CHAPTER XXXII.

1 Moses' song, which setteth forth God's mercy and 46 He exhorteth them to set their hearts vengeance. upon it. 48 God sendeth him up to Mount Nebo to see the land and then die.

GIVE ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:

3 Because I will publish the name of the LORD ascribe ye greatness unto our God. 4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

5 They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation.

6 Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?

7 Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.

8 When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.

9 For the LORD's portion is his people; Jacob is the 'lot of his inheritance.

10 He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.

11 As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:

12 So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.

13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;

14 Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.

1 Heb. He hath corrupted to himself. 4 Heb. cord.

9 Or, hath burned.

15 But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

16 They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.

17 They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.

18 Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.

19 ¶ And when the LORD saw it, he 'abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters.

20 And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.

21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and 'shall burn unto the lowest hell, and 1oshall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.

23 I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them.

24 They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with "burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.

29 O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!

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30 How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up?

31 For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.

32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter:

33 Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.

34 Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures?

35 To me belongeth "vengeance, and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.

36 For the LORD shall judge his people, 18and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.

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37 And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted,

38 Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you, and be "your protection.

39 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: "I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.

40 For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.

41 If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.

blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.

22 23

43 Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people.

44 T And Moses came and spake all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he, and "Hoshea the son of Nun.

45 And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel:

46 And he said unto them, "Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.

47 For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.

48 And the LORD spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying,

49 Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession:

50 And die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people; as "Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people:

51 Because "ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of "Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel.

52 Yet thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel.

15 Josh. 23. 10. 19 Heb. hand. 23 Rom. 15. 10.

19 2 Mac. 7. 6.

17 Ecclus. 28. 1. Rom. 12. 19. Heb. 10. 30. Wisd. 16. 13. 22 Or, Praise his people, ye nations; or, Sing ye. 26 Num. 27. 12. 27 Num. 20. 25, 28, and 33. 38.

29 Or, strife at Kadesh.

Verse 5. Their spot is not the spot of his children.'This unquestionably alludes to the spot which idolaters were wont to bear on their foreheads (Rev. xx. 4), to shew what deity they served, and to whom they belonged. This is still the custom in idolatrous regions. In India the worshippers of Siva have a spot on the brow, in a line with the nose, made with the ashes of cow's dung. The followers of Vishnu have yellow marks, others have vermilion, and some black.

and is probably the true one. Although the English word 'found' has also this sense in some applications, it does not seem to have it in this place, unless we may suppose that the translator chose it for the express purpose of covering both interpretations by one word.

—'Waste howling wilderness.' — 'Howling' correctly expresses the Hebrew yelel; but the Samaritan and Septuagint read 'sandy,' and are followed in some modern versions. There is, however, nothing difficult in the Hebrew reading, which probably refers to the howlings of wild beasts. The expression is still applied in the East to places frequented by wild animals.

11. As an eagle stirreth up her nest,' etc.-This most

beautiful figure obviously refers to the first attempts of the parent eagle to teach her young to fly. There are many vague stories which represent the female eagle as throwing from her nest all her eggs but one, which she hatches; and others, which state that she indeed hatches more than one, but frequently destroys the most voracious of her brood. It is possible that these things may be done occasionally, as they might be by other birds; but all our real knowledge of the habits and character of the eagle coincides with the statement here made-namely, that, on the one hand, the mother frequently rears more than one eaglet; and, on the other, she is most kind to the young she rears. But, although attentive to them while helpless in the nest, she does not encourage them in indolence when they are able to provide for themselves. She rouses them early to exertion, and to the exercise of their energies; she watches and directs, with interest and care, the first efforts to fly; and when finally assured that their powers are sufficiently matured, obliges them to leave the parent nest, and provide for themselves in future. From this care of them while helpless, and this careful training to exertion, the text takes its fine comparison, to illustrate the Lord's kindness to the Hebrews, his care for them, and the measures he had taken to raise them from that condition of religious, moral, and intellectual infancy into which they had fallen. Thus, to paraphrase the text, the eagle 'stirreth up her brood' ('nest') from their inactivity and sloth-fluttereth over her young,' to incite them to try their wings-and 'spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings; that is, assists by her wings their first faint and feeble efforts, until, stimulated by her example, and rendered confident by the success of their first attempts, they at last plunge boldly into the air, and, exulting in their strength, return to the nest of infancy no more. Sir Humphrey Davy had an opportunity of witnessing the proceedings of an eagle family after the young had left the nest. He thus describes them: 'I once saw a very interesting sight above one of the crags of Ben Nevis, as I was going, on the 20th of August, in the pursuit of black game. Two parent eagles were teaching their offspring, two young birds, the manœuvres of flight. They began by rising from the top of a mountain in the eye of the sun. It was about mid-day, and bright for this climate. They at first made small circles, and the young birds imitated them. They paused on their wings, waiting till they had made their first flight, and then took a second and larger gyration, always rising towards the sun, and enlarging their circle of flight so as to make a gradually extending spiral. The young ones still slowly followed, apparently flying better as they mounted; and they continued this sublime kind of exercise, always rising, till they became mere points in the air, and the young ones were lost, and afterwards their parents, to our aching sight.' 13. Honey out of the rock.'-Also Ps. lxxxi. 16. Bees are not plentiful in Egypt, from the scarcity of flowers; the attention of the Israelites might well, therefore, be directed to their abundance in Palestine. The bee itself, however, and its habits, would appear to be the same as in Egypt. Sir J. G. Wilkinson says the species there is smaller than ours; and although he had met with them wild in many parts of Egypt, he never saw them in any numbers. The wild bees,' he adds, 'live mostly under stones, or in the clefts of the rock, as in many other countries; and the expressions of Moses and of the Psalmist shew that in Palestine their habits were the same.'

15. Jeshurun' ().-The word is found only here and in ch. xxxiii. 5, 26, and Isa. xliv. 2. It is undoubtedly a poetical name for Israel, but has been variously interpreted. Some look for its meaning in the Arabic, where it signifies one who prospers (jashur), upright, righteous,' and therefore equivalent to rectulus; justulus, the good little people.' Gesenius takes this view; but Grotius and others regard it simply as the name of Israel,

:

with the termination ¡1, here used as a diminutive of endearment such a reference to the name is probably intended in connection with whatever signification we may assign to the word.

23. I will spend mine arrows upon them.'-The judgments of God are frequently represented as arrows discharged by him to smite and punish a sinful people. (See Job vi. 4; Ps. xxxviii. 2, and xci. 5.) The same striking figure occurs also in the heathen poets. Thus Homer represents the pestilence in the Grecian camp as caused by the arrows of Apollo.

32. Vine of Sodom.'-This metaphorical allusion has been supposed to refer to the same product, found on the borders of the Asphaltic Lake, of which Josephus gives an account, and which is also alluded to by Tacitus and other foreign writers. Josephus, after speaking of the conflagration of the plain, and of the yet remaining tokens of the divine fire, remarks that there are still to be seen ashes reproduced in the fruits; which indeed resemble edible fruits in colour, but on being plucked with the hands resemble smoke and ashes' (De Bell. Jud. iv. 8, 4). The plant thus indicated has been much sought after by travelÎers. Seetzen, and Irby and Mangles, concurred in pointing to the Osher plant, which, although not peculiar to the lake, grows here to a much larger size than in Nubia, where it is abundant, and is probably found in no other part of Palestine. The best account of it has been given by Dr. Robinson. He says, 'One of the first objects which attracted our notice on arriving at Ain Jidy, was a tree with singular fruit; which, without knowing at the moment whether it had been observed by former travellers or not, instantly | suggested to our minds the far-famed fruits

"which grew

Near that bituminous lake where Sodom stood." This was the Osher of the Arabs, the Asclepias gigantea vel procera of botanists, which is found in abundance in Upper Egypt and Nubia, and also in Arabia Felix, but seems to be confined in Palestine to the borders of the Dead Sea. We saw it only at Ain Jidy; Hasselquist found it in the desert between Jericho and the northern shore; and Irby and Mangles met with it of large size at the south end of the sea, and on the isthmus of the peninsula. We saw here several trees of the kind, the trunks of which were six or eight inches in diameter, and the whole height from ten to fifteen feet. It has a greyish cork-like bark, with long oval leaves; and in its general appearance and character it might be taken for a gigantic perennial species of the milkweed or silk-weed found in the northern parts of the American States. Its leaves and flowers are very similar to those of the latter plant; and, when broken off, it in like manner discharges copiously a milky fluid. The fruit greatly resembles, externally, a large smooth apple or orange, hanging in clusters of three or four together, and when ripe is of a yellow colour. It was now fair and delicious to the eye, and soft to the touch; but on being pressed or struck, it explodes with a puff, like a bladder or puff-ball, leaving in the hand only the shreds of the thin rind and a few fibres. It is indeed filled chiefly with air, like a bladder, which gives it the round form; while in the centre a small slender pod runs through it from the stem, and is connected by thin filaments with the rind. The pod contains a small quantity of fine silk with seeds; precisely like the pod of the silk-weed, though very much smaller, being indeed scarcely the tenth part as large. The Arals collect the silk and twist it into matches for their guns; preferring it to the common match, because it requires no sulphur to render it combustible.'

42. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood.'-Mr Roberts says, 'This figure of speech is often used in Hindoo books; and heroes are made to say of the foe, "My sword shall soon be matham (i. e. drunk or mad) with his blood."' Oriental Illustrations, p. 130.

49. This mountain Aburim.'-See note to ch. xxxiv. 4.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

1 The majesty of God. 6 The blessings of the twelve tribes. 26 The excellency of Israel.

AND this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.

2 And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went 'a fiery law for them.

3 Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words.

4 Moses commanded us a law, even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob.

5 And he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together.

6 Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few.

7 ¶ And this is the blessing of Judah and he said, Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah, and bring him unto his people: let his hands be sufficient for him; and be thou an help to him from his enemies.

8 ¶ And of Levi he said, 'Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah;

9 Who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant.

10 They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law: 'they shall put incense "before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar.

11 Bless, LORD, his substance, and accept the work of his hands: smite through the loins of them that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again.

12 T And of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him; and the LORD shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.

13 And of Joseph he said, "Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath,

14 And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things "put forth by the "moon,

15 And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills,

16 And for the precious things of the earth and fulness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that 'was separated from his brethren.

17 His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.

18 ¶ And of Zebulun he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out; and, Issachar, in thy tents.

19 They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness: for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasures hid in the sand.

20 ¶ And of Gad he said, Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad: he dwelleth as a lion, and teareth the arm with the crown of the head.

21 And he provided the first part for himself, because there, in a portion of the lawgiver, was he 'seated; and he came with the heads of the people, he executed the justice of the LORD, and his judgments with Israel.

22 And of Dan he said, Dan is a lion's whelp: he shall leap from Bashan.

23 And of Naphtali he said, O Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the LORD: possess thou the west and the south.

24 And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil.

5 Heb. at thy nose. 10 Heb. ceiled.

28 Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew.

29 Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like

12 Jer. 23. 6.

unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.

13 Or, shall be subdued.

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Verse 2. The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir......and shined forth from mount Paran,' etc.-The reader will hardly fail to observe that the successive clauses of this verse embody a beautiful metaphor, drawn from the progressive motion and effects of the sun. This would be more clear in the more distinct translation which Geddes has given of it- O Lord, who camest from Sinai; dawnost upon them from Seir; shinest upon them from the mountains of Pharan!' etc.

6. And let not his men be few.'-The word 'not' is not in the original; and it forms a gratuitous addition to the sacred text which ought to be rejected. The verse then reads, 'Let Reuben live, and not die, but let his men be few.' As no obvious connection appears between the clauses-as there seems something wanting in the verse as thus read-and as Simeon's name is the only one that does not occur in the chapter, as now read-Biblical critics are generally disposed to suppose that the last clause applies to him, and that his name has, from some early accident, or carelessness of transcribers, been dropped from the text. This opinion is supported by the Alexandrian manuscript of the Septuagint, the most ancient and valuable extant; and by the Complutensian and Aldine editions; in all of which the name of Simeon occurs. Besides, Simeon comes next in order of birth to Reuben, and therefore we should here look for a passage referring to him; and also the expression Let his men be few,' applies more correctly to Simeon than to Reuben. By the census in Num. xxvi. (see the table there), the tribe of Reuben was more numerous than Simeon, Levi, Gad, or Ephraim; while the number in Simeon was, most remarkably, the lowest of all. With this understanding, the verse will read, 'Let Reuben live, and not die; and let Simeon's men be few.' Zebulun and Issachar are mentioned together, with equal brevity, in v. 18. This explanation spares the necessity of speculation on the reason for the supposed omission of Simeon; or for trying to find, under the expressed declaration, in what other tribe he must be understood to be included.

7. "The blessing of Judah.'--This blessing' seems to turn upon the fact that Judah was to take the lead in all warlike enterprises.

9. Nor knew his own children.'--All this verse most probably refers to the zeal with which the Levites punished, without respect of persons, those who had sinned in the matter of the golden calf.

12. He shall dwell between his shoulders.'--This is generally referred to the manifestation of the Divine presence in the temple of Jerusalem, which was within the lot of Benjamin.

14. For the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon.'-The last word is plural, 'moons' (Djerachim), in the Hebrew. The reference is probably to annual and monthly products, or, less definitely, to the products of which there was but one crop in the year, and those of which there were several crops in the course of one year. Mr. Roberts, however, informs us (Orient. Illust., p. 131) that the Hindoos attribute to the moon a very strong influence on vegetation. They think that, from the time of the new moon to its becoming full, all plants and all kinds of young grain gain more strength than at any other period.

17. Unicorns.'-See the note on Job xxxix. 9.

unicorn, from their great strength. Their 'pushing the people together' is well illustrated by Josh. xvii. 14-18.

19. They shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of

treasures hid in the sand.-Zebulun was to have a maritime situation, and this expresses the advantages of that situation. The abundance of the seas,' is understood by some to refer to commerce. It is however difficult to discover that this or any other tribe did actually engage in maritime commerce; but both Zebulun and Issachar were doubtless advantaged by their immediate vicinity to the commercial Phoenicians. The abundance of the seas,' thus understood, they might receive from them, and dispose of advantageously to the other tribes. Might not 'the abundance of the seas' partly mean sea fish? The paraphrase of Jonathan is curious and interesting,' They shall dwell near the Great Sea, and feast on the tunny fish, and catch the chalson, (or murex; see the note to Exod. xxxv.) with whose blood they will dye of a purple colour the threads of their cloths: and from the sand they will make looking-glasses and other utensils of glass.' The latter part of this citation explains the treasures hid in the sand and it is certainly a remarkable fact, in connection with this text and with the particular situation of the tribes, that the Phoenicians had, in after-times, famous ma. nufactures of glass made from the sands of the rivers Belus and Kishon, which discharge themselves into the bay of Acre; and this fixes the seat of the manufacture on the immediate borders of Zebulun and Issachar. We are not to forget that these tribes, destined to have a maritime coast, did not expel, or only partially expelled, the ancient inhabitants, and therefore did not obtain all the advantages which their obedience to the Divine command would have ensured.

20. Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad.'--Properly understood, the prophet here blesses God for having enlarged Gad, by the possessions much larger, probably, than it would have received in Canaan--which had been given to the tribe on the east of the Jordan. What follows seems to suggest that Gad had particularly distinguished itself in the conquest of the kingdoms of Heshbon and Bashan.

22. He shall leap from Bashan.'-Not Dan, but the lion to whom he is compared. The sense is, 'Dan is like the lion's whelp that leaps from Bashan.' The reference is probably to the fact recorded in Judg. xviii., where we find that the proper settlement of the Danites in the south of the country (Josh. xix. 47) being too small for them, they sent out an expedition which conquered a district at the northern extremity of the land, which formed a colony very distant from the proper territory of the tribe. This might well be compared to the leap of a lion.

23. The west and the south,'-more exactly the sea coast and the south.' The inheritance of Naphtali lay on the borders of the lakes of Merom and Chinnereth, and it lay to the south of the northern Danites, who were last mentioned.

24. Let Asher be blessed.'-As the very name of Asher means blessedness, there is here a play of words which is lost in translation. No human felicity can be higher than that which is here assigned to him. He is to be happy in his family and friends; his district is to be so productive in olive-trees that he may anoint even his feet with oil (comp. Job xxix. 6); instead of wooden bars, which are still common in the East, his were to be iron and brass; in fine, length of days and abundance of riches were to crown his prosperity.

25. Thy shoes shall be iron and brass.'-Some understand this to mean that there would be mines of iron and