Deuteronomy · Chapter 28

Verse 1. If thou hearken diligently — The foregoing blessings and curses being appointed to be pronounced in so solemn a manner, Moses takes occasion from thence to enlarge upon both of them, to show the Israelites what they and their posterity had to expect at the hands of God, according as they complied or not with the terms of the covenant which they were now under.

BLESSINGS PROMISED TO OBEDIENCE, 1-14.

1, 2. If thou shalt hearken — If the nation will be obedient to Jehovah their God he will exalt them above the nations of the earth. Moses lays down the condition on which these blessings will be bestowed, at the beginning, in the middle, and at the close of the address. The blessings — in poetical imagery so common among the Eastern nations — are personified, and represented as following after and overtaking the nation.

V. 2. Overtake thee-Those blessings which others greedily follow after, and never overtake, shall follow after thee, and shall be thrown into thy lap by special kindness.

Verse 2. All these blessings shall come on thee] God shall pour out his blessing from heaven upon thee. And overtake thee. Upright men are represented as going to the kingdom of God, and God’s blessings as following and overtaking them in their heavenly journey. There are several things in this verse worthy of the most careful observation:—

1. If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. The voice of God must be heard; without a Divine revelation how can the Divine will be known? And if not known, it cannot be fulfilled.

2. When God speaks, men must hearken to the words of his mouth. He who does not hearken will not obey.

3. He who hearkens to the words of God must set out for the kingdom of heaven. The curse must fall on him who stands in the way of sinners, and will overtake them who loiter in the way of righteousness.

4. Those who run in the way of God’s testimonies shall have an abundance of blessing. Blessings shall come upon them, and blessings shall overtake them-in every part of their march through life they shall continue to receive the fulfilment of the various promises of God which relate to all circumstances, vicissitudes, trials, stages of life, &c., &c., each overtaking them in the time and place where most needed.

Verses 2-6. All these blessings shall overtake thee — The blessings which others greedily follow after, and never overtake, shall follow after thee, and shall be thrown into thy lap by special kindness. In the city, and in the field — Whether they were husbandmen or tradesmen, whether in the town or country, they should be preserved from the dangers of both, and have the comforts of both. How constantly must we depend upon God, both for the continuance and comfort of life. We need him at every turn: we cannot be safe if he withdraw his protection, nor easy if he suspend his favour: but if he bless us, go where we will, it is well with us. Store — Store-house, it shall always be well replenished, and the provision thou hast there shall be preserved for thy use and service. Comest in — That is, in all thy affairs and administrations.

BLESSINGS PROMISED TO OBEDIENCE, 1-14.

1, 2. If thou shalt hearken — If the nation will be obedient to Jehovah their God he will exalt them above the nations of the earth. Moses lays down the condition on which these blessings will be bestowed, at the beginning, in the middle, and at the close of the address. The blessings — in poetical imagery so common among the Eastern nations — are personified, and represented as following after and overtaking the nation.

V. 3. In the city, and in the field-Whether they were husbandmen or tradesmen, whether in the town or country, they should be preserved from the dangers of both, and have the comforts of both. How constantly must we depend upon God, both for the continuance and comfort of life! We need him at every turn: we cannot be safe, if he withdraw his protection, nor easy, if he suspends his savour: but if he bless us, go where we will, ‘tis well with us.

Verse 3. In the city] In all civil employments. In the field-in all agricultural pursuits.

Verses 2-6. All these blessings shall overtake thee — The blessings which others greedily follow after, and never overtake, shall follow after thee, and shall be thrown into thy lap by special kindness. In the city, and in the field — Whether they were husbandmen or tradesmen, whether in the town or country, they should be preserved from the dangers of both, and have the comforts of both. How constantly must we depend upon God, both for the continuance and comfort of life. We need him at every turn: we cannot be safe if he withdraw his protection, nor easy if he suspend his favour: but if he bless us, go where we will, it is well with us. Store — Store-house, it shall always be well replenished, and the provision thou hast there shall be preserved for thy use and service. Comest in — That is, in all thy affairs and administrations.

3-6. Blessed shall thou be — The manifold blessings in all the relations of life are expressed by six beatitudes. Israel will be blessed in the city and in the country; will be blessed with children, with productive fields, with countless flocks and herds; will be blessed in baskets in which the fruits are kept and in which provisions were carried; blessed in the kneading-trough in which the daily food was prepared; blessed will the nation be in all its relations. Thy basket and thy store — The word rendered basket is the common basket or bag that is used in the East for carrying such articles as might be needed for personal use. Comp. John 13:29. Store should be translated kneading-trough. The Hebrew word here used is the same as we have in Exodus 8:3, and 12:34, where it is correctly translated. Comp. Psalm 121:8.

Verse 4. Fruit of thy body] All thy children. Increase of thy kine, &c.; every animal employed in domestic and agricultural purposes shall be under the especial protection of Divine Providence.

Verses 2-6. All these blessings shall overtake thee — The blessings which others greedily follow after, and never overtake, shall follow after thee, and shall be thrown into thy lap by special kindness. In the city, and in the field — Whether they were husbandmen or tradesmen, whether in the town or country, they should be preserved from the dangers of both, and have the comforts of both. How constantly must we depend upon God, both for the continuance and comfort of life. We need him at every turn: we cannot be safe if he withdraw his protection, nor easy if he suspend his favour: but if he bless us, go where we will, it is well with us. Store — Store-house, it shall always be well replenished, and the provision thou hast there shall be preserved for thy use and service. Comest in — That is, in all thy affairs and administrations.

3-6. Blessed shall thou be — The manifold blessings in all the relations of life are expressed by six beatitudes. Israel will be blessed in the city and in the country; will be blessed with children, with productive fields, with countless flocks and herds; will be blessed in baskets in which the fruits are kept and in which provisions were carried; blessed in the kneading-trough in which the daily food was prepared; blessed will the nation be in all its relations. Thy basket and thy store — The word rendered basket is the common basket or bag that is used in the East for carrying such articles as might be needed for personal use. Comp. John 13:29. Store should be translated kneading-trough. The Hebrew word here used is the same as we have in Exodus 8:3, and 12:34, where it is correctly translated. Comp. Psalm 121:8.

V. 5. Store-Store-house, it shall always be well replenished and the provision thou hast there shall be preserved for thy use and service.

Verse 5. Thy basket] Thy olive gathering and vintage, as the basket was employed to collect those fruits.

Store.] travm mishereth, kneading-trough, or remainder; all that is laid up for future use, as well as what is prepared for present consumption. Some think that by basket all their property abroad may be meant, and by store all that they have at home, i.e., all that is in the fields, and all that is in the houses. The following note of Mr. Harmer is important:— “Commentators seem to be at a great loss how to explain the basket and the store mentioned Deuteronomy 28:5, 17. Why Moses, who in the other verses mentions things in general, should in this case be so minute as to mention baskets, seems strange; and they that interpret either the first or the second of these words of the repositories of their corn, &c., forget that their barns or storehouses are spoken of presently after this in Deuteronomy 28:8. Might I be permitted to give my opinion here, I should say that the basket, anc tene, in this place means their travelling baskets, and the other word travm mishereth, (their store,) signifies their leathern bags, in both which they were wont to carry things in travelling. The first of these words occurs nowhere else in the Scriptures but in the account that is given us of the conveyance in which they were to carry their first-fruits to Jerusalem; the other nowhere but in the description of the hurrying journey of Israel out of Egypt, where it means the utensils in which they then carried their dough, which I have shown elsewhere in these papers means a piece of leather drawn together by rings, and forming a kind of bag. Agreeably to this, Hasselquist informs us that the Eastern people use baskets in travelling; for, speaking of that species of the palm tree which produces dates, and its great usefulness to the people of those countries, he tells us that of the leaves of this tree they make baskets, or rather a kind of short bags, which are used in Turkey on journeys and in their houses; pages 261, 262. Hampers and panniers are English terms denoting travelling baskets, as tene seems to be a Hebrew word of the same general import, though their forms might very much differ, as it is certain that of the travelling baskets mentioned by Hasselquist now does.

“In like manner as they now carry meal, figs, and raisins, in a goat’s skin in Barbary for a viaticum, they might do the same anciently, and consequently might carry merchandise after the same manner, particularly their honey, oil, and balm, mentioned Ezekiel 27:17. They were the proper vessels for such things. So Sir J. Chardin, who was so long in the East, and observed their customs with so much care, supposed, in a manuscript note on Genesis 43:11, that the balm and the honey sent by Jacob into Egypt for a present were carried in a goat or kid’s skin, in which all sorts of things, both dry and liquid, are wont to be carried in the East. “Understood after this manner, the passage promises Israel success in their commerce, as the next verse (the 6th) promises them personal safety in their going out and in their return. In this view the passage appears with due distinctness, and a noble extent.”-Observations, vol. 2:, p. 181.

Verses 2-6. All these blessings shall overtake thee — The blessings which others greedily follow after, and never overtake, shall follow after thee, and shall be thrown into thy lap by special kindness. In the city, and in the field — Whether they were husbandmen or tradesmen, whether in the town or country, they should be preserved from the dangers of both, and have the comforts of both. How constantly must we depend upon God, both for the continuance and comfort of life. We need him at every turn: we cannot be safe if he withdraw his protection, nor easy if he suspend his favour: but if he bless us, go where we will, it is well with us. Store — Store-house, it shall always be well replenished, and the provision thou hast there shall be preserved for thy use and service. Comest in — That is, in all thy affairs and administrations.

Verse 5. Blessed shall be thy basket. The LXX read, thy barns and thy store.

3-6. Blessed shall thou be — The manifold blessings in all the relations of life are expressed by six beatitudes. Israel will be blessed in the city and in the country; will be blessed with children, with productive fields, with countless flocks and herds; will be blessed in baskets in which the fruits are kept and in which provisions were carried; blessed in the kneading-trough in which the daily food was prepared; blessed will the nation be in all its relations. Thy basket and thy store — The word rendered basket is the common basket or bag that is used in the East for carrying such articles as might be needed for personal use. Comp. John 13:29. Store should be translated kneading-trough. The Hebrew word here used is the same as we have in Exodus 8:3, and 12:34, where it is correctly translated. Comp. Psalm 121:8.

V. 6. Comest in-That is, in all thy affairs and administrations.

Verse 6. When thou comest in] From thy employment, thou shalt find that no evil has happened to the family or dwelling in thy absence. When thou goest out] Thy way shall be made prosperous before thee, and thou shalt have the Divine blessing in all thy labours.

Verses 2-6. All these blessings shall overtake thee — The blessings which others greedily follow after, and never overtake, shall follow after thee, and shall be thrown into thy lap by special kindness. In the city, and in the field — Whether they were husbandmen or tradesmen, whether in the town or country, they should be preserved from the dangers of both, and have the comforts of both. How constantly must we depend upon God, both for the continuance and comfort of life. We need him at every turn: we cannot be safe if he withdraw his protection, nor easy if he suspend his favour: but if he bless us, go where we will, it is well with us. Store — Store-house, it shall always be well replenished, and the provision thou hast there shall be preserved for thy use and service. Comest in — That is, in all thy affairs and administrations.

3-6. Blessed shall thou be — The manifold blessings in all the relations of life are expressed by six beatitudes. Israel will be blessed in the city and in the country; will be blessed with children, with productive fields, with countless flocks and herds; will be blessed in baskets in which the fruits are kept and in which provisions were carried; blessed in the kneading-trough in which the daily food was prepared; blessed will the nation be in all its relations. Thy basket and thy store — The word rendered basket is the common basket or bag that is used in the East for carrying such articles as might be needed for personal use. Comp. John 13:29. Store should be translated kneading-trough. The Hebrew word here used is the same as we have in Exodus 8:3, and 12:34, where it is correctly translated. Comp. Psalm 121:8.

Verse 7. The Lord shall cause thine enemies, &c.] This is a promise of security from foreign invasion, or total discomfiture of the invaders, should they enter the land. They shall come against thee one way-in the firmest and most united manner. And flee seven ways-shall be utterly broken, confounded, and finally routed.

7-14. The Lord shall cause thine enemies… to be smitten — In these verses the speaker describes the effect of the blessings upon the nation in all the various circumstances in which it may be placed. Come out against thee one way, and flee… seven ways — That is, thy enemies will come against thee in solid, compact array, but will be discomfited and routed, so that they will flee in every direction. The head, and not the tail — An expression implying excellence and superiority. Comp. Isaiah 9:15.

Verse 8. The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee] Every thing that thou hast shall come by Divine appointment; thou shalt have nothing casually, but every thing, both spiritual and temporal, shall come by the immediate command of God.

7-14. The Lord shall cause thine enemies… to be smitten — In these verses the speaker describes the effect of the blessings upon the nation in all the various circumstances in which it may be placed. Come out against thee one way, and flee… seven ways — That is, thy enemies will come against thee in solid, compact array, but will be discomfited and routed, so that they will flee in every direction. The head, and not the tail — An expression implying excellence and superiority. Comp. Isaiah 9:15.

V. 9. Establish thee-Shall confirm his covenant with thee, by which he separated thee to himself as an holy and peculiar people.

Verse 9. The Lord shall establish thee a holy people unto himself] This is the sum of all blessings, to be made holy, and be preserved in holiness. If thou shalt keep, &c.] Here is the solemn condition; if they did not keep God’s testimonies, taking them for the regulators of their lives, and according to their direction walking in his ways, under the influence and aids of his grace, then the curses, and not the blessings, must be their portion. See Deuteronomy 28:15, &c.

Verses 9, 10. Establish thee — Shall confirm his covenant with thee, by which he separated thee to himself as a holy and peculiar people. Called by the name of the Lord — That you are in truth his people and children: a most excellent and glorious people, under the peculiar care and countenance of the great God.

7-14. The Lord shall cause thine enemies… to be smitten — In these verses the speaker describes the effect of the blessings upon the nation in all the various circumstances in which it may be placed. Come out against thee one way, and flee… seven ways — That is, thy enemies will come against thee in solid, compact array, but will be discomfited and routed, so that they will flee in every direction. The head, and not the tail — An expression implying excellence and superiority. Comp. Isaiah 9:15.

V. 10. Of the Lord-That you are in truth his people and children: A most excellent and glorious people, under the peculiar care and countenance of the great God.

Verses 9, 10. Establish thee — Shall confirm his covenant with thee, by which he separated thee to himself as a holy and peculiar people. Called by the name of the Lord — That you are in truth his people and children: a most excellent and glorious people, under the peculiar care and countenance of the great God.

7-14. The Lord shall cause thine enemies… to be smitten — In these verses the speaker describes the effect of the blessings upon the nation in all the various circumstances in which it may be placed. Come out against thee one way, and flee… seven ways — That is, thy enemies will come against thee in solid, compact array, but will be discomfited and routed, so that they will flee in every direction. The head, and not the tail — An expression implying excellence and superiority. Comp. Isaiah 9:15.

V. 11. The same things which were said before are repeated, to shew that God would repeat and multiply his blessings upon them.

Verses 11, 12. Plenteous in goods — The same things which were said before are repeated, to show that God would repeat and multiply his blessings upon them. His good treasure — The heaven or the air, which is God’s store-house, where he treasures up rain or wind for man’s use.

7-14. The Lord shall cause thine enemies… to be smitten — In these verses the speaker describes the effect of the blessings upon the nation in all the various circumstances in which it may be placed. Come out against thee one way, and flee… seven ways — That is, thy enemies will come against thee in solid, compact array, but will be discomfited and routed, so that they will flee in every direction. The head, and not the tail — An expression implying excellence and superiority. Comp. Isaiah 9:15.

V. 12. His treasure-The heaven or the air, which is God’s storehouse, where he treasures up rain or wind for man’s use.

Verse 12. The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure] The clouds, so that a sufficiency of fructifying showers should descend at all requisite times, and the vegetative principle in the earth should unfold and exert itself, so that their crops should be abundant.

Verses 11, 12. Plenteous in goods — The same things which were said before are repeated, to show that God would repeat and multiply his blessings upon them. His good treasure — The heaven or the air, which is God’s store-house, where he treasures up rain or wind for man’s use.

7-14. The Lord shall cause thine enemies… to be smitten — In these verses the speaker describes the effect of the blessings upon the nation in all the various circumstances in which it may be placed. Come out against thee one way, and flee… seven ways — That is, thy enemies will come against thee in solid, compact array, but will be discomfited and routed, so that they will flee in every direction. The head, and not the tail — An expression implying excellence and superiority. Comp. Isaiah 9:15.

V. 13. The head-The chief of all people in power, or at least in dignity and privileges; so that even they that are not under thine authority shall reverence thy greatness and excellency. So it was in David’s and Solomon’s time, and so it should have been much oftner and much more, if they had performed the conditions.

Verse 13. The head — The chief of all people in power, or at least in dignity and privileges; so that even they that are not under thy authority shall reverence thy greatness and excellence. So it was in David’s and Solomon’s time, and so it should have been oftener and much more, if they had performed the conditions.

7-14. The Lord shall cause thine enemies… to be smitten — In these verses the speaker describes the effect of the blessings upon the nation in all the various circumstances in which it may be placed. Come out against thee one way, and flee… seven ways — That is, thy enemies will come against thee in solid, compact array, but will be discomfited and routed, so that they will flee in every direction. The head, and not the tail — An expression implying excellence and superiority. Comp. Isaiah 9:15.

Verse 14. Thou shalt not go aside-to the right hand or to the left] The way of obedience is a straight way; it goes right forward; he who declines either to right or left from this path goes astray and misses heaven.

7-14. The Lord shall cause thine enemies… to be smitten — In these verses the speaker describes the effect of the blessings upon the nation in all the various circumstances in which it may be placed. Come out against thee one way, and flee… seven ways — That is, thy enemies will come against thee in solid, compact array, but will be discomfited and routed, so that they will flee in every direction. The head, and not the tail — An expression implying excellence and superiority. Comp. Isaiah 9:15.

V. 15. Overtake thee-So that thou shalt not be able to escape them, as thou shalt vainly hope and endeavour to do. There is no running from God, but by running to him; no flying from his justice, but by flying to his mercy.

Verse 15. These curses shall overtake thee — So that thou shalt not be able to escape them, as thou shalt vainly hope and endeavour to do. There is no running from God, but by running to him; no fleeing from his justice, but by fleeing to his mercy.

CURSES THREATENED FOR DISOBEDIENCE, 15-68.

15. All these curses — Here begins a startling enumeration of curses which will fall upon the people if they fail to keep the commandments of Jehovah.

16-19. Cursed… in the city… field… basket… store… fruit of body… land… kine… sheep… comest in… goest out — The curses here enumerated stand in contrast with the blessings in 3-6.

16-19. Cursed… in the city… field… basket… store… fruit of body… land… kine… sheep… comest in… goest out — The curses here enumerated stand in contrast with the blessings in 3-6.

16-19. Cursed… in the city… field… basket… store… fruit of body… land… kine… sheep… comest in… goest out — The curses here enumerated stand in contrast with the blessings in 3-6.

16-19. Cursed… in the city… field… basket… store… fruit of body… land… kine… sheep… comest in… goest out — The curses here enumerated stand in contrast with the blessings in 3-6.

V. 20. Vexation-This seems chiefly to concern the mind, arising from the disappointment of hopes and the presages of its approaching miseries. Rebuke-Namely, from God, not so much in words as by his actions, by cross providences, by sharp and sore afflictions.

Verse 20. Cursing] This shall be thy state; vexation-grief, trouble, and anguish of heart; rebuke-continual judgments, and marks of God’s displeasure.

Verse 20. Cursing, vexation, and rebuke — The first of these words seems to import that God would blast all their designs; the second relates to disquiet and perplexity of mind, arising from the disappointment of their hopes, and presages of approaching miseries; the third respects such chastisements from God as would give them a severe check and rebuke for their sins and follies.

20. Vexation — Consternation is a more exact rendering of the Hebrew. In 1 Samuel 5:11, and Deuteronomy 7:23, it is translated destruction. Rebuke — The Hebrew word here used is found only in this place. It evidently has a stronger meaning than rebuke — condemnation would be better — implying God’s curse upon all their undertakings.

Verse 21. The pestilence cleave unto thee] rbdh ha Ëb hwhy qbdy yadbek Yehovah becha eth haddaber, the Lord shall CEMENT the pestilence or plague to thee. Sept., proskollhsei kuriov eiv se ton qanaton, The Lord will GLUE-inseparably attach, the death unto thee. How dreadful a plague it must be that ravages without intermission, any person may conceive who has ever heard the name.

Verses 21-24. Shall make the pestilence cleave to thee — Sometimes Divine Providence shall scourge you by one calamity, and sometimes by another, and they will cut off your people in great numbers. Thy heaven shall be brass — Dry, and shut up from giving rain or dew. The earth iron — Exceeding hard through drought, and barren. The rain of thy land powder and dust — As unprofitable to thy ground or seed as if it were only so much dust. Or rather, by reason of long droughts, dust blown up into the air by winds shall fall in showers instead of rain.

CURSES THREATENED FOR DISOBEDIENCE, 15-68.

15. All these curses — Here begins a startling enumeration of curses which will fall upon the people if they fail to keep the commandments of Jehovah.

Verse 22. Consumption] tpjv shachepheth, atrophy through lack of food; from ãjv shacaph, to be in want.

Fever] tjdq kaddachath, from jdq kadach, to be kindled, burn, sparkle; a burning inflammatory fever.

Inflammation] tqld dalleketh, from qld dalak, to pursue eagerly, to burn after; probably a rapidly consuming cancer.

Extreme burning] rjrj charchur, burning upon burning, scald upon scald; from rj char, to be heated, enraged, &c. This probably refers, not only to excruciating inflammations on the body, but also to the irritation and agony of a mind utterly abandoned by God, and lost to hope. What an accumulation of misery! how formidable! and especially in a land where great heat was prevalent and dreadful.

Sword] War in general, enemies without, and civil broils within. This was remarkably the case in the last siege of Jerusalem.

Blasting] שדפונ shiddaphon, probably either the blighting east wind that ruined vegetation, or those awful pestilential winds which suffocate both man and beast wherever they come. These often prevail in different parts of the East, and several examples have already been given. See Clarke “Genesis 41:6”.

Mildew] ˆwqry yerakon, an exudation of the vegetative juice from different parts of the stalk, by which the maturity and perfection of the plant are utterly prevented. It comes from qry yarak, to throw out moisture.

Of these seven plagues, the five former were to fall on their bodies, the two latter upon their substance. What a fearful thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God!

Verses 21-24. Shall make the pestilence cleave to thee — Sometimes Divine Providence shall scourge you by one calamity, and sometimes by another, and they will cut off your people in great numbers. Thy heaven shall be brass — Dry, and shut up from giving rain or dew. The earth iron — Exceeding hard through drought, and barren. The rain of thy land powder and dust — As unprofitable to thy ground or seed as if it were only so much dust. Or rather, by reason of long droughts, dust blown up into the air by winds shall fall in showers instead of rain.

22. Smite thee… with the sword — The Hebrew word here translated sword, with different pointing, would be rendered heat, or drought; and so some of the versions have it.

V. 23. Brass-Like brass, hard and dry, and shut up from giving rain. Iron-Hard and chapt and barren.

Verse 23. Thy heaven-shall be brass, and the earth-iron.] The atmosphere should not be replenished with aqueous vapours, in consequence of which they should have neither the early nor the latter rain; hence the earth-the ground, must be wholly intractable, and, through its hardness, incapable of cultivation. God shows them by this that he is Lord of nature; and that drought and sterility are not casualties, but proceed from the immediate appointment of the Lord.

Verses 21-24. Shall make the pestilence cleave to thee — Sometimes Divine Providence shall scourge you by one calamity, and sometimes by another, and they will cut off your people in great numbers. Thy heaven shall be brass — Dry, and shut up from giving rain or dew. The earth iron — Exceeding hard through drought, and barren. The rain of thy land powder and dust — As unprofitable to thy ground or seed as if it were only so much dust. Or rather, by reason of long droughts, dust blown up into the air by winds shall fall in showers instead of rain.

23. Thy heaven… brass — There are, at certain seasons, places in the land where the traveller to-day appreciates the full significance of this curse.

V. 24. Dust-Either thy rain shall be as unprofitable to thy ground and seed as if it were only so much dust. Or instead of rain shall come nothing but dust from heaven, which being raised and carried up by the wind in great abundance, returns, and falls upon the earth as it were in clouds or showers.

Verse 24. The rain of thy land powder and dust] As their

heavens-atmosphere, clouds, &c., were to be as brass-yielding no rain; so the surface of the earth must be reduced to powder; and this, being frequently taken up by the strong winds, would fall down in showers instead of rain. Whole caravans have been buried under showers of sand; and Thevenot, a French traveller, who had observed these showers of dust, &c., says, “They grievously annoy all they fall on, filling their eyes, ears, nostrils, &c.”-Travels in the East, part 1, book ii., chap. 80. The ophthalmia in Egypt appears to be chiefly owing to a very fine sand, the particles of which are like broken glass, which are carried about by the wind, and, entering into the ciliary glands, produce grievous and continual inflammations.

Verses 21-24. Shall make the pestilence cleave to thee — Sometimes Divine Providence shall scourge you by one calamity, and sometimes by another, and they will cut off your people in great numbers. Thy heaven shall be brass — Dry, and shut up from giving rain or dew. The earth iron — Exceeding hard through drought, and barren. The rain of thy land powder and dust — As unprofitable to thy ground or seed as if it were only so much dust. Or rather, by reason of long droughts, dust blown up into the air by winds shall fall in showers instead of rain.

Ver. 24. The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust. Our oriental travellers say in succession, that when hurricanes happen in the sandy deserts, they carry the fine sands high in the air, and rain on cities and villages the dust, which penetrates every corner of the houses where the air has access. They often bury camels and asses in the deserts, and form ridges and hills which prove a great obstruction to husbandry. The tracts and roads, after those tempests and gales, are completely lost, and men travel as they can between the ridges, their eyes and ears sustaining great pain from the dust which has penetrated into those more tender senses of the body. The western shore of the Nile was once the most fertile part of Egypt; the sands having since marched in clouds, have buried all the beautiful towns and districts, and turned the fruitful field into a desert.

CURSES THREATENED FOR DISOBEDIENCE, 15-68.

15. All these curses — Here begins a startling enumeration of curses which will fall upon the people if they fail to keep the commandments of Jehovah.

25. To be smitten before thine enemies — In contrast with the blessing in the seventh verse. Thou shalt go out one way… and flee seven — How graphic the description of an army marching to battle in confident expectation of victory, and then beaten disastrously, fleeing in every direction! Shalt be removed — “Tossed about like a ball from one nation to another.” — Wordsworth.

26. Meat unto all fowls of the air — The corpses of the slain in battle would be food for birds and beasts. The ancients looked with dread upon the idea of the body lying unburied. Comp. Jeremiah 7:33; also 1 Kings 14:11.

V. 27. The botch of Egypt-Such boils and blains as the Egyptians were plagued with, spreading from head to foot: The emerodes-Or piles.

Verse 27. The Lord will smite thee with the botch] שחינ shechin, a violent inflammatory swelling. In Job 2:7, one of the Hexapla versions renders it elefav, the elephantiasis, a disease the most horrid that can possibly afflict human nature. In this disorder, the whole body is covered with a most loathsome scurf; the joints are all preternaturally enlarged, and the skin swells up and grows into folds like that of an elephant, whence the disease has its name. The skin, through its rigidity, breaks across at all the joints, and a most abominable ichor flows from all the chinks, &c. See an account of it in Aretæus, whose language is sufficient to chill the blood of a maniac, could he attend to the description given by this great master, of this most loathsome and abominable of all the natural productions of death and sin. This was called the botch of Egypt, as being peculiar to that country, and particularly in the vicinity of the Nile. Hence those words of Lucretius:—

Est Elephas morbus, qui circum flumina Nili

Nascitur, Ægypto in media; nec præterea usquam.

Lib. vi., ver. 1112.

Emerods] µylp[ ophalim, from lp[ aphal, to be elevated, raised up; swellings, protuberances; probably the bleeding piles.

Scab] brg garab does not occur as a verb in the Hebrew Bible, but [Arabic] gharb, in Arabic, signifies a distemper in the corner of the eye, (Castel.,) and may amount to the Egyptian ophthalmia, which is so epidemic and distressing in that country: some suppose the scurvy to be intended.

Itch] srj cheres, a burning itch, probably something of the erysipelatous kind, or what is commonly called St. Anthony’s fire.

Whereof thou canst not be healed.] For as they were inflicted by GOD’S justice, they could not of course be cured by human art.

Verses 27-29. The botch of Egypt — Such boils or blains as the Egyptians were plagued with, spreading from head to foot. The emerods — Those painful swellings of the hemorrhoidal vessels, called piles. Blindness — Of mind, so that they should not know what to do. Astonishment — They should be filled with wonder and horror because of the strangeness and soreness of their calamities. Grope at noon-day — In the most clear and evident matters thou shalt grossly mistake. Thy ways — Thy counsels and enterprises shall be frustrated and turn to thy destruction. Compare Jeremiah 25:16, 18; Zephaniah 1:17; Lamentations 4:14; Jeremiah 4:9; Ezekiel 4:17.

Ver. 27. The botch of Egypt, often referred to: Deuteronomy 7:15.

27. The botch of Egypt — Probably the disease called elephantiasis. Comp. Exodus 9:9, where the Hebrew word is translated boil. This section (27-34) announces some further disasters that will follow upon disobedience. Physical and mental calamities will come — desolation of the home and destruction of property.

V. 28. Blindness-Of mind, so that they shall not know what to do: Astonishment-They shall be filled with wonder and horror because of the strangeness and soreness of their calamities.

Verse 28. The Lord shall smite thee with madness] שגעונ shiggaon, distraction, so that thou shalt not know what to do.

And blindness] ˆwrw[ ivvaron, blindness, both physical and mental; the brg garab, (Deuteronomy 28:27,) destroying their eyes, and the judgments of God confounding their understandings.

Astonishment] תמהונ timmahon, stupidity and amazement. By the just judgments of God they were so completely confounded, as not to discern the means by which they might prevent or remove their calamities, and to adopt those which led directly to their ruin. How true is the ancient saying, Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat! “Those whom God is determined to destroy, he first infatuates.” But this applies not exclusively to the poor Jews: how miserably infatuated have the powers of the continent of Europe been, in all their councils and measures, for several years past! And what is the result? They have fallen-most deplorably fallen!

Verses 27-29. The botch of Egypt — Such boils or blains as the Egyptians were plagued with, spreading from head to foot. The emerods — Those painful swellings of the hemorrhoidal vessels, called piles. Blindness — Of mind, so that they should not know what to do. Astonishment — They should be filled with wonder and horror because of the strangeness and soreness of their calamities. Grope at noon-day — In the most clear and evident matters thou shalt grossly mistake. Thy ways — Thy counsels and enterprises shall be frustrated and turn to thy destruction. Compare Jeremiah 25:16, 18; Zephaniah 1:17; Lamentations 4:14; Jeremiah 4:9; Ezekiel 4:17.

28. Madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart — Overwhelmed with their calamities, the people will go on blindly in their course of disobedience.

V. 29. Grope at noon day-In the most clear and evident matters thou shalt grossly mistake. Thy ways-Thy counsels and enterprizes shall be frustrated and turn to thy destruction.

Verse 29. Thou shalt be only oppressed, &c.] Perhaps no people under the sun have been more oppressed and spoiled than the rebellious Jews. Indeed, this has been their portion, with but little intermission, for nearly 1,800 years. And still they grope at noon day, as the blind gropeth in darkness-they do not yet discover, notwithstanding the effulgence of the light by which they are encompassed, that the rejection of their own Messiah is the cause of all their calamities.

Verses 27-29. The botch of Egypt — Such boils or blains as the Egyptians were plagued with, spreading from head to foot. The emerods — Those painful swellings of the hemorrhoidal vessels, called piles. Blindness — Of mind, so that they should not know what to do. Astonishment — They should be filled with wonder and horror because of the strangeness and soreness of their calamities. Grope at noon-day — In the most clear and evident matters thou shalt grossly mistake. Thy ways — Thy counsels and enterprises shall be frustrated and turn to thy destruction. Compare Jeremiah 25:16, 18; Zephaniah 1:17; Lamentations 4:14; Jeremiah 4:9; Ezekiel 4:17.

29. Grope at noonday — In the clear light of God’s requirements they will be blind. Comp. John 12:35.

Verse 30. Thou shalt betroth a wife, &c.] Can any heart imagine any thing more grievous than the evils threatened in this and the following verses? To be on the brink of all social and domestic happiness, and then to be suddenly deprived of all, and see an enemy possess and enjoy every thing that was dear to them, must excite them to the utmost pitch of distraction and madness. They have, it is true, grievously sinned; but, O ye Christians, have they not grievously suffered for it? Is not the stroke of God heavy enough upon them? Do not then, by unkind treatment or cruel Oppression, increase their miseries. They are, above all others, the men who have seen affliction by the stroke of his rod; Lamentations 3:1.

30. Betroth a wife — Though all the preparations for domestic life may be made, disobedience will bring dire dis-appointment. The wife, the home, the vineyard, shall be another’s.

CURSES THREATENED FOR DISOBEDIENCE, 15-68.

15. All these curses — Here begins a startling enumeration of curses which will fall upon the people if they fail to keep the commandments of Jehovah.

V. 32. Unto another people-By those who have conquered them, and taken them captives, who shall give or sell them to other persons. Fail-Or, be consumed, partly with grief and plentiful tears; and partly with earnest desire, and vain and long expectation of their return. No might-No power to rescue, nor money to ransom them.

Verse 32. Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people] In several countries, particularly in Spain and Portugal, the children of the Jews have been taken from them by order of government, and educated in the Popish faith. There have been some instances of Jewish children being taken from their parents even in Protestant countries.

Verse 32. Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given — When you have provoked the divine justice to deliver you into the hands of your enemies, you shall have nothing left which you can call your own. Your very wives and children shall become a prey to your enemies; shall be taken from you and given, or sold, to another people — By those who have conquered you and taken them captives. Thine eyes shall fail — Or be consumed, partly with grief and plentiful tears, and partly with earnest desire, and long and vain expectation of their return. There shall be no might in thy hand — No power to rescue, nor money to ransom them.

32. No might in thine hand — This expression is more literally rendered, thy hand is not to God. Thy hand is not strong enough to deliver thee.

V. 33. Which thou knowest not-Which shall come from a far country, which thou didst not at all expect or fear, and therefore will be the more dreadful when they come; a nation whose language thou understandest not, and therefore canst not plead with them for mercy, nor expect any favour from them.

Verse 33. Which thou knowest not — Who shall come from a far country, whom thou didst not at all expect or fear, and therefore will be the more dreadful when they come. This was remarkably fulfilled when Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, came and dispossessed the ten tribes, and when Nebuchadnezzar carried the other two tribes away, and placed other people in their room. Thou shalt be oppressed and crushed always — They were not to be quite rooted out and destroyed, as the Amalekites and Canaanites were, of whom no footsteps now remain; but to be scattered through other nations, and there oppressed, crushed, and enslaved.

CURSES THREATENED FOR DISOBEDIENCE, 15-68.

15. All these curses — Here begins a startling enumeration of curses which will fall upon the people if they fail to keep the commandments of Jehovah.

V. 34. Thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes-Quite put out of the possession of their own souls; quite bereaved of all comfort and hope, and abandoned to utter despair. They that walk by sight, and not by faith, are in danger of losing reason itself, when all about them looks frightful; and their condition is bad indeed, who are mad for the sight of their eyes.

Verse 34. Thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes — Quite bereaved of all comfort and hope, and abandoned to utter despair. “Into what madness, fury, and desperation have they been pushed,” says Bishop Newton, in illustration of this prophecy, “by the cruel usage, extortions, and oppressions which they have undergone! We will allege only two similar instances, one from ancient, and one from modern history. After the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, some of the Jews took refuge in the castle of Masada, where, being closely besieged by the Romans, they, at the persuasion of Eleazar their leader, first murdered their wives and children, then ten men were chosen by lot to slay the rest; this being done, one of the ten was chosen in like manner to kill the other nine, which having executed, he set fire to the place, and then stabbed himself. There were nine hundred and sixty who perished in this miserable manner; and only two women and five boys escaped by hiding themselves in the aqueducts under ground. Such another instance we have in our English history: for in the reign of Richard I., when the people were in arms to make a general massacre of them, fifteen hundred of them seized on the city of York to defend themselves; but being besieged they offered to capitulate, and to ransom their lives with money. The offer being refused, one of them cried in despair, that it was better to die courageously for the law than to fall into the hands of the Christians. Every one immediately took his knife and stabbed his wife and children. The men afterward retired into the king’s palace, which they set on fire, in which they consumed themselves, with the palace and furniture.”

CURSES THREATENED FOR DISOBEDIENCE, 15-68.

15. All these curses — Here begins a startling enumeration of curses which will fall upon the people if they fail to keep the commandments of Jehovah.

Verse 35. With a sore botch] שחינ shechin, an inflammatory swelling, a burning boil. See Deuteronomy 28:27.

35. Smite thee in the knees — The threatened calamities are here presented in another view. The Lord will smite the people with leprosy. This disease excludes the one afflicted with it from the congregation of Israel. We are then to understand that the nation, for its sins, will be excluded from fellowship of Jehovah. Leprosy is used as a type of sin. The nation will become as a leper. Comp. Isaiah 1:5, 6. In the days of the prophet the whole nation had become as a body with a mass of wounds and bruises and putrefying sores.

V. 36. Thy king-The calamity shall be both universal, which even thy king shall not be able to avoid, much less the subjects, who have far less advantage and opportunity for escape; and irrecoverable, because he who should protect or rescue them is lost with them, Lamentations 4:10. Wood and stone-So what formerly was their choice and delight now becomes their plague and misery. And this doubtless was the condition of many Israelites under the Assyrian and Balylonish captivities.

Verses 36. - 45. Can any thing be conceived more dreadful than the calamities threatened in these verses?

Verse 36. The Lord shall bring thee and thy king — The calamity shall be universal; even thy king shall not be able to avoid it, much less his subjects, who have far less advantage and opportunity for escape; he who should protect or rescue them shall be lost with them. This was partly fulfilled when Jehoiachin was carried captive to Babylon, with his mother, wives, officers, and the mighty of the land, 2 Kings 24:15; and afterward Zedekiah, 2 Kings 25:7; Jeremiah 52:11. For the Assyrians were a people, though not quite unknown to the Jews, in Moses’s time, yet with whom they had but little intercourse. But it was more especially accomplished in their last dispersion by the Romans, a nation which neither they nor their fathers knew. There thou shalt serve other gods, wood and stone — So that what formerly was their choice and delight should now become their plague and misery. And this, doubtless, was the condition of many Israelites under the Assyrian and Babylonish captivities, being either influenced by the example and counsels of their conquerors, or compelled by their tyranny to practise this idolatry. And Bishop Newton on this passage proves, by authentic testimonies, that “it has been common for Jews in Popish countries to comply with the idolatrous worship of the Church of Rome, and to bow down to stocks and stones, rather than that their effects should be seized and confiscated.”

36. The Lord shall bring thee, and thy king — Comp. 2 Kings 17:6, where it is recorded that Israel was carried away into Assyria, and 2 Chronicles 32:11, where the account of the capture and captivity of Manasseh are given.

Verses 36. - 45. Can any thing be conceived more dreadful than the calamities threatened in these verses?

Verse 37. Thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a by-word — “And do we not hear and see this prophecy fulfilled almost every day? Is not the avarice, usury, and hard-heartedness of a Jew grown proverbial? And are not their persons generally odious among all sorts of people? Mohammedans, heathens, and Christians, however they may disagree in other points, yet generally agree in vilifying, abusing, and persecuting the Jews. In most places where they are tolerated, they are obliged to live in a separate quarter by themselves, (as they did in London in the Old Jewry,) and to wear some badge of distinction. Their very countenances commonly distinguish them from the rest of mankind. They are in all respects treated as if they were of another species.” — Bishop Newton.

CURSES THREATENED FOR DISOBEDIENCE, 15-68.

15. All these curses — Here begins a startling enumeration of curses which will fall upon the people if they fail to keep the commandments of Jehovah.

Verses 36. - 45. Can any thing be conceived more dreadful than the calamities threatened in these verses?

38-40. Gather… little in — The curse is extended to all labour of the field and the vineyard.

Verses 36. - 45. Can any thing be conceived more dreadful than the calamities threatened in these verses?

38-40. Gather… little in — The curse is extended to all labour of the field and the vineyard.

Verses 36. - 45. Can any thing be conceived more dreadful than the calamities threatened in these verses?

38-40. Gather… little in — The curse is extended to all labour of the field and the vineyard.

Verses 36. - 45. Can any thing be conceived more dreadful than the calamities threatened in these verses?

CURSES THREATENED FOR DISOBEDIENCE, 15-68.

15. All these curses — Here begins a startling enumeration of curses which will fall upon the people if they fail to keep the commandments of Jehovah.

Verses 36. - 45. Can any thing be conceived more dreadful than the calamities threatened in these verses?

CURSES THREATENED FOR DISOBEDIENCE, 15-68.

15. All these curses — Here begins a startling enumeration of curses which will fall upon the people if they fail to keep the commandments of Jehovah.

V. 43. Within thee-Within thy gates; who formerly honoured and served thee, and were some of them glad of the crumbs which fell from thy table.

Verses 36. - 45. Can any thing be conceived more dreadful than the calamities threatened in these verses?

Verse 43. The stranger that is within thee — Within thy gates; who formerly honoured and served thee, and were, some of them, glad of the crumbs which fell from thy table. Shall get above thee very high — Shall rise to great wealth and prosperity upon thy ruin.

43. The stranger… shall get up above thee — The nation would become feebler and feebler, utterly impoverished, while their enemies would rise higher and higher above them.

Verses 36. - 45. Can any thing be conceived more dreadful than the calamities threatened in these verses?

CURSES THREATENED FOR DISOBEDIENCE, 15-68.

15. All these curses — Here begins a startling enumeration of curses which will fall upon the people if they fail to keep the commandments of Jehovah.

V. 45. Moreover all these curses-It seems Moses has been hitherto foretelling their captivity in Babylon, by which even after their return, they were brought to the low condition mentioned, Deuteronomy 28:44. But in the following he foretells their last destruction by the Romans. And the present deplorable state of the Jewish nation, so exactly answers this prediction, that it is an incontestable proof of the truth of the prophecy, and consequently of the divine authority of the scriptures. And this destruction more dreadful than the former shews, that their sin in rejecting Christ, was more provoking to God than idolatry itself, and left them more under the power of Satan. For their captivity in Babylon cured them effectually of idolatry in seventy years. But under this last destruction, they continue above sixteen hundred years incurably averse to the Lord Jesus.

Verses 36. - 45. Can any thing be conceived more dreadful than the calamities threatened in these verses?

Verse 45. Moreover, all these curses — Here some critics have made a division of these prophecies, and have interpreted the preceding part as relating to the former captivity of the Jews, and the calamities which they suffered under the Chaldeans; and the remaining part as referring to their latter captivity, and the calamities which they suffered under the Romans. But “there is no need,” says Bishop Newton, “of any such distinction; there is no reason to think any such was intended by the author; several prophecies of the one part, as well as of the other, have been fulfilled at both periods; but they have all been more amply fulfilling during the latter period; and there cannot be a more lively picture than they exhibit of the state of the Jews at present.” Indeed, the present deplorable state of the Jewish nation so exactly answers these predictions, that it is an incontestable proof of the truth of the prophecy, and consequently of the divine authority of the Scriptures. And their destruction by the Romans, far more dreadful than the former, shows that their sin in rejecting Christ was more provoking to God than idolatry itself, and left them more under the power of Satan. For their captivity in Babylon cured them effectually of idolatry in seventy years. But under this last destruction they continue above eighteen hundred years incurably averse to their own Messiah, the Lord that bought them.

45. All these curses shall come upon thee — The language of the fifteenth verse is here in part repeated like a sad refrain. Another representation of the dreadful calamities resulting from disobedience is set forth in the following verses.

V. 46. They-These curses now mentioned. A wonder-Signal and wonderful to all that hear of them. ‘Tis amazing, a people so incorporated, should be so universally disperst! And that a people scattered in all nations, should not mix with any, but like Cain, be fugitives and vagabonds, and yet so marked as to be known.

Verse 46. They (these curses now mentioned) shall be upon thee for a sign — This, indeed, they have been in a most wonderful and astonishing manner. Since man was first placed on the earth, never was there a people that were such a sign to all the inhabitants of it as the Jews have been. Never did any other people experience such a strange series of events; never were calamities like theirs; never were people so dispersed, and carried into captivity, and yet kept so entire and separate, and thereby made a spectacle and sign to all nations. Though the above verse was written above three thousand years ago, yet do the nations of the earth see it in full force at this day! The seed of this very people still remain, and their state is such, as makes them for a sign and a wonder over the face of the earth. What a striking and wonderful evidence is this of the divinity of the Holy Scriptures! Who but God, that declareth the end from the beginning, could declare this, and bring it to pass? O God, very wonderful art thou! Thou makest thy enemies to bear witness to thy truth, and advance thy honour!

CURSES THREATENED FOR DISOBEDIENCE, 15-68.

15. All these curses — Here begins a startling enumeration of curses which will fall upon the people if they fail to keep the commandments of Jehovah.

CURSES THREATENED FOR DISOBEDIENCE, 15-68.

15. All these curses — Here begins a startling enumeration of curses which will fall upon the people if they fail to keep the commandments of Jehovah.

Verse 48. Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies] Because they would not serve GOD, therefore they became slaves to men.

Verse 48. He shall put a yoke of iron about thy neck — That is, cruel thraldom, and rigorous oppression, Jeremiah 27:11, 12. This is highly just, that they who refuse the reasonable service of God should be made slaves to their enemies; and, instead of the easy yoke of God, should be put under a yoke of iron. See 2 Chronicles 12:8.

CURSES THREATENED FOR DISOBEDIENCE, 15-68.

15. All these curses — Here begins a startling enumeration of curses which will fall upon the people if they fail to keep the commandments of Jehovah.

Verse 49. A nation-from far] Probably the Romans.

As the eagle flieth] The very animal on all the Roman standards. The Roman eagle is proverbial.

Whose tongue thou shalt not understand] The Latin language, than which none was more foreign to the structure and idiom of the Hebrew.

Verse 49. The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far — “The Chaldeans might be said to come from far, in comparison of the Moabites, Philistines, and other neighbouring nations, which used to infest Judea.” See Jeremiah 5:15, and 6:22. And they are represented as pursuing them with the swiftness of eagles, Lamentations 4:19. But the Romans, no doubt, were chiefly intended. “They were truly brought ‘from far, from the end of the earth;’ Vespasian and Adrian, the two great conquerors and destroyers of the Jews, both coming from commanding here in Britain. The Romans too, from the rapidity of their conquests, might very well be compared to eagles, and perhaps not without an allusion to the standard of the Roman armies, which was an eagle, and their language was more unknown to the Jews than the Chaldee.” — Bishop Newton.

Ver. 49. A nation against thee from afar. The Romans, to punish them as rebels, “whose language thou canst not understand:” this made the calamity greater. Hezekiah’s ministers understood the Assyrian tongue, which was a sister language of the Hebrew; but the Latin was difficult to learn. The Romans realized all the horrors of these predictions against a people denationalized and devoted. See on Daniel 9:24, 27.—As swift as the eagle flieth. The Chaldean armies are frequently represented as flying swift as the eagle, which is the prince of birds. One measured by Bruce in Abyssinia, of the golden eagle species, from wing to wing, eight feet four inches, and from the back to the tip of the tail, four feet seven inches. The eagle renews his plumage in the spring, as most birds of prey, to which allusion is made in Psalm 103:5. He lives to a great age, and is often found with a bald head.

49. The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far — The Assyrians, the Babylonians, and the Romans were God’s ministers to fulfil this prophecy. The language seems most applicable to the Roman power. Compare this denunciation with the history of the siege and destruction of Jerusalem as given by Josephus in his Jewish War.

Verse 50. A nation of a fierce countenance — Such were the Chaldeans, who, according to the historian, “slew the young men” of the Jews “in the house of the sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man or him that stooped for age.” Such also were the Romans, who, Josephus says, when they entered Gadera, showed mercy to no age, out of hatred to the nation, and remembrance of former injuries. They made the like slaughter at Gamala, “not so much as sparing young children, but every one, snatching up many, cast them down from the citadel.”

CURSES THREATENED FOR DISOBEDIENCE, 15-68.

15. All these curses — Here begins a startling enumeration of curses which will fall upon the people if they fail to keep the commandments of Jehovah.

CURSES THREATENED FOR DISOBEDIENCE, 15-68.

15. All these curses — Here begins a startling enumeration of curses which will fall upon the people if they fail to keep the commandments of Jehovah.

Verse 52. He-Nebuchadnezzar first, (2 Kings 25:1, 2, &c.,) and Titus next; shall besiege thee-beset thee round on every side, and cast a trench around thee: viz., lines of circumvallation, as our Lord predicted; (see Matthew 24:1, &c., and Luke 21:5, &c.;) in all thy gates throughout all thy land-all thy fenced cities, which points out that their subjugation should be complete, as both Jerusalem and all their fortified places should be taken. This was done literally by Nebuchadnezzar and the Romans.

Verse 52. He shall besiege thee in all thy gates — Thus did Shalmaneser, Sennacherib, and Nebuchadnezzar. See 2 Kings 18:9, 10, and 13, and 2 Kings 25:10. But this prediction was especially fulfilled by the Romans, to whom the best fortified places in Judea were forced to yield, as may be seen in Josephus’s History of the Jewish war, which is the best commentary on this part of the prophecy. And the Jews might well be said to trust in their high and fenced walls; for they seldom ventured to fight in the open field. In particular, they confided in the strength and situation of Jerusalem, as the Jebusites, the former inhabitants of the place, had done before them, 2 Samuel 5:6, 7.

CURSES THREATENED FOR DISOBEDIENCE, 15-68.

15. All these curses — Here begins a startling enumeration of curses which will fall upon the people if they fail to keep the commandments of Jehovah.

Verse 53. Thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body — The stoutest and most obstinate resistance will avail you nothing; all the advantage you will gain by it will be to suffer such long and pressing straits by the siege as will force you, after thousands have perished with hunger, to feed upon the flesh of one another. This prediction was repeatedly fulfilled, especially when Vespasian and his son Titus begirt Jerusalem so closely that the besieged were reduced to a most grievous famine, which forced them, after they had eaten up their horses and other creatures, to eat even their own children, whom parents, who had used to live delicately, Moses here foretels, should themselves eat up privately, and let none share with them.

53. Eat the fruit of thine own body — The terrible straits to which the nation will be reduced are here described with graphic distinctness, as if an historian rather than a prophet held the pen. With greater minuteness is the horrible distress portrayed in the verses that follow. The man accustomed to luxurious living, the woman so delicate that the sole of her foot had not touched the ground, in the extremity of famine caused by the siege will forget all natural affection. See 2 Kings 6:28; also Josephus, Jewish War, book 7, chap. 2.

V. 54. Evil-Unkind, envious, covetous to monopolize these dainty bits to themselves, and grudging that their dearest relations should have any part of them.

Verses 54, 55. His eye shall be evil toward his brother — His wants will make him throw off all distinction of, and compassion for, his nearest and dearest relations. Hunger will make him snatch the meat out of the mouths of his own children, and grudge every morsel that they eat. Accordingly Josephus informs us that wives forced away the meat out of the very mouths of their husbands, children of their parents, and, what was yet more unnatural, mothers of their infants, taking away from them, as they lay languishing in their arms, the very last support of life. Nay, he tells us that “in every house, if there appeared any semblance of food, a battle ensued, and the dearest friends and relations fought with one another, snatching away the miserable provisions of life.” So, literally, were the words of Moses fulfilled! — Bel. Jud., lib. 5. cap. 10, sect. 3; and lib. 6. cap. 3, sect. 3.

CURSES THREATENED FOR DISOBEDIENCE, 15-68.

15. All these curses — Here begins a startling enumeration of curses which will fall upon the people if they fail to keep the commandments of Jehovah.

Verses 54, 55. His eye shall be evil toward his brother — His wants will make him throw off all distinction of, and compassion for, his nearest and dearest relations. Hunger will make him snatch the meat out of the mouths of his own children, and grudge every morsel that they eat. Accordingly Josephus informs us that wives forced away the meat out of the very mouths of their husbands, children of their parents, and, what was yet more unnatural, mothers of their infants, taking away from them, as they lay languishing in their arms, the very last support of life. Nay, he tells us that “in every house, if there appeared any semblance of food, a battle ensued, and the dearest friends and relations fought with one another, snatching away the miserable provisions of life.” So, literally, were the words of Moses fulfilled! — Bel. Jud., lib. 5. cap. 10, sect. 3; and lib. 6. cap. 3, sect. 3.

CURSES THREATENED FOR DISOBEDIENCE, 15-68.

15. All these curses — Here begins a startling enumeration of curses which will fall upon the people if they fail to keep the commandments of Jehovah.

V. 56. Evil-Unmerciful: she will desire or design their destruction for her food.

Verse 56. The tender and delicate woman] This was literally fulfilled when Jerusalem was besieged by the Romans; a woman named Mary, of a noble family, driven to distraction by famine, boiled and ate her own child! See a similar case 2 Kings 6:29; and see Clarke on “Leviticus 26:29”.

Verses 56, 57. The tender and delicate woman — shall eat her children — secretly — Not in order to escape the infamy of the action, but lest others should have a share with her. In the siege and straitness — This was fulfilled about six hundred years after the time of Moses, among the Israelites, when Samaria was besieged by the king of Syria, and two women agreed together, the one to give up her son to be boiled and eaten that day, and the other to deliver up her son to be dressed and eaten the next, and one of them was eaten accordingly, 2 Kings 6:28. It was fulfilled again about nine hundred years after Moses, in the siege of Jerusalem, before the Babylonish captivity, Baruch 2:1-3; Lamentations 4:10. And again it was fulfilled above one thousand five hundred years after Moses, in the last siege of Jerusalem by Titus; Josephus informing us particularly of a noble woman’s killing and eating her own sucking child; and she did it, as Moses says she should do it, secretly; for, according to Josephus, when she had boiled and eaten half, she covered up the rest, and kept it for another time. At so many different times, and distant periods, hath this prophecy been fulfilled, to the perpetual reproach of the Jewish nation; for never was the like done, either by Greek or barbarian. See the fruit of being abandoned of God! Nothing is too barbarous for such to do.

CURSES THREATENED FOR DISOBEDIENCE, 15-68.

15. All these curses — Here begins a startling enumeration of curses which will fall upon the people if they fail to keep the commandments of Jehovah.

V. 57. Her young one-Heb. after-birth: that which was loathsome to behold, will now be pleasant to eat; and together with it she shall eat the child which was wrapt up in it, and may be included in this expression. Which she shall bear-Or, which she shall have born, that is, her more grown children. She shall eat them-This was fulfilled more than once, to the perpetual reproach of the Jewish nation. Never was the like done either by Greek or Barbarian. See the fruit of being abandoned by God!

Verse 57. Toward her young one-and toward her children which she shall bear] There seems to be a species of tautology in the two clauses of this verse, which may be prevented by translating the last word, htylv shilyathah, literally, her secondines, which is the meaning of the Arabic [Arabic] sala, not badly understood by the Septuagint, corion authv, the chorion or exterior membrane, which invests the fœtus in the womb; and still better translated by Luther, [Anglo-Saxon] the after-birth; which saying of Moses strongly marks the deepest distress, when the mother is represented as feeling the most poignant regret that her child was brought forth into such a state of suffering and death; and 2dly, that it was likely, from the favourable circumstances after the birth, that she herself should survive her inlaying. No words can more forcibly depict the miseries of those dreadful times. On this ground I see no absolute need for Kennicott’s criticism, who, instead of htylvbw ubeshilyathah, against her secondines, reads hlvbw ubashelah, and she shall boll, and translates the 56th and 57th verses as follows: “The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter. 57. And she shall boil that which cometh out from between her feet, even her children, which she shall bear, for she shall eat them, for want of all things, secretly.” These words, says he, being prophetical, are fulfilled in 2 Kings 6:29, for we read there that two women of Samaria having agreed to eat their own children, one was actually boiled, where the very same word, lvb bashal is used. See Kennicott’s Dissertations, see Clarke’s note “1 Chronicles 11:11”, &c., p. 421.

Verses 56, 57. The tender and delicate woman — shall eat her children — secretly — Not in order to escape the infamy of the action, but lest others should have a share with her. In the siege and straitness — This was fulfilled about six hundred years after the time of Moses, among the Israelites, when Samaria was besieged by the king of Syria, and two women agreed together, the one to give up her son to be boiled and eaten that day, and the other to deliver up her son to be dressed and eaten the next, and one of them was eaten accordingly, 2 Kings 6:28. It was fulfilled again about nine hundred years after Moses, in the siege of Jerusalem, before the Babylonish captivity, Baruch 2:1-3; Lamentations 4:10. And again it was fulfilled above one thousand five hundred years after Moses, in the last siege of Jerusalem by Titus; Josephus informing us particularly of a noble woman’s killing and eating her own sucking child; and she did it, as Moses says she should do it, secretly; for, according to Josephus, when she had boiled and eaten half, she covered up the rest, and kept it for another time. At so many different times, and distant periods, hath this prophecy been fulfilled, to the perpetual reproach of the Jewish nation; for never was the like done, either by Greek or barbarian. See the fruit of being abandoned of God! Nothing is too barbarous for such to do.

CURSES THREATENED FOR DISOBEDIENCE, 15-68.

15. All these curses — Here begins a startling enumeration of curses which will fall upon the people if they fail to keep the commandments of Jehovah.

58. If thou wilt not observe to do, etc. — Calamity upon calamity, judgment upon judgment. The full measure of the divine indignation will be poured out upon the people. They will be dispossessed of their inheritance and dispersed among the nations. In this book — This may be understood as referring to all the recorded commandments.

CURSES THREATENED FOR DISOBEDIENCE, 15-68.

15. All these curses — Here begins a startling enumeration of curses which will fall upon the people if they fail to keep the commandments of Jehovah.

60. All the diseases of Egypt — Comp. Deuteronomy 7:15; also Exodus 9:1-10; 12:29; and 7:10.

CURSES THREATENED FOR DISOBEDIENCE, 15-68.

15. All these curses — Here begins a startling enumeration of curses which will fall upon the people if they fail to keep the commandments of Jehovah.

Verse 62. Ye shall be left few in number — “Not to mention here any other of the calamities and slaughters which the Jews have undergone, there was in the last siege of Jerusalem, by Titus, an infinite multitude, saith Josephus, who perished by famine; and he computes that, during the whole siege, the number of those who were destroyed by that and by the war amounted to eleven hundred thousand, the people being assembled from all parts to celebrate the passover. And the same author hath given us an account of one million two hundred and forty thousand four hundred and ninety destroyed in Jerusalem and other parts of Judea, besides ninety-nine thousand two hundred made prisoners, as Basnage has reckoned them up from that historian’s account.” — Bp. Newton. Another Jewish writer relates that there were above one hundred and sixteen thousand dead bodies of the rich and honourable men of Jerusalem carried out at one gate of the city during the siege, besides those which were carried out at other gates, and thrown over the wall. But when the city was taken, the massacre was dreadful. Titus would have put an end to it, but could not. His men killed all, except the most vigorous, whom they shut up in the porch of the women. The youngest and most beautiful of these were reserved to grace Titus’s triumph. Those above seventeen years of age were sent bound into Egypt, to be employed in some public works there; and great numbers of others were sent into several cities of Syria, and other provinces, to be exposed on the public theatres, to exhibit fights, or to be devoured by wild beasts. So that the whole number of Jews who perished in this war is computed at upward of one million four hundred thousand. Besides these, however, a vast number perished in caves, woods, wildernesses, common sewers, &c., of whom no computation could be made. — Encycl. Brit. Add to the above, that the slaughter was very great which was afterward made of them in the wars of Julius Severus, sent against them by Adrian, when fifty of their strongest fortresses were razed, and nine hundred and eighty-five of their most noble and populous towns were sacked and consumed by fire, insomuch that, as Dion expresses it, “all Judea was in a manner laid waste, and left as a desert.” But indeed there is no nation on earth that hath been exposed to so many persecutions and massacres. Their history abounds with them. And if God had not given them a promise of a numerous posterity, the whole race would many times have been extirpated.

CURSES THREATENED FOR DISOBEDIENCE, 15-68.

15. All these curses — Here begins a startling enumeration of curses which will fall upon the people if they fail to keep the commandments of Jehovah.

V. 63. To destroy you-His just indignation against you will be so great, that it will be a pleasure to him to take vengeance on you. For though he doth not delight in the death of a sinner in itself, yet he doth delight in glorifying his justice upon incorrigible sinners, seeing the exercise of all his attributes must needs please him, else he were not perfectly happy.

Verse 63. The Lord will rejoice over you, to destroy you — His just indignation against you will be so great, that it will be a pleasure to him to take vengeance on you. For though he doth not delight in the death of a sinner in itself, yet he doth delight in glorifying his justice upon incorrigible transgressors, seeing the exercise of all his attributes must needs please him, else he were not perfectly happy. And ye shall be plucked from off the land, &c. — This was fulfilled when the king of Assyria carried the ten tribes into captivity, and planted other nations in their stead; and when the king of Babylon carried away the other two tribes; and especially when the Romans took away their place and nation, not to mention other captivities and transportations of them. “Afterward, when the Emperor Adrian had subdued the rebellious Jews, he published an edict, forbidding them, upon pain of death, to set foot in Jerusalem, or even to approach the country round about. Tertullian and Jerome say, they were prohibited from entering Judea. From that time to this their country hath been in the possession of foreign lords and masters, few of the Jews dwelling in it, and those only of a low, servile condition.”

CURSES THREATENED FOR DISOBEDIENCE, 15-68.

15. All these curses — Here begins a startling enumeration of curses which will fall upon the people if they fail to keep the commandments of Jehovah.

Verse 64. The Lord shall scatter thee among all people] How literally has this been fulfilled! The people of the Jews are scattered over every nation under heaven.

Verse 64. The Lord shall scatter thee among all people — According to Nehemiah, (Nehemiah 1:8, 9,) these words were fulfilled in the Babylonish captivity; but they have been far more amply fulfilled since the great dispersion of the Jews by the Romans. “What people have been scattered so far and wide as they? And where is the nation that is a stranger to them, or to which they are strangers? They swarm in many parts of the East, are spread through most of the countries of Europe and Africa, and there are several families of them in the West Indies. They circulate through all parts, and are, as one may say, the brokers of the whole world.” — Bp. Newton.

Ver. 64. The Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other. Voltaire, the far-famed infidel of Ferney, in Swisserland, contributed to make Frederick the Great, king of Prussia, an unbeliever. Dr. Steinkoff, minister of the Lutheran church in London, stated one evening in conversation, that Frederick has been heard to say, “After all, I think there must be some truth in the prophecies respecting the Jews; they are so often repeated, and so very strikingly fulfilled in the dispersion of that people.” So complete is this dispersion, “from one end of the earth even to the other,” that there is scarcely a port or city without jews. In India, in China, and in central Asia, their condition is most deplorable; they are poor and distressed even to a proverb. Christian nations are now their best friends and protectors. Tertullian, Augustine, Lactantius, and others of the ancient fathers, lay a strong emphasis on the sufferings of the jews, as consequent on their sin of crucifying “the Lord of glory.”

64. The Lord shall scatter thee — Comp. Deuteronomy 4:27; also Leviticus 26:33; Nehemiah 1:8; Jeremiah 16:13; also Josephus’s Jewish War, 6:9, 2.

V. 65. Neither shall thy foot have rest-Ye shall have no settlement in the land whither you are banished, but there you shall be tossed about from place to place, and sold from person to person, or Cain-like, wander about.

Verse 65. No ease-a trembling heart, and failing of eyes] The trembling of heart may refer to their state of continual insecurity, being, under every kind of government, proscribed, and, even under the most mild, uncertain of toleration and protection; and the failing of eyes, to their vain and ever-disappointed expectation of the Messiah.

Verse 65. Among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall thy foot have rest — They have been so far from finding rest, that they have been banished from city to city, from country to country. In many places they have been banished and recalled, and banished again. Several remarkable instances of this kind are mentioned by Bishop Newton here, to whom the reader is referred. In some of them the Jews must have suffered much, particularly when, in the latter end of the fifteenth century, they were banished from Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella. At that time, according to Mariana, there were one hundred and seventy thousand families, or, as some say, eight hundred thousand persons, who left the kingdom. Abarbinel, a Jewish writer, gives the following account of this their last expulsion from Spain. He says, “Three hundred thousand of them, old and young, men and women, (among whom he was one,) went away on foot, upon one day, not knowing whither to go. Some went into Portugal, others into Navarre, where they conflicted with many calamities: for some became a prey or perished by famine and pestilence; and therefore others committed themselves to sea, hoping to find a quiet seat in some other countries. But on the sea they met with new disasters; for many were sold for slaves when they came on any coast, many were drowned, many burned in the ships, which were set on fire. In short, all suffered the punishment of God the avenger: for, after all this, a plague came and swept away the rest of the miserable wretches, who were hated by all mankind; so all that vast number perished by some calamity or other, except a very few.” Some who sought for rest in the kingdom of Fez, lived there a long time upon grass, and ate its very roots, and then died, and their bodies lay exposed, none being so charitable as to bury them. The Jewish writer just quoted mentions some taking refuge in Portugal. They paid dearly for this liberty to John II., but within a few years were expelled from thence also by his successor. And in the beginning of the next century a dreadful massacre was made of them at Lisbon, for three days together, where they were not suffered to die of their deadly wounds, but were dragged by their mangled limbs into the market-place, where the bodies of the living and the slain, with others half alive, half dead, were burned together in heaps. Two thousand of them perished in this barbarous manner. Parents durst not mourn for their children, nor children sigh for their parents, when they saw them haled to the place of torment. Fear so dispirited them, as an historian relates, that the living in their aspect did not much differ from the dead, so that they were exactly in the condition Moses here describes, when he says, And the Lord shall give thee a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind.

CURSES THREATENED FOR DISOBEDIENCE, 15-68.

15. All these curses — Here begins a startling enumeration of curses which will fall upon the people if they fail to keep the commandments of Jehovah.

V. 66. Thy life shall hang in doubt-Either because thou art in the hands of thy enemies that have power, and want no will, to destroy thee: or because of the terrors of thy own mind, and the guilt of thy conscience making thee to fear, even where no fear is.

Verse 66. Thy life shall hang in doubt — Either because thou art in the hands of thy enemies that have power, and want not the will, to destroy thee; or because of the terrors of thy own mind, and the guilt of thy conscience making thee to fear, even where no fear is.

Ver. 66. Thou shalt fear day and night. The fathers apply this to the fears which fell on the jews after the crucifixion, when “great fear fell on every soul.” Acts 2:43. In the dark ages, christians as well as heathens, treated the jews with great cruelty.

66. And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee — The Hebrew reads, Thy life is hanging before thee. It will ever be in present and pressing danger.

67. In the morning thou shalt say, etc. — In constant dread of what day or night may bring forth. Comp. Job 7:4. Luther says, “I have never seen a passage which describes more clearly the misery of a guilty conscience in words and thoughts so fitting and appropriate. For this is just the way in which a man is affected who knows that God is offended.

V. 68. Into Egypt-Which was literally fulfilled under Titus, when multitudes of them were carried thither in ships, and sold for slaves. And this expression seems to mind them of that time when they went over the sea without ships, God miraculously drying up the sea before them, which now they would have occasion sadly to remember. By the way-Or, to the way. And the way seems not to be meant here of the usual road-way from Canaan to Egypt, which was wholly by land, but to be put for the end of the way or journey, even the land of Egypt, for to this, and not to the road-way between Canaan and Egypt, agree the words here following, whereof I speak unto thee, thou shalt see it, (that is, Egypt) no more again. No man shall buy you-Either because the number of your captives shall be so great, that the market shall be glutted with you; or because you shall be so loathsome and contemptible that men shall not be willing to have you for slaves. And this was the condition of the Jews after the destruction of Jerusalem, as Josephus the Jew hath left upon record. Let us all learn hence, to stand in awe and not to sin. I have heard of a wicked man (says Mr. Henry) who on reading these threatenings, was so enraged, that he tore the leaf out of his bible. But to what purpose is it, to deface a copy, while the original remains unchangeable? By which it is determined, that the wages of sin is death: yea, a death more dreadful than all that is here spoken!

Verse 68. And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again] That is, into another state of slavery and bondage similar to that of Egypt, out of which they had been lately brought. And there ye shall be sold, that is, be exposed to sale, or expose yourself to sale as the word התמכרתם hithmaccartem may be rendered; they were vagrants, and wished to become slaves that they might be provided with the necessaries of life. And no man shall buy you; even the Romans thought it a reproach to have a Jew for a slave, they had become so despicable to all mankind. When Jerusalem was taken by Titus, many of the captives, which were above seventeen years of age, were sent into the works in Egypt. See Josephus, Antiq., b. xii, 100:1, 2, War b. vi., c. 9, s. 2; and above all, see Bp. Newton’s Dissertations on the Prophecies.

THE first verse of the next chapter, in some of the most correct Hebrew Bibles, makes the 69th of this; and very properly, as the second verse of the following chapter begins a new subject.

This is an astonishing chapter: in it are prophecies delivered more than 3,000 years ago, and now fulfilling.

O God, how immense is thy wisdom, and how profound thy counsels! To thee alone are known all thy works from the beginning to the end. What an irrefragable proof does this chapter, compared with the past and present state of the Jewish people, afford of the truth and Divine origin of the Pentateuch!

DEUTERONOMY

Verse 68. The Lord shall bring thee into Egypt — Which was literally fulfilled under Titus, when multitudes of them were carried thither and sold for slaves. With ships — This expression seems to be intended to remind them of that time when they went over the sea without ships, God miraculously drying up the sea before them, a time which now they would have occasion sadly to remember. By the way whereof — That is, to which place or part of the world, namely Egypt; I spake unto thee, thou shalt see it no more again — Referring to what he had said, Deuteronomy 17:16. This is also well illustrated by the bishop. “They had come out of Egypt triumphant, but now they should return thither as slaves. They had walked through the sea as dry land at their coming out, but now they should be carried thither in ships. They might be carried thither in the ships of the Tyrian or Sidonian merchants, or by the Romans, who had a fleet in the Mediterranean, and this was a much safer way of conveying so many prisoners than sending them by land. It appears from Josephus, that in the reigns of the first two Ptolemies many of the Jews were slaves in Egypt. And when Jerusalem was taken by Titus, of the captives who, as we have observed on verse 62, were sent into Egypt, those under seventeen were sold: but so little care was taken of these captives, that eleven thousand of them perished for want. The markets were overstocked with them, so that Josephus says, in another place, they were sold with their wives and children at the lowest price, there being many to be sold, but few purchasers.” And we learn from St. Jerome, “that after their last overthrow by Adrian, many thousands of them were sold, and those who could not be sold were transported into Egypt, and perished by shipwreck or famine, or were massacred by the inhabitants.” Hegesipus also says, “There were many captives offered for sale, but few buyers, because the Romans disdained to take the Jews for slaves; and there were not Jews remaining to redeem their countrymen.”

We have quoted thus largely from Bishop Newton’s able exposition of these predictions of Moses, because we believe more clear and convincing proof cannot be given of their accomplishment, and are apprehensive that many of our readers have it not in their power to consult his excellent volumes on the prophecies, from which these extracts are taken. His concluding observation is worthy of peculiar attention. “Here are instances of prophecies delivered about three thousand years ago, and yet, as we see, fulfilling in the world at this very time: and what stronger proof can we desire of the divine legation of Moses? How these instances may affect others, I know not; but for myself I must acknowledge they not only convince but astonish me beyond expression. They are truly, as Moses foretold they would be, a sign and a wonder for ever.” “I have heard of a wicked man,” says Mr. Henry, “who, on reading these threatenings, was so enraged, that he tore the leaf out of his Bible.” But to what purpose is it to deface a copy, while the original remains upon record in the divine counsels, by which it is determined that the wages of sin is death, whether men will hear or whether they will forbear. Let us all learn from hence then to stand in awe and not sin.

Ver. 68. Ships. Navigation, in the times of Moses, was well understood.

68. And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again — This is represented as the crowning calamity. The exodus from Egypt was the beginning of the nation’s life; this threatened return is a symbol of its death. With ships — Their departure from Egypt had been by a highway that Jehovah opened for them. They marched through the Red Sea. They are to be sent back helpless slaves. Ewald (History of Israel, vol. iv, p. 221, note, English translation) says: “How could it be possible for the composer of Deuteronomy xxviii to conclude a long enumeration of the most various evils with the conveyance of the people back to Egypt in ships? So completely unique an idea could only have been suggested by experience.” But in the Records of the Past, vol. vi, p. 31, is a translation of an Egyptian document of the time of Rameses III., in which the king says: “I made thee galleys, transports, ships of war, with soldiers equipped with their arms on the Great Sea. I gave them captains of the bowmen, and captains of the galleys, provided with numerous crews without number, to bring the things of the land of Taha, and the hinder parts of the earth, to thy great treasuries.” There ye shall be sold — After the capture of Jerusalem, Titus sent many thousands of captive Jews to Egypt to be sold as slaves. — JOSEPHUS’S Jewish War, 11:9, 2. And no man shall buy you — The number would be so great that they would be comparatively worthless.