g Lev. 18. 23 & 20. 15-h Numb. 25. 2, 7, 8. Deut. 13. 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 13, 14, 15. & 17. 2, 3, 5 1 Mac. 2. 24-4 Ch. 23. 9. Lev. 19, 33 & 25. 35. Deut. 10. 19. Jer. 7. 6. Zech. 7. 10. Mal. 3. 5.-k Deut. 10. 18. & 24. 17. & 27. 19. Psa. 91. 6. Isai. 1. 17, 23. & 10. 2 Ezek. 22 7. Zech. 7. 10. James 1. 27.- Deut. 15. 9. & 24. 15. Job 35. 9. Luke 18 7-10 Ver 23. Job 31. 28. Psa. 18. 6. & 145. 19. James 5. 4.

possessed the power commonly attributed to them, are questions which it would be improper to discuss at length in a work of this kind; but that witches, wizards, those who dealt with familiar spirits, &c. are represented in the Sacred Writings, as actually possessing a power to evoke the dead, to perform supernatural operations, and to discover hidden or secret things, by spells, charms, incantations, &c. is evident to every unprejudiced reader of the Bible. Of Manasseh it is said, He caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the Son of Hinnom: also he observed times [y veônan, he used divination by clouds] and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, [ve cisheph] and dealt with a familiar spirit, [y reasah ob, performed a variety of operations by means of what was afterward called the IV vs, the spirit of Python, and with wizards, [ yideoni, the wise or knowing ones] and he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord, 2 Chron. xxxiii. 6. It is very likely that the Hebrew casaph, and the Arabic cashafa, had originally the same meaning, to uncover, to remove a veil, to manifest, reveal, make bare or naked; and mecashefat, is used to signify commerce with God, see Wilmet and Giggeus. The mecashephah, or witch, therefore, was probably a person who professed to reveal hidden mysteries, by commerce with God, or the invisible world. From the severity of this law against witches, &c. we may see in what light these were viewed by Divine Justice. They were seducers of the people from their allegiance to God, on whose judgment alone they should depend; and by impiously prying into futurity, assumed an attribute of God, the foretelling of future events, which implied in itself the grossest blasphemy, and tended to corrupt the minds of the people, by leading them away from God, and the revelation he had made of himself. Many of the Israelites had, no doubt, learnt these curious arts from their long residence among the Egyptians; and so much were the Israelites attached to them, that we find such arts in repute among them; and various practices of this kind prevailed through the whole of the Jewish history, notwithstanding the offence was capital, and in all cases punished with death.

Verse 19. Lieth with a beast] If this most abominable crime had not been common, it never would have been mentioned in a sacred code of laws. It is very likely that it was an Egyptian practice; and it is certain, from an account in Sonnini's Travels, that it is practised in Egypt to the present day.

Verse 20. Utterly destroyed] The word on cherem, denotes a thing utterly and finally separated from God, and devoted to destruction, without the possibility of redemp

tion.

Verse 21. Thou shalt neither vex a stranger nor oppress him] This was not only a very humane law, but it was also the offspring of a sound policy. Do not vex a stranger: remember, ye were strangers. Do not oppress a stranger: remember, ye were oppressed. Therefore do unto all men as ye would they should do to you. It was the produce of a sound policy-Let strangers be well treated among you, and many will come to take refuge among you, and thus the strength of your country will be increased. If refugees of this kind be treated well, they will become proselytes to your religion, and thus their souls may be saved. In every point of view, therefore, justice, humanity, sound policy, and religion, say-Neither vex nor oppress a stranger.

Verse 22. Ye shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. It is remarkable, that offences against this law, are not left to the discretion of the judges to be punished: God reserves the punishment to himself; and by this, he

kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

25P If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.

26 If thou at all take thy neighbour's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him, by that the sun goeth down:

27 For that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.

28 T Thou shalt not revile the "gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.

n Job 31. 23. Psa. 69. 21.-o Psa. 109. 9. Lam. 5. 3-p Lev. 25. 35-37. Deut. 23. 19, 20. Neh. 5. 7. Psa. 15. 5. Ezek. 18. 8, 17-q Deut. 24. 6, 10, 13, 17. Job 22. 6. & 24. 3,9. Prov. 20. 16. & 22. 27. Ezek. 18. 7, 16. Amos 2. 8.-r Ver. 23. 8 Ch. 34. 6. 2 Chron. 30. 9. Psa 86. 15-1 Eccles. 10. 20. Acts 23. 5. Jude 8. u Or, judges. Ver. 8, 9. P. 32. 6.

strongly shows his abhorrence of the crime. It is no common crime, and shall not be punished in a common way: the wrath of God shall wax hot against him who in any wise afflicts or wrongs a widow, or a fatherless child; and we may rest assured, that he who helps either, does a service highly acceptable in the sight of God.

Verse 25. Neither shalt thou lay upon him usury] > neshee, from nashac, to bite, cut, or pierce with the teethbiting usury. So the Latins call it usura vorax-devouring usury. "The increase of usury is called neshec, because it resembles the biting of a serpent; for as this is so small as scarcely to be perceptible at first, but the venom soon spreads and diffuses itself, till it reaches the vitals, so the increase of usury, which at first is not perceived nor felt, at length grows so much, as by degrees to devour another's substance."-Leigh.

It is evident, that what is here said must be understood of accumulated usury, or what we call compound interest only; and accordingly a neshee is mentioned with, and distinguished from an terebith, and no merebith, interest, or simple interest, Lev. xxv. 36, 37. Prov. xxviii. 8. Ezek. xviii. 8, 13, 17. and xxii. 12.-Parkhurst.

Perhaps usury may be more properly defined unlawful interest; receiving more for the loan of money than it is really worth, and more than the law allows. It is a wise regulation in the laws of England, that if a man be convicted of usury, of taking unlawful interest, the bond or security is rendered void, and he forfeits treble the sum borrowed. Against such an oppressive practice, the wisdom of God saw it essentially necessary to make a law, to prevent a people, who were naturally what our Lord calls the Pharisees, py up, lovers of money, (Luke xvi. 14.) from oppressing each other; and who, notwithstanding the law in the text, practise usury in all places of their dispersion, to the present day.

Verse 26. If thou-take thy neighbour's raiment to pledge] It seems strange that any pledge should be taken, which must be so speedily restored: but it is very likely, that the pledge was restored by night only; and that he who pledged it, brought it back to his creditor next morning. The opinion of the rabbins is, that whatever a man needed for the support of life, he had the use of it when absolutely necessary, though it was pledged. Thus, he had the use of his working-tools by day, but he brought them to his creditor in the evening. His hyke, which serves an Arah as a plaid does a Highlander, (see it described, ch. xii. 34.) was probably the raiment here referred to: it is a sort of coarse blanket, about six yards long, and five or six feet broad, which an Arab always carries with him, and on which he sleeps at night; it being his only substitute for a bed. As the fashions in the east scarcely ever change, it is very likely that the raiment of the Israelites was precisely the same with that of the modern Arabs, who live in the very same desert in which the Hebrews were when this law was given. How necessary then to restore the hyke to a poor man before the going down of the sun, that he might have something to repose on, will appear evident from the above considerations. At the same time, the returning it daily to the creditor, was a continual acknowledgment of the debt, and served instead of a written acknowledgment or bond, as we may rest assured that writing, if practised at all before the giving of the law, was not common.

Verse 28. Thou shalt not rerile the gods] Most commentators believe, that the word gods here, means magistrates. The original is DEN Elohim, and should be understood of the true God only-Thou shalt not blaspheme, or make light of God—pr_tekalel, the fountain of justice and power-nor curse the ruler of thy people, who

Laws against evil-speaking, 1. Against bad company, 2. Against partiality, 3. Laws commanding acts of kindness and humanity, 1,5 Against oppression, 6. Against unrighteous decisions, 7. Against bribery and corruption, 8. Against unkindness to strangers, 9. The ordmante concerning the sabbatical year, 10, &e. 13 The three animal festivals, 14. The feast of unleavened bread, 15. The

11. The sabbath a day of rest, 12. General directions concerning circumcision, feast of harvest, and the feast of ingathering, 16. All the males to appear before God thrice in the year, 17. Different ordinances:-no blood to be offered with

leavened bread-no fat to be left till the next day-the first-fruits to be brought to the house of Gol-and a kid not to be seethed in its mother's milk, 18, 19. Description of the angel of God, who was to lead the people into the promised land, and drive out the Amorites, &c. 2-2. Idolatry to be avoided, and the images of idols destroyed. 21. Different promises to obedience, 25-2. Hornets shall be sent to drive out the Canaanites, &c. 2. The ancient inhabitants to be driven out by little and little, and the reason why, 29, 30. The boundaries of the promised land, 31. No league or covenant to be made with the ancient inhabitants, who are all to be atterly expelled, 32, 33.

An. Exod. Isr. 1.

Sivan.

THOU & shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked, to be an unrighteous witness.

v Heh, thy fulness.-w Ch. 23. 16, 19. Prov. 3. 9.-x Heb. tear-y Ch. 13. 2, 12. & 34. 19.- Deut. 15. 19.-a Lev. 22. 27-b Ch. 19. 6. Lev. 19. 2 Deut. 14. 21. c Lev. 22. 8. Ezek. 4. 14. & 44. 31-d Ver. 7. Lev. 19. 16. Psa. 15. 3. & 101. 5. Prov. 10. 18. See 2 Sam. 19. 27. with 16. 3.-e Or, receive.-f Ch. 20. 16. Deut. 19. 16, 17, 18. Psa. 35. 11. Prov. 19. 5, 9, 23. & 24. 28. See 1 Kings 21. 10, 13. Matt. 26. 59, 60, 61. Acts 6. 11, 13-g Gen. 7. 1. & 19. 4, 7. Ch. 32. 1, 2. Josh. 24, 15. 1 Sam. 15. 9. 1 Kings 19. 10. Job 31. 34. Prov. 1. 10, 11, 15. & 4. 14. Matt. 27. 21, 25. Mark 15. 15. Luke 23. B. Acts 24. 27. & 25. 9-h Ver. 6, 7. Lev. 19. 15. Deut. 1. 17. Psa. 72. 2-i Heb. answer.-k Deut. 22 1. Job 31. 29. Prov. 21. 17. & 25. 21.

derives his authority from God. We shall ever find, that he who despises a good civil government, and is disaffected to that under which he lives, is one who has little fear of God before his eyes. The spirit of disaffection and sedition, is ever opposed to the religion of the Bible. When those who have been pious, get under this spirit of misrule, they infallibly get shorn of their spiritual strength, and become like salt that has lost its savour. He who can indulge himself in speaking evil of the civil ruler, will soon. learn to blaspheme God. The highest authority says, Fear God: honour the king.

Verse 29. The first of thy ripe fruits] This offering was a public acknowledgment of the bounty and goodness of God, who had given them their proper sced-time, the first and the latter rain, and the appointed weeks of harvest.

From the practice of the people of God, the heathens borrowed a similar one, founded on the same reason. The following passage from Censorinus De Die Natali, is beautiful and worthy of the deepest attention:

2 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou i speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:

3 Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.

4 If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.

5 If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee, lying under his burden, " and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him. 6 Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.

n

7 Keep thee far from a false matter; Pand the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.

8 And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.

9 Also, thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

10 And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof:

11 But the seventh year, thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat:

Matt. 5. 41. Rom. 12. 20. 1 Thess. 5. 15.-1 Deut. 22 4.-m Or, wilt thou cease to help him? or, and woudest cease to leave thy business for him; thou shall surely leave it to join with him.-n Ver. 2. Deut. 27. 19. Job 31. 13, 21. Eccles. 5. 8. Isa 10. 1, 2. Jer. 5. 25. & 7. 6. Amos 5. 12. Mal. 3. 5.-0 Ver. 1. Lev. 19. 11. Luke 3 14. Eph. 4. 25-p Deut. 27. 25. Ps 91. 21. Prov. 17. 15, 26. Jer. 7. 6. Matt. 27. 4. q Ch. 34. 7. Rom. 1. 18.-r Deut. 16. 19. 1 Sam. 8. 3. & 12 3. 2 Chron. 19. 7. Pan. 2. 10. Prov. 15. 27. & 17. 8, 23. & 29. 4. Isai. 1. 23. & 5. 23. & 33. 15. Ezek. 22 12 Amos 5. 12. Ecclus 20. 29. Acts 21. 26.-s Heb. the seeing-t Ch. 22 21. Deut. 10. 19. & 24. 14, 17. & 27. 19. Psa. 94 6 Ezek. 22.7. Mal. 3. 5.-u Heb. soul.- Lev. 253,4.

The same subject he touches again in the fifth elegy of the same book, where he specifies the different offerings vine, ver. 27. made for the produce of the fields, of the flocks, and of the

Id-See Calmet

Illa deo scist agricolæ pro vitibus uram, Pro segete spicas, pro grege ferre dapeṁ. "With pious care, will load each rural shrine. For ripen'd crops, a golden sheaf assign, Cates for my fold, rich clusters for my wine." These quotations will naturally recall to our memory the offerings of Cain and Abel, mentioned Gen. iv. 3, 4. The rejoicings at our harvest-home, are distorted remains of that gratitude which our ancestors, with all the primitive inhabitants of the earth, expressed to God, with ap

"Our ancestors, who held their food, their country, the light, and all that they possessed, from the bounty of the gods, consecrated to them a part of all their property; rather as a token of their gratitude, than from a conviction that the gods needed any thing. Therefore, as soon as the harvest was got in, before they had tasted of the fruits, they appointed libations to be made to the gods. And as they held their fields and cities as gifts from their gods, they consecrated a certain part, in the temples and shrines, where they worshipped."

Pliny is express on the same point, who attests, that the Romans never tasted either their new corn or wine, till the priests had offered the FIRST-FRUITS to the gods. Ac ne degustabant quidem novas fruges aut vina, antequam sacerdotes PRIMITIAS LIBASSENT.-Hist. Nat. lib. xviii. c. 2. Horace bears the same testimony, and shows that his countrymen offered not only their first-fruits, but the choicest of all their fruits, to the Lares, or household gods; and he shows also, the wickedness of those who sent these as presents to the rich, before the gods had been thus honoured:

Dulcia poma,
Et quoscumque feret cultus tibi fundus honores,
Anie Larem gustet, venerabilior, Lare dives.
Satyr. lib. ii. a. v. ver. 12
"What your garden yields,

The choicest honours of your cultur'd fields
To hun be sacrific'd, and let him taste,
Before your gods, the vegetable feast"

Dunkin.

store, in some godly form, a custom so pure, so edifying, and so becoming? There is a laudable custom, observed by some pious people, of dedicating a new house to God, by prayer, &c. which cannot be too highly commended.

30. Seven days shall it be with his dam] For the mother's health, it was necessary that the young one should suck so long: and prior to this time, the process of nutrition in a young animal, can scarcely be considered as completely formed. Among the Romans, lambs were not considered as pure or clean, before the eighth day; nor calves before the thirtieth :-Pecoris fœtus, die octavo purus est; bovis trigesimo. Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. viii.

Verse 31. Neither shall ye eat-flesh-torn of beasts in the field] This has been supposed to be an ordinance against eating flesh cut off the animal while alive, and so the Syriac seems to have understood it. If we can credit Mr. Bruce, this is a frequent custom in Abyssinia-but human nature revolts from it. The reason of the prohibition against eating the flesh of animals that had been torn, or, as we term it, worried in the field, appears to have been simply this: that the people might not eat the blood, which in this case must be coagulated in the flesh; and the blood being the life of the beast, and emblematical of the blood of the Covenant, was ever to be held sacred, and was prohibited from the days of Noah.-See on Gen. ix. 4.

No

13 ¶ And in all things that I have said unto | you be circumspect: and make no mention of the name of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth.

a

14 Three times thou shalt keep a feast unto me in the year.

15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and none shall appear before me empty :)

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16 And the feast of harvest, the first-fruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in thy field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the

y Deut. 4. 9. Josh. 22. 5. Psa. 39. 1. Eph. 5. 15. 1 Tim. 4. 16.-2 Numb. 32. 38. Deut. 12. 3. Josh. 23. 7. Psa. 16. 4. Hos. 2. 17. Zech 13. 2-a Ch. 34. 23. Lev. 2. 4. Deut. 16. 16.-b Ch. 12. 15. & 13. 6. & 31. 18. Lev. 23. 6. Deut. 16. 8.-c Ch. 34. 20. Deut. 16. 16. Ecclus. 35. 4.

The son of thine handmaid, and the stranger-be refreshed.] D yinnaphesh, may be re-spirited, or newsouled; have a complete renewal both of bodily and spiritual strength. The expression used by Moses here, is very like that used by St. Peter, Acts iii. 19. "Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing (x21g01 avayužius the times of re-souling) shall come from the presence of the Lord;" alluding, probably, to those times of refreshing and rest for body and soul originally instituted under the law.

Verse 14. Three times thou shall keep a feast unto me in the year.] The three feasts here referred to were, 1. The feast of the PASSOVER; 2. The feast of PENTECOST; 3. The feast of TABERNACLES.

1. The feast of the pass-over, was celebrated to keep in remembrance the wonderful deliverance of the Hebrews from Egypt. 2. The feast of Pentecost, called also the feast of harvest, and the feast of weeks, chap. xxiv. 22. was celebrated fifty days after the pass-over, to commemorate the giving of the law on mount Sinai; which took place fifty days after, and hence called by the Greeks Pentecost. 3. The feast of Tabernacles, called also the feast of the ingathering, was celebrated about the 15th of the month Tisri, to commemorate the Israelites dwelling in tents for forty years, during their stay in the wilderness.

-See on Lev. xxiii.

"God, out of his great wisdom," says Calmet, "appointed several festivals among the Jews, for many reasons: 1. To perpetuate the memory of those great events, and the wonders he had wrought for the people; for example, the sabbath brought to remembrance the creation of the world; the passover, the departure out of Egypt; the Pentecost, the giving of the law; the feast of Tabernacles, the sojourning of their fathers in the wilderness, &c. 2. To keep them faithful to their religion, by appropriate ceremonies, and the splendour of the divine service. 3. To procure them lawful pleasures, and necessary rest. 4. To give them instruction, for in their religious assemblies, the law of God was always read and explained. 5. To consolidate their social union, by renewing the acquaintance of their tribes and families; for, on these occasions, they came together, from different parts of the land, to the holy city."

Besides the feasts mentioned above, the Jews had,

1. The feast of the sabbath, which was a weekly feast. 2. The feast of the sabbatical year, which was a septennial feast.

3. The feast of trumpets, which was celebrated on the first day of what was called their civil year, which was ushered in by the blowing of a trumpet, Lev. xxiii. 23, &c.

4. The feast of the new moon, which was celebrated on the first day the moon appeared after her change.

5. The feast of expiation, which was celebrated annually, on the tenth day of Tisri, or September, on which a general atonement was made for all the sins, negligences, and ignorances, throughout the year.

end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.

17 Three times in the year, all thy males shall appear before the LORD God.

g

18 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my h sacrifice remain until the morning.

19 The first of the first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.

20 Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.

d Ch. 34. 22. Lev. 23. 10-e Deut. 16. 13.—f Ch. 34. 23. Dent. 16-16—g Ch. 12. 8. & 31. 25. Lev. 2. 11. Deut. 16. 4-h Or, fenst.-i Ch. 22. 29. & 34. Æ. Lev. 23, 10, 17. Numb. 18. 12, 13. Deut. 26. 10. Neh. 10. 35-k Ch. 34. 25. Deut. 14. 21.-1 Ch. 14. 19. & 32. 34. & 33. 2, 14. Numb. 20. 16. Josh. 5. 13 & 6. 2. Psa. 91. 11. Isa. 63. 9.

The feast for the death of Nicanor, 1 Mac. vii. 48, &c. The feast for the discovery of the sacred fire, 2 Mac. i. 18, &c.

The feast of the carrying of wood to the temple, called Xylophoria, mentioned by Josephus.-WAR, b. ii. c. 17. Verse 17. All thy males] Old men, sick men, male idiots, and male children under thirteen years of age, excepted; for so the Jewish doctors understand this command.

Verse 18. The blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread] The sacrifice here mentioned, is undoubtedly the passover: see chap. xxxiv. 25. this is called, by way of eminence, My sacrifice, because God had instituted it for that especial purpose, the redemption of Israel from the Egyptian bondage, and because it typified THE LAMB of God, who taketh away the sin of the world. We have already seen how strict the prohibition against leaven was, during this festival, and what was signified by it.-See on

ch. xii.

Verse 19. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk] This passage has greatly perplexed commentators; but Dr. Cudworth is supposed to have given it its true meaning by quoting a MS. comment of a Caraïte Jew, which he me: with, on this passage. It was a custom of the ancient heathens, when they had gathered in all their fruits, to take a kid, and boil it in the milk of its dam; and then, in a magical way, to go about and besprinkle with it all their trees and fields, gardens and orchards; thinking, by these means, to make them fruitful, that they might bring forth more abundantly in the following year.-Cudworth on the Lord's Supper, 4to.

I give this comment as I find it; and add, that Spencer has shown, that the Zabii used this kind of magical milk to sprinkle their trees and fields, in order to make them fruitful. Others understand it of eating flesh and milk together-others, of a lamb or kid, while it is sucking its mother; and that the paschal lamb is here intended, which it was not lawful to offer while sucking.

After all the learned labour which critics have bestowed on this passage, and by which the obscurity, in some cases, is become more intense, the simple object of the precept seems to be this-"Thou shalt do nothing that may have any tendency to blunt thy moral feelings, or teach thee hardness of heart." Even human nature shudders at the thought, of causing the mother to lend her milk, to seethe the flesh of her young one! We need go no farther for the delicate, tender, humane, and impressive meaning of this precept.

Verse 20. Behold, I send an Angel before thee] Some have thought that this was Moses, others Joshua, because the word D malac, signifies an angel or messenger; but as it is said, verse 21. My name is in him apa bekirbo, intimately, essentially in him, it is more likely that the great Angel of the Covenant, the Lord Jesus Christ, is meant, in whom direll all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. We have had already much reason to believe, that this glorious Personage often appeared in a

7. The feast of the dedication, or rather the restoration, of the temple, which had been profaned by Antiochus Epiphanes. This was also called the feast of lights. Besides these, the Jews have had several other feasts, such as the feast of branches, to commemorate the taking of Jericho.

The feast of collections, on the 10th day of September, on which they make contributions for the service of the temple and synagogue.

was a very expressive type, the names Joshua and Jesus, in Hebrew, and Greek, being of exactly the same signification, because radically the same, from ye yasha, he saved, delivered, preserved, or kept safe. Nor does it appear that the description given of the angel in the text can belong to any other person.

Calmet has referred to a very wonderful comment on these words, given by Philo Judæus, De Agricultura, which I shall produce here at full length, as it stands in Mangey's edition, vol. I. p. 308.Biking a

Θεός άγει κατα δικην και νομον προστησάμενος τον ορθον αυτές

pro

21 Beware of him, and obey his voice, m voke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.

22 But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.

с

27 I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.

28 And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.

29 I will not drive them out from before thee

24 Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, "nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.

W

25 And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.

26There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren in thy land: the number of thy days I will a fulfil.

m Numb. 14. 11. Pra. 73. 40, 56. Eph. 4. 30. Hebr. 3. 10, 16-n Ch. 32. 34. Numb. 14. 35. Deut. 13 19. Josh. 21. 19. Jer. 5. 7. Heb. 3. 11. 1 John 5. 16.- Isai. 6. Jer. 26. John 10. 30, 38-p Gen. 12. 3. Deut. 30. 7. Jer. 30. 20.-q Or, I will afict them that agdict then-r Ver. 20. Ch. 33. 2.-s Josh. 24. 8, 11.- Ch. 9) 5. a Lev. 18 3 Deut 12 30, 31-y Ch. 34. 13. Numb. 33. 52. Deut. 7. 5, 25. & 12. 3. w Deat. 6. 13 & 10. 12, 20. & 11. 13, 14. & 13. 4. Josh. 22. 5. & 21. 14, 15, 21, 24. 1 Sam. 7. 3. & 12 20, 21. Matt. 4. 10-x Deut. 7. 13. & 25. 5, 8.-y Ch. 15. 26.

λόγου πρωτογονον υιόν, ος την επιμελειαν της ιεράς ταύτης αγέλης, για τις μεγάλου βασιλέως υπαρχος διαδέξεται, Ки дар варить

Ιδού εγώ είμι, αποστελώ αγγελον μου εἰς πρόσωπον σου του Quizžai đi, ty ta dw.—“God, as the Shepherd and King, conducts all things according to law and righteousness, having established over them his right WonD, his ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, who as the Viceroy of the Great King, takes care of, and ministers to, this sacred flock. For it is somewhere said, (Exod. xxiii. 20.) Behold I AM, and I will send my ANGEL before thy face to keep thee in the way."

This is a testimony, liable to no suspicion, coming from a person who cannot be supposed to be even friendly to Christianity, nor at all acquainted with that particular doctrine, to which his words seem so pointedly to refer.

Verse 21. He will not pardon your transgressions] He is not like a man, with whom ye may think that ye may trifle were he either man or angel, in the common acceptation of the term, it need not be said, He will not pardon your transgressions; for neither man nor angel could do it.

My name is in him.] The Jehovah dwells in him—in him dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily; and because of this he could either pardon or punish.-All power is given unto me in heaven and earth, Matt. xxviii. 18.

Verse 23. Unto the Amorites] There are only six of the seven nations mentioned here; but the Septuagint, Samaritan, Coptic, and one Hebrew MS. add Girgashite, thus making the seren nations.

Verse 24. Break down their images] Danas matseboteyhem, from natsab, to stand up; pillars, anointed stones, &c. such as the baithyllia.-See on Gen. chap. xxviii. 18.

Verse 25. Shall bless thy bread and thy water] That is, all thy provisions, no matter of what sort: the meanest fare shall be sufficiently nutritive, when God's blessing is

in it.

Verse 26. Nothing shall cast their young, or be barren] Hence there must be a very great increase both of men and cattle.

The number of thy days I will fulfil.] Ye shall all live to a good old age, and none die before his time. This is the blessing of the righteous; for wicked men live not out half their days, Psa. lv. 23.

Verse 23. I will send hornets before thee] ha tsireâh. The root is not found in Hebrew, but it may be the same with the Arabic o saraâ, to lay prostrate, to strike down; the hornet, probably so called from the destruction occasioned by the violence of its sting. The hornet, in natural history, belongs to the species Crabro, of the genus Vespa or Wasp: it is a most voracious insect, and is exceedingly strong for its size, which is generally an inch in length, though I have seen some an inch and a half long, and so strong, that having caught one in a small pair of forceps, it repeatedly escaped by using violent contortions, so that at last I was obliged to abandon all hopes of securing it alive, which I wished to have done. How distressing and destructive a multitude

30 By little and little, I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

31 And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea, even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.

32 Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.

33 They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.

Deut. 7. 15-z Deut. 7. 14. & 29. 4. Job 21. 10. Mal. 3. 10, 11.-a Gen. 25. 8. & 35. 29. 1 Chron. 23. 1. Job 5. 26. & 42 17. Psa. 55 23. & 90. 10.-b Gen. 35. 5. Ch. 15. 11, 16. Deut. 2. 25. & 11. 25. Josh 2. 9, 11. 1 Sam. 14. 15. 2 Chron. 14. 14.-c Deut 7. 23-d Heb. neck. Psa. 18. 40.-e Deut. 7, 20. Josh. 24. 12. Wisd. 12. 8.- Deut. 7. 22-g Gen. 15. 18. Numb. 34. 3. Deut. 11. 24. Josh. 1. 4. 1 Kinga 4. 21, 24. Psa. 72 8-h Josh. 21. 41. Judg. 1. 4. & 11. 21.-i Ch. 34. 12, 15. Deut. 7. 2.-k Ch. 34. 12. Deut. 7. 16. & 12 30. Josh. 23. 13. Judg. 2. 3. 1 Sam. 18. 21. Psa. 106. 36.

of these might be, any person may conjecture: even the bees of one hive would be sufficient to sting a thousand men to madness: but how much worse must wasps and hornets be! No armour, no weapons, could avail against these. A few thousands of them would be quite sufficient to throw the best disciplined army into confusion and rout. From Josh. xxiv. 12. we find that two kings of the Amorites were actually driven out of the land by these hornets, so that the Israelites were not obliged to use either sword or bow in the conquest.

Verse 31. I will set thy bounds from the Red sea-on the southeast-even unto the sea of the Philistines-the Mediterranean on the northwest-and from the desert of Arabia, or the wilderness of Shur, on the west-to the river-The Euphrates, on the northeast. Or, in general terms, from the Euphrates on the east, to the Mediterranean sea, on the west: and from Mount Libanus, on the north, to the Red sea and the Nile, on the south. This promise was not completely fulfilled till the days of David and Solomon. The general disobedience of the people before this time, prevented a more speedy accomplishment; and their disobedience afterward caused them to lose the possession. So, though all the promises of God are YEA and AMEN, yet they are fulfilled but to a few; because men are slow of heart to believe: and the blessings of providence and grace are taken away from several, because of their unfaithfulness.

Verse 32. Thou shalt make no covenant with them] They were incurable idolaters, and the cup of their iniquity was full. And had the Israelites contracted any alliance with them, either sacred or civil, they would have enticed them into their idolatries, to which the Jews were at all times most unhappily prone; and as God intended that they should be the preservers of the true religion till the coming of the Messiah, hence he strictly forbade them to tolerate idolatry.

Verse 33. They shall not dwell in thy land] They must be utterly expelled. The land was the Lord's, and he had given it to the progenitors of this people, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The latter being obliged to leave it because of a famine, God is now conducting back his posterity, who alone had a divine and natural right to it; and, therefore, their seeking to possess the inheritance of their fathers, can be only criminal in the sight of those who are systematically opposed to the thing, because it is a part of Divine Revelation.

What a pity, that the Mosaic Law should be so little studied! What a number of just and equal laws, pious and humane institutions, useful and instructive ordinances, does it contain!

Every where we see the purity and benevolence of God, always working to prevent crimes, and make the people happy! But what else can be expected from that God who is love, whose tender mercies are over all his works, and who hateth nothing that he has made ?-Reader, thou art not straitened in him; be not straitened in thy own bowels. Learn from him to be just, humane, kind, and merciful. Love thy enemy, and do good to him that hates