14 T And if thou sell ought unto thy neigh- | bour, or buyest ought of thy neighbour's hand, tye shall not oppress one another: 15 According to the number of years after the jubilee, thou shalt buy of thy neighbour; and according unto the number of years of the fruits, he shall sell unto thee: 16 According to the multitude of years, thou shalt increase the price thereof; and according to the fewness of years, thou shalt diminish the price of it: for according to the number of the years of the fruits, doth he sell unto thee. 17 Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God: for I am the LORD your God. X 18 Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety. 19 And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety. 20 And if ye shall say, a What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: 21 Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. d e 22 And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit, until the ninth year; until her fruits come in, ye shall eat of the old store. 23 The land shall not be sold for ever; for the land is mine; for ye are i strangers and sojourners with me. 24 And in all the land of your possession, ye shall grant a redemption for the land. 25 If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath t Ver. 17. Ch. 19. 13. 1 Sam. 12. 3, 4. Mic. 2. 2. 1 Cor. 6. 8.-u Ch. 27. 18, 23. Ver. 14-w Ver. 43. Ch. 19. 14, 32-x Ch. 19. 37.-y Ch. 26. 5. Deut. 12. 10. Psa. 4. 8. Prov. 1. 33. Jer. 23. 6.-2 Ch. 26. 5. Ezek. 34. 25, 27, 28-a Matt. 6. 25, 31. b Ver. 4, 5-c Deut. 28. 8. See Exod. 16. 29.- 2 Kings 19. 29.-e Josh. 5. 11, 12. f Or, to be quite cut of-g Heb. for cutting off-h Deut. 32 43. Chron. 7. 20. Gospel, could not take place till the great atonement, the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus, had been offered up?-See verse 9. Verse 14. Ye shall not oppress one another] Ye shall take no advantage of each other's ignorance either in buying or selling; for he that buys an article at less than it is worth, or sells one for more than it is worth, taking advantage, in both cases, of the ignorance of the vender or buyer, is no better than a thief, as he actually robs his neighbour of as much property as he has bought the article at below, or sold it above its current value. Verse 15. According to the number of years] The purchases that were to be made of lands were to be regulated by the number of years unelapsed of the current jubilee. This was something like buying the unexpired term of a lease among us; the purchase is always regulated by the number of years between the time of purchase and the expiration of the term. Verse 20. What shall we eat the seventh year?] A very natural question, which could only be laid at rest by the sovereign promise in the next verse. I will COMMAND my BLESSING upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for THREE YEARS.-See on ver. 2. | sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold. 26 And if the man have none to redeem it, and " himself be able to redeem it; n 27 Then let him count the years of the sale thereof, and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it, that he may return unto his possession. 28 But if he be not able to restore it to him, then that which is sold, shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it, until the year of jubilee: and in the jubilee it shall go out, and he shall return unto his possession. 29 And if a man sell a dwelling-house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year, may he redeem it. 30 And if it be not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city, shall be established for ever to him that bought it, throughout his generations: it shall not go out in the jubilee. 31 But the houses of the villages, which have no wall round about them, shall be counted as the fields of the country, P they may be redeemed, and they shall go out in the jubilee. 32 Notwithstanding the cities of the Levites, and the houses of the cities of their possession, may the Levites redeem at any time. 33 And if a man purchase of the Levites, then the house that was sold, and the city of his possession shall go out in the year of jubilee: for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel. Psa. 85. 1. Joel 2. 18. & 3. 2.-i 1 Chron. 29. 15. Psa. 39. 12. & 119. 19. 1 Pet. 2 11. k Ruth 2 20. & 4. 4, 6.-1 See Ruth 2 2, 9, 12. Jer. 32 7, 8-m Heb. his hand hath attained and found sufficiency. Ch. 5. 7-n Ver. 50, 51, 2-0 Ver. 13-p Heb redemption belongeth unto it.q See Numb. 35. 2. Josh. 21. 2, &c.—r Or, one of the Levites redeem them. Ver. 28. Verse 29. Sell a dwelling-house in a walled city] A very proper difference is put between houses in a city, and houses in the country. If a man sold his house in the city, he might redeem it any time in the course of a year; but if it were not redeemed within that time, it could no more be redeemed; nor did it go out even in the jubilee. It was not so with a house in the country; such a house might be redeemed during any part of the interim; and if not redeemed, must go out at the jubilee. The reason in both cases is sufficiently evident: the house in the city might be builded for purposes of trade or traffic merelythe house in the country was builded on, or attached to, the inheritance which God had divided to the respective families. It was, therefore, absolutely necessary that the same law should apply to the house, as to the inheritance: but the same necessity did not hold good with respect to the house in the city. And as we may presume the house in the city was merely for the purpose of trade; when a man bought such a house, and got his business established there, it would have been very inconvenient for him to have removed; but as it was possible that the former owner might have sold the house rashly, or through the pressure of some very urgent necessity, a year was allowed him, Verse 23. The land shall not be sold for ever—the land that during that time, he might have leisure to reconsider is mine] As God, in a miraculous manner, gave them his rash act-or so to get through his present necessity, possession of this land, they were therefore to consider as to be able to get back his dwelling. This time was themselves merely as tenants to him; and on this ground, sufficiently long in either of the above cases; and as such he, as the great landholder, or lord of the soil, prescribes occurrences might have been the cause of his selling his to them all the conditions on which they shall hold it. house, it was necessary that he might have the opportaThis one circumstance was peculiarly favourable to their nity of redeeming his pledge. Again, as the purchaser, advancement in religion, in righteousness, and true holi- having bought the house merely for the purpose of trade, ness for feeling that they had nothing which they could manufacture, &c. must have been at great pains and excall their own upon earth, they must frequently, by this, pense to fit the place for his work, and establish his busibe put in mind of the necessity of having a permanentness, in which himself and his children, and his children's dwelling in the heavenly inheritance: and of that prepa- children, were to labour and get their bread; hence it was ration, without which it could not be possessed. necessary, that he should have some certainty of permanent possession: without which, we may naturally conjecture, no such purchases ever would be made. This seems to be the simple reason of the law in both cases. Verse 32. The cities of the Levites] The law in this and the following verses, was also a very wise one. A Levite could not ultimately sell his house-if sold, he could redeem it at any time in the interim between the two jubilees: but if not redeemed, it must go out at the following jubilee. And why? "because Moses framed his laws so much in favour of the priesthood, that they had peculiar privileges," &c.-just the reversee-they were so far from being peculiarly favoured, that they had no inheritance in Verse 25. Any of his kin come to redeem it] The land that was sold, might be redeemed in the interim between jubilee and jubilee, by the former owner, or by one of his kinsmen or relatives. This kinsman is called in the text Sgoel, or redeemer: and was not this a lively emblem of the redemption of man by Christ Jesus? That he might have a right to redeem man he took upon him human nature, and thus became a kinsman of the great family of the human race, and thereby possessed the right of redeeming that fallen nature, of which he took part, and of buying back to man that inheritance which had been forfeited by transgression. sion. m 34 But the fields of the suburbs of their cities | for your children after you, to inherit them for may not be sold; for it is their perpetual posses- a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever; but over your brethren the children of Israel, " ye shall not rule one over another with rigour. 35 And if thy brother be waxen poor, and "fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee. W 36 Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee. 37 Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase. 38 I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give to you the land of Canaan, and to be your God. 39 And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant: 40 But as a hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the year of jubilee: 41 And then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and d unto the possession of his fathers shall he return. 42 For they are my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bondmen. 43 Thou shalt not rule over him rigour; but shalt fear thy God. with 44 Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids. 45 Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession. 46 And ye shall take them as an inheritance t See Acts 4. 36, 37-a Heb. his hand faileth-v Heb. strengthen.-w Deut. 15. 7,8 Psa 37. 2 & 41. 1. & 112 5, 9. Prov. 14. 31. Luke 6. 35. Acts 11. 29. Rom. 12 18 1 John 3 17.-x Exod. 22. 25. Deut. 23. 19. Neh. 5. 7. Psa. 15. 5. Prov. 23. 8. Ezek. 18. 8, 13, 17. & 22. 12-y Ver. 17. Neh. 5. 9.-z Ch. 22. 32, 33.-a Exod. 21. 2. Deut. 15 12 1 Kings 9. 22. 2 Kings 4. 1. Neh. 5. 5. Jer. 34. 14.-b Heb. serve thy self with him with the service, &c. Ver. 46. Exod. 1. 14. Jer. 25. 14. & 27.7. & 30.8 Israel, only their cities to dwell in; and because their houses in these cities were the whole that they could call their own, therefore these houses could not be ultimately alienated. All that they had to live on besides, was from that most precarious source of support, the free-will-offerings of the people, which depended on the prevalence of pure religion in the land. Verse 36. Take thou no usury of him] Usury, at present, signifies unlawful interest for money. Properly, it means the reward or compensation given for the use of a thing, but is principally spoken of money. See the definition of the original term in the note on Exod. xxii. 25. Verse 42. For they are my servants] As God redeemed every Israelite out of Egyptian bondage, they were therefore to consider themselves as his property; and that consequently, they should not alienate themselves from him. It was in being his servants, and devoted to his work, that both their religious and political service consisted. And although their political liberty might be lost, they knew that their spiritual liberty never could be forfeited, except by an utter alienation from God. God therefore claims the same right to their persons, which he does to their lands. See the note on ver. 23. Verse 43. Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour] What is rigorous service? "Service which is not determined, and service whereof there is no need." This is the definition given by the Jews: but much more is implied in this command than is expressed here. Labour beyond the person's strength-or labour too long continued-or in unhealthy or uncomfortable places and circumstances, or without sufficient food, &c. is labour exacted with rigour and consequently inhuman: and this law is made, not for the Mosaic dispensation, and the Jewish people; but for every dispensation, and for every people under heaven. Verse 50. The price of his sale shall be, &c.] This was a very equitable law, both for the sojourner to whom the man was sold, and to the Israelite who had been thus sold. The Israelite might redeem himself, or one of his kindred might redeem him-but this must not be done to the prejudice of his master, the sojourner. They were 47 ¶ And if a sojourner or stranger wax rich by thee, and P thy brother that dwelleth by him wax poor, and sell himself unto the stranger or sojourner by thee, or to the stock of the stranger's family: 48 After that he is sold he may be redeemed again: one of his brethren may redeem him: 49 Either his uncle, or his uncle's son, may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him, or of his family, may redeem him: or if he be able he may redeem himself. 50 And he shall reckon with him that bought him, from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubilee: and the price of his sale shall be according unto the number of years, according to the time of a hired servant shall it be with him. 51 If there be yet many years behind, according unto them, he shall give again the price of his redemption, out of the money that he was bought for. 52 And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubilee, then he shall count with him, and according unto his years, shall he give him again the price of his redemption. 53 And as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him: and the other shall not rule with rigour over him in thy sight. 54 And if he be not redeemed in these years, then " he shall go out in the year of jubilee, both he, and his children with him. 55 For unto me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God. e Exod. 21. 3-d Ver. 28.-e Ver. 55. Rom. 6. 22. 1 Cor. 7. 2.-f Heb. with the sale of a bondman.-g Ephes. 6. 9. Col. 4. 1.-h Ver. 46. Exod. 1. 13-i Ver. 17. Exod. 1. 17, 21. Deut. 25. 18. Mal. 3. 5.-k Isai. 56. 3, 6-1 Isai. 14. 2-m Heb. ye shall serve yourselves with them. Ver. 39-u Ver. 43.-0 Heb. his hand obtain &c. Ver. 26-p Ver. 25, 35.-q Neh. 5. 5.-r Ver. 26.-8 Job 7. 1. Isai 16. 14. & 21. 16.- Or, by these means.-u Ver. 41. Exod. 21. 2, 3.-v Ver. 42. therefore to reckon the years he must have served, from that time, till the jubilee; and then taking the current wages of a servant, per year, at that time, multiply the remaining years by that sum, and the aggregate was the sum to be given to his master for his redemption. The Jews hold, that the kindred of such a person were bound, if in their power, to redeem him, lest he should be swallowed up among the heathen: and we find from Neh. v. 8. that this was done by the Jews on their return from the Babylonish captivity-We, after our ability, have redeemed our brethren the Jews, who were sold unto the heathen. Verse 55. For unto me the children of Israel are servants] The reason of this law we have already seen, see on ver. 42. but we must look farther to see the great end of it. The Israelites were a typical people, they represented those under the Gospel dispensation, who are children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus. But these last have a peculiarity of blessing-they are not merely servants, but they are SONS; though they also serve God, yet it is in the newness of the Spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. And to this difference of state the apostle seems evidently to allude, Galat. iv. 1, &c. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a SERVANT, but a SON; and if a soN, then an HEIR of God through Christ: genuine believers in Christ, not being heirs of an earthly inheritance, nor merely of heavenly one, for they are heirs of God. God himself, therefore, is their portion, without whom, even heaven itself would not be a state of consummate blessedness to an immortal spirit. The jubilee was a wonderful institution, and was of very great service to the religion, freedom, and independence of the Jewish people. "The motive of this law," says Calmet, "was to prevent the rich from oppressing the poor, and reducing them to perpetual slavery; and that they should not get possession of all the lands by way of purchase, mortgage, or lastly, usurpation. That debts should not be multiplied too much, lest thereby the poor should be entirely ruined; and that slaves should not continue always, CHAPTER XXVI Idolatry forbidden, 1. The sabbath to be sanctified, 2, 3. Promises to obedience, of fruitful fields, plentiful harvests and vintage, 4, 5 Of peace and security, 6. Discomfiture of their enemies, 7-9. Of abundance. 10. Of the Divine presence, 11-13. Threatening against the disobedient, 14, 15. Of terror and dismay, 16. Their enemies shall prevail against them, 17, 18. Of barrenness, 19, 20. Of desolation by wild beasts, 21, 22. And if not humbled and reformed, worse evils shall be inflicted upon them, 23, 24. Their enemies shall prevail, and they shall be wasted by the pestilence, 25, 26. If they should still continue refractory, they shall be yet more sorely punished, 27, 28. The funine shall so increase, that they shall be obliged their idols, 30. Their cities shall be wasted, and the sanctuary desolated, 31; the to eat their own children, 29. Their carcasses shall be cast upon the carcasses of land destroyed, 32; themselves scattered among their enemies, and pursed with utter confusion and distress, 33-39. If under these judgments they coutess their sin, and return to God, he will remember them in mercy, 40-43; visit them even in the land of their enemies, 44; and remember his covenant with their fathers, 45. The conclusion, stating these to be the judgments and laws which the Lord made between himself and the children of Israel in mount Sinai, 46. 2 a Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD. 3 If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; 4 Then will I give you rain in due season, dand the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. e 5 And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing-time and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. w Exod. 20. 4, 5. Deut. 5. 8. & 16. 22. & 27. 15. Pan. 97. 7.-x Or, pillar-y Or, figured stone-2 Heb. a stone of picture.-a Ch. 19. 30.-b Deut. 11. 13, 14, 15. & 28. 1-14-c Isai. 30. 23. Ezek. 34. 26. Joel 2. 23, 21.-d Psa. 67. 6. & 85. 12 Ezek. 34. 27. & 36. 30. Zech. 8. 12-e Amos 9. 13.-1 Ch. 25. 19. Deut. 11. 15. Joel 2. 19, 26.-g Ch. 25. 18. Job 11. 18. Ezek. 34. 25, 27, 28-h 1 Chron. 22. 9. Psa. 29. 11. & 147. 14. Isai. 45. 7. Hag. 2. 9.-i Job 11. 19. Psa. 3. 5. & 4. 8. Isai. 35. 9. Jer. 80. 10. Ezek. 34. 25. Hos. 2 18. Zeph. 3. 13. they, their wives and children, in servitude. Besides, Moses intended to preserve, as much as possible, personal liberty, an equality of property, and the regular order of families among the Hebrews. Lastly, he designed that the people should be strongly attached to their country, lands, and inheritances: that they should have an affection for them, and consider them as estates which descended to them from their ancestors, which they were to leave to their posterity without any fear of their going ultimately out of their families." But this institution especially pointed out the redemption of man by Christ Jesus: 1. Through him, he who was in debt to God's justice, had his debts discharged, and his sin forgiven. 2. He who sold himself for nought, who was a bondslave of sin and Satan, regains his liberty, and becomes a son of God, through faith in his blood. 3. He who by transgression had forfeited all right and title to the kingdom of God, becomes an heir of God, and a joint heir with Christ. Heaven, his forfeited inheritance, is restored, for the kingdom of heaven is opened to all believers: and thus redeemed from his debt, restored to his liberty, united to the heavenly family, and re-entitled to his inheritance, he goes on his way rejoicing, till he enters the Paradise of his Maker, and is for ever with the Lord. Reader, hast thou applied for this redemption? Does not the trumpet of the jubilee, the glad tidings of salvation, by Christ Jesus, sound in the land? Surely it does. Why then continue a bond-slave of sin, a child of wrath, and an heir of hell, when such a salvation is offered unto thee without money and without price? O, suffer not this provision to be made ultimately in vain for thee! For what art thou advantaged if thou gain the whole world, and lose thy soul! NOTES ON CHAPTER XXVI. Verse 1. Ye shall make you no idols] See the note on Exod. xx. 4. and see the note on Gen. xxviii. 18. and 19. concerning consecrated stones. Not only idolatry in general is forbidden here, but also the superstitious use of innocent and lawful things. Probably the stones or pillars which were first set up, and anointed by holy men, in commemoration of signal interpositions of God in their behalf, were afterward abused to idolatrous and superstitious purposes, and therefore prohibited. This we know was the case with the brazen serpent, 2 Kings xviii. 4. Verse 3. If ye walk in my STATUTES] For the meaning of this and similar words used in the law, see the note on ver. 15. Verse 4. Rain in due season] What in Scripture is called the early and the latter rain. The first fell at the commencement of spring in Palestine, and the latter in autumn.-Calmet. Verse 5. Your threshing shall reach unto the vintage] According to Pliny, Hist. Nat. 1. xviii. c. 13. the Egyp 9 For I will have respect unto you, and P make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you. 10 And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new. 11 r And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you. 12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people. 13 I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright. 14 But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; 15 And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant: k Heb. cause to cease.-12 Kings 17. 25. Ezek. 5. 17. & 14. 15.-m Ezek. 14. 17.-n Deut. 32. 30. Josh. 23. 10-o Exod 2 25. 2 Kings 13. 2-p Gen. 17. 6, 7. Neh. 9. 23. Psa. 107. 38-q Ch. 25. 22.—r Exod. 25. 8. & 29. 45. Josh. 22 19 Paa. 76. 2. Ezek. 37. 26, 27, 28. Rev. 21. 3.-8 Ch. 20. 23. Deut. 32. 19-t 2 Cor. 6. 16.- Exod. 6. 7. Jer. 1. 23. & 11. 4. & 30. 22. Ezek. 11. 20. & 36. 28- Ch. 25. 38, 42, 55.-w Jer. 2. 20. Ezek. 34. 27.-x Deut. 28. 15. Lam. 2 17. Mal 2 2-y Ver. 2. 2 Kings 17. 15. tians reaped their barley six months, and their oats seven months, after seed-time; for they sowed all their grain about the end of summer, when the overflowings of the Nile had ceased. It was nearly the same in Judea; they sowed their corn and barley towards the end of autumn, and about the month of October; and they began their barleyharvest after the Passover, about the middle of March: and in one month or six weeks after, about Pentecost, they began that of their wheat. After their wheat-harvest, their vintage commenced. Moses here leads the Hebrews to hope, if they continued faithful to God, that between their harvest and vintage, and between their vintage and seed-time, there should be no interval, so great should the abundance be; and these promises would appear to them the more impressive, as they had just now come out of a country where the inhabitants were obliged to remain, for nearly three months, shut up within their cities, because the Nile had then inundated the whole country. See Calmet. "This is a nervous and beautiful promise of such entire plenty of corn and wine, that before they could have reaped and threshed out their corn, the vintage should be ready; and before they could have pressed out their wine, it would be time to sow again. The prophet Amos, chap. ix. 13. expresses the same blessing in the same manner: The ploughman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who soweth seed."-Dodd. Verse 11. I will set my tabernacle among you] This and the following verse contain the grand promise of the Gospel dispensation, viz. the presence, manifestation, and indwelling of God, in human nature: and his constant indwelling in the souls of his followers. So John i. 14. the WORD was made flesh, XXI (OXYYNTIV Iv giv, and MADE HIS TABERNACLE among us. And to this promise of the law, St. Paul evidently refers, 2 Cor. vi. 16-18. and vii. 1. Verse 15. If ye despise my statutes-abhor my judg ments] As these words, and others of a similar import, which point out different properties of the revelation of God, are frequently occurring, I judge it best to take a general view of them once for all in this place, and show how they differ among themselves, and what property of the divine law each points out. 1. STATUTES, npn chukkoth, from pn chak, to mark out, define, &c. This term seems to signify the things which God has defined, marked, and traced out, that men might have a perfect copy of pure conduct always before their eyes, to teach them how they might walk so as to please him in all things, which they could not do, without such instruction as God gives in his word; and the help which he affords by his Spirit. 2. JUDGMENTS. OD SHEPHATIM, from D shaphat, to distinguish, regulate, and determine; meaning those things which God has determined that men shall pursue; b 16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. 17 And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you. 18 And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you i seven times more for your sins. 19 And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass: 20 And your m strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits. 21 And if ye walk contrary unto me, and z Heb. upon you-a Dent. 28. 65, 66, 67, & 32. 25. Jer. 15, 8.-b Dent. 28. 22. e 1 Sam. 2. 3- Dent. 2. 33, 51. Job 31. 8. Jer. 5. 17. & 12. 13. Mic. 6. 15.-e Ch. 17. 10-f Dent. 28. 25. Julges 2. 14. Jer. 19. 7.-g Ps. 106. 41-h Ver. 36. PR. 53. 5. Prov. 28. 1-i 1 Sam. 2. 5. Ps. 119. 161. Prov. 21. 16-k Isai. 25. 11. & 26, 5. Ezek. 7. 21. & 30. 6-1 Deut. 28. 23.--m Pea. 127. 1. Isai. 49. 4.-n Deut. 11. 17. & 23. 13. Hag. 1. 10. by which their whole conduct shall be regulated, making the proper distinction between virtue and vice, good and evil, right and wrong, justice and injustice-in a word, between what is proper to be done, and what is proper to be left undone. 3. COMMANDMENTS, PSD MITSEVOTH, from s teavah, to command, ordain, and appoint, as a legislator. This term is properly applied to those parts of the Law which contain the obligation the people are under, to act according to the statutes, judgments, &c. already established; and which prohibit them by penal sanctions, from acting contrary to the laws. 4. COVENANT. BERITH, from bar, to clear, cleanse, or purify; because the covenant, the whole system of revelation given to the Jews, was intended to separate them from all the people of the earth, and to make them holy. Berith also signifies the covenant-sacrifice which prefigured the atonement made by Christ for the sin of the world; by which he purifies believers unto himself, and makes them a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Besides those four, we add the following from other places of Scripture. 5. TESTIMONIES. Y EDOTH, from y âd, beyond, further, besides; because the whole ritual law referred to something further on, or beyond the Jewish dispensation: even to that sacrifice, which in the fulness of time was to be offered for the sins of men. Thus all the sacrifices, &c. of the Mosaic law referred to Christ, and bore testimony to him who was to come. 6. ORDINANCES. NOW MISHEMEROTIM, from shamar, to guard, keep safe, watch over: Those parts of divine revelation, which exhorted men to watch their ways, keep their hearts, and promised them, in consequence, the continual protection and blessing of God their Maker. 7. PRECEPTS. OP PIKUDIM, from p pakad, to overlook, take care, or notice of, to visit a very expressive character of the divine testimonies, the overseers of a man's conduct, those who stand by and look on, to see whether he acts according to the commands of his master; also, the visiters, because God's precepts are suited to all the circumstances of human life; some are applicable in adversity, others in prosperity; some in times of temptation and sadness, others to seasons of spiritual joy and exultation, &c. &c. Thus they may be said to overlook and visit man in all times, places, and circumstances. 8. TRUTH. ON EMETH, from ON am, to support, sustain, confirm: because God is immutable who has promised, threatened, commanded; and therefore all his promises, threatenings, commandments, &c. are unalterable and eternal. Error and falsity promise to direct and sustain, but they fail. God's word is supported by his own faithfulness, and it supports and confirms them who conscientiously believe it." 9. RIGHTEOUSNESS. Пp TSIDEKATH, from p tsadak, which, though not used as a verb in the Hebrew Bible, seems to convey from its use as a noun, the idea of giring just weight, or good measure, see chap. xix. 36. This is one of the characters which is attributed to the revelation God makes of himself in Psal. cxix. And by this the impartiality of the divine testimonies is pointed out. God gives to all their due, and his word distributes to every o Or, at all adventures with me, and so ver. 24-p Deut. 32. 24. 2 Kings 17. 25. Ezek. 5. 17. & 14. 15.- Judges 5. 6. 2 Chron. 15. 5. Isai. 33. 8. Lam. 1. 4. Zech 7. 14-r Jer. 2 30. & 5 3 Amos 4. 6-12-s 2 Sun. 22. 27. Psa. 18. 26. t Ezek. 5. 17. & 6. 3. & 14. 17. & 29. 8. & 33. 2-u Numb. 14. 12. Deut. 25. 21. Jer. 14. 12. & 24. 10. & 29. 17, 18. Amos 4. 10.- Psa. 105. 16. Isai. 3. 1. Ezek. 4. 16. & 5. 16. & 14. 13. man according to his state, circumstances, talents, graces, &c. to none too much; to none too little; to all enough. 10. WORD of JEHOVAH. 27 DABAR YEHOVAH, from dabar, to drive, lead, bring forward; hence, to bring forward, or utter one's sentiments: so the word of God, is what God has brought forth to man, from his own mind and counsel; it is a perfect similitude of his own righteousness, holiness, goodness, and truth. This divine law is sometimes expressed by 11. ON IMRETH, SPEECH OF WORD, variously modified, from amar, to branch out, because of the interesting details into which the word of God enters, in order to in struct man, and make him wise unto salvation; or, as the apostle expresses it, "God, who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake unto the fathers by the prophets," Trousers nas оλure, in many distinct parcels, and by various tropes or figures; a curious and elegant description of divine revelation. Heb. i. 1. TO 12. All these collectively, are termed the LAW, RAH, or ♫ TORATH YEHOVAH, the law of the Lord, from yarah, to direct, set straight and true, as stones in a building, to teach and instruct-because this whole system of divine revelation is calculated to direct men to the attainment of present and eternal felicity. To set them right in their notions concerning the supreme God. To order and adjust them in the several departments of civil and religious society; and thus to teach and instruct them in the knowledge of themselves, and in the true knowledge of God. Thus those who receive the truth, become the city of the living God-the temple of the Most High, builded together, for a habitation of God through the Spirit. To complete this description of the word law, see the note on Exod. xii. 49. where other properties of the law of God are specified. Verse 16. I will even appoint over you terror, &c.] How dreadful is this curse! A whole train of evils are here personified, and appointed to be the governors of a disobedient people. Terror is to be one of their keepers: how awful a state! to be continually under the influence of dismay; feeling indescribable evils, and fearing worse. Consumption, non shachepheth, generally allowed to be some kind of atrophy or marasmus, by which the flesh was consumed, and the whole body dried up by raging fever, through lack of sustenance. See the note on chap. xi. 16. How circumstantially were all these threatenings fulfilled in this disobedient and rebellious people! Let a Deist read over this chapter, and compare it with the state of the Jews since the days of Vespasian, and then let him doubt the authenticity of this word if he can. Verse 22. I will send wild beasts among you] God fulfilled these threatenings at different times. He sent fiery SERPENTS among them, Numb. xxi. 6. LIONS, 2 Kings xvii. 25. BEARS, 2 Kings ii. 24. and threatened them with total desolation, so that their land should be overrun with wild beasts, &c. see Ezek. v. 17. Spiritually, says Mr. Ainsworth, these are wicked rulers and tyrants, that kill and spoil, Prov. xxviii. 15. Dan. vii. 3—6. Psal. lxxx. 13. And false prophets that devour souls, Matt. vii. 15. Rev. xiii. 1, &c. So the prophet, speaking of their punishment by tyrants, says, A LION out of the forest shall slay them; a WOLF of the evening shall spoil them; a LEOPARD shall watch over their cities; W oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied. 27 And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me; 28 Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. 29 And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat. 30 And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you. b 31 And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours. 32 And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it. 33 And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. 34 Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths. k 35 As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it. 36 And upon them that are left alive of you, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and m the sound of a "shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth. 37 And they shall fall one upon another, as it were upon a sword, when none pursueth: and Pye shall have no power to stand before your enemies. w Isai. 9. 20. Mic. 6. 14. Hag. 1. 6.-x Ver. 21, 24.-y Isai. 59. 18. & 63. 3. & 6615. Jer. 21. 5. Ezek. 5. 13, 15. & 8. 18-z Deut. 28. 53. 2 Kings 6. 29. Ezek. 5. 10. Lam. 4. 10. Bar. 2 2-a 2 Chron. 34. 3, 4, 7. Isai. 27. 9. Ezek. 6. 3, 4, 5, 6, 13 b2 Kings 23. 20. 2 Chron. 34. 5.-c Lev. 20. 23. Psa. 78. 59. & 89. 38. Jer. 14. 19. d Neb. 2. 3. Jer. 4. 7. Ezek. 6. 6.-e Paa. 74. 7. Lam. 1. 10. Ezek. 9. 6. & 21. 7. f Jer. 9. 11. & 25. 11, 18.-g Dent. 29. 37. 1 Kings 9. 8. Jer. 18. 16. & 19. 8. Ezek 5. 15.-h Deut. 4, 27. & 28. 64. Paa. 44. 11. Jer. 9. 16. Ezek. 12. 15. & 2. 23. & 22. 15. Zech. 7. 14-i 2 Chron. 36. 21.-k Ch. 25. 2-1 Ezek. 21.7, 12, 15.-m Ver. 17. Job 15. 21. Prov. 23. 1.—n Heb. driven.—o Isai, 10. 4. See Judges 7. 22. 1 Sam. 14. 15, every one that goeth out thence shall be torn to pieces, because their transgressions be many. And of their prophets, he says, O Israel, thy prophets are like гOXES in the deserts, Ezek. xiii. 4. Jer, viii, 17. xv. 3." Verse 26. Ten women shall bake your bread in one oven] Though, in general, every family in the East bakes its own bread, yet there are some public bake-houses where the bread of several families is baked at a certain price. Moses here foretells that the desolation should be so great, and the want so pressing, that there should be many idle hands to be employed, many mouths to be fed, and very little for each. Ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, &c. Verse 29. Ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, &c.] This was literally fulfilled at the siege of Jerusalem. Josephus' WARS of the Jews, Book vii. chap. 2. gives us a particular instance in dreadful detail, of a woman named Mary, who in the extremity of the famine, during the siege, killed her sucking child, roasted, and had eaten part of it, when discovered by the soldiers! See this threatened, Jer. xix, 9. Verse 34. Then shall the land enjoy her Sabbaths] This, Houbigant observes to be a historical truth. "From Saul to the Babylonish captivity are numbered about four hundred and ninety years, during which period, there were seventy sabbaths of years; for 7, multiplied by 70, make 490. Now the Babylonish captivity lasted seventy years, and during that time, the land of Israel rested. Therefore the land rested just as many years, in the Babylonish captivity, as it should have rested sabbaths, if the Jews had observed the law relative to the sabbaths of the land." This is a most remarkable fact, and deserves to be particularly noticed, as a most literal fulfilment of the prophetic declaration in this verse-Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land. Verse 38. The land of your enemies shall eat you up] Does this refer to the total loss of the ten tribes? These are so completely swallowed up in some enemies' land, that nothing concerning their existence, or place of residence remains, but mere conjecture. 38 And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. 39 And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity, in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers, shall they pine away with them. 40 T If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me; 41 And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity; 42 Then will I " remember my covenant with Jacob, and my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land. 16.-p Josh. 7. 12, 13. Judges 2. 14.-q Deut. 4. 27. & 28. 65. Neh. 1. 9. Jer. 3 S. & 29. 12, 13. Ezek. 4. 17. & 6. 9. & 20, 43. & 24. 23. & 33. 10. & 36. 31. Hos 5. 15. Zech. 10, 9-r Numb. 5. 7. 1 Kings 8. 33, 35, 47. Neh. 9. 2. Dan. 9. 3, 4. Prov. 28. 13. Luke 15. 18. 1 John 1. 9-8 See Jer. 6. 10. & 9. 25, 26. Ezek. 44. 7. Acta 7. 51. Rom. 2. 29 Col 2 11.- 1 Kings 21. 29. 2 Chron. 12. 6, 7, 12 & 32 M. & 3. 12, 13. u Exod. 2. 24. & 6. 5. Psa. 106. 45. Ezek. 16. 60.- P 13, 2- Ver. 34, 35, x Ver. 15.-y Deut. 4. 31. 2 Kings 13. 23. Rom. 11. 2—z Rom. 11. 2-a Ch. 2 33. & 25. 38-b Psa. 96. 2. Ezek. 20. 9, 14, 22-e Ch. 27. 34. Deut. 6. 1. & 12. 1. & 33. 4. John 1. 17.-d Ch. 25. 1. Verse 44. Neither will I abhor them to destroy them utterly] Though God has literally fulfilled all his threatenings upon this people, in dispossessing them of their land, destroying their polity, overturning their city, demolishing their temple, and scattering themselves over the face of the whole earth; yet he has in his providence strangely preserved them as a distinct people, and in very considerable numbers also! He still remembers the corenant of their ancestors, and in his providence and grace, he has some very important design in their favour. All Israel shall yet be saved: and with the Gentiles, they shall all be restored to his favour, and under Christ Jesus, the great Shepherd, become with them, one grand everlasting fold. Verse 46. These are the statutes and judgments, &c.] See on ver. 15. This verse appears to be the proper concluding verse of the whole book: and I rather think that the 27th chapter originally followed the 25th. As the law was anciently written on skins of parchment, sheep or goat skins, pasted or stitched together, and all rolled up in one roll, the matter being written in columns: one of these columns might have been very easily displaced, and thus whole chapters might have been readily interchanged. It is likely that this might have been the case in the present instance. Others endeavour to solve this difficulty, by supposing that the 27th chapter was added after the book had been finished; and therefore, there is apparently a double conclusion, one at the end of the 26th, and the other at the end of the 27th chapter. However the above may have been, all the ancient versions agree in concluding both the chapters in nearly the same way; yet the 26th chapter must be allowed to be, by far, the most natural conclusion of the book. The most important points in this chapter have already been particularly noticed in the notes: and to those on the 15th, 34th, and the 44th verses the reader is especially referred. How unwilling is God to cast off his people! and yet how sure is their rejection, if they refuse to obey and live to him. No nation has ever been so signally elected as the Jews; and yet no nation has ever been so signally |