Exodus · Chapter 23

V. 1. Thou shalt not raise, the margin reads, Thou shalt not receive a false report, for sometimes the receiver in this case is as bad as the thief; and a backbiting tongue would not do so much mischief, if it were not countenanced. Sometimes we cannot avoid hearing a false report, but we must not receive it, we must not hear it with pleasure, nor easily give credit to it.

Verse 1. Thou shalt not raise a false report] Acting contrary to this precept is a sin against the ninth commandment. And the inventor and receiver of false and slanderous reports, are almost equally criminal. The word seems to refer to either, and our translators have very properly retained both senses, putting raise in the text, and receive in the margin. The original act al lo tissa has been translated, thou shalt not publish. Were there no publishers of slander and calumny, there would be no receivers; and were there none to receive them, there would be none to raise them; and were there no raisers, receivers, nor propagators of calumny, lies, &c., society would be in peace.

Verse 1. Thou shalt not raise — Or, receive, as the margin reads it, and as the Hebrew act, tissa, also signifies, or, give credit to a false report. Sometimes the receiver, in this case, is as bad as the thief: and a backbiting tongue would not do so much mischief if it were not countenanced. Sometimes we cannot avoid hearing a false report, but we must not receive it, we must not hear it with pleasure, nor easily give credit to it.

Verse 1. Put not thine hand with the wicked, do not conspire or agree with them.

1. Raise a false report — This law guards against slander, and all circulating of slanderous utterances. It is supplemented by the admonition of verse 7, and is comprehended in the ninth commandment, (Exodus 20:16,) where see note.

V. 2. Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil-General usage will never excuse us in any ill practice; nor is the broad way ever the safer for its being crowded. We must inquire what we ought to do, not what the most do; because we must be judged by our master, not our fellow servants; and it is too great a compliment, to be willing to go to hell for company.

Verse 2. Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil] Be singular. Singularity, if in the right, can never be criminal. So completely disgraceful is the way of sin, that if there were not a multitude walking in that way, who help to keep each other in countenance, every solitary sinner would be obliged to hide his head. But רבים rabbim, which we translate multitude, sometimes signifies the great, chiefs, or mighty ones; and is so understood by some eminent critics in this place: “Thou shalt not follow the example of the great or rich, who may so far disgrace their own character as to live without God in the world, and trample under foot his laws.” It is supposed that these directions refer principally to matters which come under the eye of the civil magistrate; as if he had said, “Do not join with great men in condemning an innocent or righteous person, against whom they have conceived a prejudice on the account of his religion,” &c.

Verse 2. Thou shalt not follow a multitude — Either their counsel or their example; to do evil — General usage will never excuse us in any ill practice; nor is the broad way ever the safer for its being crowded. We must inquire what we ought to do, not what the most do; because we must be judged by our Master, not our fellow-servants; and it is too great a compliment to be willing to go to hell for company. Neither shalt thou speak in a cause — Either to extenuate or excuse a great fault, aggravate a small one, vindicate an offender, charge guilt on an innocent person, put false glosses, or sinister interpretations upon things, or do any thing tending to procure an unjust sentence; to decline after many — Either the friends of the party, the judges, the witnesses, or the opinions of the vulgar. The word µybr, rabbim, in this verse rendered multitude and many, signifying also great men, some prefer the following translation of the verse, Thou shalt not follow great men to do evil — neither shalt thou speak (Hebrew, answer) in a cause to decline after great men. This is a very important sense of the words: because the example of great men, of men of power, wealth, and authority, has great influence.

2. Speak in a cause — Literally, answer in a controversy (suit at law) to turn away after many, to pervert. This law, like that of the preceding and the following verse is mainly directed against giving false testimony in judicial proceedings, and so perverting justice and truth.

Verse 3. Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.] The word ld dal, which we translate poor man, is probably put here in opposition to רבים rabbim, the great, or noble men, in the preceding verse: if so, the meaning is, Thou shalt neither be influenced by the great to make an unrighteous decision, nor by the poverty or distress of the poor to give thy voice against the dictates of justice and truth. Hence the ancient maxim, FIAT JUSTITIA, RUAT CŒLUM. “Let justice be done, though the heavens should be dissolved.”

Verse 3. Neither shalt thou countenance — Hebrew, honour or favour; a poor man in his cause. Thus we are properly cautioned against an opposite error which we may be also in danger of falling into, that of respecting the poor man’s cause, out of pity and compassion, when the cause of the richer man is more just. For however great the compassion of God may be for the poor, and how much soever he may recommend them to our care and protection, he would not have our tenderness for them carry us to countenance them unjustly, or give a wrong judgment for their sakes. The meaning of this and the former verse is, that there must be no respect of persons, whether rich or poor, but an impartial consideration of the cause.

Ver. 3. Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man. The meaning of this and the former verse is,—there shall be no respect of persons whether rich or poor, but an impartial consideration of the cause.

Verse 4. If thou meet thine enemy’s ox-going astray] From the humane and heavenly maxim in this and the following verse, our blessed Lord has formed the following precept: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you;” Matthew 5:44. A precept so plain, wise, benevolent, and useful, can receive no other comment than that which its influence on the heart of a kind and merciful man produces in his life.

Verse 4. Thou shalt surely bring it back to him — So far shalt thou be from revenging his injuries, that thou shalt render good to him for them, whereby if thou dost not reconcile him, thou wilt at least procure peace to thyself, and an honour to religion.

Ver. 4. If thou meet thine enemy’s ox. So far shalt thou be from revenging his injuries, that thou shalt render good to him for them. By doing this a man conquers enmity and gains his neighbour.

4, 5. Enemy’s ox… bring it back — This statute embodies the essence of our Lord’s command to “do good to them that hate you,” (Matthew 5:44,) and furnishes a most admirable illustration of it.

Verse 5. And wouldest forbear to help him — The duty inculcated in this verse is inculcated also Deuteronomy 22:4, although not in the same words in the original. And the intention of both verses is plain, but the marginal reading here shows that there is some difficulty in the Hebrew text in this place. The precept, however, evidently means, whatever controversy thou hast with him that hates thee, it shall not hinder thee from succouring him or his in any distress.

4, 5. Enemy’s ox… bring it back — This statute embodies the essence of our Lord’s command to “do good to them that hate you,” (Matthew 5:44,) and furnishes a most admirable illustration of it.

Verse 6. Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor] Thou shalt neither countenance him in his crimes, nor condemn him in his righteousness. See Exodus 23:5, 7.

Verse 6. Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor — As a judge should beware, lest through motives of compassion, or an affectation of popularity, he be biassed in favour of the poor; so, on the other hand, he must not despise a man because he is poor and without friends: he must not take advantage of his poverty to misrepresent his cause, to refuse to give him an impartial hearing, to strain a point of equity to his prejudice, or pass sentence wrongfully against him. The words thy poor, are emphatical, importing that they were members of their body, though poor.

V. 7. Keep thee far from a false matter-From assisting or abetting an ill thing. Yea, keep thee far from it, dread it as a dangerous snare. I will not justify the wicked-That is, I will condemn him that unjustly condemns others.

Verse 7. Keep thee far from a false matter — From assisting or abetting all ill thing. Yea, keep thee far from it, dread it as a dangerous snare. I will not justify the wicked — That is, I will condemn him that unjustly condemns others.

7. Righteous slay thou not — By false testimony against them. If an innocent and righteous man is convicted and suffers the death penalty on account of the testimony of a lying witness, that witness is guilty of his death.

Verse 8. Thou shalt take no gift] A strong ordinance against selling justice, which has been the disgrace and ruin of every state where it has been practised. In the excellent charter of British liberties called Magna Charta, there is one article expressly on this head: Nulli vendemus, nulli negabimus aut differemus, rectum aut justitiam.-Art. xxxiii. “To none will we sell, to none will we deny or defer, right or justice.” This was the more necessary in those early and corrupt times, as he who had most money, and gave the largest presents (called then oblata) to the king or queen, was sure to gain his cause in the king’s court; whether he had right and justice on his side or not.

Verse 8. Thou shalt take no gift — From those whose causes are depending before thee; because, if thou dost not sell justice for it, thou wilt both seem and be tempted to do so. The gift blindeth the wise — Bribes and interest cast a mist before the eyes, and bias the judgment and affections even of those who are otherwise wise and discerning. Besides, a habit of taking bribes will, in time, quite extinguish the light of reason, and destroy the sense of right and wrong. See Ecclesiastes 7:7. And perverteth the words of the righteous — The words or sentence of those who would otherwise be righteous: or perverteth the cause of the righteous, and all he can say in his own defence, and and procures a wrong sentence to be given against him.

Ver. 8. The wise, or the open-eyed and quick-sighted.—The righteous. The judgment of the righteous judge, that is, of them who were before such, and are inclined to be so, and probably would be so, were they not tempted with bribes. Or thus, the matters or causes of the righteous, which may be understood not of the judges, but of the parties pleading, whose righteous cause is by this means perverted by the judge, and a wrong sentence given.

8. Take no gift — That is, as a bribe. The marginal references show how repeatedly this sin is condemned in the Scriptures.

V. 9. Thou shalt not oppress the stranger-Though aliens might not inherit lands among them; yet they must have justice done them. It was an instance of the equity of our law, that if an alien be tried for any crime except treason, the one half of his jury, if he desire it, shall be foreigners; a kind provision that strangers may not be oppressed. For ye know the heart of a stranger-You know something of the griefs and fears of a stranger by sad experience.

Verse 9. Ye know the heart of a stranger] Having been strangers yourselves, under severe, long continued, and cruel oppression, ye know the fears, cares, anxieties, and dismal forebodings which the heart of a stranger feels. What a forcible appeal to humanity and compassion!

Verse 9. Thou shalt not oppress the stranger — Though aliens might not inherit lands among them; yet, they must have justice done them. It is an instance of the equity of our law, that if an alien be tried for any crime, except treason, the one half of his jury, if he desire it, shall be foreigners; a kind provision that strangers may not be oppressed. For ye know the heart of a stranger — That is, ye know by experience what a distressed, friendless condition that of a stranger is. The disposition, dejection, and distress of his heart, make him an object of pity, not of malice or injustice. Ye know his heart is easily depressed, and very unable to bear repulses. There is a great beauty in the expression.

9. Not oppress a stranger — This command is repeated from Exodus 22:21, with some addition, and shows that the foreigner was entitled to protection from judicial wrongs as well as other forms of oppression. Israel should not forget how the heart of a stranger feels.

V. 10. The institution of the sabbatical year was designed, 1. To shew what a plentiful land that was, into which God was bringing them, that so numerous a people could have rich maintenance out of the products of so small a country, without foreign trade, and yet could spare the increase of every seventh year. 2. To teach them a confidence in the Divine Providence, while they did their duty, That as the sixth day’s manna served for two days meat, so the sixth year’s increase should serve for two years subsistence.

Verses 10, 11. The institution of the sabbatical year was designed, 1st, To show what a plentiful land that was into which God was bringing them, that so numerous a people could have rich maintenance out of the products of so small a country, without foreign trade, and yet could spare the increase of every seventh year. 2d, To teach them confidence in his care and bounty while they did their duty; that as the sixth day’s manna served for two days’ meat, so the sixth year’s increase should serve for two years’ subsistence. 3d, Thus he would try and secure their obedience, keep them in dependance upon himself, and give to them and all their neighbours a manifest proof of his singular and gracious providence over them. 4th, By this kind of quit rent they were likewise admonished that God alone was the Lord of the land, and that they were only tenants at his will. And being thus freed from their great labours in cultivating the ground, in manuring, ploughing, sowing, weeding, reaping, they were the more at leisure to meditate on God’s works, and to acquaint themselves with his will. 5th, Another reason also is given here, That the poor of thy land may eat. God gave a special blessing to the sixth year, whereby it brought forth the fruit of three years; and in years of so great plenty, men are generally more negligent in their reaping, and therefore, the relics are more. So that in this appointment God had in view a more comfortable provision for the poor. It was likewise a curb to avarice, and habituated them to the exercise of humanity to their slaves, and even beasts. In like manner with thy vineyard and olive-yard — Thou shalt not prune nor dress them, nor gather and appropriate to thy own use what they shall produce, but shalt leave them to the poor.

Verse 11. The seventh year thou shalt let it rest] As, every seventh day was a Sabbath day, so every seventh year was to be a Sabbath year. The reasons for this ordinance Calmet gives thus:-

“1. To maintain as far as possible an equality of condition among the people, in setting the slaves at liberty, and in permitting all, as children of one family, to have the free and indiscriminate use of whatever the earth produced.

“2. To inspire the people with sentiments of humanity, by making it their duty to give rest, and proper and sufficient nourishment, to the poor, the slave, and the stranger, and even to the cattle. “3. To accustom the people to submit to and depend on the Divine providence, and expect their support from that in the seventh year, by an extraordinary provision on the sixth.

“4. To detach their affections from earthly and perishable things, and to make them disinterested and heavenly-minded.

“5. To show them God’s dominion over the country, and that HE, not they, was lord of the soil and that they held it merely from his bounty.” See this ordinance at length, Lev. 25.

That God intended to teach them the doctrine of providence by this ordinance, there can be no doubt; and this is marked very distinctly, Leviticus 25:20,21: “And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years.” That is, There shall be, not three crops in one year, but one crop equal in its abundance to three, because it must supply the wants of three years. 1. For the sixth year, supplying fruit for its own consumption; 2. For the seventh year, in which they were neither to sow nor reap; and 3. For the eighth year, for though they ploughed, sowed, &c., that year, yet a whole course of its seasons was requisite to bring all these fruits to perfection, so that they could not have the fruits of the eighth year till the ninth, (see Leviticus 25:22,) till which time God promised that they should eat of the old store. What an astonishing proof did this give of the being, power, providence, mercy, and goodness of God! Could there be an infidel in such a land, or a sinner against God and his own soul, with such proofs before his eyes of God and his attributes as one sabbatical year afforded?

It is very remarkable that the observance of this ordinance is nowhere expressly mentioned in the sacred writings; though some suppose, but without sufficient reason, that there is a reference to it in Jeremiah 34:8, 9. Perhaps the major part of the people could not trust God, and therefore continued to sow and reap on the seventh year, as on the preceding. This greatly displeased the Lord, and therefore he sent them into captivity; so that the land enjoyed those Sabbaths, through lack of inhabitants, of which their ungodliness had deprived it. See Leviticus 18:24, 25, 28; 26:34, 35, 43; 2 Chronicles 36:20, 21. Commentators have been much puzzled to ascertain the time in which the sabbatical year began; because, if it began in Abib or March, they must have lost two harvests; for they could neither reap nor plant that year, and of course they could have no crop the year following; but if it began with what was called the civil year, or in Tisri or Marcheshvan, which answers to the beginning of our autumn, they would then have had that year’s produce reaped and gathered in.

Verses 10, 11. The institution of the sabbatical year was designed, 1st, To show what a plentiful land that was into which God was bringing them, that so numerous a people could have rich maintenance out of the products of so small a country, without foreign trade, and yet could spare the increase of every seventh year. 2d, To teach them confidence in his care and bounty while they did their duty; that as the sixth day’s manna served for two days’ meat, so the sixth year’s increase should serve for two years’ subsistence. 3d, Thus he would try and secure their obedience, keep them in dependance upon himself, and give to them and all their neighbours a manifest proof of his singular and gracious providence over them. 4th, By this kind of quit rent they were likewise admonished that God alone was the Lord of the land, and that they were only tenants at his will. And being thus freed from their great labours in cultivating the ground, in manuring, ploughing, sowing, weeding, reaping, they were the more at leisure to meditate on God’s works, and to acquaint themselves with his will. 5th, Another reason also is given here, That the poor of thy land may eat. God gave a special blessing to the sixth year, whereby it brought forth the fruit of three years; and in years of so great plenty, men are generally more negligent in their reaping, and therefore, the relics are more. So that in this appointment God had in view a more comfortable provision for the poor. It was likewise a curb to avarice, and habituated them to the exercise of humanity to their slaves, and even beasts. In like manner with thy vineyard and olive-yard — Thou shalt not prune nor dress them, nor gather and appropriate to thy own use what they shall produce, but shalt leave them to the poor.

Ver. 11. That the poor—may eat, that which groweth spontaneously.

11. The seventh year… rest — This provision for a sabbatic year is one of the most remarkable enactments of the Mosaic legislation, but we have no evidence that it was ever observed by the nation. It is repeated in fuller form in Leviticus 25:1-7, and is there associated with the law for the fiftieth year jubilee. The far-reaching and ennobling influences upon a people of the faithful observance of this law must needs be very great. It would (1.) teach that the land was God’s rather than the people’s. (2.) It would afford a rest to the soil, which would be materially helped by remaining fallow one year in seven. (3.) Inasmuch as it has been repeatedly proven that a man will do more and better work by resting one day in seven, it is at least presumable that, by proper care in cultivation, and one year’s rest in seven, the soil will yield as much or more than when no sabbatic year is observed. (4.) It would help to bring all classes of the people into closer sympathy, and remove some of the incitements to anarchical socialism. (5.) It would tend to cultivate the best sentiments of humanity and regard, alike for man and beast. (6.) It would afford extraordinary advantages for mental and moral culture. (7.) It would beget a most beautiful confidence in the providence of God. No people’s faith in God, not even ancient Israel’s, seems ever to have been sufficient to attempt the observance of this law. Hence the judgment of seventy years’ exile and desolation, “until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths.” 2 Chronicles 36:21. Even the resolution to observe the seventh year, after the exile, (Nehemiah 10:31,) does not appear to have been kept. Here is a decisive argument against critics who dispute the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch on the ground that the laws therein recorded were not observed before the exile. We have no historical evidence that this law was ever observed. Rest and lie still — The parallel passage in Leviticus 25:4, shows that this was intended to stop all sowing and cultivation for the year; not, as some have supposed, that the tilling should go on as usual, but the crops be left to the poor. The thought, rather, is, that the poor of thy people may be allowed free appropriation of such products as grew without sowing and cultivation. No land-owner should that year claim the natural products of the soil for himself.

Verse 12. Six days thou shalt do thy work] Though they were thus bound to keep the sabbatical year, yet they must not neglect the seventh day’s rest or weekly Sabbath; for that was of perpetual obligation, and was paramount to all others. That the sanctification of the Sabbath was of great consequence in the sight of God, we may learn from the various repetitions of this law; and we may observe that it has still for its object, not only the benefit of the soul, but the health and comfort of the body also. Doth God care for oxen? Yes; and he mentions them with tenderness, that thine ox and thine ass may rest. How criminal to employ the labouring cattle on the Sabbath, as well as upon the other days of the week! More cattle are destroyed in England than in any other part of the world, in proportion, by excessive and continued labour. The noble horse in general has no Sabbath! Does God look on this with an indifferent eye? Surely he does not. “England,” said a foreigner, “is the paradise of women, the purgatory of servants, and the hell of horses.

The son of thy handmaid, and the stranger-be refreshed.] vpny yinnaphesh may be respirited or new-souled; have a complete renewal both of bodily and spiritual strength. The expression used by Moses here is very like that used by St. Paul, Acts 3:19: “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing (kairoi anayuxewv, the times of re-souling) shall come from the presence of the Lord;” alluding, probably, to those times of refreshing and rest for body and soul originally instituted under the law.

Verse 12. The seventh day thou shalt rest — This command is here repeated lest any should think the weekly rest might cease when the whole year was consecrated to rest. There were three sorts of sabbaths to the Jews, 1st, Of days: 2d, Of years, namely, the seventh year: 3d, Of weeks of years, namely, the jubilee. And all these are types of the eternal rest in heaven, where pain and sorrow shall never enter.

Ver. 12. On the seventh day thou shalt rest. This command is here repeated, lest any should think the weekly rest might cease when the whole year was consecrated to rest.

12. The seventh day — See note on Exodus 20:8.

V. 13. In all things that I have said unto you be circumspect-We are in danger of missing our way on the right hand and on the left, and it is at our peril if we do, therefore we have need to look about us. A man may ruin himself through mere carelessness, but he cannot save himself without great care and circumspection; particularly since idolatry was a sin they were much addicted to, and would be greatly tempted to, they must endeavour to blot out the remembrance of the gods of the heathen, and must disuse all their superstitious forms of speech, and never mention them but with detestation. In Christian schools and academies (for it is in vain to think of re-forming the play-houses) it were to be wished that the names and stories of the heathen deities or demons rather were not so commonly and familiarly used.

Verse 13. In all things be circumspect — We are in danger of missing our way on the right hand and on the left, and it is at our peril if we do, therefore we have need to look about us. A man may ruin himself through mere carelessness, but he cannot save himself without great care and circumspection. Particularly since idolatry was a sin they were much addicted to, and would be greatly tempted to, they must endeavour to blot out the remembrance of the gods of the heathen, and must disuse all their superstitious forms of speech, and never mention them but with detestation. In Christian schools and academies, (for it is in vain to think of reforming the play-houses,) it were to be wished that the names and stories of the heathen deities, or demons rather, were not so commonly and familiarly used.

Ver. 13. Make no mention of the name of other gods; that is, with honour or delight, or without detestation.

13. No mention of the name of other gods — “In order to eradicate idolatry, with all its far-spreading roots, the idols shall not only be banished from the hearts, but also from the lips; they should not even be alluded to or mentioned, much less worshipped. And as it was forbidden to use the name of God falsely or disrespectfully, (Exodus 20:7; 22:28,) thus the heathen deities should entirely disappear from the language.” — Kalisch.

V. 14. The Passover, Pentecost, and feast of Tabernacles, in spring, summer, and autumn, were the three times appointed for their attendance; not in winter, because travelling was then uncomfortable; nor in the midst of their harvest.

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

1. The feast of the Passover was celebrated to keep in remembrance the wonderful deliverance of the Hebrews from Egypt. 2. The feast of Pentecost, called also the feast of harvest and the feast of weeks, Exodus 34:22, was celebrated fifty days after the Passover to commemorate the giving of the law on Mount Sinai, which took place fifty days after, and hence called by the Greeks Pentecost. 3. The feast of Tabernacles, called also the feast of the ingathering, was celebrated about the 15th of the month Tisri to commemorate the Israelites’ dwelling in tents for forty years, during their stay in the wilderness. See Clarke on “Leviticus 23:34”.

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

Besides the feasts mentioned above, the Jews had,

1. The feast of the Sabbath, which was a weekly feast.

2. The feast of the Sabbatical Year, which was a septennial feast.

3. The feast of Trumpets, which was celebrated on the first day of what was called their civil year, which was ushered in by the blowing of a trumpet; Leviticus 23:24, &c.

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

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

6. The feast of Lots or Purim, to commemorate the preservation of the Jews from the general massacre projected by Haman. See the book of Esther.

7. The feast of the Dedication, or rather the Restoration of the temple, which had been profaned by Antiochus Epiphanes. This was also called the feast of Lights.

Besides these, the Jews have had several other feasts, such as the feast of Branches, to commemorate the taking of Jericho.

The feast of Collections, on the 10th of September, on which they make contributions for the service of the temple and synagogue. The feast for the death of Nicanor. 1Mac 7:48, &c.

The feast for the discovery of the sacred fire, 2Mac 1:18, &c. The feast of the carrying of wood to the temple, called Xylophoria, mentioned by Josephus.-WAR, b. ii. c. 17.

Verse 14. The passover, pentecost, and feast of tabernacles, in spring, summer, and autumn, were the three times appointed for their attendance; not in winter, because travelling was then uncomfortable; nor in the midst of their harvest.

Ver. 14. Keep a feast. The three feasts are illustrated in their proper places. Exodus 12. Leviticus 25. The males were commuted for one of a family. But the hope of the Jews to see the gentile world engrafted on their stock, and going to Jerusalem three times a year, is altogether unfounded. The Lord’s temple is spiritual, and shall be built on “the tops of the mountains.”

14-16. Three times… a feast unto me in the year — These three great annual festivals, ordained for Israel, are here called the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of harvest, and the feast of ingathering. They are more fully described in other passages, but when the entire arrangement for the three is considered as a whole, it exhibits a magnificent scheme of national festivity, naturally and beautifully connected, and wisely adapted to serve as a great national bond. “Whoever has a thorough knowledge of these festivals,” says the learned Ewald, “will be persuaded that they have not arisen by slow degrees from the blind impulse of external nature, nor from the history of the people, but are the product of a lofty genius.” These festivals were arranged on a system of sevens, as if growing out of sabbatic ideas. The feast of unleavened bread is more commonly known as the passover, instituted at the Exodus, and described in Exodus 12:1-28, 43-51; 13:3-10, where see notes. It was to be a feast of seven days’ duration, and to commence on the fifteenth day of the first month, (Abib,) that is, after twice seven days from the beginning of the year. This occurred at the time when the firstfruits of the barley harvest could be waved as an offering before Jehovah. Leviticus 23:10-12. The feast of harvest was observed seven weeks after the offering of the wave-sheaf of the passover, that is, on the fiftieth day thereafter, (Leviticus 23:15-21,) whence it obtained also the names of “Pentecost,” (Acts 2:1,) and “the feast of weeks.” Exodus 34:22; Deuteronomy 16:10. This was the time of the wheat harvest, so that passover and Pentecost enclosed the harvest season, which in Palestine extends from March-April into June-July. The feast of in-gathering is more commonly known as “the feast of tabernacles,” (Leviticus xxiii, 34-41; Deuteronomy 16:13-15,) and occurred in the end of the year, that is, of the agrarian year, “after thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine.” Deuteronomy 16:13. This end, or going forth, (tax,) of the year, (in Exodus 34:22, called the hpwqt, circle of the year,) occurred in the seventh month, (September-October,) which was observed as the sabbatic month. Its first day was signalled by the blowing of trumpets, (Leviticus 23:24; Numbers 29:1;) the tenth, was the great day of atonement, (Leviticus 16:29-34; 23:27-32;) after which, on the fifteenth, (the day following the twice seventh from the feast of trumpets, which opened the sabbatic month,) the feast of tabernacles commenced and continued seven days, and the eighth was also consecrated as a sabbath. Leviticus 23:39. The sounding of the trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month of the fiftieth year (the one following seven times seven years) was the proclamation of the year of jubilee, and of “liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” Leviticus 25:10. Thus all the great Hebrew festivals were linked by a system of sevens, and form one complete plan.

Ver. 15. None shall appear before me empty. None shall ever come at those times without some offering or other, for the support of the Levites, and of the worship of God.

14-16. Three times… a feast unto me in the year — These three great annual festivals, ordained for Israel, are here called the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of harvest, and the feast of ingathering. They are more fully described in other passages, but when the entire arrangement for the three is considered as a whole, it exhibits a magnificent scheme of national festivity, naturally and beautifully connected, and wisely adapted to serve as a great national bond. “Whoever has a thorough knowledge of these festivals,” says the learned Ewald, “will be persuaded that they have not arisen by slow degrees from the blind impulse of external nature, nor from the history of the people, but are the product of a lofty genius.” These festivals were arranged on a system of sevens, as if growing out of sabbatic ideas. The feast of unleavened bread is more commonly known as the passover, instituted at the Exodus, and described in Exodus 12:1-28, 43-51; 13:3-10, where see notes. It was to be a feast of seven days’ duration, and to commence on the fifteenth day of the first month, (Abib,) that is, after twice seven days from the beginning of the year. This occurred at the time when the firstfruits of the barley harvest could be waved as an offering before Jehovah. Leviticus 23:10-12. The feast of harvest was observed seven weeks after the offering of the wave-sheaf of the passover, that is, on the fiftieth day thereafter, (Leviticus 23:15-21,) whence it obtained also the names of “Pentecost,” (Acts 2:1,) and “the feast of weeks.” Exodus 34:22; Deuteronomy 16:10. This was the time of the wheat harvest, so that passover and Pentecost enclosed the harvest season, which in Palestine extends from March-April into June-July. The feast of in-gathering is more commonly known as “the feast of tabernacles,” (Leviticus xxiii, 34-41; Deuteronomy 16:13-15,) and occurred in the end of the year, that is, of the agrarian year, “after thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine.” Deuteronomy 16:13. This end, or going forth, (tax,) of the year, (in Exodus 34:22, called the hpwqt, circle of the year,) occurred in the seventh month, (September-October,) which was observed as the sabbatic month. Its first day was signalled by the blowing of trumpets, (Leviticus 23:24; Numbers 29:1;) the tenth, was the great day of atonement, (Leviticus 16:29-34; 23:27-32;) after which, on the fifteenth, (the day following the twice seventh from the feast of trumpets, which opened the sabbatic month,) the feast of tabernacles commenced and continued seven days, and the eighth was also consecrated as a sabbath. Leviticus 23:39. The sounding of the trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month of the fiftieth year (the one following seven times seven years) was the proclamation of the year of jubilee, and of “liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” Leviticus 25:10. Thus all the great Hebrew festivals were linked by a system of sevens, and form one complete plan.

Ver. 16. The feast of harvest. Of wheat harvest, for the barley harvest was before this time. This feast was otherwise called Pentecost.—The feast of ingathering. To wit, of all the rest of the fruits of the earth, as of the vines and olives. This was also called the feast of booths, and of tabernacles. All their three feasts had a respect to the harvest, which began in the passover, was carried on at the pentecost, and was fully completed and ended in this feast.

14-16. Three times… a feast unto me in the year — These three great annual festivals, ordained for Israel, are here called the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of harvest, and the feast of ingathering. They are more fully described in other passages, but when the entire arrangement for the three is considered as a whole, it exhibits a magnificent scheme of national festivity, naturally and beautifully connected, and wisely adapted to serve as a great national bond. “Whoever has a thorough knowledge of these festivals,” says the learned Ewald, “will be persuaded that they have not arisen by slow degrees from the blind impulse of external nature, nor from the history of the people, but are the product of a lofty genius.” These festivals were arranged on a system of sevens, as if growing out of sabbatic ideas. The feast of unleavened bread is more commonly known as the passover, instituted at the Exodus, and described in Exodus 12:1-28, 43-51; 13:3-10, where see notes. It was to be a feast of seven days’ duration, and to commence on the fifteenth day of the first month, (Abib,) that is, after twice seven days from the beginning of the year. This occurred at the time when the firstfruits of the barley harvest could be waved as an offering before Jehovah. Leviticus 23:10-12. The feast of harvest was observed seven weeks after the offering of the wave-sheaf of the passover, that is, on the fiftieth day thereafter, (Leviticus 23:15-21,) whence it obtained also the names of “Pentecost,” (Acts 2:1,) and “the feast of weeks.” Exodus 34:22; Deuteronomy 16:10. This was the time of the wheat harvest, so that passover and Pentecost enclosed the harvest season, which in Palestine extends from March-April into June-July. The feast of in-gathering is more commonly known as “the feast of tabernacles,” (Leviticus xxiii, 34-41; Deuteronomy 16:13-15,) and occurred in the end of the year, that is, of the agrarian year, “after thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine.” Deuteronomy 16:13. This end, or going forth, (tax,) of the year, (in Exodus 34:22, called the hpwqt, circle of the year,) occurred in the seventh month, (September-October,) which was observed as the sabbatic month. Its first day was signalled by the blowing of trumpets, (Leviticus 23:24; Numbers 29:1;) the tenth, was the great day of atonement, (Leviticus 16:29-34; 23:27-32;) after which, on the fifteenth, (the day following the twice seventh from the feast of trumpets, which opened the sabbatic month,) the feast of tabernacles commenced and continued seven days, and the eighth was also consecrated as a sabbath. Leviticus 23:39. The sounding of the trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month of the fiftieth year (the one following seven times seven years) was the proclamation of the year of jubilee, and of “liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” Leviticus 25:10. Thus all the great Hebrew festivals were linked by a system of sevens, and form one complete plan.

V. 17. All thy males-All that were of competent years, and health and strength, and at their own disposal. ‘Tis probable, servants were exempt: for none was to appear without an offering: but most of these had nothing to offer.

Verse 17. All thy males] Old men, sick men, male idiots, and male children under thirteen years of age, excepted; for so the Jewish doctors understand this command.

Verse 17. All thy males — All that were of competent years, and health, and strength, and at their own disposal. It is probable, servants were exempt: for none was to appear without an offering: but most of these had nothing to offer.

17. Three times in the year — That is, at the three festivals just mentioned in verses 14-16.

Verse 18. The blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread] The sacrifice here mentioned is undoubtedly the Passover; (see Exodus 34:25;) this is called by way of eminence MY sacrifice, because God had instituted it for that especial purpose, the redemption of Israel from the Egyptian bondage, and because it typified THE LAMB of GOD, who taketh away the sin of the world. We have already seen how strict the prohibition against leaven was during this festival, and what was signified by it. See on chap. xii. See Clarke’s note on “Exodus 12:19”.

18. Not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread — Literally, upon leavened bread. This refers especially to the sacrifice of the passover, as is seen by comparison of Exodus 12:15, 18-20. So also the fat of my sacrifice is best understood as the fat and choice portions of the paschal lamb, nothing of which was allowed to remain until the morning. Comp. Exodus 12:10, and Exodus 34:25.

V. 19. Some of the Gentiles, at the end of their harvest, seethed a kid in it’s dam’s milk, and sprinkled that milk-pottage in a magical way upon their gardens and fields, to make them fruitful. But Israel must abhor such foolish customs. Is not this rather forbidden, as having some appearance of cruelty?

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

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

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

Verse 19. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk — It is remarkable that this command, extraordinary as it is, is repeated Exodus 34:26, and Deuteronomy 14:21, and that, as here, in connection with the offering of the first-fruits. Hence it has been conjectured that it has a reference to the payment of these fruits, and to some superstitious practices which the Pagans used on these occasions, who were wont, it seems, when they had gathered in all the fruits of the earth, to boil a kid in its mother’s milk, and “to sprinkle the trees, and fields, and gardens, with the broth in a magical manner, to make them more fruitful the following year.” See Dr. Cudworth, On the Lord’s Supper, page 14. Some, however, with an appearance of probability, take this for a prohibition against offering any animal in sacrifice when it was milky and unformed, or before it was eight days old, till which time it was to be left with its dam, Exodus 22:30. And others, again, consider the precept as being chiefly intended, like many other of God’s laws, to prevent cruelty toward the creatures, and to inculcate a mild and tender disposition.

Ver. 19. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk. The words may be rendered, Thou shalt not seethe, or roast, (for the word bashal signifies to roast as well as boil, as is evident from Deuteronomy 16:7.) a kid, being or whilst it is in his mother’s milk, which it may be said to be, while it is suckled, and so may be understood of the passover, referred to in the preseding verse, in which a lamb or kid was used; and then the word bashal must be rendered roast. But it is more probable that the prohibition refers to the lamb or kid used at a common meal, which should not be taken too young from its dam; for sucklings might be offered in sacrifice. Leviticus 22:27. 1 Samuel 7:9.

19. House of the Lord thy God — Observe that here, in this oldest Sinaitic legislation, one common sanctuary is contemplated for all the people. Seethe a kid in his mother’s milk — Compare chap. 34:26, and Deuteronomy 14:21. The boiling of a young kid in the milk of its own mother would seem an outrage upon the laws of nature, in violating the sacred relationship of parent and offspring. Some writers have, not without reason, supposed that a contemporary superstitious practice of this kind existed among the heathen, and led to the enactment of this law. Thomson says that the Arabs are nowgiven to the practice of stewing a young kid in milk, mixed with onions and hot spices, and they call it “kid in his mother’s milk.” He observes, as the opinion of the Jews, “that it is unnatural and barbarous to cook a poor kid in that from which it derives its life. Many of the Mosaic precepts are evidently designed to cultivate gentle and humane feelings; but the ‘kid in his mother’s milk’ is a gross, unwholesome dish, calculated also to kindle up animal and ferocious passions.” — The Land and the Book, vol. i, p. 135.

V. 20. Behold, I send an angel before thee-The angel of the covenant: Accordingly the Israelites in the wilderness are said to tempt Christ. It is promised that this blessed anger should keep them in the way, though it lay through a wilderness first, and afterwards through their enemies country; and thus Christ has prepared a place for his followers.

Verse 20. Behold, I send an Angel before thee] Some have thought that this was Moses, others Joshua, because the word Ëalm malach signifies an angel or messenger; but as it is said, Exodus 23:21, My name is in him, (wbrqb bekirbo, intimately, essentially in him,) it is more likely that the great Angel of the Covenant, the Lord Jesus Christ, is meant, in whom dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. We have had already much reason to believe that this glorious personage often appeared in a human form to the patriarchs, &c.; and of him Joshua was a very expressive type, the names Joshua and Jesus, in Hebrew and Greek, being of exactly the same signification, because radically the same, from [vy yasha, he saved, delivered, preserved, or kept safe. Nor does it appear that the description given of the Angel in the text can belong to any other person. Calmet has referred to a very wonderful comment on these words given by Philo Judæus Deuteronomy Agricultura, which I shall produce here at full length as it stands in Dr. Mangey’s edition, vol. 1., p. 308: wv poimhn kai basileuv o qeov agei kata dikhn kai nomon, prosthsamenov ton orqon autou logon prwtogonon uion, ov thn epimeleian thv ierav tauthv agelhv, oia tiv megalou basilewv uparcov, diadexetai. kai gar eirhtai pou\ idou egw eimi, apostelw aggelon mon eiv proswpon sou, tou fulaxai se en th odw. “God, as the Shepherd and King, conducts all things according to law and righteousness, having established over them his right WORD, his ONLY-BEGOTTEN SON, who, as the Viceroy of the Great King, takes care of and ministers to this sacred flock. For it is somewhere said, (Exodus 23:20,) Behold, I AM, and I will send my ANGEL before thy face, to keep thee in the way.” This is a testimony liable to no suspicion, coming from a person who cannot be supposed to be even friendly to Christianity, nor at all acquainted with that particular doctrine to which his words seem so pointedly to refer.

Verses 20, 21. Behold, I send an Angel before thee — The Angel of the covenant: accordingly, the Israelites, in the wilderness, are said to tempt Christ. It is promised that this blessed Angel should keep them in the way, though it lay through a wilderness first, and afterward through their enemies’ country; and thus Christ has prepared a place for his followers. Beware of him, and obey his voice; provoke him not — It is at your peril if you do; for my name — My nature, my authority; is in him.

Ver. 20. I send an Angel. Christ, the angel of the covenant, as may be gathered from the following words, and because the pardon of sin, which is a divine prerogative, is here ascribed to him, and God’s name is in him. Compare also Exodus 13:21. 14:19. 32:34. Acts 7:38, 39. 1 Corinthians 10:9.

20-22. I send an Angel before thee — On the nature of this Angel see note at Genesis 16:7. An angel who had in him Jehovah’s name, and could pardon transgressions; who was not to be provoked, but observed with reverence and obeyed; who was to go before Israel, keep them in the way, and bring them into the blessed land of promise — He must assuredly be a personal manifestation of Jehovah himself. The same divine Being was symbolized in the pillar of cloud and fire, (Exodus 13:21, 22.)

V. 21. Beware of him, and obey his voice; provoke him not-It is at your peril if you do; for my name-My nature, my authority is in him.

Verse 21. He will not pardon your transgressions] He is not like a man, with whom ye may think that ye may trifle; were he either man or angel, in the common acceptation of the term, it need not be said, He will not pardon your transgressions, for neither man nor angel could do it. My name is in him.] The Jehovah dwells in him; in him dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily; and because of this he could either pardon or punish. All power is given unto me in heaven and earth, Matthew 28:18.

Verses 20, 21. Behold, I send an Angel before thee — The Angel of the covenant: accordingly, the Israelites, in the wilderness, are said to tempt Christ. It is promised that this blessed Angel should keep them in the way, though it lay through a wilderness first, and afterward through their enemies’ country; and thus Christ has prepared a place for his followers. Beware of him, and obey his voice; provoke him not — It is at your peril if you do; for my name — My nature, my authority; is in him.

20-22. I send an Angel before thee — On the nature of this Angel see note at Genesis 16:7. An angel who had in him Jehovah’s name, and could pardon transgressions; who was not to be provoked, but observed with reverence and obeyed; who was to go before Israel, keep them in the way, and bring them into the blessed land of promise — He must assuredly be a personal manifestation of Jehovah himself. The same divine Being was symbolized in the pillar of cloud and fire, (Exodus 13:21, 22.)

20-22. I send an Angel before thee — On the nature of this Angel see note at Genesis 16:7. An angel who had in him Jehovah’s name, and could pardon transgressions; who was not to be provoked, but observed with reverence and obeyed; who was to go before Israel, keep them in the way, and bring them into the blessed land of promise — He must assuredly be a personal manifestation of Jehovah himself. The same divine Being was symbolized in the pillar of cloud and fire, (Exodus 13:21, 22.)

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

23. The Amorites — On the names and location of these tribes see notes and map at Joshua 3:10.

Verse 24. Break down their images.] µhytbxm matstsebotheyhem, from bxn natsab, to stand up; pillars, anointed stones, &c., such as the baitulia. See Clarke on “Genesis 28:18”.

24. Utterly overthrow them — Not only are the first and second commandments of the decalogue here virtually repeated, but the further command is given to destroy idolatry by iconoclastic violence.

V. 25. He shall bless thy bread and thy water-And God’s blessing will make bread and water more refreshing and nourishing, than a feast of fat things, and wines on the lees, without that blessing. And I will take sickness away-Either prevent it or remove it. Thy land shall not be visited with epidemical diseases, which are very dreadful, and sometimes have laid countries waste.

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

Verses 25, 26. He shall bless thy bread and thy water — And God’s blessing will make bread and water more refreshing and nourishing than a feast of fat things, and wines on the lees, without that blessing. And I will take sickness away — Either prevent it or remove it. Thy land shall not be visited with epidemical diseases, which are very dreadful, and sometimes have laid countries waste. The number of thy days I will fulfil — And they shall not be cut off in the midst by untimely deaths. Thus hath godliness the promise of the life that now is.

Ver. 25. Thy bread and thy water. All thy provisions, bread denoting any kind of meat, and water any kind of drink. 1 Samuel 25:11.

25. Take sickness away — This promise to give health and blessing is in accord with Exodus 15:26, where Jehovah calls himself Israel’s healer. Great temporal abundance and a long life passed in divine favour are held up as ideals of excellence.

V. 26. The number of thy days I will fulfill-And they shall not be cut off in the midst by untimely deaths. Thus hath godliness the promise of the life that now is.

Verse 26. There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren] Hence there must be a very great increase both of men and cattle. The number of thy days I will fulfil.] Ye shall all live to a good old age, and none die before his time. This is the blessing of the righteous, for wicked men live not out half their days; Psalm 55:23.

Verses 25, 26. He shall bless thy bread and thy water — And God’s blessing will make bread and water more refreshing and nourishing than a feast of fat things, and wines on the lees, without that blessing. And I will take sickness away — Either prevent it or remove it. Thy land shall not be visited with epidemical diseases, which are very dreadful, and sometimes have laid countries waste. The number of thy days I will fulfil — And they shall not be cut off in the midst by untimely deaths. Thus hath godliness the promise of the life that now is.

Ver. 26. The number of thy days I will fulfil. I will preserve thee so as thou shalt live as long as the course of nature and the temperament of thy body will permit.

V. 27. I will send my fear before thee-And they that fear will soon flee. Hosts of hornets also made way for the hosts of Israel; such mean creatures can God make use of for the chastising of his people’s enemies.

Verses 27, 28. I will send my fear before thee — And they that fear will soon flee: I will strike a terror into the inhabitants of Canaan, which shall facilitate the conquest of them, Joel 2:9, 10. I will send hornets before thee — Thus Joshua observes, (Joshua 24:12,) that the Amorites were driven out, not by the sword and bow of the Israelites, but by the sting of these hornets, which are a kind of wasps, only larger and fiercer than the ordinary wasp. Some explain the word hornet metaphorically, I will send my terror before thee as a hornet, it appearing to them improbable that a parcel of insects should drive out a nation. But they are fully confuted by Bochart, who produces many instances of nations being forced to leave their country by these and such like contemptible creatures, appealing to the testimony of Herodotus, Appianus, and Strabo. And he particularly observes, that the sting of this sort of wasp, called a hornet, is of all others the most pernicious; for it seldom stings a man, as Pliny says, (lib. 11. c. 21,) without throwing him into the rage of a fever.

Ver. 27. My fear. A great terror, or terror wrought by me.

27. My fear — Such awe and terror as resulted from the report of God’s terrible doings among the nations. Comp. Deuteronomy 2:25; Joshua 2:9-11.

Verse 28. I will send hornets before thee] h[rxh hatstsirah. The root is not found in Hebrew, but it may be the same with the Arabic [Arabic] saraa, to lay prostrate, to strike down; the hornet, probably so called from the destruction occasioned by the violence of its sting. The hornet, in natural history, belongs to the species crabro, of the genus vespa or wasp; it is a most voracious insect, and is exceedingly strong for its size, which is generally an inch in length, though I have seen some an inch and a half long, and so strong that, having caught one in a small pair of forceps, it repeatedly escaped by using violent contortions, so that at last I was obliged to abandon all hopes of securing it alive, which I wished to have done. How distressing and destructive a multitude of these might be, any person may conjecture; even the bees of one hive would be sufficient to sting a thousand men to madness, but how much worse must wasps and hornets be! No armour, no weapons, could avail against these. A few thousands of them would be quite sufficient to throw the best disciplined army into confusion and rout. From Joshua 24:12, we find that two kings of the Amorites were actually driven out of the land by these hornets, so that the Israelites were not obliged to use either sword or bow in the conquest.

Verses 27, 28. I will send my fear before thee — And they that fear will soon flee: I will strike a terror into the inhabitants of Canaan, which shall facilitate the conquest of them, Joel 2:9, 10. I will send hornets before thee — Thus Joshua observes, (Joshua 24:12,) that the Amorites were driven out, not by the sword and bow of the Israelites, but by the sting of these hornets, which are a kind of wasps, only larger and fiercer than the ordinary wasp. Some explain the word hornet metaphorically, I will send my terror before thee as a hornet, it appearing to them improbable that a parcel of insects should drive out a nation. But they are fully confuted by Bochart, who produces many instances of nations being forced to leave their country by these and such like contemptible creatures, appealing to the testimony of Herodotus, Appianus, and Strabo. And he particularly observes, that the sting of this sort of wasp, called a hornet, is of all others the most pernicious; for it seldom stings a man, as Pliny says, (lib. 11. c. 21,) without throwing him into the rage of a fever.

Ver. 28. Hornets, properly so called, as may be gathered from Joshua 24:12. Deuteronomy 7:20. Hornets are of themselves very troublesome and mischievous; but these, it is very probable, were like those Egyptian flies, Exodus 8:21, of an extraordinary bigness and perniciousness. Nor is it strange that such creatures did drive many of those people from their habitations; for several heathen writers give us instances of people being driven from their seats by frogs, others by mice, others by bees and wasps.

28. I will send hornets before thee — There is no necessity to explain this literally, and there is no evidence that any such miracle as the driving out of the Canaanites by swarms of hornets occurred during the entire history of the conquest of Palestine. There are, indeed, divers accounts of certain ancient tribes being driven out of their lands by armies of wasps and other noxious creatures; and the armies of locusts which occasionally sweep through those countries are a most destructive plague. But a comparison of Deuteronomy 1:44, Joshua 24:12, Psalm 118:12, and Isaiah 7:18, 19, will show that this expression was employed metaphorically to denote any marked interposition of God to discomfit the enemies of his people.

Verse 29. Lest the land be desolate — The Israelites were not numerous enough to people all the land immediately. Providence had likewise another end in view in suffering some of the Canaanites to remain in the land: they were to prove Israel, and show whether they would hearken unto the commandment of the Lord, Judges 3:4. And the beast of the field multiply — The wild beasts from Arabia Deserta made frequent inroads into Canaan, in quest of prey, and were not to be driven out but by continual hunting.

29. Lest the land become desolate — And so the promised Canaan be turned into a howling wilderness instead of being a land flowing with milk and honey. Beast of the field multiply — As was actually the case long afterward by depopulating the cities of Samaria after the deportation of the northern tribes of Israel. 2 Kings 17:25, 26.

Ver. 30. By little and little I will drive them out. This gave the Canaanites time to fly. Our Saxon chronicle mentions a colony coming to the north of Ireland from Armenia, in five long ships, which many take to be expelled Canaanites. They found inhabitants it is said, in the north of Ireland, who advised them to settle in Scotland, promising to be their friends.

30. Until thou be increased — Here it is assumed that the Israelitish people at the time of the exodus were not sufficiently numerous to occupy the whole of Palestine. For the results which followed the failure to exterminate the heathen tribes, see Judges 2:20-3:6, notes.

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

Ver. 31. Sea of the Philistines, the mediterranean. The desert, of Egypt or Arabia, which was obtained by David. Euphrates is often called the river, by way of eminence.

31. Thy bounds — These boundaries indicate the entire extent of territory which any people supposed to be in complete possession of Canaan would naturally control. The Red sea they had left behind them; the sea of the Philistines, that is, the Mediterranean, which bordered on the Philistine territory, formed the western boundary, the Arabian desert lay on the south and south-east, and the river Euphrates formed the eastern limit. This extent of territory actually came under the dominion of Solomon. 1 Kings 4:20-25; comp. Joshua 1:4. Thou shalt drive them out — Israel’s conquest of Canaan was a mission of judgment as well as a fulfilment of promise and prophecy. They were sent into the land to destroy peoples ripe for judgment, rather than to convert those looking and waiting for redemption. See Genesis 15:16, note.

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

Verses 32, 33. Thou shalt make no covenant with them — Thou shalt give no toleration to idol-worship, nor suffer it to be introduced into thy territories. Thou shalt make no league with them, either civil or religious. They shall not dwell in thy land — Unless they renounce their idolatry, which is plainly understood; for, upon their becoming proselytes to the Jewish religion, they might dwell among them, and were called the strangers. If thou serve — Thou wilt serve, this will be the fruit of thy cohabitation with them. It will be a snare unto thee — Will bring great calamities upon thee, and, at last, be thy ruin, which accordingly came to pass.

32. No covenant with them — To enter into any treaty with a hopelessly depraved and heaven-doomed people, or with their gods, was to trample under foot their own covenant with Jehovah, and treat with contempt these Sinaitic laws.

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

WHAT a pity that the Mosaic Law should be so little studied! What a number of just and equal laws, pious and humane institutions, useful and instructive ordinances, does it contain! Everywhere we see the purity and benevolence of God always working to prevent crimes and make the people happy! But what else can be expected from that God who is love, whose tender mercies are over all his works, and who hateth nothing that he has made? Reader, thou art not straitened in him, be not straitened in thy own bowels. Learn from him to be just, humane, kind, and merciful. Love thy enemy, and do good to him that hates thee. Jesus is with thee; hear and obey his voice; provoke him not, and he will be an enemy to thine enemies, and an adversary to thine adversaries. Believe, love, obey; and the road to the kingdom of God is plain before thee. Thou shalt inherit the good land, and be established in it for ever and ever.

EXODUS

Verses 32, 33. Thou shalt make no covenant with them — Thou shalt give no toleration to idol-worship, nor suffer it to be introduced into thy territories. Thou shalt make no league with them, either civil or religious. They shall not dwell in thy land — Unless they renounce their idolatry, which is plainly understood; for, upon their becoming proselytes to the Jewish religion, they might dwell among them, and were called the strangers. If thou serve — Thou wilt serve, this will be the fruit of thy cohabitation with them. It will be a snare unto thee — Will bring great calamities upon thee, and, at last, be thy ruin, which accordingly came to pass.

33. They shall not dwell in thy land — The reason given is apparent. Israel’s mission and the Mosaic dispensation were not a ministry of evangelization, but of conservation of fundamental principles of divine truth. The idolatries of the world and the hardness of human hearts made it necessary first to call a select people out from the nations, and train that peculiar people so that in fulness of time there might go out from them into all the world the saving light and truth of God’s holy revelation.