Commentary on Deuteronomy, Commentary · Chapter 34
CHAP. XXXIV.
Verſe 1. AND Moſes went up.] Having thus declared Verſe 1 his affectionate Concern for the Happineſs of every one of them, he took his leave of the Elders and all the People; and went up whither God had commanded him, XXXII. 49, &c.
From the plains of Moab.] In which was their laſt ſtation before they entred into Canaan, XXXIII Numb. 48, 49, 50. Where God delivered ſeveral Commands to them, XXXV Numb. 1. XXXVI. 13. and where Moſes ſpake to them what we read in this Book, I Deut. 5.
Ʋnto the Mountain of Nebo.] Which was the higheſt part of the Mountain of Abarim, as appears from XXVII Numb. 12. compared with XXXII Deut. 49. Near to which there was a City of the ſame Name, XXXII Numb. 38. XV Iſa. 2.
To the top of Piſgah.] Which was the very top of the Mountain Nebo. See III Deut. 27. XXI Numb. 20.
That is over against Jericho.] A famous City on the other ſide of Jordan. I ſee no ground to believe that the People of Iſrael accompanied him hither (as Joſephus tells the ſtory) with ſo many tears, that Moſes wept alſo: and having beſeeched them not to take his Departure ſo heavily, he diſmiſſed them together with the Elders, and remained there alone.
And the LORD.] Or, as Jonathan hath it, the WORD of the LORD, who had accompanied him with his bleſſed Preſence through the Wilderneſs.
Showed him all the Land of Gilead unto Dan.] God had often promiſed him that he ſhould ſee the good Land promiſed to their Fathers, though not be permitted to enter into it, XXVI Numb. 12. III Deut. 27. And now fulfils his word, and gives him a full proſpect of it; bidding him firſt look Northwards through the whole Land of Gilead (which comprehends all that was given to the two Tribes and half on this ſide Jordan, where they now were) to the Land of Naphtali, which was in the upper Galilee beyond the Sea of Geneſaret; as far as to the utmoſt Northern Border, which was then called Laiſch, and afterwards Dan, XIX Joſh. 47. XVIII Judg. 28. and in latter times Ceſaraea Philippi.
The mention of Dan, which was not the name of this place, till after that Tribe had conquered Laiſh, in the time of the Judges, ſhows that this was not written at the ſame time with the reſt of this Book; no more than what we read v. 5, 6, 10. of his Death and Burial, &c. (unleſs we ſuppoſe Moſes to have given an account of his own Death and Burial by the Spirit of Prophecy, which is not probable) but it is moſt likely by Samuel, who was a Prophet, and wrote by Divine Authority, what he found in the Records which were left by Joſhua, and others who ſucceeded him; who gave an account of Moſes his leaving the World, and of all that was done after, till the end of the time of the Judges.
Ver. 2. And all Naphtali, and the Land of Ephraim Verſe 2 and Manaſſeh.] Having ſeen the Northern Parts, he bad him turn his Eyes towards the Midland Country, where Ephraim and Manaſſeh were ſituated.
And all the Land of Judah.] Which lay Southerly.
Ʋnto the utmost Sea.] By which ſome underſtand the Salt Sea, which lay on the South-Border of the Land of Judah, XXXIV Numb. 3. But then there will be no mention of the Weſtern Part of Canaan, which lay upon the Mediterranean, or Midland Sea, which is hereby meant.
Ver. 3. And the South.] And after he had ſeen Verſe 3 the South, which the Tribes of Judah and Simeon inhabited, he bad him take a view of the Eaſtern Parts of the Country; as it here follows.
And the plain of the Valley of Jericho.] All the Region about Jordan; eſpecially the lovely Plain of Jericho: which is very much celebrated by other Authors; and lay in the Tribe of Benjamin.
The City of Palm-trees.] Which is often mentioned in Scripture; ſometime without, and ſometime with the name of Jericho, I Judges 16. III. 13. 2 Chron. XXVIII. 15. which was ſo called, becauſe a multitude of Palm-trees grew about it, as Strabo (as well as Joſephus) teſtifies in his Geograph. Lib. XVI. p. 763. where he deſcribes this plain, as foreign, &c. as incompaſſed about with Mountains, after the manner of a Theatre; abounding with Palm-trees, and other Garden-trees mixed with them, for the ſpace of an hundred Stadia. And there was alſo, he obſerves, foreign, the Paradiſe of Balſam. Which is a rare Aromatick Plant, like to the Turpentine-tree; whoſe Juice is of great virtue and value, &c. From which odoriferous Plant, growing here, ſome think this City had the Name of Jericho, ſignifying ſweet ſmelling. So R. Judas in the Gemara of Beracoth; where he mentions this Tree, as growing about Jericho, and thence derives its name from the Hebrew word reach, which ſignifies a ſweet ſmell. This is more probable than the Conjecture of D. Chytraeus, who imagines Jericho to come from jerec, which ſignifies the Moon: and in their German Language, he thinks, might be called Luneburgh.
Ʋnto Zoar.] Which lay in the entrance of the Salt Sea.
Verſe 4 Ver. 4. And the LORD ſaid unto him.] After he had ſhowed him the Land, the WORD of the LORD (as the Hieruſalem Targum hath it) ſpake theſe words to him, which follow. And God having been wont to ſpeak to Moſes out of the Cloud of Glory, Joſephus conceives, that now he was incompaſſed with it, and from thence heard this voice. Which the Jews fancy was ſo loud, that the People heard it into the Camp. Thus at our Saviour's Tranſfiguration upon the holy Mount, a glorious Cloud over-ſhadowed him, and his three Apoſtles, who heard the voice ſay to them, This is my beloved Son, &c. The Samaritans, as Hottinger relates in his Smegma Orientale, Cap. VIII. p. 456. tell the ſtory thus: That Joſhua, Eleazar the Prieſt, and all the Elders accompanying him to the Mount, fell into ſuch a Paſſion, when they were to take their leave, that they could not be parted from him. Whereupon the Pillar of Fire came down, which ſeparated them from Moſes, ſo that they ſaw him no more.
This is the Land which I ſware unto Abraham, unto Iſaac, and unto Jacob, ſaying, I will give it unto thy ſeed.] XII Gen. 7. XIII. 15. XV. 18, &c.
I have cauſed thee to ſee it with thine eyes.] Which the LORD ſtrengthned, it is likely, with a greater vigour than uſual, that he might take a larger proſpect than other wiſe he could have done, of this Country. Or, as ſome of the Jews underſtand it, he laid a Map of it before his eyes, wherein every part of it was exactly deſcribed. But that might have been done, in the Plains of Moab, without going up into a Mountain; therefore the other is more reaſonable, that he ſtrengthned his viſive Faculty, with a greater Power, to ſee the whole Country in its length and breadth, &c. And therefore ſome of the Rabbins have been ſo wiſe as to put both together, as J. Bened. Carpzovius obſerves out of ſeveral of them, (upon Schickard's Jus Regium, Cap. V. Theorem. XVI. p. 285.) who thus ſpeak: God ſhewed him the whole Land, as in a Garden Plot, forty Miles in breadth, and as many in length; and gave his Eyes ſuch a power of Contemplating the whole Land, from the beginning to the end, that, he ſaw Hills and Dales, what was open and what was incloſed, remote, or nigh, at one view.
But thou ſhalt not go over thither.] This he had often ſaid to him: and now mentions it, that he might die in a comfortable ſenſe, that he had been as good as his word to him; and conſequently carry this Belief along with him, into the other World, that he would make good the Oath which he ſware, to their Fathers of bringing them into Canaan; and there fulfil all that he had foretold.
Verſe 5 Ver. 5. So Moſes the ſervant of the LORD.] So God himſelf calls him after his death, in the next Book, I Joſh. 2, 7. as the moſt eminent Miniſter of his, that he had hitherto employed in Iſrael. But the obſervation of R. Bechai is not well founded; that he is not called the Servant of the LORD till after he was dead, and then admitted unto the neareſt familiarity with the Divine Majeſty. For though theſe very words are not uſed, yet the LORD calls him, My Servant Moſes: which is the ſame thing, XII Numb. 7.
Died in the Land of Moab.] For this Country was ſo ſtill called, becauſe it anciently belonged to the Moabites (See XXI Numb. 26.) from whom Sihon had taken it, as Iſrael now had taken it from him. So that he really died in the Land of Iſrael.
According to the Word of the LORD.] The Hieruſalem Targum expounds this very ſoberly, According to the Sentence of the Decree of the LORD. That is, as the LORD had determined and declared he ſhould, XXXII. 49, 50. And ſo this Phraſe is commonly uſed in this very Book, XVII. 6, 10, 11. as well as in other places of the Pentateuch, IX Numb. 20. XIII. 3, &c. which will warrant this Interpretation, that Moſes did not die of any Diſeaſe, nor was worn out with Age; but meerly becauſe God, the Supream Governour of all things, ſo ordered it. But ſome of the Jews, not ſatisfied with this, have far-fetch'd Conceits, concerning the Death of Moſes, from theſe words. For becauſe it is ſaid, he died, al pi, at the mouth (as the words are literally in the Hebrew) of the LORD, Maimonides himſelf ſaith, that their wiſe Men think (and he ſeems of their Opinion) that it ſignifies the LORD drew his Soul out of his Body with a kiſs. And thus died Aaron and Miriam, but none beſides them. Of Aaron indeed it is expreſly ſaid he died al pi of the LORD; but it is not ſaid of Miriam, and yet they will have her to have had the ſame favour. That is, they died (ſaith he) of too much love, from the pleaſure they had in the thoughts of God; which apprehenſion of God, conjunct with the higheſt love to him, he thinks is called kiſſing, I Cant. 2. Let him kiſs me with the kiſſes of his mouth, More Nevochim P. III. Cap. LI. But this is not the meaning of the Phraſe: though no doubt Moſes departed this Life in a moſt delectable ſenſe and taſte of the Divine Love; having no unwillingneſs to die, nor being ſurpriſed with death; for he knew the time, and the place, and the manner of it. And as he did not die of any Diſeaſe, (as was ſaid before) or of old Age, or by external force; but only by the will and pleaſure of God, who took his Soul out of his Body: ſo he did not part with it againſt his will, nor with any fear; but with a placid Mind, and compoſed Spirit, committed himſelf to God. In whoſe embraces (as we may ſpeak) he expired; and this it is likely the ancient Jews meant, when they ſaid, His Soul departed with a kiſs.
As to the time of his death, the Scripture doth not mention the Year, the Month, and the Day: but the Jews commonly place it in the laſt Month of the fortieth year after their coming out of Egypt, called ADAR, and the ſeventh day of that Month. Thus they ſay in Seder Olam Rabba, Cap. X. and in their Kalendar which they now follow: and ſo Patricides in Hottinger's Smegma Orientale, p. 457. But our great Primate of Ireland in his Annals obſerves, that it agrees better with the following Hiſtory, to place his death in the first Day of that Month: and Torniellus makes the ſame Computation, that it muſt be either in the latter end of the Eleventh Month, or in the beginning of the Twelfth.
Verſe 6 Ver. 6. And he buried him.] This refers to the words foregoing, viz. the LORD; who commanded his Angels to bury him. So Epiphanius, foreign, &c. Haereſ. IX. p. 28. and ſee p. 600. Though in the Scripture, active words are very often uſed paſſively: and the meaning may be only, that he was buried. Yet there is this to be ſaid for the other ſenſe, that thereupon it is thought, that the Conteſt aroſe between Michael the Archangel and the Devil, (as St. Chryſoſtom, Theodoret, Procopius Gazaeus, and others take it) who would not have had him buried, but oppoſed it; that he might adminiſter an occaſion to the Jews to commit Idolatry. Though we never find, that the Jews were given to the Worſhip of Reliques, as our moſt Learned Ʋſſer obſerves in his Annals. See there.
In a Valley in the Land of Moab, over against Beth-Peor.] This Valley was in the Land of Sihon King of the Amorites, (IV. 46.) who had taken it from the Moabites, as I noted before, and was now poſſeſſed by the Iſraelites. And Beth-Peor was a part of the Poſſeſſion of Reuben, (XIII Joſh. 20.) which was a place, where the Temple of Peor anciently ſtood, from whence it had its name. For this Idol is not only called Baal-Peor, but ſimply Peor, XXII Joſh. 17. and as Beth-Baal is the Temple of Baal; ſo Beth-Peor is the Temple of Peor, as J. Ger. Voſſius abſerves de Orig. & Progr. Idol. Lib. II. Cap. VII.
Now by all theſe Circumſtances of his burial, it appears how frivolous that Opinion of the Jews is, mentioned in Jalkut, out of Siphri, that Moſes did not really die, but was tranſlated into Heaven, where he ſtands and Miniſters before God. Which conceit Joſephus himſelf follows, Lib. IV. Aniq. Cap. VIII. where he ſaith, that the having diſmiſſed the Elders, who went with him to Mount Abarim, and then converſing a while with Eleazar and Joſhua, while he embraced them, foreign, a Cloud on a ſudden coming upon him, he was ſnacht out of their ſight into a certain Valley. Which is not only beſide, but contrary to the Scripture, which ſaith he died, and was buried in the Valley. And yet ſome of the ancient Fathers, particularly St. Ambroſe and St. Hilary, have followed this Opinion, that when Moſes is ſaid to die, it doth not ſignifie the ſeparation of his Soul from his Body, but his Tranſlation to a better Life. See Sixtus Senenſis in his Bibliotheca, Lib. V. Annot. LXI. where he obſerves, this is not only againſt Scripture, but againſt the ſenſe of almoſt all Eccleſiaſtical Writers.
But no man knoweth of his Sepulchre unto this day.] Theſe words unto this day, ſhow that this paſſage was not written by Moſes, as Joſephus and Philo imagine, who ſay he wrote this by the Spirit of Prophecy. See v. 1. The reaſon why his Body was concealed, moſt think to have been, leſt in future times it ſhould become an Object of their Worſhip. So R. Levi ben Gerſom: Future Generations perhaps might have made a god of him, becauſe of the fame of his Miracles. For do we not ſee how ſome of the Iſraelites erred, in the brazen Serpent which Moſes made? And the Hereſie of the Melchiſedekians ſhows this was no vain fear (as Hermannus Witzius obſerves, Lib. I. Miſcell. Cap. XVII.) if Epiphanius may be believed; who ſaith that in Arabia Petraea, foreign, &c. They thought him to be God, becauſe of his Wonders he wrought, and worſhipped his Image. What would they have done, if they had had his very Body? Which he did not deſire to be carried into Canaan, and buried among his Anceſtors, as Joſeph ordered concerning his Bones. For he underſtood, it is likely, the mind of God to be, that, as he ſhould not go over Jordan while he was alive, ſo his Body ſhould not be carried over when he was dead. Which R. Chama thinks might have proved dangerous, becauſe in the time of their Diſtreſs (eſpecially at the Captivity of the Land) the Children of Iſrael might have been prone to run to his Sepulchre, and beg him with tears to pray for them, whoſe Prayers had been ſo prevalent for them in his life time. For ſuch a piece of Superſtition, it ſeems, crept in among them, in latter Ages: of which ſee Wagenſeil upon the Gemara of Sota, Cap. I. Sect. LII. Annot. II.
But though no Man knew where Moſes was buried, when this was written, yet ſome Maronite Shepherds, we are told, have pretended lately (MDCLV.) to find out his Tomb, with this Inſcription in Hebrew, Moſes the Servant of the LORD. A great ſtir was made about it, as the ſame Witzius obſerves out of Hornius his Hiſtoria Eccleſiaſtica. But a learned Jew, he ſaith, ſo confuted the Story, ſhowing it was another Moſes whoſe Tomb they found, that the Report preſently vaniſhed. And the Learned Wagenſeil makes ſome probable gueſſes, that it was the Tomb of Moſes Maimonides. See Annot. VI. in Gemara Sotae, Cap. I. Sect. LI. But Bartoloccius in his late Bibliotheca Rabbinica, Tom. III. p. 928, &c. hath made it rather probable, that Hornius was impoſed upon by ſome body, in this narration; there being no ſuch Author known among the Jews, as R. Jakum, or Jacomus ben Gad, who, he ſaith, confuted this Tale.
Ver. 7. And was an hundred and twenty years old Verſe 7 when he died.] A third part of which time, wanting one Month, he had been imployed in the Government of Iſrael; as Joſephus obſerves in the Concluſion of his Fourth Book of Antiquities.
His eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.] That is, he had all the vigour of Youth remaining; there being not ſo much as a wrinkle in his Cheeks. So ſome of the Ancients interpret the laſt Clauſe. Others, He had not loſt ſo much as a Tooth out of his Mouth. See Bocharius in his Hierozoicon P. I. Lib. II. Cap. XLV. p. 506. Both Onkelos and the Hieruſalem Targum refer it to the Splendor of his Countenance, which continued to the laſt. From hence it was that the Heathen, who were not wholly unacquainted with this Story, but had not a perfect knowledge of it, imagined that Moſes was troubled to die, when he was ſo vigorous. For Trebellius Pollio, in the Life of Claudius, ſaith, that the moſt learned Mathematicians were wont to ſay, that no Man lived beyond an Hundred and twenty years. For though Moſes lived an Hundred and five and twenty years (ſo he miſtakes) being Dei, ut Judaeorum libri loquantur, familiaris, a Man familiar with God, as the Books of the Jews tell us; yet he complaining that juvenis interiret, he died when he was young, they ſay he was told by an uncertain God, that no Man ſhould ever live longer. This Miſtake aroſe from their miſinterpretation of thoſe words VI Gen. 3. Yet his days ſhall be an hundred and twenty years. For Huetius well obſerves, that this incertus Deus was the true God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth; whom St. Paul ſaith they called alſo the unknown God, Demonſtr. Evang. Propoſ. IV. Cap. I. N. LVII. And I cannot but add, that this paſſage out of Trebellius was taken notice of above an hundred years ago, by a learned Man I have often mentioned, David Chytraeus; to ſhow that theſe Sacred Books were not unknown to the Heathen, and that they had a Reverence for them.
Verſe 8 Ver. 8. And the Children of Iſrael wept for Moſes in the plains of Moab thirty days.] The time of Mourning for the Dead was longer or ſhorter, according to the Dignity of the Perſon. And the Jews have a Tradition which diſtinguiſhes between the days of Weeping and Mourning. The former of which never exceeded a Month, which was the time they wept for Moſes; the latter never laſted more than a year; as they gather from the Example of the greateſt Doctor they ever had, R. Judah, who compoſed the Miſchna; for whom they mourned Twelve Months. See Schickard in his Jus Regium, Cap. VI. Theor. XIX. and upon L Gen. 3, 10. XX Numb. 29.
So the days of weeping and mourning for Moſes were ended.] They lamented him compleatly thirty days, and no longer. By which it ſeems that weeping and mourning (whatſoever difference was between them) were anciently of the ſame length; though the Jews, in the forenamed Tradition, are pleaſed to make the one laſt much longer than the other.
Now by this, and what follows in the Book of Joſhua, we may certainly know the truth of what I ſaid (on v. 5.) concerning the day on which Moſes died. For if we add unto theſe thirty days, which followed immediately upon it, the three days wherein the Spies lay hid in the Mountain, II Joſh. 22. and allow three or four days more for their going and coming back, and then add the three days they lay by Jordan before they paſſed over, III Joſh. 2. they make juſt a Month and ten days, from the firſt day of the laſt Month, when I ſuppoſed Moſes died, unto the day they got ſafe over Jordan, which was the tenth day of the firſt Month. Whereas if we reckon as the Jews do, that Moſes died on the ſeventh day of the laſt Month, it would have been the ſeventeenth day of the firſt Month before they got over Jordan. I obſerve alſo, that though the Talmudiſts generally make him to have died on the ſeventh day of Adar, yet there have been ſome who placed it on the firſt. For the Medraſch Rabbah, telling the ſtory of Haman's caſting Lots to find the beſt time to do Execution on the Jews, ſaith he pitched upon the Month ADAR, becauſe it had been unlucky to the Jews, by the death of their Maſter Moſes therein. But he did not conſider, ſaith that Medraſch, that as Moſes died on the first day of this Month, ſo he was born on the ſame first day.
Ver. 9. And Joſhua the Son of Nun was full of the Spirit of Wiſdom.] To take the Government upon Verſe 9 him, and manage it prudently, as ſoon as Moſes left them. Which was neceſſary to be mentioned, that it might not be thought they wanted a Head to conduct them; as their Neighbours poſſibly might imagine, when the News came of Moſes his death. For as the Samaritans tell the ſtory, (in Hottinger's Smegma Orientale, p. 462.) when they heard the Lamentations which the whole Congregation made for Moſes, they began to rejoyce, and gather their Forces together to ſet upon the Iſraelites, as wanting a Leader. But they ſoon found themſelves miſtaken; Joſhua having taken the Charge of them, and being endued with his Spirit.
For Moſes had laid his hands upon him.] Whereby he committed to him the Supream Authority after his departure, and implored the Spirit of God to qualifie him for it. For power to execute any Office among the Jews, was given by laying on of hands, whereby they were ordained and appointed to it. And this was a Rite of Prayer alſo, as many have obſerved, for the obtaining the Gifts of the Spirit, which were neceſſary for the diſcharge of that Office. And though no words of Prayer be mentioned, yet the very laying on of hands denotes it, as our learned Dr. Outram obſerves from this very place, and from I Tim. V. 22. Lib. I. de Sacrif. Cap. XV. N. VIII. Of Moſes his laying on Hands upon Joſhua, we read XXVII Numbers 18, &c. And he was ſolemnly alſo, a little before Moſes his death, preſented unto God, by his own Command, XXXI of this Book, 14, &c.
And the Children of Iſrael hearkned unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moſes.] Obeyed him as their Supream Governour, according to God's Command delivered to Moſes, XXVII Numb. 20. XXXI Deut. 23. See 1 Joſh. 16, 17, &c.
Ver. 10. And there roſe not a Prophet ſince in Verſe 10 Iſrael like to Moſes.] This is a plain demonſtration, that the promiſe God makes by Moſes, that he would raiſe up a Prophet like to him, XVIII Deut. 15, 19, &c. was not fulfilled either in Joſhua, or in Samuel, (who it is likely wrote this Chapter, as I ſaid before) and the beſt of the Jews confeſs, ſhall not be fulfilled till MESSIAH come. Thus the Author of Sepher Ikkarim, Lib. III. Cap. XX. It cannot be, but that a Prophet ſhall at laſt ariſe like to Moſes, or greater than he; for the King Meſſiah ſhall be as great or greater. Therefore theſe words are not to be expounded, as if there ſhould never be ſuch a Prophet, but that in all the time of the following Prophets, till the Ceſſation of Prophecy, none ſhould ariſe like to Moſes. But after that, there ſhall be one like him, or rather greater than he.
Whom the LORD knew face to face.] Or, as de Dieu thinks it ſhould be tranſlated, who knew the LORD face to face.] This was one Preheminence of Moſes above all the Prophets, that he converſed more familiarly with God than any of them did. See XII Numb. 8. which place explains this: for to know him face to face, was to ſpeak familiarly to God, and to hear God ſpeaking in like manner unto him. And ſo the Hieruſalem Targum expounds theſe words; only inſtead of the LORD, he ſaith, Who knew the WORD of the LORD talking with him; and delivering to him moſt excellent Laws, for the good government of his People. In which Laws he ſtill lives. they all remaining upon Record to this day; when the Laws of all the famous Lawgivers, whom the Gentiles honoured as gods, are obliterated: But it muſt be obſerved, that in this wherein Moſes excelled all the Prophets, our bleſſed Saviour far tranſcended him: For he was in the boſom of the Father, I Joh. 18. and ſpake what he ſaw and heard, &c. III Joh. 11, 32.
Verſe 11 Ver. 11. In all the ſigns, and the wonders which the LORD ſent him to do.] The Hieruſalem Targum hath it, Which the WORD of the LORD ſent him to do in the Land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his Servants, and to all his Land. See IV. 34. VI. 22. VII. 19. In theſe ſigns and wonders Moſes excelled all the Prophets, doing more Miracles than all that ſucceeded him; as Maimonides obſerves More Nevochim, P. II. Cap. XXXV. But our bleſſed Saviour excelled him in this, as well as them; doing more wonders than all the Prophets put together had done, from the beginning of the World; and far greater alſo than theirs, XXI Joh. ult.
Ver. 12. And in all that mighty hand, and in all that great terror which Moſes ſhowed.] As the former Verſe relates to what he did in Egypt; ſo this hath reſpect unto their paſſing through the Red Sea, and to all that befel them in the Wilderneſs; both at the giving of the Law, and afterward till this time. So the Hieruſalem Targum expounds theſe words, In all that ſtrong hand, and in all thoſe great Viſions, which Moſes managed. And Onkelos to the ſame purpoſe.
In the ſight of all Iſrael.] In the place forenamed Maimonides inſiſts much upon this, that Moſes wrought all his Miracles publickly, the whole Congregation being Witneſſes of them. And ſo our Saviour commonly wrought his (till they ſought to kill him) in their Synagogues, at their Publick Feaſts, when there was the greateſt Concourſe of the People of Iſrael. So that in this he was a Prophet like unto Moſes, though infinitely ſuperiour; which ſome of the old Jews could not but diſcern (as I obſerved upon Chap. XVIII.) when upon theſe words of Iſaiah, LII. 13. He ſhall be exalted, and extolled, and be very high, they thus gloſs in Tanchuma, which is an ancient Book among them, This is the King MESSIAS who ſhall be exalted above Abraham, extolled above Moſes, and be very high above the Angels of the Miniſtry. Upon which Conradus Pellicanus thus gloſſes, and concludes his Commentary, as I ſhall do mine with theſe words: What is it to be above the Angels, let the Jews explain; we can underſtand nothing by it, but the very WORD of God, which was in the beginning with God, and was God, by whom all things were made, and without him nothing was made, viz. the LORD God of Hosts, to whom, in perfect Ʋnity, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, be all Honour and Glory for ever. Amen.
Thus ends the Pentateuch; which, as our great Primate of Ireland computes, contains the Hiſtory of Two thouſand, five hundred and fifty two years and an half, from the beginning of the World to the death of Moſes.
FINIS.
By reaſon of the Diſtance of the Author this Omiſſion hapned, which the Reader is deſired to inſert in its proper place.
At the end of Page 511. Line. ult. after three hundred years, add theſe words, But if any one think good thus to apply the words of this Verſe unto Veſpaſian, they muſt not take this for the literal meaning of them: becauſe it is evident that by the Stranger is to be underſtood thoſe of other Nations, who lived among them. Particularly, thoſe Gentiles who were brought into their Country by the Aſſyrians, inſtead of the Ten Tribes, as ſome of the beſt of the Jewiſh Writers expound it: What the Doctor alſo ſaith, concerning their advancing Veſpaſian to the Imperial Dignity, cannot be maintain'd.