Deuteronomy · Chapter 34

V. 1. And Moses went up-When he knew the place of his death he chearfully mounted a steep hill to come to it. Those who are well acquainted with another world, are not afraid to leave this. When God’s servants are sent for out of the world, the summons runs go up and die! Unto Dan-To that city which after Moses’s death was called so.

Verse 1. And Moses went up] This chapter could not have been written by Moses. A man certainly cannot give an account of his own death and burial. We may therefore consider Moses’s words as ending with the conclusion of the preceding chapter, as what follows could not possibly have been written by himself. To suppose that he anticipated these circumstances, or that they were shown to him by an especial revelation, is departing far from propriety and necessity, and involving the subject in absurdity; for God gives no prophetic intimations but such as are absolutely necessary to be made; but there is no necessity here, for the Spirit which inspired the writer of the following book, would naturally communicate the matter that concludes this. I believe, therefore, that Deut. xxxiv., should constitute the first chapter of the book of Joshua.

On this subject the following note from an intelligent Jew cannot be unacceptable to the reader:—

“Most commentators are of opinion that Ezra was the author of the last chapter of Deuteronomy; some think it was Joshua, and others the seventy elders, immediately after the death of Moses; adding, that the book of Deuteronomy originally ended with the prophetic blessing upon the twelve tribes: ‘Happy art thou, O Israel! who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord,’ &c.; and that what now makes the last chapter of Deuteronomy was formerly the first of Joshua, but was removed from thence and joined to the former by way of supplement. This opinion will not appear unnatural if it be considered that sections and other divisions, as well as points and pauses, were invented long since these books were written; for in those early ages several books were connected together, and followed each other on the same roll. The beginning of one book might therefore be easily transferred to the end of another, and in process of time be considered as its real conclusion, as in the case of Deuteronomy, especially as this supplemental chapter contains an account of the last transactions and death of the great author of the Pentateuch.”-Alexander’s Heb. and Eng. Pentateuch. This seems to be a perfectly correct view of the subject. This chapter forms a very proper commencement to the book of Joshua, for of this last chapter of Deuteronomy the first chapter of Joshua is an evident continuation. If the subject be viewed in this light it will remove every appearance of absurdity and contradiction with which, on the common mode of interpretation, it stands sadly encumbered.

Verse 1. Moses went up — When he knew the place of his death, he cheerfully mounted the hill to come to it. Those who are well acquainted with another world, are not afraid to leave this. When God’s servants are sent for out of the world, the summons runs, “Go up and die!” From the plains of Moab — In which was their last station before they entered into Canaan, Numbers 33:48. To the top of Pisgah — Which appears to have been the highest top of these mountains. And from hence God enabled him to take a particular view of the several quarters of the land of Canaan. Unto Dan — To that city, which after Moses’s death was called so. The mention of Dan in this verse, and the account of Moses’s death and burial, and of some particulars after he had left the world, (verses 5-9,) show that this chapter was not written by Moses; but probably by Samuel, Ezra, or some other of the prophets who succeeded him.

Verse 1. Moses went up to the top of Pisgah. The Jews with general consent admit, that this chapter was written or copied into the text by Ezra, the ready scribe, a prophet and doctor of the Law.

DEATH AND BURIAL OF MOSES, 1-8.

Jehovah had said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die. Deuteronomy 31:14. Joshua was summoned to the tabernacle with Moses, and formally appointed his successor. The official life of the great leader and lawgiver closes. Another is to lead the people to their further victories; another is to cause them to possess the land. Moses completes the writing of the law and passes it to the Levites to be put within the ark of the covenant. Then the people assemble to hear the words of that matchless song of history, instruction, and warning, which forms so fitting a close to his ministry. On that same day Jehovah said to him, “Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto Mount Nebo,… and die in the mount.” Deuteronomy 32:49, 50. He gives his farewell to the tribes, closing with the blessing, “Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord!” Deuteronomy 33:29.

Moses leaves the camp, he ascends the mountain and looks over the goodly land which is to be the future home of his people. The writer of this supplementary chapter gives no details of the parting with the elders, with his successor, Joshua, nor with the people he had so long directed and so long loved. His farewell had been given in the blessing upon the tribes. Josephus, however, furnishes an account which does not seem improbable. “Amid the tears of the people, the women beating their breasts, and the children giving way to uncontrolled wailing, he withdrew. At a certain point in his ascent he made a sign to the weeping multitude to advance no further, taking with him only the elders, the high-priest, Eliezer, and the general, Joshua. At the top of the mountain he dismissed the elders, and then, as he was embracing Eliezer and Joshua, and still speaking to them, a cloud suddenly stood over him, and he vanished in a deep valley.”

1. The plains of Moab — That level tract north of the Dead Sea and east of the Jordan. Here the tribes were encamped preparing for the crossing of the Jordan and the conquest of the Promised Land. Unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah — Pisgah was a range of the mountain system east of the Dead Sea and Jordan; Nebo one of the summits of this range. Recent travelers have found the ruins of a place bearing the name Nebbeh. And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan — That is, the whole extent of the land east of the Jordan which Israel was to possess. Dan is not the place mentioned in Judges 18:29, but the Dan in the north of Perea, the place to which Abraham pursued the confederate kings. Genesis 14:14.

V. 2. All Naphtali-The land of Naphtali, which together with Dan, was in the north of Canaan, as Ephraim and Manasseh were in the midland parts, and Judah on the south, and the sea, on the west. So these parts lying in the several quarters are put for all the rest. He stood in the east and saw also Gilead, which was in the eastern part of the land, and thence he saw the north and south and west. The utmost sea-The midland sea, which was the utmost bound of the land of promise on the west.

Verses 2, 3. All Naphtali — The land of Naphtali, which, together with Dan, was in the north of Canaan, as Ephraim and Manasseh were in the midland parts, and Judah on the south, and the sea on the west. So these parts, lying in the several quarters, are put for all the rest. He stood in the east, and saw also Gilead, which was in the eastern part of the land, and thence he saw the north, and south, and west. The utmost sea — The midland sea, which was the utmost bound of the land of promise on the west. The south — The south quarter of the land of Judah, which is toward the salt sea. The city of palm-trees — Jericho, so called from the multitude of palm-trees which were in those parts, as Josephus and Strabo write. From whence, and the balm there growing, it was called Jericho, which signifies, odoriferous or sweet smelling.

2. And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah — The region west of the Jordan. The northern part in the time of Christ was called Galilee, the central part Samaria, and the southern Judea. Unto the utmost sea — To the western sea, the Mediterranean.

V. 3. The south-The south quarter of the land of Judah, which is towards the salt sea, the city of palm-trees-Jericho, so called from the multitude of palm-trees, which were in those parts, as Josephus and Strabo write. From whence and the balm there growing it was called Jericho, which signifies, odoriferous or sweet smelling.

Verses 2, 3. All Naphtali — The land of Naphtali, which, together with Dan, was in the north of Canaan, as Ephraim and Manasseh were in the midland parts, and Judah on the south, and the sea on the west. So these parts, lying in the several quarters, are put for all the rest. He stood in the east, and saw also Gilead, which was in the eastern part of the land, and thence he saw the north, and south, and west. The utmost sea — The midland sea, which was the utmost bound of the land of promise on the west. The south — The south quarter of the land of Judah, which is toward the salt sea. The city of palm-trees — Jericho, so called from the multitude of palm-trees which were in those parts, as Josephus and Strabo write. From whence, and the balm there growing, it was called Jericho, which signifies, odoriferous or sweet smelling.

3. And the south — Negeb, the South Country, was the land south of Canaan proper, toward the desert. And the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm-trees, unto Zoar — The district from Jericho to Zoar. Robinson thought Zoar was located on the eastern side of the Dead Sea, at the foot of the mountains near its southern end, (Biblical Researches, vol. ii, p. 649;) but in Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible, in the article “Zoar,” it is said, “It is highly probable that the Zoar of the Pentateuch was to the north of the Dead Sea, not far from its northern end, and in the general parallel of Jericho.” Tristram (Land of Moab, American edition, p. 343) thinks he has found its site in the modern Zi’ara, not far from what he thinks is the site of Nebo. The view of Moses was northward through Gilead along the east of the Sea of Galilee to the southern slopes of Lebanon. Then his eye turns westward toward the Mediterranean, southward through the whole length of the land west of Jordan, and finally rests upon the view immediately before him — “the circle of the plain of Jericho, the city of palm-trees, unto Zoar.”

V. 4. I have caused thee to see it-For tho’ his sight was good, yet he could not have seen all Canaan, an hundred and sixty miles in length, and fifty or sixty in breadth, if his sight had not been miraculously assisted and enlarged. He saw it at a distance. Such a sight the Old Testament believers had of the kingdom of the Messiah. And such a sight believers have now of the glory that shall he revealed. Such a sight have we now, of the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, which shall cover the earth. Those that come after us shall undoubtedly enter into that promised land: which is a comfort to us, when we find our own carcases falling in this wilderness.

Verse 4. I have caused thee to see it — For though his sight was good, yet he could not have seen all Canaan, a hundred and sixty miles in length, and fifty or sixty in breadth, if his sight had not been miraculously assisted and enlarged, He saw it at a distance. Such a sight the Old Testament believers had of the kingdom of the Messiah. And such a sight believers have now of the glory that shall be revealed. Such a sight have we now, of the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, which shall cover the earth. Those that come after us shall undoubtedly enter into that promised land; which is a comfort to us, when we find our own carcasses falling in this wilderness.

Ver. 4. This is the land. If Moses could see Dan Laish, and the utmost sea, the Mediterranean, he could clearly see Lebanon, for the border of Naphtali reached to the foot of that mountain; so he could at one commanding view, see nearly the whole of the promised land. Oh christian! May thine eyes see, and thine ears hear repeated those welcome words, “This is the land;” a better country than that which Moses saw.

4. This is the land which I sware unto Abraham — At the oak of Moreh, centuries before this, Jehovah had manifested himself to Abraham and said to him, “Unto thy seed will I give this land.” Genesis 12:7. I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes — Tristram (Land of Moab, American edition, p. 338) gives the following description of the view from the summit of Nebo: “Anxious to verify exactly the view of Moses, we paid three visits to Nebo; but we were not so fortunate as on my former visit, when for the first time Nebo was identified. On each occasion there was a haze from the heat which dimmed the distant features and outlines, producing a sort of mirage, which rendered it most difficult clearly to trace distant objects. Still, we had a clear distant view of western Palestine and the whole Judean range from far south of Hebron up to Galilee. We could see the west side of the Dead Sea from Engedi northward. Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Nebi-Samwil, (Mizpeh.) Ebal and Gerizim were very easily made out, and the opening of the vale of Shechem. Carmel could be recognised, but we were never able to make out the sea to the north of it; and though it is certainly possible that it might be seen from this elevation I could not satisfy myself that I saw more than the haze over the plain of Esdraelon. The rest of the view was like that from Muslubeiyah, only that a corner of the Hauran Mountains could be caught in a depression of the Gilead range. Hermon certainly could be made out in a clear atmosphere over the Jordan valley, the whole of which lay open as far as Kurn Surtabeh. After testing repeatedly every view in the neighbourhood I am perfectly satisfied that there is none which equals in extent that from Nebo — that is, from the flat ridge which rises slightly about half a mile behind the ruined city, and which I take to be ‘the true field of Zophim, the top of Pisgah.’” But thou shalt not go over thither — In Numbers xx it is related that when the people murmured for lack of water Jehovah directed Moses to take the rod with which the miracles in Egypt had been wrought, and with Aaron to call the people together to speak unto the rock before their eyes, and it would give forth water. The people assembled, Moses takes the rod as Jehovah commanded. He says to the people, “Hear now, ye rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock?” He did not obey to the letter the command of Jehovah, and he “spake unadvisedly with his lips.” Psalm 106:33. It was in reference to this incident that Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron, “Because ye believed me not to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.” Numbers 20:12.

V. 5. So Moses the servant of the Lord died-He is called the servant of the Lord, not only as a good man, (all such are his servants) but as a man eminently useful, who had served God’s counsels in bringing Israel out of Egypt, and leading them thro’ the wilderness. And it was more his honour, to be the servant of the Lord, than to be king in Jeshurun. Yet he dies. Neither his piety nor his usefulness would exempt him from the stroke of death. God’s servants must die, that they may rest from their labours, receive their recompense, and make room for others. But when they go hence, they go to serve him better, to serve him day and night in his temple. The Jews say, God sucked his soul out of his body with a kiss. No doubt he died in the embraces of his love.

Verse 5. So Moses-died-according to the word of the Lord.] hwhy yp l[ al pi Yehovah, at the mouth of Jehovah; i.e., by the especial command and authority of the Lord; but it is possible that what is here said refers only to the sentence of his exclusion from the promised land, when he offended at the waters of Meribah.

Verse 5. So Moses the servant of the Lord died — He is called the servant of the Lord, not only as a good man, (all such are his servants,) but as a man eminently useful, who had served God’s counsels in bringing Israel out of Egypt, and leading them through the wilderness. And it was more his honour to be the servant of the Lord, than to be king in Jeshurun. Yet he dies. Neither his piety nor his usefulness could exempt him from the stroke of death. God’s servants must die, that they may rest from their labours, receive their recompense, and make room for others. But when they go hence, they go to serve him better, to serve him day and night in his temple. The Jews say, God sucked his soul out of his body with a kiss. No doubt he died in the embraces of his love.

5. Moses the servant of the Lord — “Observe,” says one of the early Christian writers, “the dignity of this title, ‘the servant of the Lord.’” That man who is able to overcome all things is the servant of the Lord. No one can be called the servant of the Lord who does not conquer the world. This is the moral of the history of Moses, that the end and aim of all our actions is to be called the servant of the Lord. This is the consummation of all earthly existence. “When thou hast overcome thy ghostly enemies, thine Egyptians, thine Amalekites, Edom and Midian; when thou hast crossed the sea and been illumined by the cloud; when thou hast drunk waters sweetened by the wood, and gushing forth from the rock; when thou hast eaten bread from heaven; when thou hast gone up into Horeb by faith and talked with God in the darkness; when thou hast listened to the sound of the trumpet, learned the mysteries of the tabernacle and the dignity of the priesthood, and when thou hast hewn tables out of thine own heart on which God has written his law, and when thou hast broken in pieces the golden idol and foiled the art of Balaam — when thou hast been another Moses and drawest near thy end — then may it be thy great reward, the crowning of thy whole life, to be called in God’s Book, ‘the servant of the Lord.’” — GREGORY NYSSEN, (De Vita Mosis,) quoted by Wordsworth in Commentary on Deuteronomy. So Moses… died there in the land of Moab — Not in the land which Jehovah had promised to the fathers for their children. He has led the people to its border; he has looked over the goodly heritage. Below him in the plain lie the tents of Israel. The armed forces are soon to march for triumphal conquest, but the great leader dies in the land of Moab. According to the word of the Lord — Literally, at the mouth of Jehovah. Some of the rabbins interpret it, By a kiss of Jehovah. The Jerusalem Targum soberly and correctly explains it, according to the sentence of the decree of Jehovah. Moses died here, in the land of Moab, on the threshold of the great victories that were to give his people possession of the Promised Land, not because his vital energies had failed, not because he was worn out and exhausted by the cares of these long years of wandering, but because he sinned against Jehovah “at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin.” Comp. Deuteronomy 32:51.

V. 6. He-The Lord, buried him either immediately, or by the ministry of angels, whereof Michael was the chief or prince. Of his sepulchre-Of the particular place where he was buried: which God hid from the Israelites, to prevent their superstition and idolatry, to which he knew their great proneness. And for this very reason the devil endeavoured to have it known and contended with Michael about it, Jude 1:9. God takes care even of the dead bodies of his servants. As their death is precious, so is their dust. Not one grain of it shall be lost, but the covenant with it shall be remembered.

Verse 6. He buried him] It is probable that the reason why Moses was buried thus privately was, lest the Israelites, prone to idolatry, should pay him Divine honours; and God would not have the body of his faithful servant abused in this way. Almost all the gods of antiquity were defiled men, great lawgivers, eminent statesmen, or victorious generals. See the account of the life of Moses at the end of this chapter. See Clarke “Deuteronomy 34:10”.

Verse 6. And he — That is, the Lord, the immediate and only antecedent to the pronoun he; buried him — Using, no doubt, the ministry of angels for this purpose. Some, indeed, who are of opinion that there was nothing miraculous in his death or burial, propose rendering the words, He was buried, urging in defence of this interpretation, that active verbs in the Hebrew are often taken passively. This may be true; but still upon the very face of the narrative it evidently appears, that the manner both of his death and burial was miraculous. He died, it is said, according to the word of the Lord — Who commanded him to go up to the mount and die there, as soon as he had viewed the promised land, (Deuteronomy 32:49, 50,) and that at a time when his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated, (verse 7,) and when certainly he had no symptom of any disease or weakness about him. And if there was nothing miraculous in his burial; if the Lord did not bury him, but he was buried by some of the people, and if by some, no doubt by thousands and myriads, why is it said, nay, how could it with truth be said, as it is in the next clause, No man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day? Surely, the plain and obvious meaning of this is, not, as the same persons would interpret it. “That, when this was written, time, which brings all things to decay, had left no footsteps of Moses’s monument, or had worn out the remembrance of the place where his body was laid,” but that no man ever knew of his sepulchre, as well as that none knew of it then. And the reason which has generally been assigned for God’s concealing from the Israelites the place where he was interred, namely, to prevent their superstition and idolatry, must be thought sufficient by those who recollect how these Israelites burned incense, long after this, to the brazen serpent which Moses made, and would probably much more have paid some superstitious, if not religious honour to his body, or the relics thereof, if they could have been found. Nor is the interpretation that, with a reference hereto, has usually been put upon Jude 1:9, which speaks of Michael contending with the devil about the body of Moses, so unreasonable or unlikely, as some would insinuate. But of this when we come thither.

Ver. 6. No man knoweth of his sepulchre. The reason commonly assigned is, lest the Hebrews should be seduced to idolatry, which was much practised at the sepulchres of holy men. Jude affirms on tradition, that Satan contended about the body of Moses, to have his grave known, with a view to corrupt the people.

6. And he buried him — We understand the subject of the sentence to be Jehovah. It is true that although the verb is in the singular the passage might be rendered as it is in the Septuagint, (eqayan auton,) they buried him. Jehovah gave his servant this signal honour. The statement that follows, “But no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day,” would hardly be consistent with the idea that the people buried him. For in that case his grave must have been known. He whom Jehovah had known face to face was buried by him, not to keep the Israelites from superstitious reverence for his grave. Abraham’s sepulchre was known. Jacob had been brought up from Egypt with imposing pageant and buried. Joseph’s bones were then in camp on their way to the sepulchre. We nowhere read in the Hebrew records of any thing like idolatrous worship paid at any of the tombs of the patriarchs. The view of Kurtz is worth considering. He says, (History of the Old Covenant, vol. iii, p. 495:) “If Jehovah would not suffer the body of Moses to be buried by men, it is natural to seek for a reason in the fact that he did not intend to leave him to corruption, but at the very time of his burial communicated some virtue by his own hand which saved the body from corruption, and prepared for the patriarch a transition into the same state of existence into which Enoch and Elijah were admitted without either death or burial. On account of the one sin at the water of strife at Kadesh, Moses was sentenced by the ruthless severity of the justice of God to pass under the same ban of death as the whole generation of those who despised the covenant and promise.… In the sight of the people the leader and lawgiver of the nation was visited with a punishment which must have convinced them far more strongly of the unsparing character of the judicial severity of God than the most powerful admonition could possibly have done; but at the same time, though punished, he received honour in their sight, that they might see the sun of mercy bursting through the storm of the judgments of God. As an example of justice Jehovah caused him to die before the people entered the land of rest and promise; but as an example of grace he prepared for him an entrance into another, as yet unknown, land of promise and of rest.”

V. 7. His eye was not dim-By a miraculous work of God in mercy to his church and people.

Verse 7. His eye was not dim] Even at the advanced age of a hundred and twenty; nor his natural force abated-he was a young man even in old age, notwithstanding the unparalleled hardships he had gone through. See the account of his life at the end of this chapter.

Verse 7. Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died — But though he lived the full length of human life, and to an age which, in others that live up to it, is accompanied with many diseases and infirmities, yet this had made little or no alteration in him. By a miraculous work of God, in mercy to his church, and for the support of the great cause committed to him, it appears the full vigour of every faculty, both of body and mind, was preserved to him to his dying hour.

7. Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died — What an eventful life he has led since he lay “a weeping boy” in the ark by the river’s brink! Forty years pass, and he is in the prime of manhood, a prince taught in all the learning of the most cultured nation of remote antiquity. Then forty years he spends in the quiet pastoral life of Midian, and forty years in the varied experience of the wilderness wandering. Since he led the people out of Egypt a whole generation has passed away. Of those who crossed the Red Sea how many have left their bones in the desert! How few of those who heard the song of triumph, “I will sing unto Jehovah, for he hath triumphed gloriously,” (Exodus 15,) listened to the “blessing wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death!”

V. 8. Thirty day’s-Which was the usual time of mourning for persons of high place and eminency. ‘Tis a debt owing to the surviving honour of deceased worthies, to follow them with our tears, as those who loved and valued them, are sensible of the loss, and humbled for the sins which have provoked God to deprive us of them.

Verse 8. Thirty days — Which was the usual time of mourning for persons of high place and eminence. It is a debt owing to the surviving honour of deceased worthies, to follow them with our tears, as those who loved and valued them, are sensible of the loss of them, and humbled for the sins which have provoked God to deprive us of them.

8. The children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days — So “they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.” Numbers 20:29.

JOSHUA THE NEW LEADER — THE GREATNESS OF MOSES, 9-12.

Joshua (in the Greek, ‘Ihsouv, Jesus) now takes the place of Moses. His name first appears in Exodus 17:9, as leader of the forces of Israel against Amalek at Rephidim. When Moses ascended Sinai the first time to receive the two tables of the law Joshua accompanied him part of the way, and was the first to meet him when he came down from the mountain. Comp. Exodus 24:13; 33:11; and 32:17. He was one of the twelve sent to explore the Promised Land, and one of the two who brought back a favourable report. After it had been announced to Moses that he was not to lead the people into their promised possession, but was to die on the borders of the land, he prayed to Jehovah to promote a successor. He was directed to invest Joshua with authority. Numbers 27:18. In chap. 31:7, 8, Moses gives him a brief and impressive charge. The great leader and lawgiver had in Joshua a worthy successor.

V. 9. Wisdom-And other gifts and graces too, but wisdom is mentioned as being most necessary for the government to which he was now called. Upon him-And this was the thing which Moses at that time asked of God for him.

Verse 9. Laid his hands upon him] See on Numbers 27:18-23.

Verse 9. Joshua was full of the Spirit of wisdom — And other gifts and graces also, but wisdom is mentioned as being most necessary for the government to which he was now called. For Moses had laid his hands upon him — Whereby he committed to him the supreme authority after his departure, and implored the gifts of the Divine Spirit, to qualify him for it. In like manner the laying on of hands, as a sign of dedicating persons to offices, was accompanied with prayer in the times of the apostles, Acts 6:6; 1 Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy 1:6. And the children of Israel hearkened unto him — That is, they submitted themselves respectfully to Joshua, as to the supreme governor, whom God had appointed them instead, and by the hands of Moses.

V. 10. Whom the Lord-Whom God did so freely and familiarly converse with.

Verse 10. There arose not a prophet, &c.] Among all the succeeding prophets none was found so eminent in all respects nor so highly privileged as Moses; with him God spoke face to face-admitted him to the closest familiarity and greatest friendship with himself. Now all this continued true till the advent of Jesus Christ, of whom Moses said, “A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you from among your brethren, like unto me;” but how great was this person when compared with Moses! Moses desired to see God’s glory; this sight he could not bear; he saw his back parts, probably meaning God’s design relative to the latter days: but Jesus, the Almighty Saviour, in whom dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, who lay in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared God to man. Wondrous system of legal ordinances that pointed out and typified all these things! And more wonderful system of Gospel salvation, which is the body, soul, life, energy, and full accomplishment of all that was written in the LAW, in the PROPHETS, and in the PSALMS, concerning the sufferings and death of Jesus, and the redemption of a ruined world “by his agony and bloody sweat, by his cross and passion, by his death and burial, by his glorious resurrection and ascension, and by the coming of the Holy Ghost!” Thus ends the PENTATEUCH, commonly called the LAW of MOSES, a work every way worthy of God its author, and only less than the NEW COVENANT, the law and Gospel of our Lord and Saviour JESUS CHRIST. Now to the ever blessed and glorious TRINITY, FATHER, WORD, and SPIRIT, the infinite and eternal ONE, from whom alone wisdom, truth, and goodness can proceed, be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. MASORETIC Notes on DEUTERONOMY

The number of verses in ELLAH HADDEBARIM, Deuteronomy, is 955; the symbol of which is xnj in which word x tsade stands for 900, n nun for 50, and j cheth for 5.

The middle verse is Deuteronomy 17:10. And thou shalt observe to do all that they command thee.

Its Pareshioth or larger sections are 11, the numerical symbol of which is gj chag; Psalm 118:27: Bind the SACRIFICE with cords to the horns of the altar. In which word j cheth stands for 8, and g gimel for 3. Its Sedarim or smaller sections are 27, the symbolical sign of which is dygy yaggid; Proverbs 12:17: He that speaketh truth, SHOWETH FORTH righteousness. In which word the two y y yods stand for 20, d daleth for 4, and g gimel for 3.

Its Perakim or modern chapters are 34, the symbol of which is bbl lebab; Psalm 111:1. I will praise the Lord with my whole HEART. In which word the two b b beths stand for 4, and the l lamed for 30. The number of open sections is 34, of its close sections 124, total 158; the symbol of which is ינחילם yanchilem, 148, and dw-bk cab-od, 10, 1 Samuel 2:8: To make them to INHERIT the throne of his GLORY. The numerical letters of the word ינחילם yanchilem, 148, with dw od, 10, taken from dwbk cabod, make 158, the total of its open and close sections.

The number of verses in the whole Pentateuch is 5845, the memorial symbol of which is hmjh hachammah, Isaiah 30:26: Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of THE SUN. In which word, the letters taken in their proper order make the sum, hkmh. “5845” The middle verse of the Law is Leviticus 8:8: And he put the breastplate upon him, and he put in the breastplate the URIM and the THUMMIM.

The number of OPEN sections in the whole Law is 290, the symbol of which is yrp peri; (Cant.) Song of Solomon 4:16: Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his precious FRUITS. The number of its CLOSE sections is 379, the symbol of which occurs in the word בשבעה bishbuah; Numbers 30:10: Or bound her soul with a bond BY AN OATH.

Total number of all the open and close sections, 669, the memorial symbol of which is rsjt al lo techsar; Deuteronomy 8:9: THOU SHALT NOT LACK any thing in it.

SECTIONS of the Book of Deuteronomy, carried on from Numbers, which ends with the FORTY-THIRD.

The FORTY-FOURTH, called דברים debarim, begins Deuteronomy 1:1, and ends Deuteronomy 3:22.

The FORTY-FIFTH, called ואתחנן vaethchannen, begins Deuteronomy 3:23, and ends Deuteronomy 7:11.

The FORTY-SIXTH, called bq[ ekeb, begins Deuteronomy 7:12, and ends Deuteronomy 11:25.

The FORTY-SEVENTH, called har reeh, begins Deuteronomy 11:26, and ends Deuteronomy 16:17.

The FORTY-EIGHTH, called µycpv shophetim, begins Deuteronomy 16:18, and ends Deuteronomy 21:9.

The FORTY-NINTH, called axt tetse, begins Deuteronomy 21:10, and ends Deuteronomy 25:19.

The FIFTIETH, called awbt tabo, begins Deuteronomy 26:1, and ends Deuteronomy 29:8.

The FIFTY-FIRST, called µybxn nitstsabim, begins Deuteronomy 29:9, and ends Deuteronomy 30:20.

The FIFTY-SECOND, called Ëlyw vaiyelech, begins Deuteronomy 31:1, and ends Deuteronomy 31:30.

The FIFTY-THIRD, called wnyzah haazinu, begins Deuteronomy 32:1, and ends Deuteronomy 32:51.

The FIFTY-FOURTH, called hkrbh tazw vezoth habberachah, begins Deuteronomy 33:1, and ends Deuteronomy 34:12. See Ancillary Data for

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE FIVE BOOKS OF MOSES

Verse 10. There arose not a prophet since — like unto Moses — And yet it is said (Deuteronomy 18:15) that God would raise up a prophet, from the midst of Israel, like unto Moses. Whence it follows, that this promise was not fulfilled either in Joshua or Samuel, and the best of the Jews confess, that it should not be fulfilled till the Messiah came. From these words it plainly appears that this chapter, at least this verse, could not have been written till long after Moses’s death, when a great number of prophets had been known in Israel. Whom the Lord knew face to face — Whom God did so freely and familiarly converse with. This was the pre-eminence of Moses above all the prophets, that he enjoyed a nearer and more familiar intercourse with God than any of them did. See on Numbers 12:8.

Ver. 10. There arose not a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. For this reason Maimonides, after the elder rabbins, calls him the prince of prophets. They had visions and revelations; Moses had open visions. His work was great, and grace was equal to his day.

10. And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses — When the writer of this supplementary chapter wrote, no such prophet had arisen, no one like unto Moses, whom Jehovah knew face to face; no one who wrought such mighty miracles. Prophet after prophet did appear in the nation’s history in great emergencies, and through them Jehovah spake to the people; and in the fulness of time Jesus of Nazareth came, who, like Moses, was “mighty in deed and word before God and all the people.” Luke 24:19. Yet not like Moses, faithful in the house of God as a servant, but as a son, (Hebrews 3:5, 6,) and in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and all the fulness of the Godhead, (Colossians 2:3, 4;) who is “worthy to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.” Revelation 5:12. THE END.

Verses 11, 12. In all the signs, &c. — In these also Moses excelled all the prophets, doing more miracles than any, yea, than all that succeeded him. But the prophet whom God raised up like unto Moses in the latter days, not only equalled, but exceeded him in this, as well as in every other respect. Which Moses showed in the sight of all Israel — Moses wrought all his miracles publicly, the whole congregation being witnesses of them. But Moses was greater than any of the prophets of the Old Testament in another most important respect. By him God gave the law, and moulded and formed the Jewish Church; whereas, by the other prophets he only sent particular reproofs, directions, and predictions. But as far as the other prophets came short of him, our Lord Jesus went beyond him. Moses was faithful as a servant, but Christ as a son: Christ’s miracles were more illustrious, his communion with the Father more intimate: for he was in his bosom from eternity. Moses lies buried: but Christ is “sitting at the right hand of God.” and “of the increase of his government there shall be no end.” And thus, with the death of this eminent prophet and lawgiver, endeth the Pentateuch, containing the sacred history of the world, and of the Abrahamic family in particular, for the first two thousand five hundred and fifty-three years, namely, from the creation to the arrival of the Israelites in the land of Canaan.

V. 12. Moses was greater than any other of the prophets of the Old Testament. By Moses God gave the law, and moulded and formed the Jewish church. By the other prophets he only sent particular reproofs, directions and predictions. But as far as the other prophets came short of him, our Lord Jesus went beyond him. Moses was faithful as a servant, but Christ as a son: his miracles more illustrious, his communion with the father more intimate: for he is in his bosom from eternity. Moses lies buried: but Christ is sitting at the right-hand of God, and of the increase of his government there shall be no end.

Verses 11, 12. In all the signs, &c. — In these also Moses excelled all the prophets, doing more miracles than any, yea, than all that succeeded him. But the prophet whom God raised up like unto Moses in the latter days, not only equalled, but exceeded him in this, as well as in every other respect. Which Moses showed in the sight of all Israel — Moses wrought all his miracles publicly, the whole congregation being witnesses of them. But Moses was greater than any of the prophets of the Old Testament in another most important respect. By him God gave the law, and moulded and formed the Jewish Church; whereas, by the other prophets he only sent particular reproofs, directions, and predictions. But as far as the other prophets came short of him, our Lord Jesus went beyond him. Moses was faithful as a servant, but Christ as a son: Christ’s miracles were more illustrious, his communion with the Father more intimate: for he was in his bosom from eternity. Moses lies buried: but Christ is “sitting at the right hand of God.” and “of the increase of his government there shall be no end.” And thus, with the death of this eminent prophet and lawgiver, endeth the Pentateuch, containing the sacred history of the world, and of the Abrahamic family in particular, for the first two thousand five hundred and fifty-three years, namely, from the creation to the arrival of the Israelites in the land of Canaan.