Deuteronomy 2
1. Then we turned and took our journey. The time in which they struck their camp is not stated in the book of Numbers. This verse, therefore, will aptly connect the history, since otherwise there would be an abruptness in what immediately follows, he then briefly indicates what was the nature of their journeying until the time appointed; viz., that, by wearying themselves in vain in circuitous wanderings, they might, at length, learn to follow God directly, and not to decline from the way which He points out. Leviticus 24
4. And they shall be afraid of you. This temptation was the more provoking, when they heard not only that the embassy would be vain, but that although Edom should receive them with injustice and hostility, they were still to abstain from violence and arms. For there might be some reason in this, that when they presented their request in a friendly manner, they would have a legitimate cause of war, if Edom should reject their demands. But this further condition might appear altogether intolerable that they were to do nothing against those who refused to let them pass quietly through their land. Hence, however, it more fully appears how the Israelites were gradually, and by various kinds of chastisement, subdued to obedience, whereas they would otherwise have fiercely and petulantly exclaimed that they had been dealt with unkindly by God; since thus their condition would be worse than the universal law of nations allowed. In this matter, then, their wanderings, for eight and thirty years, had much efficacy in bringing them back to the right way. | Leviticus 24:10-14 | |
| 10. And the son of an Israelitish woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel; and this son of the Israelitish woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp: | 10. Egressus est autem filius mulieris Israelitidis, qui erat filius viri AEgyptii, in medio filiorum Israel, et jurgati sunt in castris ipsis filius Israelitidis et vir Israelita. |
| 11. And the Israelitish woman’s son blasphemed the name of the Lord, and cursed. And they brought him unto Moses: (and his mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan:) | 11. Et transfixit filius mulieris Israelitidis nomen, et maledixit: ad duxeruntque eum ad Mosen: nomen autem matris ejus erat Selomith filia Dibri, de tribu Dan. |
| 12. And they put him in ward, that the mind of the Lord might be showed them. | 12. Et posuerunt eum in custodiam, ut exponeret eis juxta sermonem Jehovse. |
| 13. And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, | 13. Loquutus est autem Jehova ad Mosen, dicendo: |
| 14. Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp, and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him. | 14. Educ blasphemum extra castra, et ponant omnes qui audierunt manus suas super caput ejus, et lapidet eum universus coetus. |
Deuteronomy 2:7 For the Lord thy God hath blessed thee. This reason is added, lest the people should be grieved at spending their money, of which they had not much, in buying meat and drink. There are, however, two clauses; first, that they were so enriched by God’s bounty, that they were fully supplied with the means of buying food; and, secondly, that they must not doubt but that He would relieve their necessity, if it were required, since He had thus far provided for them, and had not suffered them to want anything. He, therefore, encourages them to hope, in consideration of their past experience; because God would take care of them, as tie had before been accustomed to do. The question, however, arises, how God could say, that He had blessed the work of their hands, when they had had no commerce with other nations, so as to make the smallest gains whatever. But I thus understand it, viz., that although they were gratuitously sustained in the wilderness, and had not expended a single penny in buying even shoelatchets, still their cattle had increased, and, besides, they had made some profits by their daily labor; not by receiving, indeed, daily wages, but by providing for themselves furniture and other necessaries. Numbers 20
9. And the Lord said unto me, Distress not the Moabites. He had previously forbidden them to enter the land of Edom, unless consent were obtained. A similar prohibition is now added with respect to the Moabites, because God had allotted to them the territory which they inhabited. As I have said, this was painful and burdensome, that they should cherish kindness and fraternal good-will towards those who treated them with hostility; but God desired in this respect also to prove the obedience of His people. He did not, then, take into consideration what this nation had dcserved; but, inasmuch as they were the descendants of Lot, and consequently of the race of Abraham, He desired to treat them with special favor. For the division of the whole world appertains to Him, so as to distribute to its various peoples whatever part He chooses, and to fix the bounds wherein they should confine themselves. If any object that the people of Canaan had also their limits assigned to them, and ought not, therefore, to have been expelled from the lands in which their forefathers had for many ages inhabited, the reply is easy, viz., that God is always free to take away what He has given, and to readjust the boundaries imposed by His will, when the sins of men deserve that this should be done. When, therefore, He declares that He had given their land to the Moabites, it is not according to the ordinary force of the expression, but by a fixed decree that their habitation should remain sure and undisturbed. 10. The Emims dwelt therein in times past. This is a confirmation of the foregoing declaration, which is, however, inserted by way of parenthesis by Moses himself; for the ninth verse, which I have just expounded, is followed regularly by the thirteenth, “Now rise up,” etc. For, after God had turned away the people from the borders of Moab, He shews them in what direction they must pass over; but Moses, interrupting the address of God, explains how the Moabites had obtained that territow, though they were strangers, and had no land of their own on which they might set their foot;. For Lot was no less an alien than Abraham; Moses, therefore, states how by special privilege the posterity of Lot became masters of that land which giants had previously possessed. For it was not by human means that, having driven out the giants, who were formidable to all men, they had obtained the peaceful occupation, and even the dominion of that land, which might have seemed to be invincible, from the valor and strength of its inhabitants. He says, therefore, that the giants dwelt there, as also in Mount Seir; and that both were overcome and destroyed, not so much by the hand and arms of men as by the power of God, so that their land might be cleared for possession as well for the children of Esau as for those of Lot. Now, since God elsewhere declares that He had given Mount Seir to Esau as an inheritance, according as He had promised to his father Isaac, it follows that the Moabites had obtained their land also by the same Divine authority. The comparison which is made between Edom and the Israelites does not hold good in all respects; for, although Esau was sustained by this consolation, that his inheritance should be of “the fatness of the earth,” (Genesis 27:39,) it might still be the case that with regard to himself and his posterity, their possession should not be legitimate; whereas God so promised the land of Canaan to the race of Abraham, that the Israelites received the dominion over it, as if from His own hand, as it is said in Psalm 136:21. In this respect, too, there was a difference, because the land of Canaan was chosen as that in which God should gather His Church, in which He should be purely worshipped, and which should be an earnest, to the faithful of the heavenly and eternal rest. But, as elsewhere, the distinction between the sons of Esau and Jacob is marked, so now Moses ▼| Numbers 20:23-29 | |
| 23. And the Lord spoke unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying, | 23. Dixit autem Jehova ad Mosen et Aharon in monte Hor, in finibus terrae Edom, dicendo: |
| 24. Aaron shall be gathered unto his people; for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of’ Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah. | 24. Congregabitur Aharon ad populos suos.: Non enim ingredietur terram quam dedi filiis Israel: eo quod rebelles fueritis ori meo in aquis jurgii. |
| 25. Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor; | 25. Accipe Aharon et Eleazar filium ejus, et ascendere fac eos in Hor montem. |
| 26. And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there. | 26. Tunc exues Aharon vestibus suis, quibus indues Eleazar filium ejus: quia Aharon colligetar, et morietur ibi. |
| 27. And Moses did as the Lord commanded: and they went up into mount Hor, in the sight of all the congregation. | 27. Fecitque Moses quemadmodum praeperat Jehova. Et ascenderunt in Hor montem in oculis totius congregationis. |
| 28. And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; mid Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount. | 28. Et exuit Moses Aharon vestibus suis, et induit illis Eleazar filium ejus, mortuusque est Aharon ibi in vertice montis. Tunc descendit Moses et Eleazar de monte. |
| 29. And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel. | 29. Videns autem tota congregatio quod obiisset Aharon, fleverunt eum triginta diebus tota domus Israel. |
▼ “Moyse dit ici qu’ils ont eu cela de commun, que Dieu les a voulu loger;” Moses says here that they had this in common, that God had chosen to give them their dwelling-places. — Fr.
magnifies God’s special blessing towards them both. 13. Now rise up. He now proceeds with what he had begun in verse 9, viz, that God had commanded them to pass by the land of Seir, and to advance to the brook Zered; as much as to say, that after they had been subdued by their misfortunes, they were prohibited from further progress, until God should open the way before them, and thus they should follow Him as their leader, and not make a passage for themselves at their own discretion. He afterwards specifies the period of delay which they had been compelled by God to pass in the desert, after they had once reached the borders of the promised land. He says, then, that after thirty-eight years they had at length returned to the land from whence they had been obliged to retire; and briefly reminds them how long the course of their deliverance had been interrupted through their own fault, since they had gone forth to enjoy the promised land. He calls those “warlike men,” or, in the Hebrew, “men of war,” whose age entitled them to bear arms, i.e., who had exceeded their twentieth year. When mention is elsewhere made of forty years, the two years are then included which were spent both in Mount Sinai and in other places; and with good reason, because, during that time also, their sins prevented them from passing to the enjoyment of their inheritance immediately after the promulgation of the law. 19. And when thou comest nigh over against the children ofAmmon. God now makes provision as to the Ammonites, since their condition was the same as that of the Moabites, inasmuch as they were descended from the two daughters of Lot. It might, indeed, seem wonderful that, since the memory of their origin was detestable, these two nations should have been so dear to God. Ammon and Moab had been born of an incestuous connection. It was, therefore, more reasonable that this tragical circumstance should have been buried by their destruction, than that they should have been distinguished by God’s favor from the common lot of other nations, as if their nobility rendered them superior to others. But let us learn from hence, that since God’s judgments, like a deep abyss, are beyond our apprehension, they should be regarded with reverence. Lot’s distinguished piety is expressly declared. The disgraceful crime, which he committed when drunk, it pleased God so to mark with perpetual infamy, as still to impress upon it some signs of His mercy, although this was done especially for the sake of Abraham himself. It is unquestionable, however, that God recommends the posterity of Lot to the Israelites on this ground, that they may more willingly exercise kindness towards them, and abstain from all injury, when they had to do with two nations whom they see to be cared for by God Himself, for the sake of their common relationship to Abraham. Furthermore, by the same argument whereby he had before proved that both Edomites and Moabites, relying on God’s help, had occupied the lands over which they had dominion, he now establishes that the land which the Ammonites possessed had been granted them by God, viz., because in their conquest and overthrow of the giants they had surpassed the limits of human bravery, and thus God had given a proof of His special and unusual favor towards them. For neither by the ordinary course of nature could two men increase to so great a multitude. Now, although the Hebrew call the Cappadocians Caphthorim, ▼
A Repitition of the same History Deuteronomy 2
Deuteronomy 2:24. Rise ye up, take your journey. I have lately said that the order is here inverted, for what soon after follows, “And I sent messengers out of the wilderness,” etc., ver. 26, Moses, in my opinion, has inserted by way of parenthesis: it will, therefore, be suitably rendered in the pluperfect tense, “But I had sent,” etc. Thus there will be no ambiguity in the sense that, when the messengers had returned without effecting their purpose, God sustained the weariness of the people by this consolation, as though he had said, Sihon has not, with impunity, repudiated the peace offered to him, since it will now be permitted you to assail him in lawful war. And assuredly this signal for the expedition to advance depends on the declaration which is subjoined in ver. 30, as we may readily gather from the context; for Moses there repeats what we here read respecting their passage in somewhat different words; and again does God testify that He has given Sihon into the hands of the people, and exhorts Moses to go down boldly to the battle. Moreover, the cause is there specified why (Sihon) had been so arrogant and contemptuous in his rejection of the embassy, viz., because God had “hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate.” From whence again it appears how poor is the sophistry of those who imagine that God idly regards from heaven what men are about to do. ▼▼ Bochart remarks that all ancient writers are unanimous in supposing Caphthor to be Cappadocia, and the Caphthorim Cappadocians; but he assigns to them that part of Cappadocia only which bordered on Colchis. Phaleg. Book 4, chap. 32:— See C. on Jeremiah 47:4, C. Soc. Edit., vol. 4, p 614.
we do not know whether the giants, whose country was taken possession of by the Ammonites, sprung from them. But, if this be admitted, they had a long journey, attended by many dangers, after they left their country; and again, since they must have passed through rich and fertile regions, it is strange that they should have penetrated to those mountains. It might, however, be the case, that, making forays as robbers, they nowhere found a quiet resting-place until a less cultivated region presented itself. Numbers 21 | Numbers 21:21-32 | |
| 21. And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, | 21. Misit Israel legatos ad Sihon regem AEmorrhaeorum, dicendo: |
| 22. Let me pass through thy land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well; but we will go along by the king’s high-way, until we be past thy borders. | 22. Transeam per terram tuam: non declinabimus per agros, neque per vineam: non bibemus aquas puteorum, via regia pergemus, donec transierimus terminum tuum. |
| 23. And Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border; but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness: and he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel. | 23. At non permisit Sihon Israeli ut transiret per terminum suum. Itaque congregavit Sihon universum populum suum, et egressus est obviam Israeli in desertum, venitque in Jahaz et pugnavit cum Israele. |
| 24. And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon was strong. | 24. Et percussit eum Israel in ore gladii, et hareditate accepit terram ejus ab Arnon usque ad Jabbok usque ad filios Ammon: quia munitus erat terminus filiorum Ammon. |
| 25. And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof. | 25. Et accepit Israel omnes istas urbes, et habitavit Israel in omnibus urbibus AEmorrhaei, in Hesbon, et in omnibus oppidis ejus. |
| 26. For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon. | 26. Hesbon erat urbs Sihon regis AEmorrhaei. Nam ipse pugnaverat contra regem Moab primum, et acceperat omnem terram ejus a manu usque ad Arnon. |
| 27. Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say, Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and prepared; | 27. Idcirco dicunt parabolice loquentes, Venite in Hesbon, aedificetur et instauretur urbs ipsi Sihon: |
| 28. For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it hath consumed Ar of Moab, and the lords of the high places of Arnon. | 28. Quia ignis egressus est de Hesbon, et flamma ex urbe Sihon consumpsit Ar Moab et dominos excelsorum Arnon. |
| 29. Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone, O people of Chemosh! he hath given his sons that escaped, and his daughters, into captivity, unto Sihon king of the Amorites. | 29. Vae tibi Moab, periisti popule Chemos, dedit filios suos in fugam, et filias suas in captivitatem regis AEmorrhaei Sihon. |
| 30. We have shot at them: Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba. | 30. Et lucerna eorum periit ab Hesbon usque ad Dibon, et delevimus usque ad Nopah, quae est ad medebah. |
| 31. Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites. | 31. Habitavit itaque Israel in terra AEmorrhaei. |
| 32. And Moses sent to spy out Jaazer, and they took the villages thereof, and drove out the Amorites that were there. | 32. Misit deinde Moses ad explorandum Jaazer, et ceperunt oppida ejus, et expulit AEmorrhaeum qui erat ibi. |
| Deuteronomy 2:24-37 | |
| 24. Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land; begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle. | 24. Surgite, proficiscimini, et transite torrentem Arnon. Vide, dedi in manum tuam Sihon regem Hesbon, Aemorrhaeumn et terram ejus, incipe possidere, et dimica praelio cun eo. |
| 25. This day will I begin to put the dread of thee, and the fear of thee, upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee | 25. Hotde incipiam dare pavorem tui et formidinem tui super faciem populorum qui sunt sub toto coelo, qui audierant famam tuam, et pavebunt, timebuntque a facie tua. |
| 26. And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon, with words of peace, saying, | 26. Et misi nuntios e deserto Cedemoth ad Sihon regem Hesbon verbis pacificis, dicendo: |
| 27. Let me pass through thy land: I will go along by the high-way, I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left. | 27. Transeam per terram tuam, per viam ambulabo, non declinabo ad dexteram nec ad sinistram. |
| 28. Thou shalt sell me meat for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink: only I will pass through on my feet, | 28. Cibum argento vendes mihi ut comedam: aquam argento dabis mihi ut bibam, tantum transibo pedibus meis: |
| 29. (As the children of Esau which dwell in Seir, and the Moabites which dwell in Ar, did unto me.) until I shall pass over Jordan, into the land which the Lord our God giveth us. | 29. Quemadmodum fecerunt mihi filii Esau qui habitant in Seir, et Moabitae qui habitant in Ar: donec transiero Jordanem ad terram quam Jehova Deus noster dat nobis. |
| 30. But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the Lord thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day. | 30. Et noluit Sihon rex Hesbon ut transiremus per sua. Induraverat enim Jehova Deus tuus spiritum ejus: et obfirmaverat cor ejus, ut daret eum in manu tun, ut hodie est. |
| 31. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land. | 31. Dixit autem Jehova ad me, Vide, jam coepi dare coram te Sihon, et terram ejus, incipe possidere, ut possideas terram ejus. |
| 32. Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz. | 32. Egressus est autem Sihon in occursum nostrum ipse et universus popuhs ejus ad praelium in Jahaz. |
| 33. And the Lord our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people. | 33. Et tradidit ilium Jehova Deus noster coram nobis, percussimusque eum et filios ejus, et totum populum ejus. |
| 34. And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city; we left none to remain: | 34. Cepimus quoque omnes urbes ejus eo tempore, et destruximus omnes urbes, viros et mulieres, et parvulos: non reliquimus superstitem. |
| 35. Only the cattle we took for a prey unto ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took. | 35. Veruntamen jumenta praedati sumus nobis, et spolia; urbium quas cepimus. |
| 36. From Aroer, which is by the brink of the river of Arnon, and from the city that is by the river, even unto Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us: the Lord our God delivered all unto us. | 36. Ab Aroer qaee est juxta ripam torrentis Arnon, et urbe quae est in valle, usque ad Gillad, non fuit urbs quae effugerit a nobis, omnes tradidit Jehova Deus noster coram nobis. |
| 37. Only unto the land of the children of Ammon thou camest not, nor unto any place of the river Jabbok, nor unto the cities in the mountains, nor unto whatsoever the Lord our God forbade us. | 37. Tantummodo ad terram filiorum Ammon non accessisti, omnem locum torrentis Jabboc, et urbes montanas, atque omnia de quibus praecepit Jehova Deus noster. |
▼ Addition in Fr., “sans disposer de leur volonte;” without disposing their will.
They dare not, indeed, despoil Him of foreknowledge; but what can be more absurd than that He foreknows nothing except what men please? But Scripture, as we see, has not placed God in a watch-tower, from which He may behold at a distance what things are about to be; but teaches that He is the director (moderatorem) of all things; and that He subjects to His will, not only the events of things, but the designs and affections of men also. As, therefore, we have before seen how the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, so now Moses ascribes to God the obstinacy of king Sihon. How base a subterfuge is the exception which some make as to His permission, sufficiently appears from the end which Moses points out. ▼▼ “Or il appert par la fin que Moyse specifie combien ceste tergiversation est frivole, de dire que Dieu permet sans rien ordonner;” now, it appears by the end which Moses specifies, how frivolous is that subterfuge, to say that God permits without ordaining anything. — Fr.
For why did God harden the heart of Sihon? thalt “He might deliver him into the hand” of His people to be slain; because He willed that he should perish, and had destined his land for the Israelites. If God only permitted Sihon to grow hardened, this decree was either nought, or mutable, and evanescent, since it depended on the changeable will of man. Putting aside, then, all childish trifling, we must conclude that God by His secret inspiration moves, forms, governs, and draws men’s hearts, so that even by the wicked He executes whatever He has decreed. At the same time it is to be observed that the wicked are not impelled to hardness of heart by extrinsic force, but that they voluntarily harden themselves; so that in this same hardness of heart God may be seen to be a just judge, however incomprehensible His counsel may be, and however the impiety of men may betray itself, who are their own instigators, and the authors of their own sin. Emphatically does Moses inculcate the same thing twice over, viz., that the spirt of Sihon was hardened by God, and his heart made obstinate, in order that God’s paternal favor towards His chosen people might be more conspicuous; because from the obstinacy of the blinded king He afforded them a just cause for war, and an opportunity for victory.
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