---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible"
author: "Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown"
languages: [en]
shelf: "Commentaries"
section: 61 of 927
url: https://scriptura.si/works/jamieson-fausset-brown-commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/61/
cite: "Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, section 61. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/jamieson-fausset-brown-commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/61/"
---

# Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

*Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown*

The Victorian standard commentary, critical and practical, from Genesis to Revelation.

## 61. Deuteronomy · 5 of 10

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/jamieson-fausset-brown-commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/61/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/jamieson-fausset-brown-commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/61/#p-N

[¶0] 2. Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it--not by an absolute discharge of the debt, but by passing over that year without exacting payment. The relief was temporary and peculiar to that year during which there was a total suspension of agricultural labor.

[¶1] he shall not exact it ... of his brother--that is, an Israelite, so called in opposition to a stranger or foreigner.

[¶2] because it is called the Lord's release--The reason for acquitting a debtor at that particular period proceeded from obedience to the command, and a regard for the honor, of God; an acknowledgment of holding their property of Him, and gratitude for His kindness.

[¶3] 3. Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again--Admission to all the religious privileges of the Israelites was freely granted to heathen proselytes, though this spiritual incorporation did not always imply an equal participation of civil rights and privileges ([Le 25:44]; [Jr 34:14]; compare [1Ch 22:2]; [2Ch 2:17]).

[¶4] 4. Save when there shall be no poor man among you--Apparently a qualifying clause added to limit the application of the foregoing statement [De 15:3]; so that "the brother" to be released pointed to a poor borrower, whereas it is implied that if he were rich, the restoration of the loan might be demanded even during that year. But the words may properly be rendered (as on the Margin) to the end, in order that there may be no poor among you--that is, that none be reduced to inconvenient straits and poverty by unseasonable exaction of debts at a time when there was no labor and no produce, and that all may enjoy comfort and prosperity, which will be the case through the special blessing of God on the land, provided they are obedient.

[¶5] 7-11. If there be among you a poor man ... thou shalt not harden thine heart--Lest the foregoing law should prevent the Israelites lending to the poor, Moses here admonishes them against so mean and selfish a spirit and exhorts them to give in a liberal spirit of charity and kindness, which will secure the divine blessing ([Ro 12:8]; [2Co 9:7]).

### De 15:12-19. Hebrew Servants' Freedom

[¶7] 12. if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee--The last extremity of an insolvent debtor, when his house or land was not sufficient to cancel his debt, was to be sold as a slave with his family ([Le 25:39]; [2Ki 4:1]; [Ne 5:1-13]; [Job 24:9]; [Mt 18:25]). The term of servitude could not last beyond six years. They obtained their freedom either after six years from the time of their sale or before the end of the seventh year. At the year of jubilee, such slaves were emancipated even if their six years of service were not completed [see on Le 25:39].

[¶8] 13-15. thou shalt not let him go away empty--A seasonable and wise provision for enabling a poor unfortunate to regain his original status in society, and the motive urged for his kindness and humanity to the Hebrew slave was the remembrance that the whole nation was once a degraded and persecuted band of helots in Egypt. Thus, kindness towards their slaves, unparalleled elsewhere in those days, was inculcated by the Mosaic law; and in all their conduct towards persons in that reduced condition, leniency and gentleness were enforced by an appeal which no Israelite could resist.

[¶9] 16-17. if he say unto thee, I will not go away from thee--If they declined to avail themselves of the privilege of release and chose to remain with their master, then by a peculiar form of ceremony they became a party to the transaction, voluntarily sold themselves to their employer, and continued in his service till death.

[¶10] 18. he hath been worth a double hired servant to thee--that is, he is entitled to double wages because his service was more advantageous to you, being both without wages and for a length of time, whereas hired servants were engaged yearly ([Le 25:53]), or at most for three years ([Is 16:14]).

[¶11] 19. All the firstling males of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto the Lord thy God--[See on Ex 13:2]; see [Ex 22:30]).

[¶12] thou shalt do not work with the firstling of thy bullock--that is, the second firstlings (see [De 12:17], ; ).

### Chapter 16

### De 16:1-22. The Feast of the Passover

[¶15] 1. Observe the month of Abib--or first-fruits. It comprehended the latter part of our March and the beginning of April. Green ears of the barley, which were then full, were offered as first-fruits, on the second day of the passover.

[¶16] for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee out of Egypt by night--This statement is apparently at variance with the prohibition ([Ex 12:22]) as well as with the recorded fact that their departure took place in the morning ([Ex 13:3]; [Nu 33:3]). But it is susceptible of easy reconciliation. Pharaoh's permission, the first step of emancipation, was extorted during the night, the preparations for departure commenced, the rendezvous at Rameses made, and the march entered on in the morning.

[¶17] 2. Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover--not the paschal lamb, which was strictly and properly the passover. The whole solemnity is here meant, as is evident from the mention of the additional victims that required to be offered on the subsequent days of the feast ([Nu 28:18], ; [2Ch 35:8], ), and from the allusion to the continued use of unleavened bread for seven days, whereas the passover itself was to be eaten at once. The words before us are equivalent to "thou shalt observe the feast of the passover."

[¶18] 3. seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread--a sour, unpleasant, unwholesome kind of bread, designed to be a memorial of their Egyptian misery and of the haste with which they departed, not allowing time for their morning dough to ferment.

[¶19] 5-6. Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates--The passover was to be observed nowhere but in the court of the tabernacle or temple, as it was not a religious feast or sacramental occasion merely, but an actual sacrifice ([Ex 12:27]; ; ). The blood had to be sprinkled on the altar and in the place where the true Passover was afterwards to be sacrificed for us "at even, at the going down of the sun"--literally, "between the evenings."

[¶20] 7. thou shalt roast and eat it--(See on [Ex 12:8]; compare [2Ch 35:13]).

[¶21] thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents--The sense of this passage, on the first glance of the words, seems to point to the morning after the first day--the passover eve. Perhaps, however, the divinely appointed duration of this feast, the solemn character and important object, the journey of the people from the distant parts of the land to be present, and the recorded examples of their continuing all the time ([2Ch 30:21] ), (though these may be considered extraordinary, and therefore exceptional occasions), may warrant the conclusion that the leave given to the people to return home was to be on the morning after the completion of the seven days.

[¶22] 9-12. Seven weeks shalt thou number--The feast of weeks, or a WEEK OF WEEKS: the feast of pentecost (see on [Le 23:10]; also see [Ex 34:22]; [Ac 2:1]). As on the second day of the passover a sheaf of new barley, reaped on purpose, was offered, so on the second day of pentecost a sheaf of new wheat was presented as first-fruits ([Ex 23:16]; [Nu 28:26]), a freewill, spontaneous tribute of gratitude to God for His temporal bounties. This feast was instituted in memory of the giving of the law, that spiritual food by which man's soul is nourished ([De 8:3]).

[¶23] 13-17. Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days--(See on [Ex 23:14]; [Le 23:34]; [Nu 29:12]). Various conjectures have been formed to account for the appointment of this feast at the conclusion of the whole harvest. Some imagine that it was designed to remind the Israelites of the time when they had no cornfields to reap but were daily supplied with manna; others think that it suited the convenience of the people better than any other period of the year for dwelling in booths; others that it was the time of Moses' second descent from the mount; while a fourth class are of opinion that this feast was fixed to the time of the year when the Word was made flesh and dwelt--literally, "tabernacled"--among us ([Joh 1:14]), Christ being actually born at that season.

[¶24] 18-20. Judges and officers shalt thou make--These last meant heralds or bailiffs, employed in executing the sentence of their superiors.

[¶25] in all thy gates--The gate was the place of public resort among the Israelites and other Eastern people, where business was transacted and causes decided. The Ottoman Porte derived its name from the administration of justice at its gates.

[¶26] 21. Thou shalt not plant thee a grove--A grove has in Scripture a variety of significations--a group of overshadowing trees, or a grove adorned with altars dedicated to a particular deity, or a wooden image in a grove ([Jud 6:25]; [2Ki 23:4-6]). They might be placed near the earthen and temporary altars erected in the wilderness, but they could not exist either at the tabernacle or temples. They were places, which, with their usual accompaniments, presented strong allurements to idolatry; and therefore the Israelites were prohibited from planting them.

[¶27] 22. Neither shalt thou set thee up any image--erroneously rendered so for "pillar"; pillars of various kinds, and materials of wood or stone were erected in the neighborhood of altars. Sometimes they were conical or oblong, at other times they served as pedestals for the statues of idols. A superstitious reverence was attached to them, and hence they were forbidden.

### Chapter 17

### De 17:1. Things Sacrificed Must Be Sound

[¶30] 1. Thou shalt not sacrifice ... any bullock, or sheep, wherein is blemish--Under the name of bullock were comprehended bulls, cows, and calves; under that of sheep, rams, lambs, kids, he- and she-goats. An ox, from mutilation, was inadmissible. The qualifications required in animals destined for sacrifice are described ([Ex 12:5]; [Le 1:3]).

### De 17:2-7. Idolaters Must Be Slain

[¶32] 2-7. If there be found among you ... man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness--The grand object contemplated in choosing Israel was to preserve the knowledge and worship of the one true God; and hence idolatry of any kind, whether of the heavenly bodies or in some grosser form, is called "a transgression of His covenant." No rank or sex could palliate this crime. Every reported case, even a flying rumor of the perpetration of so heinous an offense, was to be judicially examined; and if proved by the testimony of competent witnesses, the offender was to be taken without the gates and stoned to death, the witnesses casting the first stone at him. The object of this special arrangement was partly to deter the witnesses from making a rash accusation by the prominent part they had to act as executioners, and partly to give a public assurance that the crime had met its due punishment.

### De 17:8-13. The Priests and Judges to Determine Controversies

[¶34] 8-13. If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment--In all civil or criminal cases, where there was any doubt or difficulty in giving a decision, the local magistrates were to submit them by reference to the tribunal of the Sanhedrim--the supreme council, which was composed partly of civil and partly of ecclesiastical persons. "The priests and Levites," should rather be "the priests--the Levites"; that is, the Levitical priests, including the high priest, who were members of the legislative assembly; and who, as forming one body, are called "the judge." Their sittings were held in the neighborhood of the sanctuary because in great emergencies the high priest had to consult God by Urim ([Nu 27:21]). From their judgment there was no appeal; and if a person were so perverse and refractory as to refuse obedience to their sentences, his conduct, as inconsistent with the maintenance of order and good government, was then to be regarded and punished as a capital crime.

### De 17:14-20. The Election and Duty of a King

[¶36] 14. When thou ... shalt say, I will set a king over me--In the following passage Moses prophetically announces a revolution which should occur at a later period in the national history of Israel. No sanction or recommendation was indicated; on the contrary, when the popular clamor had effected that constitutional change on the theocracy by the appointment of a king, the divine disapproval was expressed in the most unequivocal terms ([1Sa 8:7]). Permission at length was granted, God reserving to Himself the nomination of the family and the person who should be elevated to the regal dignity ([1Sa 9:15]; ; ; [1Ch 28:4]). In short, Moses foreseeing that his ignorant and fickle countrymen, insensible to their advantages as a peculiar people, would soon wish to change their constitution and be like other nations, provides to a certain extent for such an emergency and lays down the principles on which a king in Israel must act. He was to possess certain indispensable requisites. He was to be an Israelite, of the same race and religion, to preserve the purity of the established worship, as well as be a type of Christ, a spiritual king, one of their brethren.

[¶37] 15. thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother--that is, by their free and voluntary choice. But God, in the retributions of His providence, did allow foreign princes to usurp the dominion ([Jr 38:17]; [Mt 22:17]).

[¶38] 16. he shall not multiply horses to himself--The use of these animals was not absolutely prohibited, nor is there any reason to conclude that they might not be employed as part of the state equipage. But the multiplication of horses would inevitably lead to many evils, to increased intercourse with foreign nations, especially with Egypt, to the importation of an animal to which the character of the country was not suited, to the establishment of an Oriental military despotism, to proud and pompous parade in peace, to a dependence upon Egypt in time of war, and a consequent withdrawal of trust and confidence in God. ([2Sa 8:4]; [1Ki 10:26]; [2Ch 1:16]; 9:28; [Is 31:3]).

[¶39] 17. Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away--There were the strongest reasons for recording an express prohibition on this point, founded on the practice of neighboring countries in which polygamy prevailed, and whose kings had numerous harems; besides, the monarch of Israel was to be absolutely independent of the people and had nothing but the divine law to restrain his passions. The mischievous effects resulting from the breach of this condition were exemplified in the history of Solomon and other princes, who, by trampling on the restrictive law, corrupted themselves as well as the nation.

[¶40] neither shall he greatly multiply ... silver and gold--that is, the kings were forbidden to accumulate money for private purposes.

[¶41] 18-20. he shall write him a copy of this law in a book--The original scroll of the ancient Scriptures was deposited in the sanctuary under the strict custody of the priests (see on [De 31:26]; [2Ki 22:8]). Each monarch, on his accession, was to be furnished with a true and faithful copy, which he was to keep constantly beside him, and daily peruse it, that his character and sentiments being cast into its sanctifying mould, he might discharge his royal functions in the spirit of faith and piety, of humility and a love or righteousness.

### Chapter 18

### De 18:1-8. The Lord Is the Priests' and the Levites' Inheritance

[¶44] 1. The priests the Levites ... shall eat the offerings--As the tribe of Levi had no inheritance allotted them like the other tribes but were wholly consecrated to the priestly office, their maintenance was to arise from tithes, first-fruits, and certain portions of the oblations presented on the altar, which God having by express appointment reserved to Himself made over, after being offered, to His ministers.