Commentary on the Pentateuch, Commentary 5 · Chapter 17 – Chapter 18
CHAP. XVII.
Verſ. 1. THou ſhalt not ſacrifice] See the Note on Levit. 22.20.
Verſ. 2. That hath wrought wickedneſſe] Idolatry is wickedneſs with a witneſs. Such was the venome of the Iſraelitiſh Idolatry, that the brazen Serpent ſtung worſe then the fiery. Oh that the Lord as he hath revealed that Wirked one, ſo that he would at length, conſume him with the ſpirit of his mouth, 2 Theſſ. 2.8.and dung his Vineyard with the dead carcaſe of that wild boar of the forreſt! He can as eaſily blaſt an oak, as trample a muſhrome. Fiat, fiat.
Verſ. 4. And it be told thee] See the Note on Chap, 13.12.
And enquired diligently] Men muſt be ſwift to hear, ſlow to ſpeak that is, to cenſure, or paſs ſentence. Amongſt the Athenians, an inditement of any crime, was but foreign; the evidence and conviction, made it, foreign, the ſentence foreign. Athanaſius paſſ…th for a ſacrilegious perſon, a prophane wretch, a bloody perſecutour, a blaſphemer of God, &c. and was ſo condemned, before he was heard, by fourſcore Biſhops, in that Pſeudoſynodus Sa…dicenſis. Sunt quidem in Eccleſia Catholica plurimi mali; ſed ex haere…icis▪ nullus eſt bonus, ſaith Bellarmine; There be many bad men Papiſts, but not one good to be found among Proteſtants. Reaſ. 8. pag. 41.The Catholikes follow the Bible, (ſaith Hill, in his quartern of Reaſons,) but the Proteſtants force the bible to follow them; yea their condemnation is ſo expreſly ſet down in their own Bibles, ſaith another Popeling, and is ſo cleer to all the world, Gagge of the new Goſp. pref. to Read.that nothing more needs hereto, then that they know to read, and have their eyes in their heads, at the opening of their Bible. By the ſhooting of which bolt, you may eaſily gueſs at the archer.
Verſ. 7. Thou ſhalt put the evil] Both perſon and thing, 1 Cor. 5.13.
Verſ. 8. Too hard for thee in judgment] i.e. For thee, O Judge, who art thereupon to conſult with the Prieſts; and by them to be informed of the true ſenſe and meaning of Gods law. For apices juris non ſunt jus. And the Rabbines have a ſaying, Nulla eſt objectio in Lege, quae non habet ſolutionem in latere. Now the Prieſts lips ſhould preſerve knowledg, and the Law ſhould be ſought at his mouth; the high-Prieſt alſo, in ſome caſes, was to enquire, and anſwer after the judgment of Ʋrim, before the Lord, Num. 27.21. This the Pope cannot do; and therefore cannot claim the final determination of all cauſes and controverſies; though his Paraſites tell him.
Oraclis vocis mundi moderaris habenas:
Et meritò in terris diceris eſſe deus.
Verſ. 9. And unto the judg] i.e. The councill of judges, the Synedrion, 2 Chron. 19.8. conſiſting partly of Prieſts, and partly of civile Magiſtrates! Amongſt the Turks, at this day, their Iudges are ever Eccleſiaſticall perſons; whereby both orders joyned, Blounts voyage. 89.give reputation one to another, and maintenance; for theſe places of judicature, are the only preferment of the Prieſt-hood.
Verſ. 10. According to all that they inform thee] viz. Agreeable to the ſentence of the law, verſ. 11. The Iews from this text, fooliſhly ſeek footing for their traditions, which they ſo much magnifie, Mat. 15.1, 2.
Verſ. 14. And ſhalt ſay, I will ſet a King] A King then they might chuſe, ſo they did it orderly. Zuinglius in ea fuit ſententia, regna omnia eſſe electiva, nulla propriè ſucceſsiva & haereditaria. In quo non negamus eum erraſſe in facto, ut loquuntur.Rivet. Ieſuita vap. Pſal. 2.6.
Verſ. 15. Whom the Lord ſhall chuſe] As he did Saul, but eſpecially David, and his progeny, types of Chriſt.
Verſ. 16. He ſhall not multiply horſes] Leſt he be held as our Henry the third was, Regni dilapidator, the royall ſpend-thrift.
Verſ. 17. Silver and gold] Leſt his exactours receive from his ſubjects, no leſs ſumms of curſes then of coyne; and leſt he gather money, the ſinews of war; but loſe his peoples affection, the joynts of peace; as our King Iohn did.
Verſ. 18. He ſhall write him a copy] The Iews ſay, that if printing had been found out then; yet was the King bound to write two copies of the law with his own hand: one to keep in the treaſurie, and another to carry about him. This Book of God was Davids delight, Pſal. 119.70. Alphonſus King of Aragon is reported to have read over the Bible fourteen times, with Lyra's notes upon it. Charles the Wiſe of France, not only cauſed the Bible to be tranſlated into French, (as our King Alured, tranſlated the Pſalter himſelf into his Saxon tongue,) but was alſo very ſtudious in the holy Scripture. And that peereleſs princeſſe Q. Elizabeth, as ſhe paſſed in triumphall ſtate through the ſtreetes of London, after her Coronation, when the Bible was preſented to her, at the little Conduit in Cheape-ſide, Speeds hiſt.ſhe received the ſame with both her hands, and kiſſing it, laid it to her breaſts, ſaying; that the ſame had ever been her chiefeſt delight, and ſhould be the rule, whereby ſhe meant to frame her government.
Verſ. 19. And it ſhall be with him] As his Ʋade-mecum, his Manuall, his running library, the man of his counſell. Luther ſaid, he would not live in paradiſe without the Bible; as with it, Tom. 4. Oper. Latin. p. 424.he could eaſily live in hell it ſelf.
V. 20. That his heart be not lifted up] That his good and his blood riſe not together, as that Kings of Tyre did, Ezek. 28.2. and that Lucifer, ſon of the morning, Iſai. 14.12, 13. See my common place of Arrogancy: Of Caligula it is ſaid, that there never was a better ſervant, or a worſe Lord: Veſpaſian is ſaid to be the only man that became better by the Empire. The moſt of the Emperours grew ſo inſolent, that they got nothing by their preferment; niſi ut citius interficerentur, but to be ſooner ſlain.
CHAP. XVIII.
Verſ. 1. ANd his inheritance] i.e. Whatſoever, by the Law, belonged to the Lord, as decimae deo ſacrae, &c.
V. 4. Plin. hiſt.The firſt fruit alſo] Pliny lib. 18. tells us, that among the Romans, alſo, no man might taſte of his own corn, wine, or other fruits; priuſquam Sacerdotes primitias libaſſent, till the Prieſts had offered the firſt-fruites, and made their uſe of them.
Verſ. 6. With all the deſire of his minde] To do God better ſervice. A good heart, holds the beſt he can do, but a little of that much that he could gladly beteem the Lord, and is ſtill deviſing what to do more, Pſal. 116.12.
Verſ. 8. Beſides that] He ſhall not maintain himſelf of his own private ſtock, but live of the Holy things of the Temple.
Verſ. 10. That maketh his ſon] See the Note on Levit. 18.21.
Verſ. 11. Or a Necromancer] Bellarmine, and other Papiſts, play the Necromancers, when they would prove a purgatory, from the apparitions of ſpirits, that tell of themſelves, or others, there tormented.
Verſ. 13. Thou ſhalt be perfect] See the Note on Mat. 5.48.
Verſ. 14. Hath not ſuffered thee ſo to do] He …hath ſhewed thee a more excellent way, and kept thee from theſe devoratory evills, as Tertullian calleth them; ſo ordering the matter, that that evill one toucheth them not with any deadly touch, I Ioh. 5.18. For either he ſuffers not his to be tempted above ſtrength, 1 Cor. 10.13. Or elſe, he with-holds the occaſion, when temptation hath prevailed to procure conſent and purpoſe, &c.
Verſ. 15. Like unto me] Both in the participation of nature, and of office: a true man, and a true Mediatour; Similes, they are, but not pares: Chriſt being worthy of more glory then Moſes, and why; See Heb. 3.3. &c. Heb. 7.22. & 9.15.
Verſ. 18. And he ſhall ſpeak unto them] Chriſt is that palmoni hammedabbar, Dan. 10. that excellent ſpeaker, that ſpake with authority, and ſo as never man ſpake; being mighty in word and deed. See my true treaſ. p. 1.
Verſ. 22. Thou ſhalt not be afraid] Though he ſpake great ſwelling words of vanity, Camd. Eliſ. fol. 403.2 Pet. 2.18. milſtones and thunderbolts, as Hacket here did.