Commentary on the Pentateuch, Commentary 5 · Chapter 11
CHAP. XI.
Verſ. 1. THerefore thou ſhalt love the Lord] Cos amoris amor. Ama amorem illius, ſaith Bernard: Not to love them that ſo loved us, is to be worſe then a Publicane; more hardhearted then a Jew. Matth. 5.46. That the three children burnt not in the furnace, Dan. 3.25.was a miracle; ſo it is that men ſo favoured, love not God.
Verſ. 2. And which have not ſeen] Segniùs irritant animos demiſſa per aures, Horat.Quam quae ſunt oculis commiſſa fidelibus: He ſpeaks unto them, as to eye-witneſſes; and thoſe that have ſuch evidence and ſelf-experience, are uſually more affected, then thoſe that have things by hear-ſay only. Mine eye affects my heart, Lam, 3.51.
Verſ. 4. Hath deſtroyed them unto this day] i. e. Hath ſo deſtroyed and diſmaid them, that to this day we hear no more of them: As the Romanes ſo quailed and quelled King Aitalus, that he made a law, that none of his ſucceſſours ſhould make war with that State for ever.
Verſ. 5. And what he did unto you] A Diary ſhould be diligently kept of what God does for us, Pſal. 102.18. for the help of our ſlippery memories, and the firing up of our dull hearts to a contention in godlineſs.
Verſ. 9. And that ye may prolong] See the Note on Chap. 4.40.
Verſ. 10. And wateredſt it with thy foot] Fetching and carrying water, called therefore the water of their feet, as our life is called, the life of our hands, Eſay 57.10. becauſe maintained with the labour of our hands.
Verſ. 11. And drinketh water of the rain of heaven] God crowning the year with his goodneſs, and his pathes dropping fatneſs, Pſal. …5.10 11, 12. In the Hebrew it is, thy chariot-wheel-tracks; for the clouds are Gods chariots, Pſal. 104.3. in which water is bound, Job 26.8. How they are upheld, and why they fall here and now, we know not, and wonder. The Egyptians uſed, in a prophane mockery, to tell other nations, that if God ſhould forget to rain, they might chance to ſtarve for it; they thought the rain was of God, but not their river Nilus. See Ezek. 29.3, 9. Iſai. 19.5, 6.
Verſ. 12. Which the Lord thy God careth for] Deus ſic curat univerſa, quaſi ſingula; ſic ſingula, quaſi ſola.Aug.
From the beginning of the year] How eaſie were it for God to ſtarve us all, by denying us a harveſt or two!
Verſ. 13. And it ſhall come to paſſe This paſſage of Scripture following, the Jews read daily in their families, as Maimonides reporteth.
Verſ. 14. That I will give you the rain] Rain, God gives to all by a providence, Act. 14.17. Job 38.26. but to his Iſrael, by vertue of a promiſe; whereby the might live, not as by bread only, but as by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God.
Verſ. 16. That your heart be not deceived] Having firſt deceived it ſelf; for the heart is deceitful above all things, Jer. 17.9.&c. and may ſay to many, as the heart of Apollonius, the Tyrant, ſeemed to ſay to him; who dreamed one night, that he was fleaed by the Scythians, and boyled in a Caldron, and that his heart ſpake to him out of the kettle, and ſaid, foreign, Plut.It is I that have drawn thee to all this. Thoſe in hell cry ſo.
Verſ. 17. And he ſhut up the heaven] The keys of heaven, of the heart, of the womb, and of the grave, God keeps and carries under his own girdle, as we may ſay.
Verſ. 18. In your heart] Yea upon your heart, Eſay 47.7. & 57.11. ſo as they may ſink thereinto, Luk. 9.44. as the beſt balm caſt into water, ſinks to the bottom.
Verſ. 19. Teach them your children] See the Note on Chap. 6.7.
Verſ. 21. As the dayes of heaven] i. e. As long as the world ſtandeth. Hence, haply, we may conceive hope of the repentance of the Jews, and their re-eſtabliſhment in this promiſed land.
Verſ. 26. A bleſſing and a curſe] With the way to either; that if ye miſcarry, ye may have none to blame but your ſelves. For oft it falls out, that whereas the fooliſhneſs of man perverteth his way, his heart fretteth againſt the Lord, Prov. 19.3.
Verſ. 29. Put the bleſſing upon Mount Gerizim] That is, pronounce it there. See Joſh. 8.33. Hence the Samaritans built their Temple on this mount, as a bleſſed place, and there worſhiped they knew not what, Joh. 4.20, 22. calling themſelves, Thoſe that belong to the bleſſed Mount.