shedding innocent blood or not; when such a case is depending between a person charged with it and the relatives of the deceased, or between a man slayer and the avenger of blood, and the question is, whether he may have the benefit of a city of refuge or not, and there are some circumstances attending it which make it difficult how to determine:



between plea and plea; of the plaintiff on one side and of the defendant on the other, and both have so much to say in their own cause, that it is hard to decide which is in the right and which is in the wrong, whether in capital or pecuniary cases; it chiefly if not solely respects civil things in controversy:



and between stroke and stroke; blow or wound which one man received from another, and for which he commences a suit of law upon it, Ex 21:18 or for assault and battery; and so Aben Ezra interprets it of blows and bruises; but the Jewish writers generally interpret it of the plague, or stroke of leprosy; so the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem; but the examination of such a case did not belong to the civil magistrate, but to a priest; nor was such a person had up to Jerusalem to be searched, but was shut up in a house until further evidence could be got; and, besides, the signs of the leprosy are so distinctly given, that at waiting a proper time, there was seldom or ever any difficulty about determining it:



[being] matter of controversy within thy gates; or what are matters of controversy about anything else; for the phrase is general, as Aben Ezra observes, and takes in everything in which anything difficult might occur; so Jarchi interprets it of things which the wise men of a city are divided about; one pronounces a person or thing unclean, another clean, one condemning and another justifying, and so far rightly; for this respects not controversies between men, that may be brought into courts of judicature, but controversies or divisions arising in these courts upon them, between the judges themselves, they not agreeing in their opinions:



then shalt thou arise and get thee up into the place which the Lord thy God shall choose; to Jerusalem, to the great sanhedrim or court of judicature, to which the inferior judges were to apply themselves, in matters of moment and difficulty, for instruction, information, and direction; it being supposed that in such a court such like cases may have been brought before them, and they were expert and understanding in them.





Deuteronomy 17:9



Ver. 9. Thou shalt come unto the priests, the Levites,.... The priests that are of the tribe of Levi, as the Targum of Jonathan, and so Jarchi; for Aben Ezra says there are priests that are not of the genealogy of Levi; such there were indeed in Jeroboam's time, 1Ki 12:31. Maimonides {f} observes, that it is ordered that there should be in the great sanhedrim priests and Levites, as it is said: "and thou shalt come unto the priests, and the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire"; judge is here put for judges, of which the great court consisted, being priests, Levites, and Israelites;

See Gill on "De 16:18", though others think that only a single person is meant, such as Othniel, Ehud, Gideon, Samson, &c. but then as there was not always such an one in being, I should rather think that the judge here, if a single person, is the president or prince of the great sanhedrim, who succeeded Moses, and sat in his place; and of him and his court, the priests, and Levites and Israelites that composed it, inquiry was to be made:



and they shall show thee the sentence of judgment; give their judgment in the difficult case proposed, and declare what is right to be done, and what sentence is to be pronounced.



{f} Hilchot Sanhedrin, c. 2. sect. 2.





Deuteronomy 17:10



Ver. 10. And thou shalt do according to the sentence which they of that place which the Lord shall choose shall show thee,.... The judges of the inferior courts were to return and proceed on the difficult case according to the judgment of the great court at Jerusalem, and follow the directions and instructions they should give them:



and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee; not only observe and take notice of what they say, but put it in practice, and not in some things and some circumstances only, but in all and everything they should give them information about relating to the case in question.





Deuteronomy 17:11



Ver. 11. According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee,.... For they were not to make any new law, but to teach the law of God, and so far as their sense and opinion of things agreed with that law they were to be regarded:



and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do; what were law and justice, what were fit and right to be done, according to the will of God, which they should declare unto them, that was carefully to be done by them:



thou shalt not decline from the sentence they shall show thee, to the right hand nor to the left; by setting up after, all their own judgments against theirs to whom they had applied for information and direction, which to have done would have been very insolent and affronting; they were not to depart from the determination they made of the case, on pretence of knowing better, nor even in any minute circumstance to deviate from it, but strictly and closely to keep unto it; though not to follow them so implicitly as to receive from them and embrace things the most absurd and unreasonable, as Jarchi suggests; who says, that their sense was to be abided by, even if they should say that the right hand is the left, and the left hand the right.





Deuteronomy 17:12



Ver. 12 And the man that will do presumptuously,.... The judge of the country court that makes his application to that at Jerusalem for information and direction; if, after all, he is conceited in his own opinion, and rejects theirs, and is obstinate, and will not be guided and directed, but will take his own way, and pursue his own sense of things, and act according to that:



and will not hearken to the priest that standeth to minister there before the Lord thy God; the priests of the tribe of Levi, of whom the court generally consisted, De 17:9, priest for priests; though some think the high priest is meant, to whom the character very well agrees; but he was not always at the head of the sanhedrim, nor indeed a member of it, unless he had the proper qualifications; see De 18:18



or unto the judge; or judges; See Gill on "De 17:9". L'Empereur {g} thinks, that the supreme senate, or grand sanhedrim, was twofold, according to the diversity of ecclesiastic and political matters; since where it treats of the supreme senators, or chief persons in the court, the priest is manifestly distinguished from the judge (i.e. priests or judges); now the man that has asked advice of them, and will not be directed by it, but takes his own way, this being so great a contempt of, and insult upon, the great senate of the nation:



even that man shall die; and this was by strangling, for so the rebellious older, as such an one is called, was to die according to the Misnah {h}; and it is said {i}, that the death spoken of in the law absolutely (without specifying what kind of death) is strangling:



and thou shall put away the evil from Israel; the evil man that is rebellious against the supreme legislature of the nation, and the evil of contumacy he is guilty of, deterring others from it by his death.



{g} In Misn. Middoth, c. 5. sect. 3. {h} Sanhedrin, c. 10. sect. 2. {i} Maimon. Issure Biah, c. 1. sect. 6.





Deuteronomy 17:13



Ver. 13. And all the people shall hear, and fear,.... All the people of Israel in their own cities, and particularly the judges in those cities; they shall hear of what is done to the obstinate and disobedient elder, and shall be afraid to commit the like offence, lest they should come into the same punishment:



and do no more presumptuously; after his example; hence, Jarchi says, they wait till the feast comes, and then put him to death; and so it is said {k}, they bring him up to the great sanhedrim which is at Jerusalem, and there keep him until the feast (the next feast), and put him to death at the feast, as it is said,



all the people shall hear, and fear.



{k} Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 10. sect. 4.





Deuteronomy 17:14



Ver. 14. When thou art come unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee,.... The land of Canaan:



and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein; be entirely in the possession of it, and settled in it; it seems to denote some time of continuance in it, as it was, before they thought of setting a king over them, about which are the following instructions:



and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are round about me; which was what would and did lead them to such a thought and resolution; observing that the neighbouring nations had kings over them, they were desirous of being like them as to the form of their civil government, and have a king as they had.





Deuteronomy 17:15



Ver. 15. Thou shalt in any wise set [him] king over thee whom the Lord thy God shall choose,.... The Jews take this to be a command to set a king over them: whereas it is only a permission in case they should desire and determine on having one, as God foresaw they would; and this with a limitation and restriction to appoint none but whom God should choose, and which was their duty and interest to attend unto; for none could choose better for them, and was what he had a right unto, and it became them to submit to it, since he was their King in a civil and special sense, and another was only his viceregent; accordingly we find, when they expressed their desire to have a king in the time of Samuel, and it was granted, though not without some resentment, the Lord chose their first king for them, Saul, and, after him, David, and even Solomon, David's son; and though, in later times, they appointed kings without consulting him, it is complained of, Ho 8:4 hence this clause is prefaced in the Targum of Jonathan,



"ye shall seek instruction from the Lord, and after set him king, &c.''



which was to be done by the mouth of a prophet, or by Urim, as Aben Ezra observes:



one from among thy brethren shall thou set king over thee: that is, one of their own nation, an Israelite, a brother both by nation and religion:



thou mayest not set a stranger over thee that is not thy brother; one of another nation, that is not of the family of Israel, as Aben Ezra notes, even not an Edomite, though called sometimes their brother; and Herod, who was an Idumean, was set up, not by them, but by the Romans; now in this their king was a type of the King Messiah, of whom it is said, "their nobles shall be of themselves", Jer 30:21.





Deuteronomy 17:16



Ver. 16. But he shall not multiply horses to himself,.... That he might not put his trust and confidence in outward things, as some are apt to trust in horses and chariots; and that he might not tyrannise over and distress his subjects by keeping a number of horses and chariots as a standing army, and chiefly for a reason that follows; he was to have no more than for his own chariot, so Jarchi, and so the Misnah {g} and Maimonides {h}; the Targum of Jonathan restrains it to two:



nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses; which was a country that abounded with them, and therefore he was not to encourage, and much less oblige his subjects to travel thither or trade with that people for the sake of increasing his stock of horses, Isa 31:1



forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you, ye shall henceforth return no more that way; not that going into Egypt on any account whatsoever was forbidden, as for trade and merchandise in other things, or for shelter and safety, for which some good men fled thither; but for outward help and assistance against enemies, and for horses on that account, and particularly in order to dwell there, from which the Jews in the times of Jeremiah were dissuaded by him, and threatened by the Lord with destruction, in case they should, Jer 42:15. When the Lord said this is not certain; it may be when they proposed to make a captain, and return unto Egypt; or he said this in his providence, this was the language of it ever since they came out of it, or however this he now said; see De 28:68.



{g} Sanhedrin, c. 2. sect. 4. {h} Hilchot Melachim, c. 3. sect. 3.





Deuteronomy 17:17



Ver. 17. Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away,.... From attending to the duty of his office, the care and government of his people, and from serious religion; and particularly from the worship of the true God, as the heart of Solomon was turned away from it by his numerous idolatrous wives, 1Ki 11:3, it is a common notion of the Jews that a king might have eighteen wives, and no more {k}: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold; he might increase his wealth, but not greatly, lest his heart should be lifted up with pride by it, and lest his subjects should be oppressed and burdened with taxes for that purpose; or he, being possessed of so much, should make use of it to enslave them, and especially should be so elated with it as to deny God, and despise his providence, and disobey his laws; see Pr 30:9. The Jews generally say {l}, that he ought not to multiply more than what will pay the stipends or wages of his servants, and only for the treasury of the house of the Lord, and for the necessity of the congregation (or commonwealth), and for their wars; but not for himself, and his own treasury.



{k} Maimon. Issure Biah, c. 1. sect. 2. Misn. ut supra. (Sanhedrin, c. 10. sect. 4.). T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 21. 1. Targum Jon. & Jarchi in loc. {l} Maimon. ib. sect. 4. Misn. ut supra. ({k})





Deuteronomy 17:18



Ver. 18. And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom,.... When he is settled on it, and is even amidst all the pomp and glory of it: that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book; which copy the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions interpret of this book of Deuteronomy, which is a summary abstract and repetition of the various laws of God to the people of Israel; though the Jewish writers commonly understand it of the whole Pentateuch, the five books of Moses; which perhaps may be enlarging it too much, as it would be reducing it to too little to restrain it to this law concerning kings, as the Targum of Jonathan. The word "Mishneh", rendered "copy", signifies "double"; hence some take it to mean a double exemplar or copy of the law he was obliged to write out, whereby it would be the more imprinted on his mind, and he would be furnished with it for his use at home and abroad, as the Jewish writers observe; so Jarchi by the copy understands two books of the law, one to be left in his treasury, the other to go out and in with him. The same is said in the Talmud {m}, and with which Maimonides {n} agrees, whose words are,



"at the time a king sits on the throne of his kingdom, he writes for himself a book of the law, besides what his fathers left him; and he copies it out of the book of the court by the order of the sanhedrim of seventy one; if his fathers have left him none, or it is lost, he writes two books of the law, one he leaves in the house of his treasures, which he is commanded, as everyone of Israel is, and the second never departs from him;''



but one may seem sufficient on all occasions, and for all purposes; and this was to be wrote out of that which is before the priests and Levites; the original copy of it, which was deposited in the side of the ark; see De 31:26.



{m} T. Bab. Sanhedrn, fol. 21. 2. {n} Ut supra (Maimon. Hilchot Sanhedrin, c. 2.), sect. 1.





Deuteronomy 17:19



Ver. 19. And it shall be with him,.... Always, when at home or abroad, sitting on his throne or lying down, or wherever he went, unless in such places where it was not proper to read it, as the Jews observe {o}: and he shall read therein all the days of his life; every day of his life; meditate on it night and day, as a good man does, that he might be well versed in it, and know how to govern his people according to it:



that he may learn to, fear the Lord his God; to serve and worship him both internally and externally, he having the fear of God always before his eyes, and on his heart, which the holy law of God directs to and instructs in:



to keep all the words of this law, and these statutes, to do them; not only such as concerned him as a king, but all others that concerned him as a man, a creature subject to the Lord, and as an Israelite belonging to the church and commonwealth of Israel, and so includes all laws, moral, ceremonial, and judicial.



{o} Maimon. Hilchot Melachim, c. 3. sect. 1.





Deuteronomy 17:20



Ver. 20. That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren,.... On account of his office, the dignity of it, considering that he was subject to the law of God, and accountable to the Lord for all his actions:



and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand or to the left; not in the least deviate from the law of God in the whole of his conduct, and particularly in the exercise of his kingly office:



to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom; ruling well according to the laws of God being the way to rule long:



he and his children in the midst of Israel; this shows, as Jarchi observes, that if his son was fit for the kingdom, he was to be preferred to any other man; for though it was elective, yet to be continued in the same family, provided they walked in the ways of the Lord, and observed his laws.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Deuteronomy 18:1



INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 18



This chapter gives an account of the provision made for the priests and Levites, with the reason of it, De 18:1, of allowance of a country Levite to minister at Jerusalem, and take his portion with the rest, De 18:6, and of several persons of bad practices not to be suffered among the people of Israel, De 18:9, and of an extraordinary prophet that should be raised up among them, to whom they should hearken, or it would be the worse for them, De 18:15, but a false prophet was to be put to death, of whom a sign is given by which he might be known, De 18:20.



Ver. 1. The priests, the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel,.... That is, in the land of Canaan, in the division of it among the tribes:



they shall eat the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and his inheritance; the meat offerings, see Le 2:2, and whatsoever of the sin offerings and peace offerings which were the Lord's; so Ben Melech says, the flesh of the offerings which belonged to the priests was called fire offerings, after part of it was consumed by fire. All these, with other things, Nu 18:8, were given, as the Targum of Jonathan expresses it, for their inheritance, in lieu of their having none in the land of Canaan.





Deuteronomy 18:2



Ver. 2. Therefore shall they have none inheritance among their brethren,.... Neither of the field, nor of the vineyard, as the above Targum, because provision was made for them otherwise, and especially because



the Lord is their inheritance, as he hath said unto them,

See Gill on "Nu 18:20", which as it may be understood in a spiritual sense of their interest in God, as their covenant God, and of their enjoyment of him, and communion with him; so chiefly in a temporal sense of all those things in the sacrifices which the Lord claimed to himself, and these he gave unto them; so the same Targum interprets this of the twenty four gifts of the priesthood, enumerated

Nu 18:1.





Deuteronomy 18:3



Ver. 3. And this shall be the priest's due from the people, from them that offer sacrifice,.... Not from the priests, as Jarchi observes, but from those that bring the sacrifices to the priests, particularly the peace offerings:



whether it be ox or sheep; the one of the herd, the other of the flock, creatures used in sacrifice, and takes in goats and the kids of them, rams and lambs:



and they shall give unto the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw; the first of these designs the upper part of the arm that joins to the neck and back, and the next the two cheeks with the tongue, as both Jarchi and Aben Ezra observe, and indeed the whole head is meant; the maw, which the Septuagint interpreters call enustron, and other writers hnustron, is, according to the philosopher {p}, the fourth and last ventricle or stomach, and which he thus describes;



"after the echinus or rough tripe is that which is called

hnustron, the maw, which is in size larger than the echinus, and in form longer, and has many large and smooth folds;''



and hnustron boov, the maw of an ox, and the belly of a swine, are reckoned by the poet {q} as delicious food.



{p} Aristot. Hist. Animal. l. 2. c. 17. {q} Aristophan. Equites, Act. 1. Sc. 3. p. 307. & Act. 4. Sc. 1. p. 355.





Deuteronomy 18:4



Ver. 4. The firstfruit also of thy corn, and of thy wine, and of thy oil,.... This is the "terumah", or heave offering, the offering of the firstfruits; what the measure or quantity was is not declared, but is fixed by the Jews; See Gill on "Ex 22:29",



and the first of the fleece of thy sheep shall thou give him: concerning which in the Misnah {r} it is said, the first of the fleece is used in the land and without the land, of which they give the weight of five shekels in Judea, which are ten shekels in Galilee; and they give white wool, and not defiled, enough to make of it a little garment. He that buys a fleece of the sheep of a Gentile, he is free from the first of the fleece; but if he buys it of his neighbour, if he leaves any of it, the seller is bound, if none the buyer is bound; if there are two sorts, russet and white, and he sells the russet but not the white, the males but not the females, everyone gives for himself. It may be observed in this account, that as much wool was to be given as would make a small garment; enough, says one of the commentators {s}, to make a little garment to minister in; and the least garment fit for a priest to minister in is a girdle. Jarchi's paraphrase of it is,



"when thou shearest thy flock every year, give the first of it to the priest; it does not determine the quantity, but our Rabbins fix it to the sixtieth part;''



with which agrees the observation of another writer {t}, that there is no quantity fixed for the first of the fleece from the law, but from the words of the Scribes it must not be less than the sixtieth part. There is no obligation to the first of the fleece until five sheep are shorn, and the fleece of everyone of the five must not be less than twelve shekels' weight; but if there is one fleece of them less than twelve shekels, though the five fleeces are more than sixty shekels, lo, this is free; so that, as Maimonides {u} says, the first of the fleece is not less than the weight of a shekel.



{r} Cholin, c. 11. sect. 1, 2. {s} Bartenora in ib. {t} Ibid. {u} In Misn. ib.





Deuteronomy 18:5



Ver. 5. For the Lord thy God hath chosen him out of all thy tribes,.... That is, has chosen the tribe of Levi out of all the other tribes of Israel:



to stand to minister in the name of the Lord; the priests to minister to the Lord by offering sacrifices, and the Levites to minister to the priests in assisting them in their service; and both their ministry were in the name of the Lord, and for his glory, and done standing; for there was no sitting in the sanctuary {w}; the priestly ministry was only performed standing {x}, whatever was done sitting was rejected {y}; see Heb 10:11,



him and his sons for ever; Levi and his posterity, or the posterity of the tribe of Levi, were chosen by the Lord to this service, to be employed in it as long as the ceremonial law continued, on which stood the Levitical priesthood; but both are now abolished by Christ, having their accomplishment in him, Heb 7:11.



{w} Maimon. in Misn. Zebachim, c. 2. sect. 1. {x} Bartenora in ib. {y} Misn. ib.





Deuteronomy 18:6



Ver. 6. And if a Levite come from any of thy gates out of Israel, where he sojourned,.... In any of the cities through the land, for they were dispersed all over the country, and employed in instructing and teaching the people; and, excepting the cities which were given them to dwell in out of the various tribes, they were but sojourners:



and come with all the desire of his mind unto the place which the Lord shall choose; the city of Jerusalem, where the temple would be built, and sacrifices offered, at which the Levites were assisting to the priests, and in various parts of the service of the sanctuary; and to which they are supposed to come with an hearty good will, with great eagerness of soul, and a vehement desire of being employed in the work of the Lord. Though Jarchi interprets it of a priest, that comes and offers his freewill offerings, or what he is obliged to, and even in a ward not his own; or, as otherwise expressed, of the priests that come to the feast, who offer in the ward, and serve in the offerings that come by virtue of the feast, as the additions of the feast, though it is not in their own ward; and indeed every priest was a Levite, though every Levite was not a priest; and the description of him after given, as standing ministering in the name of the Lord, best agrees with a priest.





Deuteronomy 18:7



Ver. 7. And he shall minister in the name of the Lord his God,.... The Targum of Jonathan is,



"he shall minister in the name of the Word of the Lord his God;''



in the name of Christ, as a type of him, as every priest and every sacrifice were: he was to be allowed to officiate, though it was not his course or turn:



as all his brethren the Levites do, which stand there before the Lord; daily offering the same sacrifices, and whatsoever are brought unto them; who might be said to stand before the Lord, because they stood at the altar of the Lord, and offered the sacrifices of the people to him; and a country Levite or priest was to be admitted to do the same thing at Jerusalem, and in the temple there, as they did; and this shows that a priest is meant by the Levite.





Deuteronomy 18:8



Ver. 8. They shall have like portions to eat,.... Equal parts of the sacrifices with the priests that usually ministered there; hence we learn, says Jarchi, that they divided the skins and flesh of the sin offerings; perhaps even such as did not come by virtue of the feast, as the daily sacrifices, and the additions of the sabbath, and the vows, and the freewill offerings:



beside that which cometh by the sale of his patrimony: for though the priests and Levites had no inheritance divided to them in the land, yet they might buy houses and fields, and leave them to their children, and this may be called their patrimony; now it was not reasonable that they should wholly live upon this, or spend what their fathers left them; but, besides the income of that, were to have their part and portion with their brethren in the sacrifices of the sanctuary. But some interpret these words in a different way, as if they had respect to the gifts and oblations in the several wards in which the priests ministered, as they were ordered by their fathers, Eleazar, Ithamar, Samuel, David, and Solomon; so the Targums of Onkelos, Jonathan, and Jarchi. In the times of Eleazar and Ithamar, there were only eight wards or courses, which ministered in their turns, but in the days of David they were divided into twenty four; See Gill on "Lu 1:8"; now the ordering and fixing these in their turns is called a vendition or sale; and these country priests might partake of all sacrifices at the feast, excepting those which belonged to him whose course it was that week.





Deuteronomy 18:9



Ver. 9. When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee,.... The land of Canaan, often thus described, to express the goodness of God in bestowing it on them, as a mere favour of his, without any desert of theirs; and so typical of the heavenly Canaan, or eternal life, which is the free gift of God through Christ:



thou shall not learn to do after the abominations of these nations; the seven nations which before inhabited it; they might learn, as Jarchi observes, to know how corrupt their works were, and to show to their children, that they might not do so; but they were not to learn them so as to practise them, but to have them in the utmost abhorrence, as being abominable to God, and which should be so to them; some of which are as follow.





Deuteronomy 18:10



Ver. 10. There shall not be found among you anyone that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire,.... To Moloch, which was a sort of lustration by fire, two fires being made, and the child led by a priest between them, and which was an initiation of him into the religion of that deity, and devoting him to it; so Jarchi says, this is the service of Moloch, making piles of fire here and there (on this side and on that), and causing (the children) to pass between them both. Besides this they used to burn them with fire to this deity, perhaps after the performance of this ceremony; see De 12:31: or that useth divination: according to Aben Ezra this is a general name, and so Ben Melech, the particulars of which are what follow,



an observer of times, &c. Cicero says {z}, there are two sorts of divination, one is of art, the other of nature. What nation or what city is not moved by prediction, either by the entrails of beasts, or of those that interpret strange things and lightnings, or of soothsayers, or astrologers, or of lots (for these are mostly of art); or of dreams or prophecies, for these two are thought to be natural? Again he says {a}, the Phrygians, Pisidians, and Cilicians, pay a great respect to the signs of birds--from the beginning of the world it was that certain signs were forerunners of certain things; some in the entrails of beasts, some in birds, others in lightnings, others in marvellous things, others in the stars; some in visions and dreams, and others in the words of frantic persons. So the comedian remarks {b}, that if a strange black dog comes into a house, or a snake falls from the tiles through rain, or a hen crows, these, are observed as ominous, by the diviner or soothsayer. Porphyry says {c}, that soothsayers divine by the noise of crows and ravens; and it is said {d} the Arabians, from birds as from oracles, divine what shall come to pass; and that they attain to, as they say, by eating the heart and liver of dragons. Jarchi on this place asks, who is the diviner? one that lays hold on his staff, and says, shall I go? or shall I not go? that is, to such a place; and according as it fell, so judgment was made; see Ho 4:12. Now such sort of diviners and divinations are cautioned against, as not to be admitted among the people of Israel, and regarded by them:



or an observer of times: and such things the Egyptians were very inquisitive about, what month or day belonged to the gods, what day any one was born on, what shall befall him, how he will die, and what he shall be, as Herodotus {e} relates; and such are they who are here meant, according to R. Akiba {f} that count times and hours, and say such a time is beautiful (or seasonable) to go out in and trade; but the wise men say, as Jarchi observes, these are they that hold the eyes, cast a mist over people's eyes, that they cannot perceive their juggling tricks. Some think the word has the signification of clouds, and so designs such that observed them and their motions, and made their conclusions according to them; see Le 19:26,



or an enchanter; according to Jarchi, one that remarks things as ominous; as when a morsel falls out of a man's mouth, a roe stops him in the way, or his staff falls out of his hands: the word has the signification of a serpent in it, and so may signify one that enchants them; see Ps 58:4 or makes observations by them, as portending this and that, and the other, as before observed of the snake falling from the tiles; and Horace {g} speaks of a serpent lying in the way, and frightening horses, as taken notice of by soothsayers:



or a witch; of whom see Ex 22:18.



{z} De Divinatione, l. 1. c. 8. {a} Ibid. {b} Terent Phormio, Act. 4. Sc. 4. "introit in aedes", &c. {c} De Abstinentia, l. 3. c. 4. {d} Philostrat. Vit. Apollon. l. 1. c. 14. {e} Enterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 82. {f} Apud R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 24. 1. {g} "Rumpat et serpens iter institutum", &c. Horat. Carmin. l. 3. Ode 27.





Deuteronomy 18:11



Ver. 11. Or a charmer,.... That pretends to cure diseases by charms, or a charmer of serpents; according to Jarchi, one that gathers together serpents and scorpions, and other animals, into one place; with which agree the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem,



"which bind serpents and scorpions, and all kind of creeping things;''



but, according to Aben Ezra, one that says certain words to gather demons together:



or a consulter with familiar spirits; or the inquirer of "Ob", or the bottle, which the Jews interpret of Python, or one that has the spirit of Python; see Ac 16:16, a ventriloquist, one that spoke or seemed to speak out of his belly, or from under his armpits; so it is said in the Misnah {h} of Ob, this is Python, one that speaks out of his arm holes; agreeably to which, Jarchi says, this is that sort of witchcraft which is called Python, and he speaks from his arm holes, and brings up the dead thither: of Baal Ob, or the master of the bottle, say some Jewish writers, one way he uses is, he takes the skull of a dead man, the flesh of which is consumed from it, and he hides it and burns incense to it, and mutters words by it, and hears from it, as if from a dead man {k}: or a wizard: a knowing one, as the word signifies, such an one as we call a cunning man; See Gill on "Le 19:31"



or a necromancer that inquiries of the dead, or seeks instruction from them, as the Targum of Jerusalem. Aben Ezra describes him as one that goes to burying grounds, and takes the bone of a dead man, and because of his wild imagination there appears to him the likeness of forms; or as Maimonides {l}, better still, he is one that fasts and sleeps in graveyards, and utters words; and, according to his imagination, sees future things in dreams.



{h} Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 7. sect. 7. {k} Maimon. & Bartenora in ib. {l} In ib.





Deuteronomy 18:12



Ver. 12. For all that do these things are an abomination to the Lord,.... Not that do all these things, but whoever does any of them, as Jarchi notes; all such persons that use such unlawful methods, or any of them, to gain knowledge; and likewise all those that consult them, and make use of them; and especially it must be very abominable in the people of Israel to encourage such persons and practices, who had the knowledge of the true God, and him to consult on all occasions; had his law and testimony to attend unto as the rule of their conduct, and his prophets to advise with in matters of difficulty; see Isa 8:20



and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee; as well as other sins mentioned in

Le 18:24 and, as before observed from Cicero, all nations have been addicted to the arts of divination here condemned.





Deuteronomy 18:13



Ver. 13. Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God. Sincerely serve and worship him, faithfully adhere to his word, laws, statutes, and ordinances, and walk uprightly before him.





Deuteronomy 18:14



Ver. 14. For those nations which thou shall possess hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners,.... Such as are before mentioned, and did as they directed them:



but as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do; or, "but thou not so" {m} thou shouldest not do so, not hearken to such persons, but to the Lord thy God, and to his law and testimony; nor art thou left to the deception of such persons:



the Lord thy God hath given thee: his word and statutes, as a rule to go by, which he has not given to other nations: the Targum of Jonathan adds,



"the priests shall ask by Urim and Thummim, and a true prophet shall the Lord your God give unto you;''



so that they had no need to hearken to such impostors and deceivers: or, "as for thee, not so are they whom the Lord thy God giveth thee" {n}; that is, the prophets whom the Lord would give unto them would not be like the diviners of the Heathens, who imposed on the people and deceived them; but would be men sent and inspired by God, and true and faithful in the discharge of their office; and to hearken to these they are encouraged by the promise of a very eminent one, like to Moses, in the next verse.



{m} Nk al htaw "et tu non sic", Montanus. {n} "De teau tem non ita sunt quos dat tibi Jehova Deus tuus", Junius & Tremellius.





Deuteronomy 18:15



Ver. 15. The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet,.... Not Joshua, as Aben Ezra, not Jeremiah, as Baal Haturim, nor David {o}, as others; nor a succession of prophets, as Jarchi; for a single person is only spoken of; and there is a dissimilitude between Moses and anyone of the prophets, and all of them in succession, De 34:10, but the Messiah, with whom the whole agrees; and upon this the expectation of a prophet among the Jews was raised, Joh 6:14 and is applied to him, and referred to as belonging to him in Ac 3:22, who was a prophet mighty in word and deed, and not only foretold future events, as his own sufferings and death, and resurrection from the dead, the destruction of Jerusalem, and other things; but taught and instructed men in the knowledge of divine things, spake as never man did, preached the Gospel fully and faithfully, so that as the law came by Moses, the doctrine of grace and truth came by him; and he was raised up of God, called, sent, commissioned and qualified by him for the office of a prophet, as well as was raised from the dead as a confirmation of his being that extraordinary person:



from the midst of thee; he was of Israel, according to the flesh, of the tribe of Judah, and of the house of David, born of a virgin in Bethlehem, preached only in Judea, and was raised from the dead in the midst of them, and of which they were witnesses:



of thy brethren; the Israelites, of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, and to whom he was sent as a prophet, and among whom he only preached:



like unto me; the Targum of Jonathan adds,



"in the Holy Spirit;''



which he received without measure, and in respect of which was superior to Moses, or any of the prophets: he was like to Moses in the faithful discharge of his office, in his familiar converse with God, in the miracles which he wrought; as well as in his being a Mediator, and the Redeemer of his people, as Moses was a mediator between God and the people of Israel, and the deliverer of them out of Egypt; and it is a saying of the Jews {p} themselves,



"as was the first redeemer, so is the second:''



unto him ye shall hearken; externally attend on his ministry, internally receive his doctrine, embrace and profess it; do what is heard from him, hear him, and not another, always and in all things; see Mt 17:5.



{o} Herbanus in Disputat. cum Gregent. p. 13. col. 2. {p} Midrash Kohelet, fol. 63. 2.





Deuteronomy 18:16



Ver. 16. According to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God at Horeb,.... This was promised them, in answer to their request at Horeb or Mount Sinai, when the law was delivered to them in the terrible manner it was: in the day of the assembly; in which the tribes were gathered together to receive the law, when they were assembled at the foot of the mount for that purpose:



saying, let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God; which was such a voice of words, attended with so much terror, that they that heard entreated the word might not be spoken to them any more, as the apostle says in Heb 12:19,



neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not; out of which the Lord spoke; the congregation of Israel is here represented speaking as if a single person.





Deuteronomy 18:17



Ver. 17. And the Lord said unto me,.... Unto Moses, who carried the above request to the Lord:



they have well spoken that which they have spoken; see De 5:28.





Deuteronomy 18:18



Ver. 18. I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren like unto thee,.... So that it seems this promise or prophecy was first made at Mount Sinai, but now renewed and repeated, and which is nowhere else recorded; see De 18:15 when they were not only made easy for the present by appointing Moses to receive from the Lord all further notices of his mind and will, but were assured that when it was his pleasure to make a new revelation, or a further discovery of his mind and will, in future times, he would not do it in that terrible way he had delivered the law to them; but would raise up a person of their own flesh and blood, by whom it should be delivered, which was sufficient to prevent their fears for the future:



and will put my word in his mouth; the doctrines of the Gospel, which come from God, and are the words of truth, faith, righteousness, peace, pardon, life, and salvation; and which Christ says were not his own, as man and Mediator, but his Father's, which he gave unto him, and put into his mouth, as what he should say, teach, and deliver to others; see Joh 7:16



and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him; nor did he keep back, but faithfully declared the whole counsel of God; and as he gave him a commandment what he should say, and what he should speak, he was entirely obedient to it; see Joh 12:49.





Deuteronomy 18:19



Ver. 19. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words,.... To the doctrines of the Gospel, but slight and despise them:



which he shall speak in my name; in whose name he came, and whose words or doctrines he declared them to be; not as his own, but his Father's, Joh 5:43.



I will require it of him; or, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan,



"my Word shall require it of him, or take vengeance on him;''



as Christ the Word of God did in the destruction of the Jewish nation, city, and temple; see Lu 19:27.





Deuteronomy 18:20



Ver. 20. But the prophet which shall presume to speak in my name,.... Pretending a mission and commission from God, and yet was never sent by him, like the prophets in Jer 23:21,



which I have not commanded him to speak; which though true was not to be spoken in a public manner, by assuming a public office, without a divine authority or a commission from God, and much less what was false, and never commanded to be spoken at all by any:



or, that shall speak in the name of other gods; the idols of the people, as the Targum; as if any should affirm they were sent by Jove, or inspired by Apollo, as some are said to prophesy by Baal, as if they had received their orders and instructions from him, and were inspired by him, Jer 2:8



even that prophet shall die; the Targum of Jonathan is, be killed by the sword, but the Jews {q} generally interpret it of strangling.



{q} Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 10. sect. 1. Bartenora in ib sect. 5. and Jarchi in loc.





Deuteronomy 18:21



Ver. 21. And if thou say in thine heart, &c] Such a thought arises in the mind, and it appears to be a difficulty, and a query is made upon it,



how shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? What marks, signs, and criterions are those by which it may be known that it is not a word that comes from the Lord?





Deuteronomy 18:22



Ver. 22. When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord,.... Says he comes from God, is sent by him, and has a commission from him to say so:



if the thing follow not, nor come to pass; as the prophecy of Hananiah, Jer 28:3 that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken; or otherwise it would have come to pass, unless when a condition is either expressed or implied, as the repentance or disobedience of a people; see Jer 18:7



but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously; in a bold and daring manner, with great impiety and impudence, out of his own head and heart, being a mere device and imagination of his own, which, not having the fear of God, he delivered as coming from the Lord:



thou shall not be afraid of him; not only to reprove him for his wickedness, but also to punish him for it; showing no regard to the high character he assumes, nor to the great pretensions he makes to sanctity, knowledge, and familiarity with God.

 

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