Verse 9
Hermon the Sidonians call - Shenir - I suppose this verse to have been a marginal remark, which afterwards got incorporated with the text, or an addition by Joshua or Ezra.
Verse 11
Og king of Bashan remained - Og was the last king of the Amorites; his kingdom appears to have taken its name from the hill of Bashan; the country has been since called Batanaea.
Remnant of giants - Of the Rephaim. See on [Deu 2:10] (note), [Deu 2:11] (note).
His bedstead was - of iron - Iron was probably used partly for its strength and durability, and partly to prevent noxious vermin from harbouring in it.
Is it not in Rabbath, of the children of Ammon? - The bedstead was probably taken in some battle between the Ammonites and Amorites, in which the former had gained the victory. The bedstead was carried a trophy and placed in Rabbath, which appears, from [2Sam 12:26], to have been the royal city of the children of Ammon.
Nine cubits was the length - four cubits the breadth - Allowing the bedstead to have been one cubit longer than Og, which is certainly sufficient, and allowing the cubit to be about eighteen inches long, for this is perhaps the average of the cubit of a man, then Og was twelve feet high. This may be deemed extraordinary, and perhaps almost incredible, and therefore many commentators have, according to their fancy, lengthened the bedstead and shortened the man, making the former one-third longer than the person who lay on it, that they might reduce Og to six cubits; but even in this way they make him at least nine feet high.
On this subject the rabbins have trifled most sinfully. I shall give one specimen. In the Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel on [Num 21:33-35], it is said that "Og having observed that the camp of the Israelites extended six miles, he went and tore up a mountain six miles in its base, and put it on his head, and carried it towards the camp, that he might throw it on the Israelites and destroy them; but the word of the Lord prepared a worm, which bored a hole in the mountain over his head, so that it fell down upon his shoulders: at the same time his teeth growing out in all directions, stuck into the mountain, so that he could not cast it off his head. Moses, (who was himself ten cubits high), seeing Og thus entangled, took an axe ten cubits long, and having leaped ten cubits in height, struck Og on the ankle bone, so that he fell and was slain."
From this account the distance from the sole of Og's foot to his ankle was thirty cubits in length! I give this as a very slight specimen of rabbinical comment. I could quote places in the Talmud in which Og is stated to be several miles high! This relation about Og I suppose to be also an historical note added by a subsequent hand.
Verse 14
Bashan-havoth-jair - Bashan of the cities of Jair; see [Num 32:41].
Verse 17
From Chinnereth - See on [Num 34:11] (note).
Verse 24
The prayer of Moses recorded in these two verses, and his own reflections on it, [Deu 3:26], are very affecting. He had suffered much both in body and mind in bringing the people to the borders of the promised land; and it was natural enough for him to wish to see them established in it, and to enjoy a portion of that inheritance himself, which he knew was a type of the heavenly country. But notwithstanding his very earnest prayer, and God's especial favor towards him, he was not permitted to go over Jordan! He had grieved the Spirit of God, and he passed a sentence against him of exclusion from the promised land. Yet he permitted him to see it, and gave him the fullest assurances that the people whom he had brought out of Egypt should possess it. Thus God may choose to deprive those of earthly possessions to whom he is nevertheless determined to give a heavenly inheritance.
Verse 26
Let it suffice thee - רב לך rab lach, there is an abundance to thee - thou hast had honor enough already, and may well dispense with going over Jordan. He surely has no reason to complain who is taken from earthly felicity to heavenly glory. In this act God showed to Moses both his goodness and severity.
Verse 28
But charge Joshua, etc. - Give him authority in the sight of the people, let them see that he has the same commission which I gave to thee. Encourage him; for he will meet with many difficulties in the work to which he is called. And strengthen him - show him my unfailing promises, and exhort him to put his trust in me alone; for he shall go over before this people, and shall cause them to inherit the land; of this let him rest perfectly assured.
Verse 29
Beth-peor - This was a city in the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites; and as בית beth signifies a house, the place probably had its name from a temple of the god Peor, who was worshipped there. Peor was nearly the same among the Moabites that Priapus was among the Romans - the obscene god of an obscene people. This we have already seen.
It is very likely that what God speaks here, both concerning Moses and Joshua, was designed to be typical of the procedure of his justice and grace in the salvation of man.
1. The land of Canaan was a type of the kingdom of heaven.
2. The law, which shows the holiness of God and the exceeding sinfulness of sin, could not bring the people to the possession of that kingdom.
3. Moses may probably be considered here as the emblem of that law by which is the knowledge of sin, but not redemption from it
4. Joshua, the same as Jesus, the name signifying a Savior, is appointed to bring the people into the rest which God had provided for them; thus it is by Jesus Christ alone that the soul is saved - fitted for and brought into the possession of the heavenly inheritance, (see [Joh 1:17]; [Gal 2:16]; [Gal 3:12], [Gal 3:13], [Gal 3:24]); for he is the end of the law - the great scope and design of the law, for righteousness - for justification, to them that believe; [Rom 10:4]. Such a use as this every pious reader may make of the circumstances recorded here, without the danger of pushing analogy or metaphor beyond their reasonable limits.
Introduction
Exhortations to obedience, [Deu 4:1]. Nothing to be added to or taken from the testimonies of God, [Deu 4:2]. The people are exhorted to recollect how God had destroyed the ungodly among them, [Deu 4:3]; and preserved those who were faithful, [Deu 4:4]. The excellence of the Divine law, [Deu 4:5], [Deu 4:6]. No nation in the world could boast of any such statutes, judgments, etc., [Deu 4:7], [Deu 4:8]. They are exhorted to obedience by the wonderful manifestations of God in their behalf, [Deu 4:9-13]. Moses exhorts them to beware of idolatry, and to make no likeness of any thing in heaven or earth as an object of adoration, [Deu 4:14-20]. He informs them that he must die in that land as God had refused to let him go into the promised land, being angry with him on their account, [Deu 4:21], [Deu 4:22]. Repeats his exhortation to obedience, [Deu 4:23], [Deu 4:24]. Predicts the judgments of God against them, should they turn to idolatry, [Deu 4:25-28]. Promises of God's mercy to the penitent, [Deu 4:29-31]. The grand and unparalleled privileges of the Israelites, [Deu 4:32-40]. Moses severs three cities on the east side of Jordan for cities of refuge, [Deu 4:41], [Deu 4:42]. Their names, [Deu 4:43]. When and where Moses gave these statutes and judgments to Israel, [Deu 4:44-49].
Verse 1
Hearken - unto the statutes - Every thing that concerned the rites and ceremonies of religion; judgments - all that concerned matters of civil right and wrong.
Verse 2
Ye shall not add - Any book, chapter, verse or word, which I have not spoken; nor give any comment that has any tendency to corrupt, weaken, or destroy any part of this revelation.
Neither shall ye diminish - Ye shall not only not take away any larger portion of this word, but ye shall not take one jot or tittle from the Law; it is that word of God that abideth for ever.
Verse 6
Keep - and do them; for this is your wisdom - There was no mode of worship at this time on the face or the earth that was not wicked, obscene, puerile, foolish, or ridiculous, except that established by God himself among the Israelites. And every part of this, taken in its connection and reference, may be truly called a wise and reasonable service.
The nations - and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people - Almost all the nations in the earth showed that they had formed this opinion of the Jews, by borrowing from them the principal part of their civil code. Take away what Asia and Europe, whether ancient or modern, have borrowed from the Mosaic laws, and you leave little behind that can be called excellent.
Verse 9
Only take heed to thyself - Be circumspect and watchful.
Keep thy soul diligently - Be mindful of thy eternal interests. Whatever becomes of the body, take care of the soul.
Lest thou forget - God does his work that they may be had in everlasting remembrance; and he that forgets them, forgets his own mercies. Besides, if a man forget the work of God on his soul, he loses that work.
Lest they depart from thy heart - It is not sufficient to lay up Divine things in the memory, they must be laid up in the heart. Thy word have I hidden in my heart, says David, that I might not sin against thee. The life of God in the soul of man can alone preserve the soul to life everlasting; and this grace must be retained all the days of our life. When Adam fell, his condition was not meliorated by the reflection that he had been once in paradise; nor does it avail Satan now that he was once an angel of light. Those who let the grace of God depart from their hearts, lose that grace; and those who lose the grace, fall from the grace; and as some have fallen and risen no more, so may others; therefore, take heed to thyself, etc. Were it impossible for men finally to fall from the grace of God, exhortations of this kind had never been given, because they would have been unnecessary, and God never does an unnecessary thing.
But teach them thy sons - If a man know the worth of his own soul, he will feel the importance of the salvation of the souls of his family. Those who neglect family religion, neglect personal religion; if more attention were paid to the former, even among those called religious people, we should soon have a better state of civil society. On family religion God lays much stress; and no head of a family can neglect it without endangering the final salvation of his own soul. See the note at the conclusion of [Gen 18:32] (note), [Gen 19:38] (note), and [Deu 6:7] (note).
Verse 15
Ye saw no manner of similitude - Howsoever God chose to appear or manifest himself, he took care never to assume any describable form. He would have no image worship, because he is a Spirit, and they who worship him must worship him in Spirit and in truth. These outward things tend to draw the mind out of itself, and diffuse it on sensible, if not sensual, objects; and thus spiritual worship is prevented, and the Holy Ghost grieved. Persons acting in this way can never know much of the religion of the heart.