Commentary on the Pentateuch, Commentary 5 · Chapter 4
CHAP. IV.
Verſ. 1. THe ſtatutes and the judgments] By ſtatutes, we may underſtand the moral law; by Judgments, the judicial; which was fitted to the Iews: Like as Solon being asked whether he had given the beſt laws to the Athenians? anſwered, The beſt that they could ſuffer. As for the ceremonial law, it is called, Statutes that were not good, Mr. Weemſe.becauſe they commanded neither vertue nor vice, in themſelves; as One gives the reaſon.
Verſ. 2. Ye ſhall not add] The Iews have added their Deuteroſeis, the Turks their Alfurta; the Papiſts, foreign, Our wiſe men teach traditions. Sec 1 Cor. 1.20.their unwritten verities, which they equalize (at leaſt) to the holy Scriptures; and ſo argue them of inſufficiency and imperfection.
Verſ. 3. Deſtroyed them] Hanging them up in gibbets, as it were, before your eyes, to warn you.
Verſ. 4. Are alive] Your innocency prevailed for your ſafety; as it uſually doth in a common defection.
Verſ. 6. For this is your wiſdome] Omnis ſapientia hominis in hoc uno eſt, (ſaith Lactantius) ut Deum cognoſcat & colat: Lactan. Inſt. lib. 3. cap. 30.hoc noſtrum dogma haec ſententia eſt: To know and do the Will of God, this is the whole of mans wiſdom. The heart of the wiſe man is at his right hand, Eccleſ. 10.2. as teaching it to put things in practice, and to prove by experience, what that good, and holy, and acceptable will of God is, Rom. 12.2.
A wiſe and underſtanding people] The Spaniards are ſaid to ſeem wiſe, and are fools; the French to ſeem fools, and are wiſe: the Portugals neither to be wiſe, nor ſo much as to ſeem ſo; the Italians both to ſeem wiſe, and to be ſo. But may not that of the Prophet be fitly applyed to them all, Behold, they have rejected the Word of the Lord, and what wiſdom is in them? Jer. 8.9.
Verſ. 7. Who hath God ſo nigh unto them] Yea, this was it that made them ſo great a nation, who otherwiſe were but Methemiſpar, few in number. This made Moſes ſo paſſionately cry one, Happy are thou, O Iſrael! who is like unto thee, O people ſaved by the Lord! &c. Deut. 33.29.
Verſ. 8. So righteous] See the Note on Chap. 1. verſ. 1.
Verſ. 9, OnelyOnly take heed] Cavebis autem, ſi pavebis.
Leſt thou forget] Eaten bread is ſoon forgotten.
Teach them thy ſons] A ſpecial help againſt forgetfulneſs; yea this is the beſt art of memory. Of all things, God cannot abide to be forgotten.
Verſ. 10. Specially the day] An high favour, and moſt honourably mentioned, Neh. 9.13.
Verſ. 12. Ye ſaw no ſimilitude] Numa, the Romane Law-giver, would not permit any image, whether painted, or carved, to be placed in their Temples, eò quòd nefas duceret praeſtantiora deterioribus adſimulare, becauſe he held it unlawful to ſet forth a better thing by a worſe. &c. Hence it was, that the Romane Temples had no pictures in them, for 170 years after the building of that city. Irenaeus reproves the hereticks, called Gnoſtici, for that they carried about the Image of Chriſt, made in Pilates time, after his own proportion; for, to whom will ye liken God? or what likeneſs will ye compare unto him? Eſai. 40.18.
Verſ. 14. Statutes and Judgments] See verſ. 1.
Verſ. 15. Take ye therefore good heed] Theſe many cautions note our proneneſs to this evil, above others; this appeareth ſomewhat in children ſo delighted with pictures, and in that idolomania of theſe Iews; of the Eaſtern Churches, and of the Synagogue of Rome.
Verſ. 16. The likeneſs of male or female] As the blinde Ethnicks did; Servius.concluding their petitions with that general, Dii, Deaeque omnes.
Verſ. 17. The likeneſs of any beaſt] Which was a piece of the Egyptian madneſs. Iſrael, by being there, had learned to ſet up one calf; Jeroboam, two.
Verſ. 18. The likeneſſe of any fiſh] As was Dagon the God of the Philiſtims, whence he had his name.
Verſ. 19. All the hoſt of heaven] Called the Queen of heaven, Ier. 7. … [ſhould be driven] Or, drawn by the enticement of the Devil, who is foreign, (ſaith Syneſius) a great Image-monger; or by the ſeduction of others, or of thine own evil heart; for Nemo ſibi de ſuo palpet: quiſque ſibi Satan eſt, ſaith a Father. … [which the Lord thy God hath divided] And ſhall we fight againſt God (as Jehn did againſt Jehoram) with his own ſervants, nay with thoſe things which he hath given us for common ſervants to us all?
Verſ. 20. But the Lord] Deliverance commands obedience: Servati ſumus ut ſerviamus.
Verſ. 21. And ſware that I ſhould not] So that you have a priviledg above me; only beware how you provoke him (as I did) thorow unbelief.
Verſ. 22. But I muſt dye] This was a ſore affliction to this good man, and is therefore ſo often mentioned. Plut.Cato Major alſo dyed three years before the deſtruction of Carthage, which he had ſo vehemently urged, and would ſo gladly have outlived.
Verſ. 24. For the Lord thy God] And ſhould therefore be ſerved truly, that there be no halting; and totally, that there be no halving, Heb. 12.28, 29.
Verſ. 25. And ſhalt have remained long] So that thou thinkeſt there is no removing thee, thou art ſo rooted and rivetted. Nicephorus Phocas having built a mighty wall, heard from heaven, Though thou build as high as heaven, foreign, Sin is within, all will be loſt.
Verſ. 28. And there ye ſhall ſerve gods] As ye have made a match with miſchief, ſo ye ſhall have enough of it. Ephraim is joyned to Idols, &c. See Act. 7.42.
Verſ. 29. But if from thence] Sweet and ſoure, make the beſt ſauce. Promiſes and menaces mixt, ſooneſt operate upon the heart. The Sun of righteouſneſs loves not to ſet in a cloud; nor the God of conſolation, to leave his children comfortleſſe.
Verſ. 30. Even in the latter dayes] This is, by ſome, underſtood of the Meſſias his dayes, which are the latter times of the world; as Hoſ. 3.5. 1 Cor. 10.11. and they believe, that here is pointed at, the great and laſt converſion of the Jews.
Verſ. 32. For ask now of the dayes] Hiſtoriae ſunt fidae monitrices; great good uſe is to be made of hiſtory; this holy hiſtory eſpecially, whereof every word is pure, pretious, and profitable.
Verſ. 37. Therefore he choſe] He choſe for his love, and then loved for his choyce: After Gods example, deligas quem diligas.
Verſ. 39. Empedocles.That the Lord he is God in heaven] A Philoſopher could ſay, that God is a Circle, whoſe Center is every where, whoſe circumference is no where; ubi eſt Deus? quid dixi miſer? ſed ubi non eſt? Where is God? or rather, where is not God? He is higher then heaven, lower then hell, broader then the ſea, longer then the earth. Nuſquam eſt & ubique eſt, quia nec abeſt ulli, Bernard.nec ullo capitur loco. He is no where, and yet every where; far from no place, and yet no contained in any place.
Verſ. 40. That thou mayſt prolong thy dayes] Hence ſome Lutherans have gathered, that God hath not determined the ſet period of mans dayes; Heming. & alii.but that it is in mens power to lengthen, or ſhorten them. But this is againſt Job, 7.1. & 14.14. Eccleſ. 2.3. Iſa. 38.5, 15. Stat ſua cuique dies. Our haires are numbred, much more our dayes.
Verſ. 42. That the ſlayer] See the Note on Numb. 35.9, 10, &c.
Verſ. 44. And this is the law] That is, this that followeth in the next chapter, whereunto theſe verſes ſerve for a preface.