THE NINTH COMMANDMENT

EXODUS 20

EXODUS 20:16

DEUTERONOMY 5:20

GOD here makes a provision for every man’s character and good name, lest any should be undeservedly weighed down by calumnies and false accusations. The same synecdoche exists here, which I have pointed out in the previous Commandments, for God comprises many things under a single head. With reference to the words, inasmuch as d[, gned, properly means a witness, it may be literally translated, “Thou shalt not answer a false witness against thy neighbor,” but then the particle as must be supplied. The Hebrews poorly translate it in the vocative case, Thou shalt not speak, O false witness, etc. ¹ Although God seems only to prescribe that no one, for the purpose of injuring the innocent, should go into court, and publicly testify against him, yet it is plain that the faithful are prohibited from all false accusations, and not only such as are circulated in the streets, but those which are stirred in private houses and secret corners. For it would be absurd, when God has already shewn that men’s fortunes are cared for by Him, that He should neglect their reputation, which is much more precious. In whatever way, therefore, we injure our neighbors by unjustly defaming them, we are accounted false witnesses before God. We must now pass on from the prohibitive to the affirmative precept: for it will not be enough for us to restrain our tongues from speaking evil, unless we are also kind and equitable towards our neighbors, and candid interpreters of their acts and words, and do not suffer them, as far as in us lies, to be burdened with false reproaches. Besides, God does not only forbid us to invent accusations against the innocent, but also to give currency to reproaches and sinister reports in malevolence or hatred. Such a person may perhaps deserve his ill-name, and we may truly lay such or such an accusation to his charge; but if the reproach be the ebullition of our anger, or the accusation proceed from ill-will, it will be vain for us to allege in excuse that we have advanced nothing but, what is true. For when Solomon says that “love covereth many sins;” whereas “hatred brings reproaches to light,” ² (Proverbs 10:12;) he signifies, as a faithful expositor of this precept, that we are only free from falsehood when the reputation of our neighbors suffers no damage from us; for, if the indulgence of evil-speaking violates charity, it is opposed to the Law of God. In short, we must conclude that by these words a restraint is laid on all virulence of language which tends to bring disgrace on our brethren; and on all petulance also, whereby their good name suffers injury; and on all detractions, which flow from malice, or envy, and rivalry, or any other improper feeling. We must also go further, and not be suspicious or too curious in observing the defects of others; for such eager inquisitiveness betrays malevolence, or at any rate an evil disposition. For, if love is not suspicious, he who condemns his neighbor either falsely, or upon trifling surmises, or who holds him in light esteem, is undoubtedly a transgressor of this Commandment. Consequently, we must close our ears against false and evil speaking; since he is just as injurious to his brother who eagerly listens to sinister reports respecting him, as he who exercises his tongue in maligning him. The necessity of this instruction let each man estimate by his own disposition; for scarcely one in a hundred will be found who will be as kind in sparing the character of others, as he himself desires to be pardoned for manifest vices; nay, slander is often praised under the pretext of zeal and conscientiousness. Hence it happens that this vice insinuates itself even among the saints, creeping in under the name of virtue. Moreover, the volubility of the tongue causes us to think it a light transgression to inflict a deadly and disgraceful wound on our brother, to whom, nevertheless, his good name is of more importance than his life. The sum is, that we should manifest our charity no less by candor, and by abstaining from slander, than by the performance of other duties.

THE EXPOSITION OF THE COMMANDMENT

EXODUS 23

EXODUS 23:1, 2, 7

1. Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.

1. Non suscipies vocem mendacii, neque adjicias manum tuam impio ut sis testis mendax.

2. Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment.

2. Non eris post multos ad mala, neque respondebis in causa, ut declines post multos ad pervertendum. 7. Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.

7. A sermone mendacii longe aberis: nec occides innocentem et justum: quia non justificabo impium.

1. Thou shalt not receive (margin) a false report. It might also be translated, Thou shalt not raise, or stir up: and, if this be preferred, God forbids us to invent calumnies; but, if we read, Thou shalt not receive, He will go further, i.e., that none should cherish, or confirm the lie of another by his support of it. For it has been stated that sin may thus be committed in two ways: either when the wicked invent false accusations, or when other over-credulous persons eagerly associate themselves with them; and thus either sense would be very applicable, that the original authors are condemned, who raise a false report, or those who help on their wickedness, and give it, as it were, their endorsement. But, since it immediately follows, “put not thine hand with” them, I willingly embrace the version, “Thou shalt not receive,” in order that the two clauses may combine the better. Indeed Moses uses this word with great propriety, for a lie would soon come to nothing from its own emptiness, and fall to the ground, if it were not taken up and supported by the unrighteous consent of others. God, therefore, recalls His people from this wicked conspiracy, ³ lest by their assistance they should spread abroad false accusations;

and calls those false witnesses who traduce their neighbors by lending their hand to the ungodly: because there is but little difference between raising a calumny and keeping it up.

If it be thought preferable to restrict the second verse to judges, it would be a Supplement to the Sixth Commandment as well as the Eighth, viz., that none should willingly give way to the unjust opinions of others, which might affect either the means or the life of an innocent person. But, inasmuch as the error of those who are too credulous is reproved by it, whence it arises that falsehood prevails, and calumniators throw what is clear into obscurity, it finds a fit place here. ⁴

7. Keep thee far from a false matter. Since he seems to speak of perjury, which brings about the death of the innocent, some might perhaps prefer that this passage should be annexed to the Sixth Commandment; but this is easily solved; for Moses is expressly condemning false-witness, and at the same time instances one case of it, whereby it may appear how detestable a crime it is, viz., the slaying of a brother by calumny, because the false witness rather kills him with his tongue than the executioner with his sword. Although, therefore, it is a gross act of inhumanity to lie in general against one’s brother, yet is its atrocity increased if he be put to death by perjury; because murder is thus combined with perfidy. A threat follows, whereby God summons false-witnesses before His tribunal, where they who have brought the good into peril by their falsehoods shall not escape with impunity.

LEVITICUS 19

LEVITICUS 19:16, 17

16. Thou shalt not go up and down as a tale-bearer among thy people; neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor: I am the Lord.

16. Non incedes obtrectator in populis tuis, nec stabis contra sanguinem proximi tui: ego Jehova.

17. Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him.

17. Corripiendo corripies proximum tuum, neque excitabis super eum crimen.

16. Thou shalt not go up and down. The principle of the second clause is the same as that of the foregoing verse, for it is added to a general precept, whereby detraction is condemned: and much more ought we to be deterred from it, whilst we acknowledge that our tongue is thus armed cruelly to shed innocent blood. Some suppose that the word lykr, racil, is metaphorically taken from merchants, because the tale-bearer or whisperer ⁵ is no less busy in hunting for false reports, which he may afterwards circulate, than the merchant is diligently bent on buying and selling. Others think that there is a change of the letter g into k; and that thus the word is derived from the feet; because calumniators are always wandering about to hunt for grounds of detraction; and therefore is always joined with a verb which signifies to walk. I do not think, however, that it is always used in the same sense; for when Ezekiel reproves the Israelites, because there were always men called lykr, racil, among them, to shed blood, ⁶ I understand men of fraud, or fraudulent persons, who plot against the good to procure their destruction. (Ezekiel 22:9.) Some also translate it spies. Meanwhile, I doubt not, but that Moses, in this passage, designates those vagabonds, who too eagerly run about hither and thither, and in their malignant inquisitiveness penetrate into everybody’s secrets, to bring quiet people into trouble. In short, we are taught that they are accounted false witnesses before God, whosoever by the virulence of their tongue bring their brethren into danger and inconvenience.

17. Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor. Because many, under the pretext of conscientiousness, are not only rigid censors of others, but also burst out in the open proclamation of their defects, Moses seeks to prevent this preposterous zeal, shewing how they may best restrain it, not by encouraging sin through their connivance or silence, whilst they are still far from evil-speaking. For those who labor under this disease of carping and vituperating, are wont to object that sins are nourished by silence, unless all are eager in reproving them; and hence their ardor in exclaiming against them and deriding them. But Moses points out a more useful remedy, that they should bring back wanderers into the way by private rebukes, and not by publishing their offenses. For whosoever triumphs in the infamy of his brother, precipitates his ruin as far as in him lies; whereas a well-regulated zeal consults the welfare of one who is ruining himself. Therefore we are commanded to rebuke the wandering, and not to regard our brethren as enemies. A similar course is prescribed by Christ, “If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone.” (Matthew 18:15.) In fine, an immoderate love of fault-finding will always be found to be arrogant and cruel. The word açn, nasa, undoubtedly means to publish what was concealed, and thus by exposure to drive to despair those who would else have been corrigible.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE NINTH COMMANDMENT

DEUTERONOMY 19

DEUTERONOMY 19:16-21

hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you.

ac timebunt, nec addent facere ultra malum simile huic in medio tui. 21. And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

21. Neque parcet oculus tuus: animam pro anima, oculum pro oculo, dentem pro dente, manum pro manu, pedem pro pede.

THE SUM OF THE LAW

16. If a false witness rise up against any man. Because the fear of God does not so prevail in all men, as that they should voluntarily abstain from the love of slander, God here appoints the punishment to be inflicted for perjury: for political laws are enacted against the ungodly and disobedient, in order that those who despise God’s judgment should be brought before the tribunal of men. Although perjury is not here ordained to be tried before the judges, unless there should be an accuser, who should complain that he had been unjustly injured by false-witness, still reason dictates, that if any man have been condemned to death by false-witnesses, the judges should not hesitate to make an official inquiry into the matter. Yet, inasmuch as men are generally disposed to assert their own innocence, God has deemed it sufficient to put the case, that if any complaint should be lodged, the judges should diligently investigate it, and if the crime be proved, should inflict the punishment of retaliation (talionis.) Whence it appears that false-witnesses and murderers stand in the same light before God. By commanding that the inquiry should be made not only by the judges, but also by the priests, as if God Himself were present, He shews that He requires unusual diligence to be used; because a secret crime is not easily detected without the most anxious care.

TENTH COMMANDMENT

EXODUS 20

EXODUS 20:17

DEUTERONOMY 5:21

EXODUS 20:17. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife. There is no question but that this Commandment extends also to those that have preceded it. God had already sufficiently forbidden us to set our hearts on the property of others, to attempt the seduction of their wives, or to seek for gain at another’s loss and inconvenience. Now whilst He enumerates oxen and asses, and all other things as well as their wives and servants, it is very clear that His precept is directed to the same things, but in a different way, viz., in order to restrain all ungodly desires either of fornication or theft. The question, however, occurs, — since it has been said before that, agreeably to the nature of the Lawgiver, the inward purity of the heart is everywhere required, and therefore, that under the head of adultery, not only are all filthy acts prohibited, but secret unchastity also; and under the head of theft, all unlawful appetite for gain, — why does God now forbid in His people the lust for theft and fornication? For it seems to be a superfluous repetition which would be very absurd in ten short precepts, wherein God has embraced the whole rule of life, so that their very brevity might render it, easy, and the better attract their readers to learn them. Still, on the other hand, it must be remembered that, although it was God’s design, by the whole Law, to arouse men’s feelings to sincere obedience of it, yet such is their hypocrisy and indifference, that it was necessary to stimulate them more sharply, and to press them more closely, lest they should seek for subterfuges under pretense of the obscurity of the doctrine. For if they had only heard, Thou shalt not kill, nor commit fornication, nor steal, they might have supposed that their duty would have been fully performed by mere outward observance. It was not then in vain that God, after having treated of piety and justice, should give a separate admonition, that they were not only to abstain from evil doing, but also, that what He had previously commanded should be performed with the sincere affection of the heart. Hence Paul gathers from this Commandment, that the whole “Law is spiritual,” (Romans 7:7 and 14,) because God, by His condemnation of lust, sufficiently shewed that He not only imposed obedience on our hands and feet, but also put restraint upon our minds, lest they should desire to do what is unlawful. Paul confesses, too, that whereas he before slept in easy self-deceit, he was awakened by this single word; for since he was blameless in the eyes of men, he was persuaded that he was righteous before God: He says that he was once alive, as if the Law were absent or dead, because, being puffed up with confidence in his righteousness, he expected salvation by his works; but, when he perceived what the Commandment, Thou shalt not covet, meant, the dead Law was raised as it were to life, and he died, i.e., he was convinced he was a transgressor, and saw the sure curse overhanging him. Nor did he perceive himself to be guilty of one or two sins, but then, at length, he was shaken out of his torpor, when he recognized that all the evil desires, of which he was conscious, must be accounted for before God, whereas he had before been satisfied with the mere outward appearance of virtue. We now perceive, therefore, that there is nothing inappropriate in the general condemnation of concupiscence by a distinct commandment; for after God has broadly and popularly laid down rules for moral integrity, at length He ascends to the fountain itself, and at the same time points out with His finger, as it were, the root from which all evil and corrupt fruits spring forth. It must here be added that something more is expressed by the words coveting and wishing for, or desiring, than a desiderium formatum, as it is commonly called; for the flesh often tempts us to wish for this or that, so that the evil concupiscence betrays itself, although consent may not yet be added. Since, therefore, the sin ⁷ of the will had been already condemned, God now proceeds further, and puts a restraint upon evil desires before they prevail. ⁸ James points out these progressive steps, where he says that lust conceives before it begets sin; and then “sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death,” (James 1:15,) for the begetting of which he speaks, is not only in the external act but in the will itself, before it has assented to the temptation. I admit, indeed, that the corrupt thoughts which arise spontaneously, and so also vanish before they affect the mind, do not come into account before God; yet, although we do not actually acquiesce in the evil desire, still, if it affects us pleasantly, it is sufficient to render us guilty. In order that this may be understood better, all temptations are, as it were, so many fans; if they hurry us on into consent, the fire is lighted; but, if they only awaken the heart to corrupt desires, concupiscence betrays itself in these sparks, although it neither acquires its full warmth nor breaks forth into a flame. Concupiscence, therefore, is never without desire (affectu,) although the will may not altogether yield. Hence it appears what entire perfection of righteousness we must bring in order to satisfy the Law, since not only are we commanded not to will anything, except what is right and pleasing to God, but also that no impure desire should affect our hearts. Nor would Paul have laid such great stress upon this precept if the Law condemned no concupiscence except that which takes such hold on the mind of man as to exercise dominion over it; for the sin of the will must ever be condemned even by heathen philosophers, nay, and by earthly legislators also; but he says that the Law, by resisting concupiscence, makes sin to “become exceeding sinful.” (Romans 7:13.) Now, it is not credible that, at the time in which he confesses that he knew not what concupiscence was, he was so senseless and stupid as to think no harm of wishing to kill a man, or of being inclined through lust to commit adultery with his brother’s wife; but, if he was not unaware that the will to sin was vicious, it follows that the concupiscence in which he saw no harm was some more hidden disease. Hence, too, it is manifest under what delusion Satan must have held all the Popish schools ⁹ through which echoes this axiom, that concupiscence is no sin in the baptized, because it is a stimulus to the exercise of virtue; as if Paul did not openly condemn concupiscence, which entraps us in its snares, although we do not altogether assent to it.

THE SUM OF THE LAW

DEUTERONOMY 10

DEUTERONOMY 10:12, 13

12. And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,

12. Nunc ergo Israel, quid Jehova Deus tuus petit a te, nisi ut timeas Jehovam Deum tuum, ut ambules in omnibus viis ejus, ut diligas eum, colasque Jehovam Deum tuum in toto corde tuo, et tota anima tua?

13. To keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?

13. Custodiendo praecepta Jehovae, et statuta ejus, quae ego praecipio tibi hodie, ut bene sit tibi.

DEUTERONOMY 6

DEUTERONOMY 6:5

DEUTERONOMY 10:12. And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy

God require? After having expounded each Commandment in its order, it now remains for us to see what is the sum of the contents of the Law, and what the aim and object of its instructions. For Paul elicits its true use, when he declares that its end is

“charity, out of a pure heart and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned,” (1 Timothy 1:5,)

since even then it had its false interpreters, who, he says, had “turned aside unto vain jangling,” when they swerved from that object. Now, as it is contained in two Tables, so also Moses reduces it to two heads, that we should love God with all our heart, and our neighbor as ourselves; for, although he does not unite the two in one passage, yet Christ, by whose Spirit he spoke, ought to suffice to explain to us his intention, (Matthew 22:37;) for, when He was asked what was the great Commandment of the Law, He replied that the first indeed was, that God should be loved, and the second like unto it, regarding the love of our neighbor; as if He had said, that the whole perfection of righteousness, which is set before us in the Law, consists of two parts, that we should serve God with true piety, and conduct ourselves innocently towards men according to the rule of charity. The same is the sense of Paul’s words, for the faith, which is there called the source and origin of charity, comprehends in it the love of God. At any rate, the declaration of Christ stands sure, that nothing is required of us by the Law, but that we should love God, together with our neighbors. From hence a short and clear definition may be laid down, that nothing is required unto a good life except piety and justice. ¹⁰

Paul, indeed, seems to add a third clause, when he says, that

“the grace of God hath appeared, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world,” (Titus 2:11, 12;)

but this σωφροσύνη, (soberness,) is there added as the seasoning, so to speak, of a just and pious life; and assuredly no one will prove that he aims at holiness and integrity, unless by living chastely, honestly, and temperately. Thus, where the service of God is omitted, ¹¹ and the doctrine of the Law confined to the love of our neighbor alone, it is not so much that religion is put out of sight ¹² (sepelitur,) as that the proof of it is made to rest on serious self-examination; for since it is the way with hypocrites to cover themselves with ceremonies as with a mask of sanctity, whilst they are puffed up with pride, burn with avarice and rapacity, are full of envy and malice, breathe out threatenings and cruelty, and are abandoned to filthy lusts, Christ, in order to disperse these clouds of pretense, declares that the three chief points in the Law are “judgment, mercy,” and fidelity, ¹³ (Matthew 23:23;) and elsewhere, discoursing of the righteousness of the Law, He makes no mention of the First Table. (Matthew 19:18.)

For the same reason, Paul calls charity the fulfillment of the Law, (Romans 13:8,) and elsewhere, “the bond of perfectness.” (Colossians 3:14.) Still, nothing was further from their intention than to draw us away from the fear of God, that we might devote ourselves to our duties towards men, as I have already shown from another passage, where Christ, in summing up the Law, begins with the love of God. And Paul, where he teaches that we should be altogether perfect, if faith works in us by love, (Galatians 5:6,) does not omit the cause and principle of a good life. And thus are reconciled the passages which else might appear contradictory, via, that holiness is perfected in the fear of the Lord, when

“we cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit,” (2 Corinthians 7:1;)

and

“all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,” (Galatians 5:14;)

that is to say, because our piety cannot otherwise make itself clear by certain proof, unless we behave justly and harmlessly towards men. ¹⁴

Again, since “our goodness extendeth not to” God, so it is perceived what our mind is by our performance of the duties of the Second Table, as it is said in the Psalm,

“my goodness extendeth not to thee, but to the saints that are in the earth, in whom is all my delight,” ¹⁵ (Psalm 16:2, 3;)

for how will any one boast, (as John says,) that he loves God, whom he does not see, if he loveth not his brother with whom he is familiarly united? (1 John 4:20.) Since, therefore, falsehood is thus detected, God exercises us in piety by mutual charity; and hence John concludes, that

“this Commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.” (1 John 4:21.)

Before, however, I say any more of these two precepts, we must observe the end of the Law as it is described by Moses; “Now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul?” For, although he further eulogizes the Law, because it prescribes nothing which nature does not itself dictate to be most certain and most just, and which experience itself does not shew us to be more profitable, or more desirable than anything else, still, at the same time, he reminds us what is the means by which it is to be kept. ¹⁶

Therefore he sets before us at the same time the fear and the love of God; for, inasmuch as God is the Lord, He justly desires to be feared in right of His dominion; and, inasmuch as He is our Father, He requires to be loved, as it is said in Malachi 1:6. Let us learn, therefore, if we would set ourselves about keeping the Law, that we must begin with the fear of God, which is hence called the “beginning of wisdom.” (<19B110>Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7, and Proverbs 9:10.) But, since God has no pleasure in extorted and forced obedience, love is immediately added. And this deserves to be well weighed, that whereas there is nothing pleasanter than to love God, still it always occupies the first place in all His service. Surely he must be more than iron-hearted who is not attracted by such kindness; since, for no other cause, does He invite and exhort us to love Him, than because He loveth us; nay, He has already prevented us with His love, as is said in 1 John 4:10. Meanwhile, we may at the same time gather, that nothing is pleasing to God which is offered “grudgingly or of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7.) It is true that Paul is there speaking of alms-giving; but this voluntary and hearty inclination to obey, such as we see in good and ingenuous children, who take delight in subjection to their parents, ought to be extended to all the actions of our lives. And assuredly the reverence which is paid to God flows from no other source than the tasting of His paternal love towards us, whereby we are drawn to love Him in return; as it is said in <19D004>Psalm 130:4, “There is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.” Whenever, then, we hear what Scripture constantly inculcates; “O love ye Jehovah, ¹⁷ all ye his meek ones!” (Psalm 31:23.) let us remember that God shews Himself loving towards us, in order that we may willingly and with becoming cheerfulness acquiesce in what He commands.

The perfection which is here required shews with sufficient clearness how far we are from a thorough obedience to the Law. We are commanded to love God with all our heart, and soul, and strength. However much we strive, our efforts are weak and imperfect, unless the love of God has possession of all our senses, and all our desires and thoughts are altogether devoted to Him, whilst all our endeavors are also directed to Him alone. But every one is abundantly convinced by his own experience, in how many ways our minds are carried away to vanity; how many corrupt affections creep over us; how difficult it is for us to restrain and overcome the evil motions of our flesh. Surely the very best wrestler, with all his strivings, is hardly able to make advances in this spiritual warfare; and if it be a great attainment not to faint altogether, certainly none will dare to boast that he comes near the mark which is set before us in the Law. In short, whenever worldly snares and foolish appetites insinuate themselves upon us, we must so often feel that some part of our soul is empty of the love of God, since otherwise nothing repugnant to it would penetrate there. The word heart here, ¹⁸ as elsewhere, is not used for the seat of the affections, but for the intellect; and, therefore, it would have been superfluous to add διάνοιας, as the Evangelists have done, unless for the purpose of removing all ambiguity; but because this signification was not commonly in use among the Greeks, they have not hesitated to add a word of their own in explanation. Those, however, who are well acquainted with the teaching of Moses, are not ignorant that the word heart is equivalent to mind; for he elsewhere says, “The Lord hath not given you an heart to understand, ¹⁹ and eyes to see, unto this day,” (Deuteronomy 29:4;) but the expression would have been obscure to the Greeks, as being unusual in their language. ²⁰

LEVITICUS 19

LEVITICUS 19:18

18. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. What every man’s mind ought to be towards his neighbor, could not be better expressed in many pages that in this one sentence. We are all of us not only inclined to love ourselves more than we should, but all our powers hurry us away in this direction; nay, φιλαυτία (self-love) blinds us so much as to be the parent of all iniquities. Since, therefore, whilst we are too much given to love ourselves, we forget and neglect our brethren, God could only bring us back to charity by plucking from our hearts that vicious passion which is born with us and dwells deeply in us; nor, again, could this be done except by transferring elsewhere the love which exists within us. On this point no less has the dishonesty betrayed itself than the ignorance and folly of those ²¹ who would have the love of ourselves come first: “The rule (say they) is superior to the thing regulated by it; and according to God’s commandment, the charity which we should exercise towards others is formed upon the love of ourselves as its rule.” As if it were God’s purpose to stir up the fire which already burns too fiercely. Naturally, as I have said, we are blinded by our immoderate self-love; and God, in order to turn us away from this, has substituted our neighbors, whom we are to love no less than ourselves; nor will any one ever perform what Paul teaches us to be a part of charity, viz., that she “seeketh not her own,” (1 Corinthians 13:5,) until he shall have renounced himself.

Not only those with whom we have some connection are called our neighbors, but all without exception; for the whole human race forms one body, of which all are members, and consequently should be bound together by mutual ties; for we must bear in mind that even those who are most alienated from us, should be cherished and aided even as our own flesh; since we have ²² seen elsewhere that sojourners and strangers are placed in the same category (with our relations; ²³) and Christ sufficiently confirms this in the case of the Samaritan. (Luke 10:30.)

THE USE OF THE LAW

Inasmuch as in the Law the difference between good and evil is set forth, it is given for the regulation of the life of men, so that it may be justly called the rule of living well and righteously. This object of the Law is known to almost all men, because all confess without controversy that God here prescribes what is right, lest we should wander all our lifetime in uncertainty; for since His will is the perfect law of righteousness, it can alone direct us to the mark. The knowledge of good and evil is indeed imprinted by nature on men, whereby they are rendered inexcusable; nor has any amount of barbarism ever so extinguished this light as that no form of law should exist. But, since the main principle of righteousness is to obey God, it was by special privilege that He deposited with His elect people the rule of living aright as a pledge of His adoption. Hence the declarations which so often occur in the writings of Moses: I command thee to keep and to do, etc. But, since we are “carnal, sold under sin,” (Romans 7:14,) we are so far from being able to fulfill the Law, which is spiritual, that all our imaginations are at enmity with its righteousness, as Paul teaches elsewhere. (Romans 7:7.) Those, therefore, who ²⁴ content themselves with using it for instruction, do wrong in confining themselves to this one point, since no advantage can hence be derived from it, as long as we shall remain in our corrupt nature. Nay, as soon as the Law presents itself before us, the curse of God falls upon our heads, as if He smote us with a thunder-bolt from heaven. I will not heap together all the testimonies to this effect; let one peculiarly striking passage suffice:

“The law (says Paul) is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good: but sin, that it might appear sin, worketh death in me by that which is good.” (Romans 7:12, 13.)

What he elsewhere says, that “the law worketh wrath,” (Romans 4:15,) and that “it was added because of transgressions,” (Galatians 3:19,) seems harsh indeed to profane persons, who only judge as philosophers; yet this is the theological use of the Law, for, by discovering our unrighteousness, it can bring nothing but death. Here, however, ²⁵ rebellious questions arise, what use there could be in prescribing what we are unable to perform: why God should mock miserable men by imposing a burden whereby they are totally overwhelmed: how it is consistent that a law should be given for us to keep, and yet that we should be devoid of strength to do so: if we have not liberty to choose good or evil, why it should be brought in accusation against us that we yield to the sin to which we are naturally addicted? The enemies of God are very ingenious in amassing such calumnies, and eloquent in exaggerating them; but when they have disgorged all that their rabid dishonesty has dictated, their own conscience will always abundantly refute them; for they will be compelled to acknowledge that the Law is just, and that, when they transgress it by voluntary impulse, they are deservedly condemned. Let them, then, rave against God as they like, that He unjustly imposes upon them a heavier burden than they are able to bear, their natural reason will retain them under the conviction, that whatever God commands to be done for Him is His due. We must now see where the blame lies, that they are unable to satisfy Him. Surely their efforts to relieve themselves from it will be vain, because conscience will again make itself felt on the opposite side, and will hold them fast in the bond of condemnation, from which there is no escape. But the whole of Scripture teaches that it arises from the corruption of our nature that all our affections are repugnant to the Law, and also that, on the other hand, the Law is against us; for Adam, being alienated from God the fountain of all righteousness, ruined himself and us; and hence it comes that not only our strength is insufficient to perform the service we owe to God, but that we are impelled by a blind and headlong impetus to shake off His yoke. From this Paul infers that we are “under the curse,” because the Law pronounces all transgressors to be accursed. (Galatians 3:10.) For ridiculous will be the objection that it is in the power of every one’s free-will not to transgress, because there is nothing to be found in us which is not corrupt; and, in fact, the stupidity of those is most shameless who suppose that nothing impossible is commanded, whereas in every trifle, not merely our weakness, but our ἀδυναμία (powerlessness) betrays itself. But, although Paul says that the Law ²⁶ is deadly to us, (2 Corinthians 3:6,) yet he vindicates it from all objection, when he shews that this evil is accidental, and therefore must be imputed to ourselves. Let it therefore be established, that the Law was given not only for instruction, so that men might follow what they had learnt from it to be right, but also to convict them of their iniquity, that they might acknowledge themselves to be lost; as if they saw in a mirror their destruction through the just vengeance of God. Now this knowledge would by itself overwhelm all with horrible despair if they did not emerge from the deep abyss; for, since they are puffed up with vain confidence, and arrogate to themselves the merit of living righteously, it is necessary that they should be humbled; first of all, that, being condemned, they may learn to fly for refuge to God’s mercy; and secondly, that being convinced of their infirmity, they may implore the aid of the Holy Spirit, which in their security they had before neglected. Hence it appears that it is expedient for them to be slain by the Law, and that the death which it inflicts is life-giving. And this occurs in two ways; for, first, being stripped of the false opinion of their righteousness, wherein they prided themselves, they begin to seek in Christ what they mistakenly supposed might be found in themselves, so as to please God by gratuitous reconciliation, whereas they had previously sought to propitiate Him by the merit of their works; secondly, they learn that they are not sufficient to perform a single tittle of the Law, unless, being regenerated by God’s Spirit, they who were the slaves of sin live unto righteousness. And hence, in fine, the utility and fruit of the teaching of the Law proceeds; for, until we are renewed and God has given us hearts of flesh instead of hearts of stone, in vain are precepts dinned in our ears, since in our natural depravity we cordially reject them; but when He has engraved His law within our hearts, its outward instruction also profits us; for He so governs His children by the Spirit of reconciliation, as at the same time to will that they should be attentive and obedient to His voice. Still, because they are always far from attaining to perfect observance of it, they not only learn from it what is right, but also that they have need of His gratuitous mercy, that they may please Him through indulgence and grace, although they are still conscious of much infirmity.

Further, because Paul seems to abrogate the Law, as if now-a-days it did not concern believers, we must now see how far this is the case. And, first, indeed, it is easy to perceive that he does not treat of the Law in the abstract, but sets it forth invested with those of its qualities, wherein it is opposed to the Gospel; for, inasmuch as his controversy was with those who interpreted it amiss, he could not help contrasting the Law with the Gospel, as if they were in opposition to each other: not that they were really so, if their respective doctrine be dexterously applied to its proper object, but because such a conflict arose from the absurd mixture, which the false apostles introduced. They asserted that men are justified by the works of the Law, and, if this were admitted, the righteousness of faith was destroyed, and the Gospel fell to the ground. They, moreover, restored the yoke imposed on the ancient people, as if no liberty had been obtained by the blood of Christ. In this discussion it was necessary for Paul to advert only to that which is peculiar to Moses, and distinct from Christ; for although Christ and Moses perfectly accord in the substance of their doctrine, still, when they are compared with each other, it is fitting to distinguish what is peculiar to each. In this respect Paul calls the Law “the letter,” ²⁷ because Moses had no other charge than to speak in the name of God, (2 Corinthians 3:6;) and this in itself is not only useless, but also deadly; for when the word resounds in the ears only, it produces nothing but condemnation. Besides, he considers the Law as connected with promises and threatenings. Whence it follows, that salvation can only be procured by it if its precepts be exactly fulfilled. Life is indeed promised in it, but only if whatever it commands be complied with; whilst, on the other hand, it denounces death against its transgressors, so that to have offended in the slightest point is enough to condemn and destroy a person; and thus it overwhelms all men with despair. Lastly, because the ceremonies by which God prepared His ancient people as by puerile and elementary instruction for the faith of the Gospel, ²⁸ were annexed to the Law, Paul embraces those also in his comparison between the Law and the Gospel. Hence it follows that, in so far as Moses is distinguished from Christ, his ministration has ceased, although his embassy was identical with that which Christ afterwards discharged. As regards the ceremonies, we must consider that an end was put upon them by Christ’s coming, in such a way as to establish their truth more firmly than as if they still remained in use: for we acknowledge that in them, as in a mirror, was formerly shewn to the Fathers, what is now displayed to us in its reality. Whence it appears that they are greatly mistaken who altogether reject as useless that instruction which we read in the writings of Moses; and that the squeamishness of those who despise it is also intolerable. ²⁹ Let my readers seek in the Second Book of my Institutes, Chapter 7., what further tends to the explanation of this subject.

SANCTIONS OF THE LAW

CONTAINED IN THE PROMISES AND THREATS

We now come to the conclusion of the Exposition of the Law, wherein we are to treat of the sanctions of it contained both in the promises and threats. For, although God might in His own right simply require what He pleased, yet such is His kindness to men, that He chose to entice them by promises to obey Him freely. Since, therefore, we are naturally attracted by the hope of reward, we are slow and lazy, until some fruit appears. Consequently God voluntarily promises, in order to arouse them from their sloth, that if men obey His Law, He will repay them. Nor is this an ordinary act of liberality that He prefers to agree with us for the payment of a recompense, rather than simply to command by His sovereignty. For we must bear in mind the declaration of Christ, that when we have fulfilled the whole Law, we still deserve nothing; since God claims for Himself our entire services. (Luke 17:10.) However we may strive, therefore, even beyond our strength, and devote ourselves entirely to keep the Law, still God lies under no obligation to us, except in so far as He has Himself voluntarily agreed, and made Himself our spontaneous debtor. And this has been pointed out even by the common theologians, that the reward of good works does not depend upon their dignity or merit, but upon His covenant. ³⁰ Still, as we shall soon see, such promises would not avail us the least if God rewarded every one according to his works; but, because this defect is adventitious, God’s great mercy nevertheless shines forth in the fact that he has deigned to encourage us to obedience by setting before us the hope of eternal life. And hence He reproves the ingratitude of the Israelites by Ezekiel 20:21; because they had despised His good commandments, of which it was said that “if a man do them, he should live in them.”

We now perceive how the authority of the Law was confirmed by the promises; but because we are not only indolent but also refractory, He added on the other side threats which might inspire terror, both to subdue the obstinacy of the flesh and to correct the security in which we are too apt to indulge. It will be expedient now to treat of both.

LEVITICUS 18

LEVITICUS 18:5

5. Ye shall therefore keep my statutes. Although Moses introduces this passage, where he exhorts the Israelites to cultivate chastity in respect to marriage, and not to fall into the incestuous pollutions of the Gentiles, yet, as it is a remarkable one, and contains general instruction, from whence Paul derives his definition of the righteousness of the Law, (Romans 10:5,) it seems to me to come in very appropriately here, inasmuch as it sanctions and confirms the Law by the promise of reward. The hope of eternal life is, therefore, given to all who keep the Law; for those who expound the passage as referring to this earthly and transitory life are mistaken. ³¹ The cause of this error was, because they feared that thus the righteousness of faith might be subverted, and salvation grounded on the merit of works. But Scripture does not therefore deny that men are justified by works, because the Law itself is imperfect, or does not give instructions for perfect righteousness; but because the promise is made of none effect by our corruption and sin. Paul, therefore, as I have just said, when he teaches that righteousness is to be sought for in the grace of Christ by faith, (Romans 10:4,) proves his statement by this argument, that none is justified who has not fulfilled what the Law commands. Elsewhere also he reasons by contrast, where he contends that the Law does not accord with faith as regards the cause of justification, because the Law requires works for the attainment of salvation, whilst faith directs us to Christ, that we may be delivered from the curse of the Law. Foolishly, then, do some reject as an absurdity the statement, that if a man fulfills the Law he attains to righteousness; for the defect does not arise from the doctrine of the Law, but from the infirmity of men, as is plain from another testimony given by Paul. (Romans 8:3.) We must observe, however, that salvation is not to be expected from the Law unless its precepts be in every respect complied with; for life is not promised to one who shall have done this thing, or that thing, but, by the plural word, full obedience is required of us. The pratings of the Popish theologians about partial righteousness are frivolous and silly, since God embraces at once all the commandments; and who is there that can boast of having thoroughly fulfilled them? If, then, none was ever clear of transgression, or ever will be, although God by no means deceives us, yet the promise becomes ineffectual, because we do not perform our part of the agreement.

DEUTERONOMY 27

DEUTERONOMY 27:11-26

maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place: and all the people shall answer and say, Amen.

fecerit sculptile, et conflatile, abominationem Jehovae, opus manuum artificis, et posuerit in abscondito: et respondebunt universus populus, ac dicent, Amen. 16. Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother: and all the people shall say, Amen.

16. Maledictus qui vilipenderit patrem suum, aut matrem suam: et dicet universus populus, Amen.

17. Cursed be he that removeth his neighbor’s land-mark: and all the people shall say, Amen.	17. Maledictus qui transfert terminum proximi sui, et dicet universus populus, Amen.
18. Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way: and all the people shall say, Amen.	18. Maledictus qui aberrare facit caecum in via: et dicet universus populus, Amen.
19. Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow: and all the people shall say, Amen.	19. Maledictus qui pervertit judicium peregrini, pupilli, et viduae: et dicet universus populus, Amen.
20. Cursed be he that lieth with his father’s wife; because he uncovereth his father’s skirt: and all the people shall say, Amen.	20. Maledictus qui coierit cum uxore patris sui, quia discooperuit oram patris sui, et dicet universus populus, Amen.
21. Cursed be he that lieth with any manner of beast: and all the people shall say, Amen.	21. Maledictus qui coierit cum quovis animali, et dicet universus populus, Amen.
22. Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother: and all the people shall say, Amen.	22. Maledictus qui coierit cum sorore sua, filia patris sui, vel filia matris suae, et dicet universus populus, Amen.
23. Cursed be he that lieth with his mother-in-law: and all the	23. Maledictus qui coierit cum socru sua: et dicet universus

people shall say, Amen. populus, Amen. 24. Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbor secretly: and all the people shall say, Amen.

24. Maledictus qui percusscrit proximum suum abscondite: et dicet universus populus, Amen.

25. Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person: and all the people shall say, Amen.	25. Maledictus qui acceperit munus, ut percutiat plaga animae sanguinem innocentem: et dicet universus populus, Amen.
26. Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them: and all the people shall say, Amen.	26. Maledictus qui non stabilierit verba Legis istius faciendo illa: et dicet universus populus, Amen.

11. And Moses charged the people the same day. In order that both the promises and threats might have more efficacy in affecting the minds of all, God enjoined not only that they should be proclaimed in a solemn rite, but also that they should be approved by the people in a loud voice, and sealed, as it were, by their consent. It is elsewhere recorded that this was faithfully performed by Joshua. (Joshua 8:33.) Let it suffice to say at present that they were all summoned, and conducted before God to subscribe to them, so that henceforth all subterfuge might be put an end to. The tribes of Israel were divided into two parties, that they might stand opposite to each other, and that the blessings might sound forth from one side, and the curses from the other, ³² like ἀντίστροφοι. I confess I do not know why the descendants of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin, were chosen by God to proclaim the blessings, rather than the others; ³³ for there is no force in the opinion of the Hebrew writers that those who descended from free mothers were placed in the post of highest dignity: since the tribe of the first-born, Reuben, was united with some who sprang from the bond-maids; unless, perhaps, we may say that the descendants of Reuben were degraded into the second class as a mark of ignominy; but, since both the blessings and curses were offered in the name of the whole people, it is not a point of much importance. For, if this division ³⁴ was made to bear witness to their common consent, it was equivalent to their all alike confessing that the transgressors of the Law were accursed, and those who kept it blessed; and consequently I am not very curious to know why, in their common office, God preferred some to the others. Moses will elsewhere relate that the tribes, which are here separated, were then united together. It would perhaps be a probable conjecture that God, who well knew what would hereafter be the inheritance of every tribe, placed them severally in that station which would correspond to their future allotment.

In order that the sanction might have more solemnity, God chose that the Levites should dictate the words as if He Himself spoke from heaven; for, since they were appointed to be the expounders of the Law, as it behooved them faithfully to repeat what God had dictated out of His own mouth, so they were heard with greater attention and reverence.

15. Cursed be the man that maketh any graven. Hence it appears that Moses is silent as to the half (of what he had spoken of before; ³⁵ ) for no mention is made of the blessings ³⁶ which occupied before the first place. Perhaps the Spirit would indirectly rebuke the wickedness of the people, from whence it arose that He was not at liberty to proclaim the praises conveyed in the blessings; for, when they ought to have embraced cheerfully the reward promised to them, their ungodliness deprived them of this honor; and nothing remained but that they should submit themselves to the just punishment of their iniquities. Meanwhile, it cannot be doubted but that they were taught by the forms of cursing which we here read what course was to be observed in blessing. For, when God pronounces His condemnation of transgressors, we may hence infer that the hope of blessedness is laid up for His true servants, if any fulfill His law. Besides, in the list of curses here recorded, a synecdoche is to be observed, since no special curse is separately denounced against blasphemers, perjurers, Sabbath-breakers, slanderers, and adulterers. It is plain, therefore, that some kinds of crime which were worthy of the greatest abomination, were selected, in order that the people might learn from hence that transgression against any particular of the Law would not be unpunished; for, by speaking of graven images, God undoubtedly defends His worship from all pollutions; and thus this curse extends to every breach of the First Table. Moreover, when He threatens to punish secret sins, we may readily infer that, although offenders might be hidden from earthly judges, and escape from their hands a hundred times, still God would be the avenger of His polluted worship. If any had put an idol in a secret place, or had smitten his neighbor secretly, he will not suffer the punishment which cannot be inflicted unless his crime be detected, and he is convicted of the offense; but, lest impunity should encourage any one to become obdurate in sin, the people are summoned before the heavenly tribunal of God, that they may be retained in the path of duty, not only by the fear of punishment, but for conscience-sake. Whence, again, it is clear that God did not only deliver a political Law, which should merely direct their outward morals, but one which would require true sincerity of heart.

16. Cursed be he that setteth light by his father. What follows refers to the Second Table of the Law; and, first, He pronounces those cursed who should be undutiful (impii) to their parents; for the word llq, kalal, ³⁷ which means to despise, as well as to curse, is put in opposition to the honor which, by the Fifth Commandment, is due to our father and mother. Then He mentions such thefts as generally escape the knowledge of men; as also, He only adverts to those acts of fornication which are anxiously concealed on account of their filthiness. To have connection with a beast, with one’s mother-in-law, or step-mother, or sister, is so unnatural and detestable a crime, that it is generally concealed more carefully. But God admonishes us that, whatever modes of concealment the sinner shall adopt, they will profit him nothing, but that, when He shall at length ascend His judgment-seat, their shame shall be discovered. For the same reason he does not curse all murderers, but only such as have shed innocent blood for hire, which nefarious compact cannot easily be discovered so as to be punished by laws. ³⁸

26. Cursed is he that confirmeth not. Although it was God’s purpose to summon the consciences of all men before Him, and, in order that they might not only fear human judgments, He designedly threatened them with the punishment of secret sins, yet the conclusion, which is now added, extends the same judgment to all iniquities of whatever kind. Nay, He briefly declares, that whosoever shall not perform what the Law requires, are accursed. From whence Paul rightly infers, that “as many as are of the works of the Law are under the curse.” (Galatians 3:10.) For let the most perfect man come forward, and, although he may have striven ever so diligently to keep the Law, he will have at least offended in some point or other; since the declaration of James must be borne in mind, “Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all;” for he that forbade murder and adultery, forbade theft also. (James 2:10, 11.) Paul indeed does not quote the very words of Moses, for he thus cites his testimony;

“Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them,” (Galatians 3:10;)

but there is no difference in the sense, since all are here condemned without exception, who have not confirmed the Law of God, so as to fulfill to the uttermost whatever it contains. Whence if is clear that, in whatever respect the deficiency betrays itself, it brings men under the curse; and to this the Israelites are commanded to assent, so as to acknowledge that they were all without exception lost, since they were involved in the curse. And now-a-days, also, it is necessary that we should all to a man be struck with the same despair, in order that, embracing the grace of Christ, we should be delivered from this melancholy state of guilt; since he was made accursed for us, that He might redeem us from the curse of the Law. (Galatians 3:13.)

DEUTERONOMY 11

DEUTERONOMY 11:26-32

when the Lord thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal.

Jehova Deus tuus in terram quam tu ingrederis ut possideas eam, tunc dabis benedictionem super montem Garizim, et maledictionem super montem Ebal. 30. Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh?

30. Annon sunt trans Jordanem post viam ad occasum solis vergentem in terra Chananaei, qui habitant in planitie e regione Gilgal, juxta campestria Moreh?

31. For ye shall pass over Jordan, to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein.	31. Vos enim transituri estis Jordanem, ut pergatis ad possidendam terram quam Jehova Deus vester dat vobis, et haereditabitis eam, et habitabitis in ea.
32. And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day.	32. Custodite ergo ad faciendum omnia statuta, et judicia, quae ego pono ante faciem vestram hodie.

26. Behold, I set before you this day. He now embraces the two points at once, viz., that they would be blessed if they earnestly apply themselves to the keeping of the Law, and cursed, if they shake off its yoke and revel in their lusts. But, when he says that he here sets before them a blessing and a curse, it is as much as to declare, that he does not merely tell them what is right, but that the reward is prepared if they obey; and if not, that the punishment is also at hand. Thus we see, that the doctrine which he had hitherto delivered is sealed by hope and fear, since they would not lose their labor if they obeyed it, nor be unpunished if they rejected it. But, that they may learn surely to embrace the promises and to fear the threatenings, he repeats what we have met with before, ³⁹ that God, who is both a faithful rewarder, and a severe judge, is the Author of the Law; yet at the same time he magnifies his own ministry, ⁴⁰ since it behooved them to depend upon God, and to acquiesce in His commandments, in such a manner as still to submit themselves to His Prophet. For such is men’s pride, that they desire to fly above the clouds to listen to God; whilst He would be heard in His servants, by whose mouth He speaks. Moses, therefore, would again enforce upon them this humility, when he states that he enjoins what God has commanded, as if to call himself the organ of the Holy Spirit.

29. And it shall come to pass, when the Lord. I have lately expounded a similar passage, which, although it is subsequent in the order observed by Moses, yet, inasmuch as it sets out the matter more clearly, I have not hesitated for perspicuity’s sake to put first. I said that God’s intention was, whilst appointing the Israelites to proclaim their own condemnation, to lay them under more solemn obligation to keep the Law. If He had Himself declared His will through the Levites only, they ought indeed to have been seriously affected, and to have listened with reverence both to the blessings and the curses; but when each of them testifies with his own mouth what the Levites dictated by God’s command, the introduction of this assent, as a solemn ratification, ⁴¹ was more efficacious in awakening their zeal and attention. A more fitting season, however, for this protest was after they had entered the promised land than as if it had been made in the plain of Moab; for the sight of the land tended to its confirmation, as if they had been brought into court to make a covenant with God.

These ⁴² two mountains are situated opposite to each other, in such a manner that the two divisions of the people might easily stand to bless and to curse, so that they might in concert approve of the promises and threats of God.

30. Are they not on the other side of Jordan. Although the form of interrogation is common in Hebrew, yet in this place Moses affirms more vehemently than as if he had only stated directly that these mountains were in the land of Canaan; for he wishes to encourage them in the confidence of entering the promised inheritance; just as he adds immediately afterwards, “Ye shall pass over Jordan.” For, although they had already experienced the miraculous power of God in the conquest of the Amorites, and in heir occupation of the land of Bashan, yet such was their incredulity, that it was necessary constantly to dissipate their fears, so that they might lay aside all hesitation, and boldly prepare to advance. Finally, he founds an exhortation upon this great goodness of God; for the actual enjoyment of the land ought to have stimulated them the more in the service of God, because they were made to inherit it for the purpose of keeping the Law.

LEVITICUS 26

LEVITICUS 26:3-13

field shall yield their fruit. suum. 5. And your thrashing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing-time; and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.

5. Apprehendetque vobis tritura vindemiam, et vindemia apprehendet sementem: comedetisque panem vestrum ad saturitatem, et habitabitis confidenter in terra vestra.

6. And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid; and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.	6. Dabo namque pacem in terra, et dormietis, neque erit exterrens: auferamque bestias malas e terra, et gladius non transibit per terram vestram.
7. And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.	7. Et persequemini inimicos vestros, cadentque coram vobis gladio.
8. And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.	8. Persequentur quinque ex vobis centum, et centum ex vobis decem millia persequentur: et corruent inimici vestri coram vobis gladio.
9. For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.	9. Vertam enim me ad vos, et crescere faciam vos, atque multiplicabo vos, stabiliamque pactum meum vobiscum.
10. And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new.	10. Et comedetis vetus inveteratum, et vetus propter novum educetis.
11. And I will set my tabernacle among you, and my soul shall not abhor you.	11. Et ponam tabernaculum in medio vestri, neque abominabitur vos anima mea.
12. And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.	12. Ambulabo autem in medio vestri, eroque vobis in Deum, et vos eritis mihi in populum.

13. I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bond-men; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.

13. Ego Jehova Deus vester qui eduxi vos de terra Aegypti, ne essetis illis servi: et confregi lora jugi vestri, et incedere feci vos erecta facie.

ITS REPETITION

3. If ye walk in my statutes. We have now to deal with two remarkable passages, in which he professedly treats of the rewards which the servants of God may expect, and of the punishments which await the transgressors. I have indeed already observed, that whatever God promises us on the condition of our walking in His commandments would be ineffectual if He should be extreme in examining our works. Hence it arises that we must renounce all the compacts of the Law, if we desire to obtain favor with God. But since, however defective the works of believers may be, they are nevertheless pleasing to God through the intervention of pardon, hence also the efficacy of the promises depends, viz., when the strict condition of the law is moderated. Whilst, therefore, they reach forward and strive, reward is given to their efforts although imperfect, exactly as if they had fully discharged their duty; for, since their deficiencies are put out of sight by faith, God honors with the title of reward what He gratuitously bestows upon them. Consequently, “to walk in the commandments of God,” is not precisely equivalent to performing whatever the Law demands; but in this expression is included the indulgence with which God regards His children and pardons their faults. The promise, therefore, is not without fruit as respects believers, whilst they endeavor to consecrate themselves to God, although they are still far from perfection; according to the teaching of the Prophet, “I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him,” (Malachi 3:17;) as much as to say, that their obedience would not be acceptable to Him because it was deserving, but because He visits it with His paternal favor. Whence it appears how foolish is the pride of those who imagine that they make God their debtor, as if according to His agreement.

The restriction of the recompense, which is here mentioned, to this earthly and transitory life, is a part of the elementary instruction of the Law; for, just as the spiritual grace of God was represented to the ancient people by shadows and images, so also the same principle applied also both to rewards and punishments. Reconciliation with God was represented to them by the blood of cattle; there were various forms of expiation, but all outward and visible, because their substance had not yet appeared in Christ. For the same reason, therefore, because so clear and familiar an acquaintance with eternal life, and the final resurrection, had not yet been attained by the Fathers, as now shines forth in the Gospel, God for the most part shewed forth by external proofs that He was favorably disposed to His people or offended with them. Because now-a-days God does not openly take vengeance on sins as of old, fanatics infer that He has almost changed His nature; nay, on this pretense, the Manicheans ⁴³ imagined that the God of Israel was different from ours. But this error springs from gross and disgraceful ignorance; for, by not distinguishing His different modes of dealing, they do not hesitate impiously to cut God Himself in two. The earth does not now cleave asunder to swallow up the rebellious: ⁴⁴ God does not now thunder from heaven as against Sodom: He does not now send fire upon wicked cities as He did in the Israelitish camp: fiery serpents are not sent forth to inflict deadly bites: in a word, such manifest instances of punishment are not daily presented before our eyes to make God terrible to us; and for this reason, because the voice of the Gospel sounds much more clearly in our ears, like the sound of a trumpet, whereby we are summoned to the heavenly tribunal of Christ. Let us then learn to tremble at that sentence, which banishes all the wicked from the kingdom of God. So, on the other hand, God does not appear, as of old, as the rewarder of His people by earthly blessings; and this because we “are dead, and our life is hid with Christ in God;” because it becomes us to be conformed to our Head, and through many tribulations to enter the kingdom of heaven. Thus, the greater are the adversities that oppress us, the more cheerfully it behooves us to lift up our heads, until Christ shall gather us into the fellowship of His glory, and to pursue the course of our calling for the hope which is set before us in heaven; in a word,

“denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Savior Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2:12, 13.)

I admit, indeed, the truth of what Paul teaches, that “godliness” even now has “the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come,” (1 Timothy 4:8;) and assuredly believers already taste on earth of that blessedness which they shall hereafter enjoy in its fullness. God also inflicts His judgments on the ungodly in order to remind us of the last judgment; but still the distinction to which I have adverted is obvious, that since God has opened to us the heavenly life in the Gospel, He now calls us directly to it, whereas He led the Fathers to it as it were by steps. For this reason Paul elsewhere teaches, that believers are afflicted in this world as

“a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that they may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which they also suffer, seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense,” etc. (2 Thessalonians 1:5, 6.)

In short, let us no more wonder that the Israelites were only attracted and alarmed by temporal rewards and punishments, than that the land of Canaan was to them a symbol of their eternal inheritance, in which, nevertheless, they confessed themselves strangers and pilgrims; from whence the Apostle correctly concludes, that they desired a better country. (Genesis 47:9; Psalm 39:12; Hebrews 11:16.) And thus the wild absurdity of those is refuted, who suppose that the Fathers were contented with perishable felicity, as if God merely gorged them in a tavern. ⁴⁵ Still the distinction which I have noted remains, that God manifested Himself more fully as a Father and Judge by temporal blessings and punishments than since the promulgation of the Gospel.

4. Then I will give you rain in due season. He might in one word have promised great abundance of food, but, that His grace may be more illustrious, the instruments are mentioned which He employs for its supply. He might give us bread as He formerly rained down manna from heaven; but in order that the signs of His paternal solicitude may be constantly before us, after the seed is sown, the earth requires rain from heaven; and thus the order of the seasons is so regulated that every day may renew the memory of God’s bounty. For this reason rain is mentioned, and the increase of the fruits of the earth; and the continued succession of thrashing, the vintage, and sowing-time, indicates a very abundant supply of corn and wine. For, if the harvest be small, there will not be much work to occupy the husbandman; and, if the vintage be light, hence also will arise an unsatisfactory period of leisure. But when God declares that from harvest to sowing-time they shall have constant employment, He bids them expect a fruitful year, as immediately follows, “ye shall eat your bread to the full.” And since no prosperity can be gratifying without peace, He says that they shall be quiet and free from all disturbance. And this must be carefully observed that, so unpalatable are all God’s blessings without the seasoning of tranquillity, nothing is more wretched than inquietude. The sum is, that for the true servants of God not only is there food laid up with Him, but also its peaceful and pleasant enjoyment, since it is in His power and will to drive far from them all annoyances. Still these two things do not seem altogether consistent with each other, that there shall be none to make them afraid, and that they shall subdue their enemies, so that ⁴⁶ ten shall suffice to chase a hundred; for of what use would their military strength be if there were no enemies to trouble them? But if we may take the latter sentence disjunctively, there will be no absurdity, viz., if it should happen that war be brought against them, they should fight successfully. Still the easiest solution of this difficulty is, that it soon afterwards was necessary for them to contend with a great multitude of enemies, in order to obtain possession of the land. We gather from the accommodation by the Prophets of this peculiar blessing of a secure and tranquil life to the kingdom of Christ, that the promises, which from the nature of the Law were of none effect, are still useful for believers; for, when God has reconciled them to Himself, He also liberally bestows upon them what they have not deserved; and yet their obedience, such as it is, is also rewarded.

9. For I will have respect unto you. ⁴⁷ God is said to “turn Himself” to the people, whom He undertakes to cherish and preserve; just as also when He forsakes those who have alienated themselves from Him, He is said to be turned away from them. Hence the common exhortation in the Prophets, “Be ye turned to me, and I will be turned to you;” whereby God reminds us that He has not promised in vain what we here read. Therefore the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, to confirm His covenant towards them by watching for their safety. Hence, too, we are also taught, that when we depart from God, His covenant is made void by our own fault; wherewith Jeremiah reproaches the Israelites. (Jeremiah 31:32.) In order, therefore, that God’s covenant should remain firm and effectual, it is not only necessary that the Law should be engraven on our hearts, but also that He should add another grace, and not remember our iniquities. When He says, “Ye shall eat old store,” He again magnifies their abundance; for, whereas scarcity compels us to make immediate use of the new fruits, so it is a great sign of abundance to bring forth old wheat from the granary, and old wine from the cellar. The continuance of His bounty is represented in the end of the verse, where He says that there shall be no place for the new fruits, unless they empty their store-houses; because ⁴⁸ it might happen that, after a year of scarcity, all their storehouses should be empty, and there would be no new corn to succeed in place of the old.

11. And I will set my tabernacle among you. He alludes, indeed, to the visible sanctuary in which He was worshipped; still He would shew them that it should be effectually manifested, that He had not chosen His home amongst them in vain, inasmuch as He would exert His power by sure proofs to aid and preserve them. In a word, He signifies that the sanctuary would not be an empty sign of His presence, but that the reality should correspond with the sign; and this He further confirms in the next verse, where He says that He would “walk among” them. For as yet they had not arrived at their place of rest, and therefore had need of Him as their Leader, in order that their journey might be prosperous. Although He does not say in express terms that they should be spiritually blessed, still there is no doubt but that He lifts their thoughts above the world when He promises that He would be their God; for this expression, “I will be your God,” contains, as Christ interprets it, the hope of eternal immortality; because He is the fountain of life, and “not the God of the dead.”

(Matthew 22:32.) The true and solid felicity, then, is now promised, which was typically represented. For this reason David, although he greatly magnifies the earthly blessings of God, yet, by the conclusion which he adds, demonstrates that he did not stop short with them;

“God’s mercy (he says) shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord, to length of days.” ⁴⁹

(Psalm 23:6.)

And elsewhere, when he had said that they are happy, to whom God abundantly supplies all things (needful, ⁵⁰) presently adds, as if in explanation,

“Happy is that people, whose God is the Lord.” (<19E415>Psalm 144:15.)

Finally, He recalls to their recollection that He had been their Deliverer, that they may assuredly gather from what was past, that the flow of His grace would be continuous, if only they themselves do run the course unto which He had called them.

DEUTERONOMY 28

DEUTERONOMY 28:1-14

thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

ingressu, et benedictus eris in egressu tuo. 7. The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.

7. Dabit Jehova hostes trios qui insurrexerint in te, percussos coram te, per viam unam egredientur ad te, et per septem vias fugient coram te.

8. The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.	8. Mandabit Jehova tecum benedictionem in horreis tuis, et in omni ad quod miseris manum tuam: et benedicet tibi in terra quam Jehova Deus tuus dat tibi.
9. The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways.	9. Statuet te Jehova sibi in populum sanctum, quemadmodum juravit tibi, quum custodieris praecepta Jehovae Dei tui, et ambulaveris in viis ejus.
10. And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of thee.	10. Tunc intelligent omnes populi quod nomen Jehovae invocatum sit super te, et timebunt sibi a te.
11. And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee.	11. Et abundare faciet to Jehova in bonum fructu ventris tui, et fructu jumenti tui, et fructu terrae tuae, super terram quam juravit Jehova patribus tuis se daturum tibi.
12. The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend	12. Aperiet Jehova tibi thesaurum suum optimum, coelum, ut det pluviam terrae tuae in tempore suo, et benedicat omni operi marius

unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.

tuae, et mutuabis gentibus multis, tu vero non accipies mutuum. 13. And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:

13. Ponetque te Jehova in caput, et non in candam, erisque duntaxat sursum, et non deorsum: quando obedieris praeceptis Jehovae Dei tui, quae ego praecipio tibi hodie ut custodias et facias.

14. And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

14. Neque recesseris ab omnibus verbis quae ego praecipio vobis hodie, ad dextram aut ad sinistram, eundo post deos alienos ut colatis eos.

1. And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken. He teaches the same thing as before in different words; but the diversity of expression, as well as the repetition, tends to its confirmation. First, God says that He would deal with them so bountifully that they should excel all other nations; for this is the meaning of the words, that they should be illustrious above all the rest of the world on account of the special blessings of God. He afterwards enumerates the blessings which shall never depart from them, if they persevere in the service of God; and here it must be observed that they are reminded, not only in how many ways God is bountiful towards His servants, but also to how many necessities they are exposed, which require His direct and constant aid; for if we are blessed in the city and in the field, we can no more move a foot than stand still, except by His blessing. Such also is the tendency of the whole list, that a scarcity of all things impends over us at every moment, unless God should continually succor us by remedies sent down from heaven, and that every good thing can only come from that one source.

9. The Lord shall establish thee a holy people unto himself. This refers indeed to earthly blessings, as if Moses said, that by them would be manifested God’s love towards His chosen people; still it rises higher, so that the Israelites, led on by degrees, should learn to embrace God alone, and to trust in Him according to the covenant which He had made with Abraham, “I am thy exceeding great reward.” (Genesis 15:1.) For the children of Abraham were set apart and chosen to be a holy people, not only in order that, being well fed, and with a full belly, they should aspire to nothing but earthly things, but that they might be confidently assured that they would be blessed in death as well as life. Although their adoption was gratuitous, still, inasmuch as they were called unto purity, it is not without reason that God promises that what He had spoken should be sure, if by keeping the Law the Israelites themselves should continue in the covenant; as much as to say, that their sanctification ⁵¹ should be firm and perpetual if they walked in the commandments of the Law. When He adds that it should be manifest “to ⁵² all people of the earth that the name of God was called upon them,” it is equivalent to saying, that it should be known that they were under God’s defense and patronage, and that thus they should always be safe and secure in His protection.

12. The Lord shall open to thee his good treasure. He again repeats, that the goodness of God shines forth in many ways in the life of men, since He not only supplies the bread that they eat, but that the rain which descends from heaven waters the earth; and that thus He produces whatever is required for food from His plenteous store-house or treasure. Let us learn, therefore, both above and beneath, as well in the temperature of the atmosphere, in the quickening heat of the sun, in the rain, and in other means, as in the fertility of the earth, to contemplate the manifold riches which God brings forth from His treasures. And when He declares that He will bless the work of our hands, hence, too, let us learn that we can attain nothing by our industry and hardest labors, except in so far as God vouchsafes us good success; and that all our efforts without His secret blessing are mere useless fatigue. For the figure which Paul uses in reference to the spiritual culture of the Church, is taken from nature itself:

“Neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase.” (1 Corinthians 3:7.)

God would not, indeed, have ⁵³ us lie idle, and therefore He requires the labor of our hands, but He would have the fruit of our labors attributed to Himself.

After having spoken of the whole Law, and forbidden that they should turn aside to the right or the left, He adverts to the principal point, i.e., that they should not revolt to strange gods. Wherefore, the sum comes to this, that, in order that God may continue to shew us the favor which He has begun towards us, we ought on our sides to be altogether submissive to His rule. This indeed He demands of us by His word, and enables us to perform it by the power of His Spirit; not, it is true, fully to do our duty, but to strive to reach the goal; and, whereas we are far from attaining perfection, His indulgence supplies what is wanting in us.

Here, however, a difficult question arises, — If all prosperity proceeds from the peculiar blessing which God vouchsafes to His servants, whence is it that many of His despisers have children, easy and happy circumstances, abundance of the fruits of fire earth, enjoyment and luxury, honors and power? I answer, that the happy condition of life, which He assigns to His servants, does not prevent Him from diffusing His bounty promiscuously over the whole human race. He is truly called in Psalm 36:6, the preserver of “man and beast.” It is said elsewhere, ⁵⁴ that His mercy is extended over all His creatures, (<19E517>Psalm 145:17;) and justly does Christ exalt His unbounded goodness, in that “He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good.” (Matthew 5:45.) But equally true is the exclamation of the Prophet;

“Oh, how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee!” (Psalm 31:19.)

For since all without exception enjoy all the supports of life, God’s goodness, which thus contends with the wickedness of men, shines forth universally even towards the ungodly, so that He does not cease to cherish and preserve those whom He has created, although they be unworthy. He therefore does good to the ungodly, because He is their Creator; besides, in order to keep the minds of believers in suspense in expectation of the final judgment, He now suffers many things to be confusedly mixed together, and hides His judgment in the darkness of night, as it were, or at least under clouds; whilst He also so tempers His patience towards the reprobate, as that, in this confusion of which I have spoken, some signs of His anger and favor are manifested. Thus, although the government of the world is not yet reduced to a perfect rule, still God shews by it that He is both the avenger of sins and the rewarder of righteousness, and some sparks are seen through the darkness; whilst the faithful, although they do not attain to the full enjoyment of the blessing promised them, nevertheless taste of it as far as is expedient. But to the ungodly, although they abound with all sorts of good things, not a single drop of God’s goodness is dispensed; for unless a sense of God’s paternal favor is awakened by His blessing, the blessing itself ceases to exist; nay, the more they gorge themselves, they attain to a deadly fatness; and God purposely lifts them up, that He may cast them down more heavily from their high estate. In a word, they are fed, as the Prophet says, ⁵⁵ “unto the day of slaughter.”

It must be concluded, therefore, that the blessings which God here promises to His servants are seasoned by Him with spiritual salt, lest they should be tasteless; whilst the reprobate, who are destitute of a sense of His grace, are also deprived altogether of all His blessings. There still, however, remains a difficulty, because the felicity here spoken of does not always, nor equally fall to the lot of God’s servants; nay, even under the Law they were sharply tried by many troubles and adversities. I answer, that since none, not even the most holy, was ever a perfect keeper of the Law, since none was ever free from all transgression, it is no cause of surprise that they only partially enjoyed the promised blessings; inasmuch as they were not fit recipients (capaces) of their fullness; and, if it sometimes happens that they are chastised more severely than the ungodly, neither in this is there any absurdity, since God usually begins His judgment at His own house. (Isaiah 10:12; 1 Peter 4:17.) Still, even in this confusion we see what the Prophet teaches, that the righteous are never forsaken, (Psalm 37:25,) and that they are like green and fruitful olive-trees in the courts of the Lord, (Psalm 52:8,)

whilst the ungodly, although for a season they may be exalted like cedars of Lebanon, yet are plucked up in a moment by the roots, so that no trace of them remains.

DEUTERONOMY 7

DEUTERONOMY 7:9-15

commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.

et statuta, et judicia quae ego praecipio tibi hodie, ut ea facias.

12. Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers.	12. Et erit, propterea quod audieritis judicia ista, et custodieritis, feceritisque ea: custodiet Jehova Deus tuus tibi pactum, et misericordiam de quo juravit patribus tuis.
13. And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee.	13. Diliget quoque te, et benedicet tibi, multiplicabitque te: benedicet namque fructui ventris tui, et fructui terrae tuae, frumento tuo, et musto tuo, et oleo tuo, foetui boum tuorum, et gregibus ovium tuarum, in terra quam juravit patribus tuis se daturum tibi.
14. Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.	14. Benedictus eris prae cunctis populis: non erit in te infoecundus, neque infoecunda, neque in jumentis tuis.
15. And the Lord will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee.	15. Auferetque a te Jehova omnem morbum, et onmes aegritudines Aegypti pessimas quas nosti: non ponet illas in te, sed ponet eas in omnibus qui te oderint.

9. Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God. The verb ⁵⁶ might have been as properly translated in the future tense; and, if this be preferred, an experimental knowledge, as it is called, is referred to, as if he had said that God would practically manifest how faithful a rewarder He is of His servants. But if the other reading is rather approved, Moses exhorts the people to be assured that God sits in heaven as the Judge of men, so that they may be both alarmed by the fear of His vengeance, and also attracted by the hope of reward. This declaration, however, ⁵⁷ was appended to the Second Commandment, and there expounded; for since it is comprehended in the Decalogue, it was not right to separate it from thence; but since it is now repeated in confirmation of the whole Law, it is fitly inserted in this place. It will not be amiss, nevertheless, slightly to advert to what I there more fully explained. The promise stands first, because God chooses rather to invite His people by kindness than to compel them to obedience from terror. The word mercy is coupled with the covenant, that we may know that the reward which believers must expect, does not depend on the merit of their works, since they have need of God’s mercy. We may, however, thus resolve the phrase — keeping the covenant of mercy — or the covenant founded on mercy — or the mercy which He covenanted.

When it is required of believers that they should love God before they keep His Commandments, we are thus taught that the source and cause of obedience is the love wherewith we embrace God as our Father. With respect to the “thousand generations,” it is better that we should refer to the Second Commandment, because it is a point which cannot be hurried over in a few words.

10. And repayeth them that hate him. There is no mention here made of the vengeance “unto the third and fourth generation? ⁵⁸

Those who expound the passage that God confers kindnesses on the wicked, whilst they are living in this world, ⁵⁹ that He may at length destroy them in final perdition, wrest the words too violently. Nor is the opinion of others probable, that God repays the wicked with the reward of hatred, in His face, or anger. I therefore interpret it to mean the face of those to whose disobedience God opposes Himself when He humbles their arrogance; for He alludes to their pride and audacity, because they do not hesitate to provoke God, as if He were without the courage or the power to contend with them. He declares, then, that their impudence and brazen front shall avail them nothing, but that He will cast down the impertinence of their countenance, and the insolence of their forehead; and signifies that they shall as certainly feel the judgment which they despise, as if He presented it before their eyes. He adds, moreover, that He will not deal towards the wicked with the clemency which he uses towards His children; for He so chastises them that His correction is always profitable for their salvation, whilst He denounces deadly punishment against the former; for although He seems to deal alike with both, when He inflicts temporal punishment, still, that which is but a medicine for believers, is to the reprobate a foretaste of their eternal destruction. What He says, however, as to taking vengeance without delay, does not seem to accord with other passages of Scripture, in which He declares Himself to be slow to anger, kind, and long-suffering. Besides, it seems also to be contradicted by experience, since He does not immediately hasten to inflict punishment, but proceeds slowly, so as to compensate by His severity for the slowness with which He acts. But we must remember what He says in Psalm 90:4, that a thousand years in His sight are but as a single day; and consequently, when we think that He delays, He is, in His infinite wisdom, hastening as much as is necessary. He seems, indeed, to take no notice for a time, that He may thus invite men to repent; but still He declares that He will not delay, but that He will come suddenly, like a whirlwind, to hasten His judgments, lest the ungodly should grow drowsy from their security. Let us, therefore, learn quietly and patiently to wait for the fit season of His vengeance.

12. Wherefore it shall come to pass. God appears so to act according to agreement, as to leave (His people) no hope of His favor, unless they perform their part of it; and undoubtedly this is the usual form of expression in the Law, in which the condition is inserted, that God will do good to His people if they have deserved it by their obedience. Still we must remember what we have elsewhere seen, that, after God has so covenanted with them, He Himself, in order that His promise may not be made of none effect, descends to the gratuitous promise of pardon, whereby He reconciles the unworthy to Himself. Thus the original covenant only avails to man’s condemnation. But when salvation is offered to them gratuitously, their works at the same time become pleasing to God. Inasmuch, however, as the cause of reward is unconnected with men and their works, all calculation of merit is out of the question: still it is profitable to believers that a reward should be promised them if they walk in the commandments of God; since, in His inestimable liberality, He deals with them as if they did something to deserve it.

In conclusion, Moses enumerates some of the proofs of God’s favor, such as fecundity, and an abundance of the fruits of the earth. It is questionable whether by what is added at the end respecting the diseases of Egypt, he means the boils which were generated by the scattered ashes, (Exodus 9:8,) or the lice which infested both man and beast, (Exodus 8:17,) or whether he extends them to those diseases which had prevailed long before the departure of the people. I am disposed to embrace the latter opinion; ⁶⁰ for in Deuteronomy 28:27, after mentioning “the botch of Egypt,” he adds “emerods, and the scab, and the itch:” it is, therefore, probable that the Egyptians were subject to various maladies, from which Moses declares that the people should be free by special privilege, if only they obeyed God’s Law.

DEUTERONOMY 12

DEUTERONOMY 12:28

Here, again, God invites the obedience of the people by the promise of reward; not that the hope of reward at all avails in itself to arouse men, but because He would thus keep all under the conviction of their just condemnation: for how will it help them to answer that they are not sufficient to perform what God requires, when it appears that they are thus wretched through their own fault? But, as has been said before, it is profitable by indulgence to believers that the reward of obedience should be promised them when they have kept the Law, since their innumerable defects are not imputed to them. Still this doctrine remains sure, that if men devote themselves to the keeping of the Law, God, although He owes them nothing, will nevertheless faithfully reward them.

LEVITICUS 26

LEVITICUS 26:14-45

20. And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits.	20. Et consumetur frustra fortitudo vestra, neque dabit terra vestra fructum suum, et arbores regionis non dabnut fructum suum.
21. And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you, according to your sins.	21. Si autem ambulaveritis mecum fortuito, et nolueritis audire me, addam super vos plagam septuplo secundum peccata vestra.
22. I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high-ways shall be desolate.	22. Immittamque in vos bestiam agri, et orbabit vos, et succidet jumentum vestrum, ac diminuet vos, et desolabuntur viae vestrae.
23. And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me;	23. Quod si per haec non recipiatis doctrinam meam, sed ambulaveritis mecum fortuito:
24. Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.	24. Ambulabo etiam ego vobiscum fortuito, et percutiam vos quoque septuplo propter peccata vestra:
25. And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.	25. Atque inducam super vos gladium ultorem ultionis foederis: ubi congregati eritis ad urbes vestras, tunc mittam pestilentiam in medium vestri, ac trademini in manum inimici.

26. And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven,

26. Dum confregero vobis baculum panis, coquent decem mulieres panem vestrum in

and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.

clibano uno, reddentque panem vestrum in pondere: comedetis autem, et non saturabimini. 27. And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me;

27. Quod si in hoc non audieritis me, sed ambulaveritis mecum fortuito:

28. Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.	28. Incedam vobiscum in ira fortuito, et corripiam vos etiam ego septuplo propter peccata vestra.
29. And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.	29. Comedetisque carnem filiorum vestrorum, et carnem filiarum vestrarum comedetis.
30. And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.	30. Atque dissipabo excelsa vestra, et succidam imagines vestras: ponamque cadavera vestra super cadavera idolorum vestrorum, et abominabitur vos anima mea.
31. And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odorous.	31. Daboque urbes vestras in desolationem, ac desolabo sanetuaria vestra, neque odorabor odorem quietis vestrae.
32. And I will bring the land into desolation; and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it.	32. Desolabo, inquam, ego terram, ita ut obstupescant super eam inimici vestri qui habitabunt in ea.
33. And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you; and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.	33. Vos autem dispergam in gentes, et evaginabo post vos gladium: eritque terra vestra desolata, et urbes vestrae erunt destructae.
34. Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth	34. Tunc perficiet (vel, oblectabitur) terra sabbatha

desolate, and ye be in your enemies’ land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.

sua cunctis diebus quibus desdata fuerit: vos autem eritis in terra inimicorum vestrorum: tunc, inquam, requiescet terra, et perficiet sabbatha sua. 35. As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.

35. Omnibus diebus quibus desolata fuerit, requiescet: quia non requievit in sabbathis vestris, dum habitaretis in ea.

36. And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth.	36. Qui autem remanserint ex vobis, inducam teneritudinem in cor eorum in terris inimicorum suorum, et persequetur eos sonus folii impulsi, et fugient fuga gladii, cadentque nemine persequente.
37. And they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth: and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies.	37. Impingent autem alter in alterum tanquam a facie gladii, nullo persequente: neque erit vobis resistentia coram inimicis vestris.
38. And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.	38. Et peribitis inter Gentes, et absumet vos terra inimicorum vestrorum.
39. And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them.	39. Et qui remanserint ex vobis, dissolventur propter iniquitatem suam in terris inimicorum vestrorum, atque etiam propter iniquitates patrum suorum, cum eis dissolventur.
40. If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and	40. Donec confiteantur iniquitatem suam, et iniquitatem patrum suorum, juxta praevaricationem suam

that also they have walked contrary unto me;

qua praevaricati sunt in me: et etiam quod ambulaverint mecum fortuito: 41. And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:

41. Quod etiam ego ambulaverim cum illis fortuito, et induxerim eos in terram inimicorum suorum: tuncque humilietur cor eorum incircuncisum, ac propitient pro iniquitate sua.

42. Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.	42. Tunc recordabor pacti mei cum Jacob, et etiam pacti mei cum Isaac, et insuper pacti mei cum Abraham recordabor, terrae quoque memor ero.
43. The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity; because, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes.	43. Terra interim deseretur ab eis, et perficiet sabbatha sua quae desolata est ab illis, et ipsi exsolvent mulctam suam, eo quod, inquam, judicia mea spreverint, et decreta mea abominata sit anima eorum.
44. And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the Lord their God.	44. Et tamen etiam hoc modo quum ipsi fuerint in terra inimicorum suorum, non reprobavi eos, neque abominatus sum eos, ut consumerem eos, irritum faciendo pactum meum cum eis: ego enim Jehova Deus eorum.
45. But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their	45. Sed recordabor propter eos pacti priorum, ego qui

ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.

eduxi eos e terra Aegypti in oculis Gentium, ut essem illis in Deum: ego Jehova.

14. But if ye will not hearken unto me. Thus far a kind invitation has been set before the people in the shape of promises, in order that the observance of the Law might be rendered pleasant and agreeable; since, as we have already seen, our obedience is then only approved by God when we obey willingly. But, inasmuch as the sluggishness of our flesh has need of spurring, threatenings are also added to inspire terror, and at any rate to extort what ought to have been spontaneously performed. It may seem indeed that it may thus be inferred that threats are absurdly misplaced when applied to produce obedience to the Law, which ought to be voluntary; for he who is compelled by fear will never love God; and this is the main point in the Law. But what I have already shewn, will in some measure avail to solve this difficulty, viz., that the Law is deadly to transgressors, because it holds them tight under that condemnation from which they would wish to be released by vain presumptions; whilst threats are also useful to the children of God for a different purpose, both that they may be prepared to fear God heartily before they are regenerate, and also that, after their regeneration, their corrupt affections may be daily subdued. For although they sincerely desire to devote themselves altogether to God, still they have to contend continually with the remainders of their flesh. Thus, then, although the direct object of threats is to alarm the reprobate, still they likewise apply to believers, for the purpose of stimulating their sluggishness, inasmuch as they are not yet thoroughly regenerate, but still burdened with the remainders of sin.

15. And if ye shall despise my statutes. This seems only to apply to ungodly and depraved apostates, who deliberately revolt from the service and worship of God: for if a person falls through infirmity, and offends from levity and inconsideration, he will not be said to have despised God’s Law, or to have made void His covenant. And certainly it is probable that God designedly spoke of gross rebellion, which could not be extenuated under the pretense of error. Still it must be borne in mind that all transgressors, whether they have violated the Law in whole or in part, are brought under the curse. But God would remind His people betimes to what lengths those at last proceed who assume the liberty of sinning; and also from what source all transgressions arise. For, although every one who turns out of the right path into sin does not altogether repudiate or abominate the Law, yet all sins betray contempt of the Law, and tend to break the covenant of God. He justly, therefore, denounces them as covenant-breakers, and proud despisers, unless they obey His commandments: and, first, He threatens that He will destroy them with “terror, consumption,” and other diseases; and then adds external calamities, such as scarcity of corn, violent invasions of enemies, and the plunder of their goods; of which it will be more convenient to speak more fully in expounding the passage in Deuteronomy.

18. And if ye will not yet for all this hearken. The gradation of punishments, which is here mentioned, shews that they are so tempered by God’s kindness, that He only lightly chastises those whose stupidity or hardness of heart he has not yet proved; but when obstinacy in sin is superadded, the severity of the punishments is likewise increased; and justly so, because those who, being admonished, care not to repent, wage open war with God. Hence the more moderately He deals with us, the more attentive we ought to be to His corrections, in order that even the gentle strokes, which He in His kindness softens and tempers, may be enough. Paul says that hypocrites heap up to themselves a treasure of greater vengeance, if they take occasion from His forbearance to continue unmoved, (Romans 2:4, 5;) for those who do not repent, when admonished by light chastisements, are the less excusable. Wherefore let us give heed to that exhortation of David, that we “be not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle;” because “many sorrows shall be to the wicked.” (Psalm 32:9, 10.) In sum, as soon as God has begun to put forth His hand to smite us, there is one remedy whereby He may be appeased, i.e., teachableness. It would be more prudent of us to anticipate Him, and to return to Him of our own accord, though He should withhold punishment; but when we are smitten without profit, it is a sin of obstinate wickedness. He threatens, therefore, that unless they repent when smitten with the ferule, He will use the rod to correct them. When He says, “I will punish you seven times more,” He does not mean to define the number, but, according to the common phrase of Scripture, uses the number seven, by way of amplification. In the next verse He shews that there is a just cause for His becoming more severe, because they cannot be subdued except by violent means; for although the word ˆwag, ⁶¹ geon, is not always used in a bad sense, still, in this passage, it signifies that they are disobedient, being puffed up to be proud by their power; for, as Moses says elsewhere, Israel “waxed fat, and kicked” against God, just as horses grow restive by being overfed. He therefore calls their obstinacy, wherein they became more hardened, although God spared them, “the pride of their power;” for prosperity begets security, in which stubborn men try their strength against the scourges of God.

21. And if ye walk. Translators give various renderings of the word yrq, ⁶² keri. The Chaldee takes it to mean with hardness, as if it were their purpose to contend against God. Jerome renders it ex adverso mihi, (in opposition to me;) but, since the word signifies an accidental occurrence, or contingency, this sense has seemed to me much the most appropriate. To “walk at adventures” (fortuito) with God, therefore, is equivalent to passing by His judgments with their eyes shut; and even so to stupify themselves as to ascribe their adversities to fortune, and thus not to be humbled beneath His mighty hand; for hence arises unconquerable obstinacy, when the sinner imagines that whatever he suffers happens by chance. Therefore Jeremiah inveighs against the Jews in a severe reproof, because they supposed that evil and good did not proceed from the ordinance and decree of God, (Lamentations 3:38;) for hence is engendered brutal madness, so that wretched men rush with all their might to their own destruction. It will accord very well, then, that if men do not take heed to God’s judgments, but rush onwards like furious beasts, His meeting with them will be, as it were, fortuitous, when He shall smite them indiscriminately, from right to left, high and low, as we say in French aller a tors et travers. This, therefore, the sinner at length obtains by his stupid obstinacy, that, overwhelmed by his manifold punishments, he sees no end to his troubles. Meanwhile there is no doubt but that Moses rebukes the iron obstinacy of the people, as David declares, that with the gentle God will be gentle, but that He will be stubborn, as it were, with the perverse. (Psalm 18:25, 26.) He finally points out the source of obstinacy, when the sinner is intoxicated by his stupidity into contempt for God, whilst he turns away from himself, as much as possible, the sense of His wrath. Let us learn, then, to withdraw our thoughts from vague speculations to the consideration of God’s hand in all the punishments which He inflicts; because hence will arise acknowledgment of our guilt, which may lead to repentance. Else that will occur which Isaiah seems to have taken from this passage, that God’s anger will never be turned away; but that, when we think that we are acquitted, His hand will be stretched out still. (Isaiah 9:12.)

25. And I will bring a sword upon you. There is no doubt but that He means the hostile swords of all the nations, whereby the Israelites were sorely afflicted; and teaches that whosoever should bring trouble and perplexity upon them were the just executioners of His vengeance; just as He constantly declares by the prophets that He was the Leader of the people’s enemies, and that the Assyrians and Chaldeans both fought under Him. He calls the Assyrian His axe, and the rod of His anger which He wields in His hand, (Isaiah 10:15, and 5;) and Nebuchadnezzar His hired soldier. He says that He will call the Egyptians with a hiss, and will arouse the Chaldeans by the sound of his trumpet. (Isaiah 7:20, 18, and elsewhere.) But since this point is sufficiently well known, there will be no occasion of further proofs. The sum is, that all wars are stirred by His command, and that the soldiers are armed at His will, and are strong in His strength. Hence it follows that He has innumerable forces by whose hand He may execute His vengeance whensoever He pleases. Afterwards, therefore, when the Israelites were harassed, and even cruelly oppressed by their enemies, God’s truth was manifested in all those continual defeats; whilst, from His great severity, we may gather how gross was the perversity of their conduct.

26. And when I have broken the staff of your bread. By these words God implies, that although He should not punish them by the sterility of the land, still He was prepared with other means for destroying them by famine. We shall indeed see hereafter that, when God was wroth, the earth in a manner shut up her bowels so as to produce no food; and that the heaven also grew hard so as not to fertilize it with dew or rain. In a word, all unseasonableness of weather and infertility of soil is a sign of the curse of God; but now He goes further, viz., that although there should be no scarcity of food, still they should suffer from hunger, when He had taken away its nourishing qualities from their bread. This curse confirms the instruction which we have seen elsewhere, that man does not live by bread, but by ⁶³ the command of God, just as if the efficacy contained in the bread proceeded out of His mouth. (Deuteronomy 8:3.) And assuredly an inanimate thing could not give rigor to our senses except by the secret ordinance of God. He employs a very appropriate comparison, calling the support of bread, whereby man’s strength is refreshed, “the staff;” as we see the old and weak leaning on their sticks as they walk, when otherwise they would totter and fall. God says, then, that it is in His power to break this staff, so that their bread should only fill their stomachs without refreshing their strength. Ezekiel has borrowed from Moses this figure, which he makes use of in several places, (Ezekiel 4:16; 5:16; and 14:13,) although he there adverts to two sorts of punishment, like another Prophet, when He says, “Ye have sown much and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that; earneth wages, earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes;” and again,

“Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it;” (Haggai 1:6, 9;)

for he points out scarcity of food as one of God’s scourges, and the inability to profit by their abundance, as another; and with this Micah also accords, for after he has said, “Thou shalt eat, but not be satisfied,” he adds,

“Thou shalt sow, but thou shalt not reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil; and sweet wine, but shalt not drink wine.” (Micah 6:14, 15.)

But Moses, in order that the curse may be more apparent, says that there shall be abundance of bread; and also that there shall be no deception practiced in kneading and baking it; for that two ⁶⁴ women shall come to one oven together, who may mutually observe whether weight is duly given. He implies, therefore, that there shall be abundance in their hands, and yet, when they are filled, they shall not be satisfied.

29. And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons. This scourge is still more severe and terrible (than the others; ⁶⁵ ) yet we know that the Israelites were smitten with it more than once. This savage act would be incredible; but we gather from it how terrible it is to fall into the hands of God, when men, by adding crime to crime, cease not to provoke His wrath. Jeremiah ⁶⁶ mentions this monstrous case among others: “The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children,” and prepared them for food, (Lamentations 4:10;) and hence, not without cause, he mourns that this had not been done elsewhere, that women should devour the offspring which they themselves had brought up. (Lamentations 2:20.) And ⁶⁷ the last siege of Jerusalem, which in the fullness of their crimes was, as it were, the final act of God’s vengeance, reduced the wretched people who were then alive to such straits, that they commonly partook of this unholy food.

When He again declares that He “will cast their carcases upon those of their idols,” He shews by the very nature of the punishment that their impiety would be manifest; for apostates take marvelous delight in their superstitions, until God openly appears as the avenger of His service. But that their idols should be cast into a common heap with the bones of the dead, was as if the finger of God pointed out His abomination of their false worship. And then, because their last resource was in sacrifices, He declares that they should be of no avail for atonement; for, in the expression, “savour of peace,” ⁶⁸ He embraces all the expiatory rites, by their confidence in which they were the more obstinate. Afterwards He threatens banishment as well as the desolation of the land; by which punishment He made it apparent that they were utterly renounced, as we shall again see a little further on.

34. Then shall the land enjoy her Sabbaths. In order that the observance of the Sabbath should be the more honored, God in a manner associated the land in it together with man; for whereas the land had rest every seventh year from sowing, and harvest, and all cultivation, He thus desired to stir up men more effectually to a greater reverence for the Sabbath. God now bitterly reproves the Israelites because they not only profane the Sabbath themselves, but do not even allow the land to enjoy its prescribed rest; for this repose of the seventh year did not hinder the land from continually groaning under a heavy burden as long as it nourished such ungodly inhabitants. He says, therefore, that the land was disturbed by ceaseless inquietude, and thus was deprived of its lawful Sabbaths, since it bore on its shoulders, as it were, and not without great distress, such impious despisers of God. Moreover, because the whole worship of God is sometimes included by synecdoche in the word Sabbath, (Jeremiah 17:21; Ezekiel 20:12,) He indirectly administers a sharp reproof to His people, because not only is He defrauded of His right by their impiety, but He cannot be duly honored in the Holy Land unless He expels them all from hence; as if He had said, that this was the only means that remained for the assertion of the honor due to His name, viz., that the land should be cleared of its inhabitants, and reduced to desolation;

inasmuch as this extorted rest should be substituted in the room of the voluntary Sabbath.

39. And they that are left of you. This is another form of vengeance, that, although they may survive for a time, still they shall gradually pine away; and this may be referred both to those who go into captivity, and to those who shall remain in the land. He had before threatened that they should be destroyed either by famine or sword; but now lest they should boast that they had escaped, if they had not perished by a violent death, He pronounces that they also should die a lingering death; and He also declares the manner of it, viz., that He will fill their hearts with trembling, so that they should fly when none pursued them, (as Solomon also says, Proverbs 28:1,) and fear at the sound of a falling leaf. Thus He signifies that the ungodly shall be no better off, although free from external troubles, because they are afflicted internally by hidden torments; for although their audacity may proceed even to madness, still it cannot be but that their evil conscience should smite them continually. Their forgetfulness of God may sometimes stupify them; nay, they may seek to shake off all feeling; but, after God has suffered them thus to become brutalized, He presently interrupts their lethargy, and hurries them on so that they are their own executioners. This passage shews us that, the more strait-hearted the wicked are in their contempt of God, the weaker they become, so as to tremble at their own shadow; and this condition is far more wretched than to be cut off at a single blow.

40. If they shall confess their iniquity. Although Moses has been discoursing of very severe and cruel punishments, still he declares that even in the midst of this awful severity God is to be appeased if only the people should repent, notwithstanding that they may have stripped themselves of all hope of pardon by their long-continued sins. For he does not address sinners in general, but those who by their obstinacy and brutal impetuosity have come nearer and nearer to the vengeance of God; and even these he encourages to a good hope, if only they be converted from their hearts. Let us be assured, then, that God’s mercy is offered to the worst of men, who have been plunged by their guilt in the depths of despair, as though it reached even to hell itself. Whence, too, it follows, that all punishments are like spurs to rouse the inert and hesitating to repentance, whilst the sorer plagues are intended to break their hard hearts.

Yet at the same time it must be observed that this favor is vouchsafed by special privilege to the Church of God; for Moses soon afterwards expressly assigns its cause, i.e., that God will remember His covenant. Whence it is plain that God, out of regard to His gratuitous adoption, will be gracious to the unworthy whom He has elected; and whence also it comes to pass, that, provided we do not close the gate of hope against ourselves, God will still voluntarily come forward to reconcile us to Himself, if only we lay hold of the covenant from which we have fallen by our own guilt, like ship-wrecked sailors seizing a plank to carry them safe into port. But it will be well for us earnestly to examine the fruits of repentance which Moses here enumerates. In the first place stands confession, not such as is exacted under the Papacy, that wretched men should unburden themselves in the ear of a priest (sacrifici,) as if secretly disgorging their sins, but whereby they acknowledge themselves to be guilty before God. This confession stands contrasted both with the noisy complaints, and the subterfuges and evasions of the wicked. A memorable instance of it occurs in the case of David, who, when overwhelmed by the reproof of the Prophet Nathan, ingenuously confesses that he has sinned against God. (2 Samuel 12:13.) By the word “fathers” He magnifies the greatness of their sins, because for a long space of time they had not ceased to add sin to sin, as if the fathers had conspired with their children, and the children with their own descendants; and, since God is a just avenger even to the third and fourth generation, it is not without reason that posterity is commanded humbly to pray that God would pardon the guilt contracted long ago. Hence also it is plainly seen how little the imitation of their fathers will avail to extenuate the faults of the children, since we perceive that it renders them less excusable, so far is God from admitting this silly plea. It is further added, that their confession should correspond with the greatness of their transgressions, and that it should not be trifling and perfunctory; for although hypocrites, when convicted, do not deny that they have sinned, still in confessing they extenuate their guilt, as if they were only guilty of venial offenses. God, therefore, would have the circumstances of their sins taken into account, and this also He prescribes with respect to their obstinacy, lest they should pretend that their punishments were not deservedly redoubled, because they had walked ⁶⁹ at adventures with God.

Finally, in order to prove the reality of their conversion, all dissembling is excluded by the humbling of their hearts; for it is as if God would reject their prayers, until in sincere and heart-felt humility they should seek for pardon. This humiliation is contrasted with security as well as with contumacy and pride; and it is also compared with circumcision, where the heart is called uncircumcised before it is subdued and reduced to obedience. For, whereas circumcision was a mark of distinction between the people of God and heathen nations, it must needs have been also a sign of regeneration. ⁷⁰ But since the Jews neglected the truth, and foolishly and improperly gloried only in the outward symbol, Moses, by reproving the uncircumcision of their hearts, refutes that empty boast. Thus, as Paul testifies, unless the Law be obeyed, literal circumcision is useless, and is made into uncircumcision. (Romans 2:25.) So Moses accuses the Israelites of unfaithfulness, because they profess to be God’s holy people, whilst they cherish filthiness and uncleanness in their heart. The Prophets also often reproach them with being uncircumcised in heart, or in ears; and in this Stephen followed them. (Jeremiah 6:10; Ezekiel 44:7; Acts 7:51.)

Others elicit a very different meaning from the words ⁷¹ which we have translated, “let them atone (propitient) for their iniquity.” The noun used is ˆw[, gnevon, which means both iniquity and punishment; and the verb hxr, ratzah, which is to expiate, or to esteem grateful, or to appease. Some, therefore, explain it, they shall bear their punishment patiently, or esteem it pleasant; but it appears to me that Moses connects with repentance the desire of appeasing God, without which men are never really dissatisfied with themselves, or renounce their sins; and his allusion is to the sacrifices and legal ablutions, whereby they reconciled themselves to God. The sum is, that when they shall seriously endeavor to return to God’s favor, He will be propitiated towards them on account of His covenant.

43. The land also shall be left of them. He again refers to the punishment of banishment, which is equivalent to their being disinherited; and at the same time repeats that the worship of God could not be restored in the Holy Land, until it should be purified from their defilements; yet immediately afterwards He moderates this severity, inasmuch as, when He seemed to deal with them most rigorously, He still will not utterly cast them off. The verbs He uses ⁷² are in the past tense, though they have reference to the future; as much as to say, even then “they shall feel that they are not rejected.” He therefore stretches out His hand to them, as it were, in their miserable estate, to uplift them to confidence, and commands them, although afflicted with the extremity of trouble, nevertheless to put their trust in His Covenant. Herein His marvelous and inestimable goodness is displayed, in still retaining as His own those who are alienated from Him: thus, it is said in Hosea, (2:23,) “I will say to them that are not my people, Thou art my people.”

When He promises that He will remember His covenant “for their sakes,” He does not mean for their merit, or because they have acquired such a favor for themselves; but for their profit or salvation, in that the recollection of the Covenant shall extend even to them. Their deliverance (from Egypt) is also added in confirmation of the Covenant, as though He had said that He would be the more disposed to forgive them, not only because He always perseveres in His faithfulness to His promises, but because He would maintain His goodness towards them, and carry it on even to the end. Thus we see He refers the cause of His mercy only to Himself.

DEUTERONOMY 28

DEUTERONOMY 28:15-68

quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.

quae applicueris manum tuam, et feceris: donec delearis, et pereas velociter, propter malitiam operum tuorum quibus dereliquisti me. 21. The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.

21. Adhaerere faciet Jehova tibi pestilentiam, donec consumat te de terra ad quam tu ingrederis ut possideas eam.

22. The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with all extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.	22. Percutiet te Jehova phthisi, et febri, et ardore, et aestu, et gladio, et ariditate, et rubigine: et persequentur te donec pereas.
23. And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.	23. Eruntque coeli tui qui sunt supra caput tuam, aerei: et terra, quae est subter te, ferrea.
24. The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.	24. Dabit Jehova pluviam terrae tuae pulverem et cinerem: et e coelis descendet super te, donec disperdaris.
25. The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them; and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.	25. Dabit te Jehova caesum coram inimicis tuis: per viam unam ingredieris ad illum, et per septem vias fugies coram eo: erisque in commotionem omnibus regnis terrae.
26. And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.	26. Erit praterea cadaver tuum esca omni volucri coeli et animali terrae, nec erit qui absterreat.

27. The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.	27. Percutiet te Jehova ulcere Aegypti, et morbis ani, et scabie, et prurigine, quibus non possis curari.
28. The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:	28. Percutiet te Jehova amentia et caecitate, et stupore cordis.
29. And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways; and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.	29. Palpabisque in meridie, quemadmodum palpat caecus in caligine, neque secundabis vias tuas: et eris tantummodo oppressus, et direptus omnibus diebus, nec erit servator.
30. Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof.	30. Uxorem desponsabis, et vir alius dormiet cum ea: domum aedificabis, et non habitabis in ea: vineam plautabis, nec vindemiabis eam.
31. Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue them.	31. Bos tuus mactabitur in oculis tuis: et non comedes ex eo: asinus tuus rapietur a facie tua, nec revertetur ad te: pecudes tuae tradentur inimicis tuis, nec erit servatot.
32. Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long; and there shall be no might in thine hand.	32. Filii tui et filiae tuae tradentur populo alteri, et oculi tui videbunt, ac deficient propter illos, tota die: nec erit fortitudo in manu tua.

33. The fruit of thy land, and all 33. Fructum terrae tuae, et

thy labors, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway:

omnem laborem tuum comedet populus quem non noveras: et eris tantummodo oppressus, et confractus omni tempore: 34. So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.

34. Et obstupesces propter ea quae videbunt oculi tui.

35. The Lord shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.	35. Percutiet te Jehova ulcere pessimo in genibus et in coxis, ita ut non possis curari, a planta pedis tui usque ad verticem tuum.
36. The Lord shall bring thee, and thy king, which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.	36. Abducet Jehova te et regem tuum quem constitues super te, ad gentem quam non nosti tu et patres tui: colesque ibi deos alienos, lignum et lapidem.
37. And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the Lord shall lead thee.	37. Et eris in stuporem, et parabolam, et fabulam, omnibus populis ad quos deducet te Jehova.
38. Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in: for the locust shall consume it.	38. Semen multum educes ad agrum, et parum colliges: quia absumet illud locusta.
39. Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes: for the worms shall eat them.	39. Vineas plantabis, et coles: et vinum non bibes, neque colliges: quia devorabit illud vermis.
40. Thou shalt have olive-trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil: for thine olive shall cast his fruit.	40. Olivae erunt tibi in omni termino tuo, at oleo non unges te, quia decidet oliva tua.

41. Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them: for they shall go into captivity.	41. Filios et filias generabis, et non erunt tibi: quia ibunt in captivitatem.
42. All thy trees, and fruit of thy land, shall the locust consume.	42. Omnem arborem tuam, et fructum terrae tuae absumet locusta.
43. The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high, and thou shalt come down very low.	43. Peregrinus qui est in medio tui ascendet super to superne, superne: et tu descendes inferne, inferne.
44. He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.	44. Ipse mutuabit tibi, et tu non mutuabis ei: ipse erit in caput, et tu eris in caudam.
45. Moreover, all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee.	45. Venient autem super te omnes maledictiones istae, teque persequentur, et apprehendent te, donec disperdaris: eo quod non obedieris voci Jehovae Dei tui, custodiendo praecepta ejus, et statuta ejus quae praecepit tibi.
46. And they shall be upon thee for a sign, and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.	46. Et erunt in te in signum et in portentum, et in semine tuo usque in saeculum.
47. Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;	47. Propterea quod non colueris Jehovam Deum tuum in laetitia, et in hilaritate cordis, propter abundantiam omnium rerum.
48. Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies, which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness,	48. Et servies inimicis tuis quos immiserit Jehova contra te in fame, et siti, et nuditate, et penuria omnium rerum,

and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.

ponetque jugum ferreum super collum tuum, donec disperdat te.

49. The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;	49. Adducet Jehova adversum to gentem e longinquo, ab extremo terrae sicuti volat aquila, gentema cujus non intelliges linguam:
50. A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favor to the young:	50. Gentem duram facie, quae non attollet faciem suam ad senem, nec puero parcet.
51. And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee.	51. Et devorabit fructum jumenti tui, et fructum terrae tuae, donec disperdaris: non relinquet tibi frumentum, mustum, et oleum, foetus boum tuorum, nec greges ovium tuarum, donec perdat te.
52. And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land; and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, throughout all thy land, which the Lord thy God hath given thee.	52. Et obsidebit te in omnibus urbibus tuis, donec concidant muri tui excelsi et muniti, quibus tu confidis, in tota terra tua: obsidebit inquam te in omnibus urbibus tuis, in tota terra tua quam tibi dedit Jehova Deus tuus.
53. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:	53. Et comedes fructum ventris tui, carnem filiorum tuorum et filiarum tuarum, quos dederit tibi Jehova Deus tuus, in obsidione, et coartatione qua coartabit te inimicus tuus.

54. So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave:

54. Viri teneri et delicati apud te valde, oculus invidebit fratri suo, et uxori sinus sui, et reliquis filiis suis, quos residuos fecerit,

55. So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat; because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates.	55. Ne det illis de carne filiorum suorum quos comedet: eo quod nihil ei relictum fuerit in obsidione, et coartatione qua coartabit te inimicus tuus in omnibus urbibus tuis.
56. The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter,	56. Tenerae apud te et delicatae, quae non tentavit plantam pedis sui firmare super terram, prae deliciis et teneritudine, invidebit oculus viro sinus sui, filio et filiae suae.
57. And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.	57. Dum secundinas suas quae egressae fuerint e pedibus suis, et filios suos quos pepererit, comedet clam prae egestate omnium rerum in obsidione, et coartatione qua coartabit te inimicus tuus in urbibus tuis.
58. If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and	58. Nisi custodieris ut facias omnia verba Legis hujus quae scripta sunt in hoc libro, ad timendum nomen gloriosum

fearful name, The Lord thy God; istud et terribile, Jehovam Deum tuum: 59. Then the Lord will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance.

59. Admirabiles reddet Jehova plagas tuas, et plagas seminis tui, plagas magnas et certas, (vel, constantes,) et morbos malos et certos, (vel, constantes.)

60. Moreover, he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee:	60. Convertesque in teomnes morbos Aegypti, a quibus timuisti tibi, et adhaerebunt tibi.
61. Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed.	61. Omnem morbum, et omnem plagam quae non est scripta in libro Legis hujus, inducet Jehova super te, donec tu perdaris.
62. And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the Lord thy God.	62. Et relinquemini pauci numero pro eo quod eratis sicut stellae coeli in multitudinem: quia non obedisti voci Jehovae Dei tui.
63. And it shall come to pass, that, as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought: and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.	63. Et erit praeterea, quemadmodum laetatus est Jehova super vos benefaciendo vobis, et multiplicando vos: sic laetabitur Jehova super vos, perdendo et delendo vos: evelleminique e terra ad quam ingredimini ut possideatis eam.
64. And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve	64. Et disperget to Jehova in omnes populos, ab uno extremo terrae usque ad alterum extremum terrae,

other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.

colesque ibi deos alienos quos non nosti tu, neque patres tui, lignum et lapidem. 65. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind:

65. Neque in gentibus ipsis requiesces, neque erit requies plantae pedis tui: dabit item illic Jehova tibi cor pavidum, et defectum oculorum, et moerorem animi.

66. And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life:	66. Et erit vita tua suspensa tibi e regione, ac pavebis nocte et die, neque credes vitae tuae.
67. In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.	67. Mane dices, Quis dabit vesperam? et in vespera dices, Quis dabit mane? prae pavore cordis tui quo pavebis, et prae visione oculorum tuorum quam videbis.
68. And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bond-men and bond-women, and no man shall buy you.	68. Reducetque te Jehova in Aegyptum navibus per viam de qua dixi tibi, Non addes adhuc ut videas illam: et vendetis vos illic inimicis vestris in servos et in ancillas: et non erit qui emat.

15. But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken. This list of curses is longer than the previous one which was proclaimed from Mount Sinai, undoubtedly because the Spirit of God foresaw that the sluggishness of the people had need of sharper stimulants. If they had been only moderately teachable, what they had already heard would have been even more than sufficient to alarm them; but now God redoubles His threatenings against them in their inertness and forgetfulness, that they might not only be compelled to fear, but also aroused by constant reminding. For this reason, He declares that they should be “cursed in the city and in the field,” i.e., at home and abroad, in the house or out of the house; and again, that their food should be cursed in the seed and in the meal. Afterwards, He enumerates three kinds of fruit in which they should be cursed, viz., their own offspring, the produce of the soil, and the young of their animals; for all these Scripture embraces in the word fruit, as sufficiently appears from this passage.

19. Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in. God here pronounces that all their undertakings should meet with ill success; for going out and coming in signifies their various actions, and the whole course of their life; and this is more clearly expressed in the next verse, where He denounces against them misfortune in all their affairs, in that God would confound and mar whatever they should undertake. The words ⁷³ hmwhm, mehumah, and tr[gm, migegnereth, are indeed variously explained. Still the sum comes to this, that God would be against them, so as to discomfit and overthrow all their counsels and labors. Hence we are taught that all men’s endeavors are useless and vain, unless they seek for success from God.

21. The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee. He now proceeds to diseases which are as it were the lictors of God; and finally, His executioners, if men pertinaciously continue in their ungodliness. He does not, therefore, merely declare that He will send the pestilence, but that He will cause it to cleave to them, and when it shall have once laid hold of them, that it shall be impossible to remove it. It might also be translated, The Lord shall cause that the pestilence should seize thee; but with the same meaning, viz., that the pestilence should be fixed, or glued (agglutinatam) upon them, until it should consume them in the Holy Land itself. He adds phthisis, or consumption, which disease emaciates the body, and gradually exhausts its juices. It is superfluous to speak particularly of the other diseases, only let us learn that, whilst the multitude of diseases is almost innumerable, they are all so many ministers (satellites) prepared to execute God’s vengeance. It is true, indeed, that diseases are contracted in various ways, and especially by intemperance; still, this does not prevent God from smiting the transgressors of the Law with them, although no natural cause may be apparent. He adds war, which He designates by the name of “the sword,” but of this curse He will soon speak more fully.

He then unfolds in more distinct detail what He had before adverted to with respect to the curse on the produce of the land. And, first, He names two blights of the corn, which destroy it just as it is ripening, and snatch the bread, as it were, out of men’s mouths; for dryness ⁷⁴ is not here used for all want of moisture in the soil, but for that emptying of the ears, which is caused by the east wind. Mildew occurs from the sudden heat of the sun, if it strikes upon the corn when moistened with cold dew. Now, although these evils arise from natural causes, still God, the Author of nature, in His supreme power, so controls the atmosphere, that its unwholesomeness is His undoubted scourge. ⁷⁵

23. And thy heaven that is over thy head. He enumerates other causes of barrenness, and especially drought. Often does God by the Prophets, desirous of giving a token of His favor towards the people, promise them the rain of autumn and of spring: the one immediately following the sowing, the other giving growth to the fruits before they begin to ripen; whilst in many passages He also threatens that it should be withheld. To this refers what He now says, that the heavens shall be of brass, and the earth of iron, because neither shall the moisture descend from heaven to fertilize the earth, whilst the earth, bound up and hardened, shall have no juice or dampness in order to production. Whence we gather, that not even a drop of rain falls to the earth except distilled by God, and that whenever it rains, the earth is irrigated as if by His hand. It must, however, be observed, as we have seen before, that the land of Canaan was not like Egypt, which was watered by the care and industry of man, but fertilized by the bounty of heaven. Thus God, by the Prophet, marks the degrees which are worthy of observation, viz., that when He is reconciled to His people, He will “hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; and the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil;” so that, finally, all these things shall hear starving men. ⁷⁶ (Hosea 2:21, 22.)

It is not superfluous that He should expressly speak of the “heaven over our head,” and the earth that is “under our feet,” for He thus indicates that His weapons are prepared both above and below to execute His vengeance, so as to assail the people on all sides. Another Prophet confirms this, although only in a brief allusion:

“Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit; and I called for a drought,” etc. (Haggai 1:10, 11.)

Another mode of expression is then used to make the same thing more sure, viz., that the rain should be turned into “powder and dust;” still this clause may be explained in two ways, either that the rain shall no more fertilize the ground than as if it were ashes; or that, instead of rain, dust should fall, as though God would dry up the rich soil by scattering ashes on it.

25. The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies. What He had briefly threatened in His mention of “the sword,” He now more fully pursues, that they should be given up to the will of their enemies, so as to be indiscriminately slaughtered. We have previously seen that those who execute punishment on the transgressors of the Law, are stirred up and armed by the just judgment of God; Moses does not now touch on that point, but merely declares that the enemies of the people should be their conquerors, should cruelly entreat them and pursue them in their flight. Moreover, in order that God’s judgment might be more conspicuous, He says, that when they have gone out to battle by one way, i.e., with their army in regular order, they should return by seven ways, because, in the confusion of their flight, they should be dispersed in all directions. Hence we gather that the bravery of men is in God’s power, so that He can make cowards of the boldest whenever He so pleases. And we must bear in mind what we shall see elsewhere, “How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except God had sold them and had shut them up” under their hand? (Deuteronomy 32:30.) And for this reason God calls Himself the God of hosts, in order that believers may live securely under His guardianship; whilst the wicked, and the despisers of the Law, should dread the slightest motion when He is wroth with them.

What follows, that they should be “for ⁷⁷ a removing in all the kingdoms of the earth,” some take to mean that they should be a laughing-stock; because we usually shake or move our heads by way of insult; but others explain it, that they should be wanderers and vagabonds in unknown places of exile. The first exposition is the one I prefer. In Ezekiel ⁷⁸ (23:46,) it is used for a tumultuous rout; nor am I indisposed to understand it in this way, that whatever nations shall assail them, they should be shaken by their slightest attacks.

26. And thy carcase shall be meat. The punishment is here doubled by the disgrace which is added to death; for it is ignominious to be deprived of burial, and justly reckoned amongst the curses of God; whilst it is a sign of His paternal favor that we should be distinguished from the brutes, inasmuch as the rites of burial arouse us to the hope of resurrection and everlasting life. Wherefore, on the contrary, God deprives of burial those whom He curses. But as we have said that punishments affecting the body are common to the pious and the reprobate, so also we must think of being deprived of sepulture, since it sometimes happens that the reprobate are honorably buried, as Christ relates of the luxurious Dives, (Luke 16:22,) whilst the bodies of the pious are ignominiously cast a prey for birds and beasts; as the Prophet complains in Psalm 79:2. Still such an interchange does not prevent God from avenging the contempt of His Law by this mode of punishment, as by pestilence, famine, or sword.

27. The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt. Whether you understand this passage of the extraordinary plagues which God inflicted on the Egyptians at the time of His people’s deliverance, or of the ordinary diseases which had before prevailed among them, though the latter is more probable, still Moses signifies, that whilst the Egyptians were smitten with these plagues, God’s people escaped them, in order that this distinction might more clearly represent His favor. For it could not happen naturally that in the same place the diseases, from which the Israelites were free, should afflict the Egyptians alone. God therefore threatens, that if they should despise His Law, He would deal with them as they had seen Him deal with heathen nations. And assuredly, since God then chose to multiply His people miraculously, it can be by no means doubted but that He wonderfully privileged them by the bestowment of health and rigor. It is doubtful whether by diseases of the fundament He signifies hemorrhoids or prolapsus, or some other secret disease, such as that which attacked the Philistines when they captured the ark of the covenant. (1 Samuel 5:6.) He subjoins other diseases, in which there appear special marks of God’s wrath; for although they sometimes affect the children of God also, still I have shewn elsewhere that the same punishments are so dealt out to them respectively, that they widely differ from each other. When Job was smitten with terrible ulcers, so as to become corrupt, he seemed for a time to present the marks of a reprobate person; but what in that holy man was an exercise of patience, is in the transgressors of the Law the just reward of their crimes by the curse of God.

28. The Lord shall smite thee with madness and blindness. This punishment is very often referred to by the Prophets, when God is said to smite the wicked with a spirit ⁷⁹ of giddiness and madness, to make them drunk with astonishment. Now, whatever God declares respecting this blindness or fury of mind, has a wide application; for hence it arises that the wicked rush willfully into vile lusts, shudder at no crime, are hurried headlong to destruction, are utterly deprived of discretion, throw away the remedies which are in their hands; and although ⁸⁰ the carnal sense is not greatly disturbed by this form of vengeance, still it is much more severe and awful than any bodily disease. The Poets imagined that wicked men were agitated and terrified by the furies, because experience taught them that it was not without a secret impulse from God that they became so senseless, when, their minds being affected, they were like beasts in the shape of men. Even heathens, then, perceived that when the wicked are given over to a reprobate mind, God thus manifests Himself as the just Avenger of their crimes. And so it is in all cases of “astonishment;” for it is plain that those who are thus stupified by their miseries, are prostrated by the hand of God.

30. Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man. He here denounces that all they possessed should be rifled and plundered by their enemies. He, however, puts the most painful thing of all in the first place, viz., that they shall be despoiled of their wives, and magnifies the enormity of the evil, by saying, that not only shall the wife be torn from her husband’s bosom, but that the betrothed virgin shall be defiled. The same denunciation is extended to their houses and vineyards. It is grievous indeed to see the fruit of our labors seized on by our enemies before we have been permitted to enjoy them; since the frustration of our hope does not slightly increase our pain. He then passes on to their flocks and their herds: then to their children, and in their case heightens the calamity, in that their sons and their daughters should be taken from them in their very sight, so that their eyes should fail with grief, and their hands, as if dead, should be unable to afford them assistance. For two reasons He says that the robbers, who shall strip them of everything, should be unknown to them; both because they might expect less consideration and kindness from strangers and barbarians than from neighbors; and also that the Jews might be alarmed by this threat, so as not to suppose that they only had to deal with neighboring nations; inasmuch as it was in God’s power to fetch nations from afar. Finally, He adds that there shall be no end to their affliction, until the magnitude of their calamities ⁸¹ shall stupify them.

35. The Lord shall smite thee in the knees. Since death is common to the whole human race, they must needs also be all subject to disease; nor is it a matter of surprise that the whole posterity of Adam, which is infected with the taint of sin, should so be liable to many afflictions, which are the wages of sin. But, since the offenses of all are not alike, God also maintains a just proportion in the execution of His various punishments; thus, in this passage He does not speak only of common maladies, but of those whereby He openly shews His vengeance against the transgressors of the Law; of which sort are incurable diseases.

36. The Lord shall bring thee, and thy king. The fulfillment of this prophecy at length taught the Jews, though too late, that it was no empty threat, merely for the purpose of frightening them; and this also applies to the other predictions. For, on account of the great distance from them, the Jews would never have supposed that the Assyrians and Chaldeans were God’s scourges, as they actually found them to be; because they placed no faith in the words of Moses. Much less credible was it to them that the king, whom they had appointed, should be dragged as a prisoner to distant countries. And surely this was a very sad and formidable punishment, since all their safety depended on the stability of their kingly government. Thus Jeremiah magnifies this evil above all others, that the Christ of God, who was the breath of the Church, and under whose shadow they hoped to be everywhere safe, should be taken. ⁸² (Lamentations 4:20.) And this was fulfilled in the case of Jeconiah, as well as in that of Jehoiachin and Zedekiah. Let us, therefore, learn not to measure God’s judgments by our own reason, but to tremble at them, although they are hidden from us. All aggravation of their captivity is also added, i.e., that they should be oppressed by such tyranny as to be compelled to serve wood and stone. Dull and stupid as they were, still they ought to have retained their abomination of such gross wickedness. Hence it might be gathered that they would not be reduced to such a necessity except by the terrible vengeance of God. For although they had been attracted by the superstitions of the Gentiles, so as eagerly to run after them, still, after they were deprived of the worship of God, and had undergone the yoke of the wretched and ungodly servitude which was imposed on them, the foulness of idolatry must have been more fully understood. There is also an antithesis implied in these words, viz., that because they had refused to submit themselves to the true God, and to obey His Law, they should become the slaves of idols.

37. And thou shalt become an astonishment. The climax of their miseries is here added, that they should be so far from receiving consolation from men, that on every side their misery should meet with taunts and insults; for nothing more bitterly wounds the wretched than this indignity of being harassed by reproaches and sarcasms; and thus to be a laughing-stock and byword to all nations, is a dreadful infliction. Again, there is an implied antithesis between the ignominy to which God condemns His ungrateful people, and the extraordinary dignity with which He had honored them, so that they should be illustrious before the whole world. Hence the Prophets have often imitated this mode of expression; I will not quote the instances of it which everywhere occur.

38. Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field. He again makes mention of the scarcity of wine, of wheat, and all sorts of corn; but He assigns different causes for it. He proclaims that the harvest shall be scanty, notwithstanding an abundant sowing, because the locust shall consume the seed; that the vintage shall be poor, nay, almost nothing, because the worms shall devour the bunches; that the oil produced should be little, because the olives should wither on the trees and fall of themselves. Thus He admonishes them that He has at hand innumerable ministers (satellites) wherewith to destroy by famine the transgressors of His Law. Thus, whenever we see beetles, and locusts, and other insects attacking the fruits, we should remember that God, as it were, puts forth His arm to take away the food which He had given: thus Joel reminds us, that when the locust eats that which the palmer-worm hath left, and another insect that which the locust hath left, the curse of God is sufficiently conspicuous. ⁷³ (Joel 1:4.) Philosophers discover the reason why more of these little creatures are generated in one year than another; but we must remember the teaching of Moses, that they never trouble us except by God’s command. For if we were submissive to God, as we ought to be, such a prodigy would never happen as that vile and filthy insects should devour the fruits of the earth which He Himself has provided for the sustenance of His children.

43. The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee. This also was no doubtful mark of God’s wrath, that the sojourners who dwelt in the land of Canaan by sufferance should in a manner become its masters; for we know how those who are in debt are under the power of their creditors. In fact, what Solomon says is found to be true, that

“the rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” (Proverbs 22:7.)

The Israelites, therefore, must have felt that God was contrary to them, when they were suppliants to their own guests, especially since He had promised that He would so enrich them that they should lend to others. This revolution of affairs, then, plainly convinced them of their iniquities. Meanwhile, it must be observed that poverty as well as wealth is in God’s hands, and that whilst the latter is a proof of God’s favour the former is reckoned amongst His curses; still, however, in such a manner that God often chastises His own children with want, or proves and exercises their patience without ceasing to be their Father, whilst he bestows abundance upon the reprobate, wherewith they may gorge themselves to their own destruction. God’s blessing, however, shines forth in the elect, as far as it is expedient for them; nor is it said in vain in the Psalm, “Wealth and riches are in the house (of the just,”) in order that he may lend and be bountiful. (<19B203>Psalm 112:3.)

45. Moreover, all these curses shall come upon thee. He not only confirms what he has already said, but takes away all hope of alleviation, since God’s scourges shall not cease until they have repented. He declares that all the curses shall come upon them; for although they are not always congregated into a single band, still it is true that God pays the wages of the transgressors of His Law with this multitude of miseries which Moses has recounted. By the word pursue, he takes away all hope of escape, whilst to overtake is equivalent to laying hold of them tenaciously, till, as it is further said, they be destroyed. The sum is, that the ungodly by their subterfuges only bring it to pass that they accumulate upon themselves heavier punishments, which will never cease to afflict them until they are destroyed by them. For this reason, he says that they shall be “for a sign and a wonder,” i.e., that they shall awaken astonishment in all men; for those who are but little moved by the common and ordinary judgments of God, are compelled, whether they will or no, to give attention to these prodigies. Thus, notable punishments, and such as are worthy of special observation, are “for a sign and a wonder.”

Their ingratitude is also reproved as well as their contempt of the Law, because they served not God “with joyfulness and gladness of heart,” when He had been so abundantly generous to them; for it is the fault of a corrupt and malignant nature, that it should not be possible to bring it to serve God joyfully, when He invites us by His liberality. But Moses takes it for granted that, since God will prevent the Israelites with His favor, before He proceeds to inflict punishments upon them, they will be guilty of this brutal sin, not to allow themselves to be liberally sustained by Him.

49. The Lord shall bring a nation against them from far. He enforces the same threatenings in different words, viz., that unknown and barbarous enemies should come, who shall attack them with great impetuosity and violence. And still further to aggravate their cruelty, He says that their language shall be a strange one; for, when there can be no oral communication, there is no room for entreaties, which sometimes awaken the most savage to mercy. But Jeremiah shews that this was fulfilled in the case of the Chaldeans;

“Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel; it is a mighty nation, a nation whose language thou howest not, neither understandest what they say.” (Jeremiah 5:15.)

On the other hand, when Isaiah promises them deliverance, he mentions this among the chief of their blessings, that the Jews should “not see a fierce people,” that they should not hear

“a people of deeper speech than they could perceive, of a stammering tongue ⁸³ that they could not understand.” (Isaiah 33:19.)

For, as I have elsewhere said, the Prophets were careful to take their form of expression from Moses, lest the Jews should, according to their custom, proudly despise the threats which God had interwoven with His Law.

Lest the distance of their countries should lull them into security, He says that they should be like eagles in swiftness, so as suddenly to overwhelm them, just as God often compares the ministers of His wrath to the whirlwind and the storm. Jeremiah has also imitated this similitude, where he declares that the slaughter which the Jews in their false imagination had supposed to be far away from them, should come suddenly upon them. (Jeremiah 4:13.)

Moses adds, that this nation shall be “strong of face, ⁸⁴ which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favor to the young,” whereby he signifies their extreme ferocity. I have already expounded what follows respecting their rapine and plunder.

52. And he shall besiege thee in thy gates. He overthrows every ground of false confidence. The number of their towns inspired them with courage, because they never would have supposed that their enemies would undergo so much fatigue as not to cease from fighting till they were all taken. He therefore includes all their towns, in reliance upon whose multitude they despised hostile aggression. He adds, that in vain they trust in their high and fortified walls, which will be either overthrown by military engines, or shall voluntarily surrender from the length of their besiegal; for the passage may be explained in both ways, either that the enemies shall overthrow and lay prostrate all their fortresses, or that by their perseverance they shall pass over the walls however high. It seems to me that the length of the siege as well as their valiant fighting is indicated. The repetition which follows magnifies the evil, viz., that they shall be thus sorely pressed in their own land given them by God; for the very associations of the place only increased the indignity.

53. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body. This is one of those portents which was mentioned a little while ago; for it is an act of ferocity detestable and more than tragical, that fathers and mothers should eat their own offspring, so great love of which is naturally implanted in every heart, that parents often forget themselves in their anxiety for their children; and many have not hesitated to die to insure their safety. Nay, when the brute animals so carefully cherish their young, what can be more disgusting or abominable than that men should cease to care for their own blood? But this is the most monstrous of all atrocities, when fathers and mothers devour the offspring which they have procreated, and yet this threat by no means failed of its fulfillment, as we have elsewhere seen. We ought then to be the more alarmed when we see that God thus terribly punished the sins of those whom He had deigned to choose for His own. Still, it was not without very just cause that this wrath was so greatly kindled against the Jews who had left no kind of iniquity undone, so that their wickedness was altogether intolerable. Never, then, must it be forgotten that those of the household of the Church to whom God’s truth is revealed, are on that account the less excusable, because they knowingly and willfully provoke His wrath, whilst their continued perseverance in sin is altogether unworthy of pardon. The monstrous brutality of the act is heightened, when He says that men, in other respects tender and accustomed to delicacies, should be so savage through hunger that they shall refuse to give a share of this horrible food to their wives and surviving children; as also Jeremiah expressly says, the pitiful women shall be so maddened by hunger as to cook their own children. (Lamentations 4:10.) What follows as to the after-birth is still more horrible, for thus they call the membrane by which the foetus is covered in the womb, with all its excrements. That they should dress for food a filthy skin, the very look of which is disgusting, plainly demonstrates the awfulness of God’s vengeance.

58. If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law. Inasmuch as even believers, although they are disposed to a willing obedience to the Law, and earnestly apply themselves to it, are still impeded and withheld by the infirmity of their flesh from fulfilling their duty, care and attention is here demanded of them; for “to observe (custodire) to do” is equivalent to giving sedulous and diligent heed. Now, God declares that, unless the Israelites thoroughly devote themselves to the keeping of the Law, vengeance is prepared for their neglect. It is indeed a harsh and severe threat whereby transgression in any respect is without remission; for perfect obedience is required by the words, “to do all the words that are written in the Law.” But it is necessary that we should bear in mind what I have already shewn, that Moses was thus severe in his exactions, in order that the people, being convinced of their condemnation, should betake themselves to the mercy of God; for no one longs after Christ, unless he first abandons all confidence in his works, and rests all his hope of salvation in gratuitous pardon. The curse here recorded so awaits the transgressors of the Law, that, whilst God pardons His children, He at the same time sometimes chastises them, and executes upon the reprobate the vengeance they deserve. The fountain-head of obedience is indicated when it is said, “that thou mayest fear the Lord;” for all virtues are but smoke, which do not spring from the fear of God. Moreover, in order that their contempt may be without excuse, God’s name is called “glorious and fearful;” for it is a mark of gross stupidity, when God’s majesty and glory are openly set before us, not to be affected with becoming reverence so as to humble ourselves before Him. He, however, threatens something more terrible than before, when he says that the plagues shall be wonderful not only on the parents but on their children and descendants; instead of which some construe it, ⁸⁵ He shall increase in a wonderful manner; and others, He shall separate; but this is too constrained and obscure. The word alp, phela, signifies to be wonderful, or secret and hidden: thus, in my opinion, he means extraordinary and incredible modes of vengeance which shall surpass the comprehension of the human mind. He puts plagues and sicknesses in apposition with each other, as explaining by the latter of what nature the plagues shall be; unless, perhaps, it may be rather thought that the species is appended to the genus, which seems to be more probable. Further, he calls the plagues veritable, or faithful; either because they shall certainly occur, or because they shall continue to the end; for the Hebrew word tynman, ⁸⁶ neumanoth, is explained in both ways; and undoubtedly it sometimes signifies veracious, or what does not deceive, sometimes firm and stable, or perpetual; and this sense appears to me to suit it best here, so that continued duration should be added to the greatness of the plagues.

He again mentions “the diseases of Egypt,” not those which they had themselves suffered in Egypt, but those under which they had seen the Egyptians laboring. He says, therefore, that the severity of God against unbelievers, of which they had been spectators, should fall upon their own heads, if they should be followers of their ungodliness; for it was natural that they should tremble at the judgments of God, whereof they had been eye-witnesses; and not only so, but at which they had trembled for fear.

61. Also every sickness and every plague. This passage confirms what I have said about the plague and the sickness, for the sickness stands first as the species, and then the plague follows, which has a wider meaning, and comprehends all the curses in itself. Still, after he has enumerated so many forms of punishment, he declares that God is armed with yet other weapons to smite them; and assuredly as His blessings are endless and innumerable, so also His power is incomprehensible for avenging the contempt of His Law. Posterity has experienced, and we also even now partly perceive how true these threatenings were; for, as the obstinacy of men has burst forth and exalted itself more and more, so new and unheard of punishments have abounded from God, like a deluge.

62. And ye shall be left few in number. Since it had been promised to Abraham that his seed should be like the stars of heaven in multitude, it was a signal token of God’s wrath that his posterity should be reduced ⁸⁷to so small a number; thus the comparison which is here made for the purpose of heightening their calamity, must not simply be referred to the “multitude” or great band, and the “fewness in number,” but must be extended to the promise, the truth of which had been clearly manifested; so that, on the other hand, they might perceive that their former populousness could only have been put an end to, like waters dried up by the excessive heat of the sun, through the wrath of God.

63. And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you. The wonderful and inestimable love of God towards His people is here set forth, via, that He had rejoiced in heaping blessings upon them; wherefore their depravity was all the more base and intolerable, in that God, though voluntarily disposed to be bountiful, was obliged by it to lay aside His affection for them. But although it is only by a metaphor that God is said to rejoice in destroying the wicked, yet it is not without good reason that this expression is applied to him; that we may know that He can no more fail to be the defender of His Law, and the Avenger of its contempt, than deny Himself. He complains, indeed, by Isaiah, (10:24) that He is unwillingly forced to punish the Jews; but these two things are quite consistent, that He rejoices in His just judgment, and at the same time is mindful of His clemency and indulgence, so that He would rather pardon, if the wickedness of men would allow Him. But this expression of Moses, that God receives consolation from punishing the wicked, constantly occurs in the Prophets.

64. And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people. At the end of the preceding verse, he had threatened them with banishment, which was far more painful to the people of Israel than to other nations. Inasmuch as affection for our country is natural to all, it is disagreeable to be away from it; but the condition of the Israelitish people was peculiar, for to them the inheritance of Canaan was promised them by God, and they could not be expelled from it without being renounced by their heavenly Father. But he now proceeds a second and third step further; for he adds to banishment a miserable scattering, and to scattering, trembling and wanderings full of disquietude. For, if they had been expelled all together into any one corner of the world, their banishment would have been more tolerarable from their very association with each other. Their calamity is, therefore, augmented when the storm of God’s wrath scatters them hither and thither like chaff, so that they should be dispersed, and dwell in widely different countries. Another kind of servitude, which I have elsewhere noticed, is incidentally added, i.e., that He would enslave them not only to men, but to idols also. The third step is their want of rest, for there was to be no fixed abode for them in their captivity; and this is far the most wretched state of all, to serve tyrannical conquerors as captives, and to have no certain master. Still it was a most just reward of the people’s ingratitude, that they should nowhere find a fixed resting-place, because they had rejected the rest offered them by God, as we read in Isaiah (28:12.) He, however, extends the evil, bitter as it was in itself, still further, for they were not only to be compelled to wander in confusion, and immediately to pass onwards, but, wheresoever they should come, inward perturbation of mind was to follow them as their inseparable companion. Now, it is more sad to be agitated within with secret fear, than to be oppressed by external violence; for believers, although they too may be unsettled and tossed by many troublesome waves, still repose with tranquil minds on God; whilst the wicked, however they may desire to lull themselves in security, are nevertheless always without true peace; and if, for a while, they sink into lethargy, are still soon compelled to arouse themselves by God whether they will or not. Surely as the repose of a well-regulated mind is a signal mark of God’s favor, so a constant and irremediable fear, such as is here referred to, is one of His terrible punishments.

Since the fear of spiritual punishments but lightly affects ungodly men, Moses magnifies in many words what the Israelites would else have carelessly passed over. Especially he points out what dreadful torments of anxiety would affect the wicked, when he says that their life should hang in suspense, as it were, before their eyes, so that they should fear day and night. An amusing device is related of Dionysius, ⁸⁸ who commanded an exquisite supper, supplied with every delicacy, to be prepared for a courtly flatterer by whom his happiness had been lauded; he placed him in his own seat, so ⁸⁹ that he might feast pleasantly, but ordered a sword to be suspended by a thread so as to overhang his head, insomuch that he who had pronounced the tyrant to be happy, when he saw that death was so near him every moment, did not dare to taste either of meat or drink. Dionysius, therefore, confessed, and not without shame to himself, that he and all other tyrants, whilst they are formidable to others, are tormented by perpetual fear. Now, this same disquietude is common to all the despisers of God; for the more wantonly they rage in forgetfulness of His fear, the more deservedly they dread their own shadow. Besides, when we look around us and see by how many forms of death our lives are beset, it cannot be but that innumerable anxieties should naturally possess us; how, then, can the wicked help being harassed by miserable and perplexing doubts when they perceive themselves to be shut out from the protection of God, and exposed to so many evils? Tranquillity of mind, therefore, can only arise from having God as our Keeper, and from resting under His protection.

By the words, “the sight of thine eyes,” I have no doubt but that Moses designates those spectres ⁹⁰ and bug-bears whereby death is set before the eyes of the reprobate.

68. And the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships. We know that the people were so driven about in the desert amidst divers perils, that they only escaped from it in safety by extraordinary miracles. It was therefore a thing most highly to be desired by their posterity, that they should never be carried back into those mighty depths. He who had once rescued them from those deaths might indeed often be their deliverer; but in order to make His blessing at that time more memorable, He had provided that they should never return into that wilderness. To bring them back into it again, was, then, in a manner to blot out the grace of redemption. If any object that it was impossible that the people should be conveyed in ships through dry places, the reply is easy, that since mention is made of the captivity, there is no absurdity in their being carried in ships and landed on the shore which ⁹¹ belongs to the plain of Moab, so as to finish their journey by wandering through the desert on foot.

Finally, he shews how melancholy their condition would be, since they would desire to sell themselves to their enemies, and would find none to buy them on account of their vileness.

DEUTERONOMY 4

DEUTERONOMY 4:25-31

and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord thy God, to provoke him to anger;

illa, corruperitis autem vos, et feceritis sculptile, imaginem cujuscunque rei atque feceritis malum in oculis Jehovae Dei vestri, irritando illum,

26. I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.	26. Testor contra vos hodie coelum et terram, quod pereundo peribitis cito e terra ad quam pergendo transituri estis Jordanem, ut possideatis eam: non protrahetis dies in ea: quia disperdendo disperdemini.
27. And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the Lord shall lead you.	27. Ac disperget vos Jehova inter populos, et relinquemini homines pauci numero in gentibus ad quas deducet vos Jehova.
28. And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.	28. Servietisque ibi diis, operi manuum hominum, ligno et lapidi, quae non vident, nec audiunt, nec comedunt, nec odorantur.
29. But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart, and with all thy soul.	29. Quod si requisieris inde Jehovam Deum tuum, tum invenies, si requisieris eum toto corde tuo, et tota anima tua.
30. When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;	30. Quum fuerit tibi angustia, invenerintque te omnia ista, in novissimis diebus si reversus fueris ad Jehovam Deum tuum, et parueris voci ejus:

31. (For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers, which he sware unto them.

31. (Quia Deus misericors est Jehova Deus tuus) non derelinquet te, neque disperdet te, neque oblivisectur pacti patrum tuorum de quo juravit illis.

25. When thou shalt beget children, and children’s children. Although at the outset he only adverts to idolatry, yet, inasmuch as he thence takes occasion to inveigh generally against the transgressors of the Law, and denounces punishment against them, I have thought it advisable to introduce this passage amongst the Sanctions (of the Law.) He had already strictly forbidden them to turn aside to idols; he now requires this instruction to be handed down to their grand-children and their whole race; as though he had said, that they must continue faithfully in the pure worship of God, not only lest they should deprive themselves of entering the land of Canaan, but also lest, after having long enjoyed quiet possession of it, they should be expelled from it. For long possession might have hardened their minds in security and arrogance, as if they had no change to fear. Lest, therefore, as time should pass away, they should trust that they were firmly established, and advance to greater license, he now reminds them that the punishment which he had already taught them to await themselves, would also be extended to their descendants; since it was no less easy for God to drive their ⁹² distant posterity from their quiet nest, than it would have been for Him to prevent their taking possession of it. But although he is treating of idols, still he addresses them on the subject of the curse, which overhangs all despisers of God. And, in order that the threat may affect them more deeply, he calls on “heaven and earth to witness;” as though he had said, that even things inanimate and without reason were in a manner conscious of the vengeance of God. Their opinion ⁹³ is a poor one who think that angels and men are thus designated by a metonomy; for we shall see a little further on that the same form of expression is repeated. And when he says in his song, (Deuteronomy 32:1,) “Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth,” it is to signify by hyperbole that his address is worthy of being listened to by all creatures. Thus Isaiah, the more to shame the Jews, who had become stupified in their folly, addresses his words to the heavens and earth. (Isaiah 1:2.)

When he calls heaven and earth to witness God’s vengeance, it is as much as to say, that it will as clearly appear as the heaven and earth appear before our eyes; and after he has said that they shall perish, he also declares in what manner, viz., that God would scatter them hither and thither, and reduce them to a small number. What follows might seem absurd, inasmuch as it ought not to be reckoned among their punishments that they should serve idols among strangers, whereas they had already worshipped them of their own accord in their own land; but this difficulty is easily solved, and in two ways, either that banishment was a just reward to them in order that there they might indulge to their full these impure dispositions; and thus there will be an antithesis between the nations of the heathen and the Holy Land, as though God had said that He would not; suffer them to profane the latter by their superstitions; or else, that then, the veil being as it were removed, they should be ashamed when they should be compelled to serve dead idols. Nor can it be questioned but that then they were wounded in spirit by the same disgusting practices in which they had before taken pleasure; and I (See ante on Deuteronomy 28:36, p. 254.) have stated elsewhere that I prefer this latter sense. Meanwhile, he reproaches them for their stupidity in adoring ⁹⁴ dead images, formed of corruptible things, and the work of men’s hands.

29. But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord. In this passage also he exhorts and encourages them in the confidence of obtaining pardon, and thus anticipates them, so that they might not be overwhelmed with sorrow when smitten by God’s hand; for despair awakens such rage in the wretched that they cannot submit themselves to God. He sets before them, then, another object in their punishments, that they may not cease to taste of God’s goodness in the midst of their afflictions, whereby He invites them to repentance. For the sinner will never set about seeking God, unless he deems Him to be accessible to prayer. Moreover, he warns them to return truly and sincerely to a sound mind, because they will gain nothing by false profession. We know that nothing is more common than to make complaint to God whenever we are oppressed with troubles, but, when they are at all intermitted, immediately to return to our natural state. Sincere conversion is, therefore, prescribed; for “all the heart” is precisely equivalent to an upright heart, (integrum,) which is contrasted with a double or feigned one; and this must be noted, ⁹⁵ lest a sense of our infirmity should disturb us; for, since it is not possible for men to give themselves wholly to God, the knowledge of their own inability is apt to induce listlessness; whereas, provided we do not deal deceitfully, it is declared that our penitence is approved by God.

30. When thou art in tribulation. He here shews the advantage of punishments, on the ground of their usefulness and profit; for what the Apostle says is confirmed by experience, that

“no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby.” (Hebrews 12:11.)

Lest, therefore, they should be provoked to wrath by God’s stripes, he reminds them of their usefulness to them, because they would never turn to God unless aided by this remedy. He tells them that, after they shall have been afflicted by the curses of God, if they sought after Him, they should find Him: and further, he gives them grounds for hope both in God’s nature and in His covenant. He assures them that God will be willing to be appeased, because He is by nature merciful; but he adds another confirmation of this, which is more certain and familiar, viz., because God had adopted them by a perpetual covenant.

DEUTERONOMY 29

DEUTERONOMY 29:10-28

14. Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath;	14. Neque vobiscum solis pango pactum istud, et jusjurandum istud.
15. But with him that standeth here with us this day before the Lord our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day:	15. Sed cum eo qui est hic nobiscum stans hodie coram Jehova Deo nostro, et cum eo qui non est hic nobiscum hodie.
16. (For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the nations which ye passed by;	16. Vos enim nostis quomodo habitavimus in terra Aegypti, et quomodo transivimus per medium gentium quas transistis:
17. And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:)	17. Et vidistis abominationes earum, et idola earum, lignum, et lapidem, argentum et aurum, quae sunt apud illas.
18. Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;	18. Ne forte sit inter vos vir, aut mulier, aut familia, aut tribus, cujus cor avertat sese hodie a Jehova Deo vestro, et abeat ad colendum Deos gentium harum: ne forte sit in vobis radix fructificans venenum et absinthium.
19. And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:	19. Sitque quum ipse audierit verba maledictionis hujus, ut benedicat sibi in corde suo, dicendo, Pax erit mihi, etiamsi in cogitatione cordis mei ambulavero: ut addat ebriam sitienti.
20. The Lord will not spare him; but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that	20. Non placebit Jehovae parcere illi, sed tunc fumabit furor Jehovae, et zelus ejus in eum virum: et recubabit in eo

are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven.

omnis maledictio quae scripta est in libro isto, et delebit Jehova nomen ejus de sub coelo. 21. And the Lord shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law.

21. Et separabit eum Jehova in malum ab universis tribubus Israelis, juxta omnes maledictiones pacti scripti in libro Legis hujus.

22. So that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses which the Lord hath laid upon it;

22. Et dicet generatio postera, filii vestri qui surgent post vos, et alienigena qui veniet e terra longinqua, quum viderint plagas terrae hujus, et morbos quibus aegrotare fecerit Jehova in ea: 23. And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath;	23. Sulphur, et sal, combustionem in toto solo ejus, ut non seratur, neque germinet, neque ascendat in ea ulla herba, ut in subversione Sodomiae, Gomorrhae, Admae, et Seboiim, quas subvertit Jehova in excandescentia sua et ira sua:
24. Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?	24. Dicent, inquam, omnes gentes, Quare fecit sic Jehova terrae huic? quae est ira excandescentiae hujus magnae?
25. Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt:	25. Et dicent, Eo quod dereliquerunt pactum Jehovae Dei patrum suorum, quod pepigit cum eis, quum educeret eos e terra Aegypti:

26. For they went and served 26. Et abeuntes coluerunt deos

other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them:

alienos, incurvaveruntque se eis: deos, inquam, quos non noverant, et qui nihil impertiti fuerant illis: 27. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book:

27. Et irata est excandescentia Jehovae in terram ipsam, ut induceret super eam omnem maledictionem scriptam in hoc libro:

28. And the Lord rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.

28. Extirpavitque eos Jehova e terra ipsorum in ira, et indignatione, et excandescentia magna, et projecit eos in terram aliam, sicut hodie.

10. Ye stand this day all of you before the Lord your God. Again does Moses, as God’s appointed ⁹⁶ representative, sanction the doctrine proclaimed by him by a solemn adjuration. With this design he says that the Israelites stood there not only to hear the voice of God, but to enter into covenant with Him, in order that they might apply themselves seriously, and with becoming reverence, to perform the promise they had given. Nor does he only address their chiefs, but, after having begun with the officers, the elders, and men, ⁹⁷ he descends to the little children and the wives, in order that they might understand that their whole race, from the least to the greatest, were bound to keep the Law: nay, he adds all the strangers, who had devoted themselves to the service of the God of Israel, and states particularly that the very porters and lacqueys ⁹⁸ were included in the covenant, in order that the minds of those, who derive their origin from the holy Patriarchs, should be more solemnly impressed. Moreover, in order that they may accept the covenant with greater reverence, he says that it was established with an oath. Now, if perjury between man and man is detestable, much less pardonable is it to belie that which you have promised God by his sacred name. Finally, he requires that the covenant should be reverenced, both on account of its advantages and its antiquity. Nothing was more advantageous for the Israelites than that they should be adopted by God as His people; this incomparable advantage, therefore, ought deservedly to render the covenant gratifying; and, besides the exceeding greatness of this blessing, God had prevented them by His grace many ages ⁹⁹ before they were born.

It would have been, therefore, very disgraceful not to embrace eagerly and ardently so signal a pledge of his love. Nevertheless, the question here arises, how the little children could have passed into covenant, when they were not yet of a proper age to learn (its contents; ¹⁰⁰ ) the reply is easy, that, although they did not receive by faith the promised salvation, nor, on the other hand, renounce the flesh so as to dedicate themselves to God, still they were bound to God by the same obligations under which their parents laid themselves; for, since the grace was common to all, it was fitting that their consent to testify their gratitude should also be universal; so that when the children had come to age, they should more cheerfully endeavor after holiness, when they remembered that they had been already dedicated to God. For circumcision was a sign of their adoption from their mother’s womb; and therefore, although they were not yet possessed of faith or understanding, God had a paternal power over them, because He had conferred upon them so great an honor. Thus, now-a-days, infants are initiated into the service of God, ¹⁰¹ whom they do not yet know, by baptism; because He marks them out as His own peculiar people, and claims them as His children when He ingrafts them into the body of Christ. Moses goes further, stating that their descendants were bound by the same covenant, as if already enthralled to God; and surely, since slavery passes on by inheritance, it ought not to appear absurd that the same right should be assigned to God which mortal men claim for themselves. What he says, then, is tantamount to reminding the Israelites that they covenanted with God in the name of their offspring, so as to devote both themselves and those belonging to them to His service.

16. For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt. We know how greatly men’s minds are tickled by novelty; and this might occur to the Israelites when, upon entering the land of Canaan, they would see many forms of idolatry hitherto unknown, which would be so many snares to entangle them. Although, therefore, they were not as yet accustomed to such corruptions, he exhorts them to beware by former instances; for they were not ignorant that God had held in abomination the superstitions of Egypt, and also of other nations, which He had punished in terrible ways. Consequently Moses reminds them that there was no reason why the people should be carried away to imitate the rites of the Gentiles with which they were unacquainted, since they knew by extraordinary proofs that whatever imaginations had been invented by heathen nations were hateful to God. This argument, then, is drawn from experience, whereby the Israelites had been abundantly admonished, that they should hereafter beware of all delusions. But, when he passes from individual men and women to families and tribes, he indicates that those who are associated with others in sin, seek to excuse themselves in vain by their numbers; since a whole nation is as much to be condemned as a single person.

The conclusion of verse 18, “lest there should be among you a root,” etc., seems to be tamely explained by some, ¹⁰² lest there should be venomous men, who should bring forth bitter fruits to God; for by the word root I rather under stand the hidden principles of sins, which, unless they be prevented in good time, spring up with collected vigor and lift themselves on high; for indulgence in sin increases by concealment and connivance. And to this the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews seems to allude when he exhorts believers lest, through their negligence, “any root of bitterness, springing up, trouble them, and thereby many be defiled.” (Hebrews 12:15.) As soon, therefore, as any one should endeavor to excite his brethren to worship false gods, God commands him to be plucked up, lest the poison should burst forth, and the bitter root should produce its natural fruits in the corruption of others. Wormwood ¹⁰³ (absinthium) is here used, as often elsewhere, in a bad sense, on account of its unpleasant savour; unless perhaps it is some other herb, as is more probable.

19. And it come to pass when he heareth the words. He shews that it is not without reason that he has used so solemn and severe an adjuration; since nothing is more common than for men to flatter themselves, and by levity to evade the decision of God. He therefore repeats, that they are standing before God, who neither deceives, nor is deceived, nor even allows Himself to be thought lightly of; in order that they may tremble at His threats. Let the majesty of God, he says, be dreaded by you; so that none who despises Him, and wantons in his own lusts, should promise himself impunity. “To bless himself in his heart,” is to hope in his secret imaginations that all will go well; as the hypocrites do, who, in their foolish self-adulation, applaud themselves deceitfully, lest they should hear God thundering. ¹⁰⁴

From this passage, therefore, let us learn that nothing is worse than to hope for peace, whilst we wage war with God; and to promise ourselves that He will let us alone, when we provoke Him by the impetuosity of our lusts.

The conclusion of the verse, “to add the drunken to the thirsty,” is variously explained on account of its ambiguity. ¹⁰⁵ I am ashamed to repeat the silly triflings of the Hebrew interpreters. To me it seems unquestionable that Moses, by a proverbial figure of speech, forbids us to excite the appetites of the flesh, already sufficiently heated, by new stimulants. As, therefore, they are said to add oil to the grate, who add more flames to a fire already lighted, ¹⁰⁶ so they are said to add the drunken to the thirsty who seek provocatives of their audacity, in order to sin more freely; for lust in a man is like an insatiable dropsy; and if any one indulges in such intemperance, he adds the drunken to the thirsty, i.e., the madness of his own folly to unrestrained desire. hywr, ravah, however, is, in my opinion, used actively, as elsewhere. In Psalm 23:5, it is said, “My cup hywr, revayah, runneth over;” and, in like manner, in Psalm 66:12, a well-watered land ¹⁰⁷ is expressed by the same word, because it abundantly moistens the corn and grass. It is very appropriate that the desires of the flesh, that we burn with, should be compared to thirst; and the licentious impetuosity, which carries us away without reflection, to drunkenness; because the sinner stupifies himself into forgetfulness of the distinction between good and evil. And thence Paul calls those who are plunged in brutal forgetfulness of God and themselves, ἀπηλγηκότες (past feeling.) (Ephesians 4:19.)

20. The Lord will not spare him. Moses here teaches us that the obstinacy in which the wicked are willfully hardened, shuts against them the door of hope, so that they will find that God is not to be appeased. And assuredly it is the climax of all sins that a wretched man, who is abandoned to vice, should extinguish the light of his own reason, and destroy the image of God within him, so as to degenerate into a beast: and not only so, but also that he should dethrone God, as if He were not the Judge of the world. And this is the insult which they put upon Him who abandon themselves to sin in the confident expectation of impunity. ¹⁰⁸ Thus, by Isaiah, God swears that this was an inexpiable crime, that, when He called them to baldness and to mourning, the Israelites encouraged each other to gladness; and, whilst feasting luxuriously, said in ridicule, “Tomorrow we shall die.” (Isaiah 22:12, 13.) By the word, hba, ahab, Moses altogether shuts out the grace of God. ¹⁰⁹ Meanwhile he contrasts God’s fixed purpose, — that He will not be willing to pardon, — with the depraved pleasures of those who take too much delight in their sins. Behold, then, what poor sinners gain by their proud contempt when they endeavor to cast off God’s judgment together with His fear!

Further, in order the better to express that God will be irreconcilable to such great perversity, he declares that He will exterminate from the earth those who have so wantonly exulted in iniquity; and finally adds, that He will give them up to be accursed (in anathemata,) so that they shall no longer hold a place among the people of Israel. Now, it is a much more grievous thing to be cut off from the elect people, and to be set apart unto evil, as it is here said, than to be deprived of natural life.

22. So that the generation to come of your children. God enforces what we have already seen, that the punishments which He would inflict would be no ordinary ones, or such as should fall into contempt from their common use; but like portents, which should awaken astonishment among their posterity. For the question which is here put is such as refers to something extraordinary, and what is not easily comprehended. It is not, however, confined to the preceding clause, but refers to the whole list of curses; not as if each of them by itself had awakened such horror, but because, when heaped one upon another, they compelled all men to wonder, both on account of their number and their severity and duration, and thus were for a sign and a prodigy. For it everywhere occurs that men are afflicted with diseases, and barrenness for a single season is a common evil; but that sicknesses should cleave as it were to the marrow of a whole people, and that the earth should be dried up as if it were burnt with sulphur, this is an awful spectacle, in which God’s vengeance, which else would be incredible, manifestly appears; and therefore the cases of Sodom and Gomorrah are adduced, in whose destruction it might be seen what end awaits all the reprobate. ¹¹⁰ (Jude 7.) Now the Israelites always had their desolation before their eyes, from the time that they entered the land, in order that they might be warned by so terrible a judgment, and might tremble at it. It is also worthy of notice, that strangers are introduced making inquiry; in which words Moses signifies that this vengeance would be terrible even to heathen nations; and with this corresponds what we read in Jeremiah; “many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbor, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this great city? Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.” (Jeremiah 22:8, 9.) A similar divine menace is recorded in 1 Kings 9:8, 9; “And at this house,” referring to the Temple brought to desolation, “every one that passeth by it shall be astonished and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the Lord done thus to this house? And they shall answer, Because they forsook the Lord their God, and have taken hold upon other gods,” etc. What we find further on is still more fearful; “Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle.” (2 Kings 21:12.)

Moses amplifies the crime of their rebellion, when he says, that forsaking the God of their fathers, God their deliverer, God who had made a covenant with them, they had gone and served strange and unknown gods, from ¹¹¹ whom they had received no benefits to induce them. For God had bound them to Himself for ever, both by His instruction ¹¹² and the incomparable manifestation of His power; there could therefore be no pretense of ignorance, or mistake to excuse their defection from Him, and their prostitution of themselves to unknown idols.

In the meantime, let us learn from this passage anxiously to inquire who is the true God, and what is His will; because there is no true religion without knowledge; and again, if He convicted His ancient people of wicked ingratitude on account of their deliverance, that we also are now much more inexcusable, unless we constantly abide in the faith of our eternal Redeemer.

DEUTERONOMY 30

DEUTERONOMY 30:1-10, 15-20

1. And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee,

1. Erit autem, quum evenerint tibi omnia verba haec, benedictio et maledictio quas proposui tibi, et reduxeris ad cor tuum in cunctis gentibus ad quas expulerit te Jehova Deus tuus:

2. And shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice, according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;	2. Et conversus fueris ad Jehovam Deum tuum, obedierisque voci ejus per omnia ut ego praecipio tibi hodie, tu et filii tui toto corde tuo, et tota anima tua:
3. That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have	3. Tunc reducet Jehova Deus tuus captivitatem tuam, et

compassion upon thee, and will return, and gather thee from all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee.

miserebitur tui: et conversus congregabit to de cunctis populis ad quos disperserit te Jehova Deus tuus. 4. If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee.

4. Si fuerit expulsus tuus in extremo coeli, illinc congregabit te Jehova Deus tuus, et illinc accipiet te:

5. And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.	5. Reducetque te Jehova Deus tuus ad terram quam possederant patres tui, ac possidebis eam: benefacietque tibi, et multiplicabit te magis quam patres tuos.
6. And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.	6. Et circuncidet Jehova Deus tuus cor tuum, et cor seminis tui, ut diligas Jehovam Deum tuum toto corde tuo, et tota anima tua, propter vitam tuam.
7. And the Lord thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.	7. Dabit autem Jehova Deus tuus omnes maledictiones istas super inimicos tuos, et super odio habentes te, et qui persequuti sunt te.
8. And thou shalt return, and obey the voice of the Lord, and do all his commandments, which I command thee this day.	8. Tu ergo revertaris, et obedias voci Jehovae, et fadas omnia praecepta ejus quae ego praecipio tibi hodie.
9. And the Lord thy God will make time plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the Lord will again	9. Et abundare te faciat Jehova Deus tuus in omni opere manuum tuarum, in fructu ventris tui, et in fructu jumenti tui, et in fructu terrae tuae, in bonum: quoniam convertetur

rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers;

Jehova ut laetetur super te in bonum quemadmodum laetatus est super patres tuos: 10. If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes, which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.

10. Si tamen obedieris voci Jehovae Dei tui, custodiendo praecepta ejus, et statuta ejus scripta in hoc libro Legis: quum conversus fueris ad Jehovam Deum tuum toto corde tuo, et tota anima tua. 15. See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;	15. Vide, proposui tibi hodie vitam, et bonum, mortem et malum.
16. In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.	16. Quando ego praecipio tibi hodie ut diligas Jehovam Deum tuum, ut ambules in viis ejus, et custodias praecepta ejus et statuta ejus, et judicia ejus: ut vivas, et multipliceris, benedicatque tibi Jehova Deus tuus in terra ad quam ingrederis ut possideas eam.
17. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;	17. Qued si averterit se cor tuum, et non audieris, et impulsus adoraveris Deos alienos, coluerisque eos:
18. I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.	18. Denuntio vobis hodie, pereundo peribitis, non prorogabitis dies super terram ad quam transmisso Jordane pergis, ut possideas eam.
19. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death,	19. Testor contra vos hodie coelum et terram, quod vitam et mortem proposui,

blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live;

benedictionem et maledictionem: deligas ergo vitam, ut vivas tu, et semen tuum. 20. That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him; (for he is thy life, and the length of thy days;) that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

20. Diligendo Jehovam Deum tuum, obediendo voci ejus, adhaerendo ei: ipse enim est vita tua, et longitudo dierum tuorum, ut habites super terram quam juravit Jehova patribus tuis, Abrahm, Isaac et Jacob se daturum illis.

1. And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come. He again confirms what we have elsewhere seen, that God never so severely afflicts His Church as not to be ready to return to mercy; nay, that by their punishments, however cruel in appearance, the afflicted, who were destroying themselves as if their hearts were bent upon it, are invited to repentance, so as to obtain pardon. Although, therefore, cause for despair is everywhere besetting them from the burning wrath of God, still he bids them take heart and be of good hope. Still, we must bear in mind what I have already shewn from the words of Moses, that reconciliation is not offered to all indiscriminately, but that this blessing exists by peculiar privilege in the Church alone; and this we gather also from the special promise, ¹¹³ I will visit their iniquities with the rod; nevertheless I will not take away my loving-kindness from them. Now, however, it must also be added, that this is not common to all who profess to be members of the Church, but only belongs ¹¹⁴ to the residue of the seed, and those whom Paul calls the remnant of grace, (Romans 11:5;) for it is no more profitable for the hypocrites, though they are mixed with believers, to be smitten with the scourges of God unto salvation, than it is for strangers. Wherefore this promise is only addressed to a certain number, because it was always necessary that some people should remain as a residue, in order that God’s covenant should stand firm and sure.

Still, Moses does not only enjoin the Israelites to profit by the corrections of God, but also to reflect upon His blessings whereby they might be led to serve Him with pleasure. For this comparison was of no slight avail in illustration of the judgments of God. ¹¹⁵ If the punishments alone had occupied their minds, their knowledge would have been but partial or more obscure; whereas, when on the one hand they considered that they had not served God in vain, and on the ether, that in forsaking Him they had fallen from the height of felicity into the deepest misery, it was easy for them to infer that whatever misfortunes they suffered were the fruit and reward of their ungodliness. Nor is it to be doubted but that, under the Law, God so adapted Himself to a tender and ignorant people, that the course of his blessings and curses was perfectly manifest; so that it was plainly shewn that they neither threw away their labor in keeping the Law, nor violated it with impunity. Often does He declare by the Prophets, that, as long as His children were obedient, He on His part would be their Father; that thence it might be more clearly perceived that the deterioration of their circumstances arose from His just indignation. Under this pretext, indeed, the wicked formerly endeavored to defend their superstitions; as, for instance, when in order to refute Jeremiah, they proudly boasted that it was well with them when they “burnt incense unto the frame of heaven;” ¹¹⁶ but such wanton depravity is admirably reproved by the Prophet, who shews that God had most manifestly avenged such pollutions by the destruction of their city and the fall of the Temple. (Jeremiah 44:17, 22.) The distinction, therefore, of which Moses now speaks, could not escape them, unless they willfully shut out the light. Moreover, because it rarely happens that men are wise in prosperity, he advises the Israelites to return to their senses, at any rate when sorely afflicted; for He addresses the exiles, who, disinherited by God, had no hope left; and promises them, that if, when banished to distant lands, they at length repented, God would be propitiated towards them. For “to ¹¹⁷ bring back to their heart” is equivalent to considering what before had been despised through contempt, or neglect, or stupidity, and buried as it were in voluntary oblivion. Still, lest they should presume on God’s kindness, and only seek for pardon in a perfunctory manner, serious conversion is required, the results of which should appear in their life, since newness of life accompanies (genuine ¹¹⁸ ) repentance. Nor does Moses speak only of the outward correction of the life, but demands sincere desires to obey, for we have elsewhere seen ¹¹⁹ that “all the heart” means with integrity of heart.

4. If any of thine be driven out. Since their dispersion into unknown countries might have altogether annihilated their hope of restoration, Moses anticipates this doubt, and teaches them that, although they might be driven out into the utmost regions of the earth, the infinite power of God sufficed to gather them from thence; as also it is said in <19E702>Psalm 147:2,

“The Lord doth build up Jerusalem; he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.”

With this intent, the adverb “from thence” is twice repeated, lest they should imagine that the distance of place would be any impediment to the fulfillment of what God had promised.

We have seen elsewhere that it was not without reason that their dwelling in the land of Canaan was magnified as a peculiar blessing, because it behooved that, until the time of Christ’s coming, the hope of an eternal inheritance should be cherished in their minds by an earthly and visible symbol.

6. And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart. This promise far surpasses all the others, and properly refers to the new Covenant, for thus it is interpreted by Jeremiah, who introduces God thus speaking, —

“Behold, the days come that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers,. . which covenant they brake,. . but. . I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.” (Jeremiah 31:31-33.)

Moses now declares the same thing in different words, that, lest the Israelites, according to their wonted instability, should fall back from time to time into new rebellions, a divine remedy was needed, i.e., that God should renew and mould their hearts. In short, he reminds them that this would be the chief advantage of their reconciliation, that God should endow them with the Spirit of regeneration. There is a metaphor in this word circumcise; for Moses alludes to the legal sign of consecration, whereby they were initiated into the service of God. The expression, therefore, is equivalent to his saying, God will create you spiritually to be new men, so that, cleansed from the filth of the flesh and the world, and separated from the unclean nations, you should serve Him in purity. Meanwhile, he shews that, whatever God offers us in the Sacraments, depends on the secret operation of His Spirit. Circumcision was then the Sacrament of repentance and renewal, as Baptism is now to us; but “the letter,” as Paul calls it, (Romans 2:27,) was useless in itself, as also now many are baptized to no profit. So far, then, is God from resigning the grace of His Spirit to the Sacraments, that all their efficacy and utility is lodged in the Spirit alone.

Although Moses seems to make a division of the matter between men and God, so as to ascribe to them the beginning of repentance, and to make Him the author of perseverance (only, ¹²⁰ ) nevertheless this difficulty is easily solved; for according to the ordinary manner of Scripture, when he exhorts them to repentance, he is not teaching them that it is a gift of the Spirit, but simply reminding them of their duty. Meanwhile, the defenders of free-will foolishly conclude, that more is not required of men than they are able to perform; for in other places they are taught to ask of God whatever He enjoins. Thus, in this passage, Moses treats of the means of propitiating God, viz., by returning into the right way with an unfeigned heart; but, after he has testified that God will be gracious to them, he adds, that there is need of a better remedy, so that, being once restored by Him, they may be perpetual recipients of His grace. Still, it is not his intention to restrict the circumcision of the heart to the subsequent course of their lives, as if it depended on their own will and choice to circumcise themselves before God should work in them. And surely it is not at all more easy to rise when you have fallen, than to stand upright after God has set you up. I confess that perseverance is an excellent grace; but how shall the sinner, who is enthralled to Satan, free himself from those chains, unless God shall deliver him? Therefore, what Moses lays down as to the gift, of perseverance, applies no less to the commencement of conversion; but he only wishes to teach us that, although God should pardon our sins, that blessing would be but transient, unless He should keep us in subjection to His Law. And, in fact, He regenerates by His Spirit unto righteousness all those whose sins He pardons.

8. And thou shalt return ¹²¹ and obey the voice of the Lord. The copula which Moses here employs is equivalent to the illative particle; for he argues from their certainty of obtaining pardon, that they should not hesitate to return to God, nay, rather that they should set about it with a cheerful and ready mind; and then that they should constantly proceed in the course of obedience. But, when he now requires of the people the perseverance which he had just before declared to be given by God alone, we may at once infer that they deal foolishly who estimate the powers of man by the commands of God. Meanwhile, let us bear in mind this main point, that true conversion is proved by the constant tenor of the life; because we are redeemed, as Zecharias testifies, to this end that we should serve God, our Deliverer, “in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life.” (Luke 1:74, 75.)

15. See, I have set before thee this day. A solemn injunction, similar to the foregoing ones, that the Israelites should consider how inestimable a blessing it was that God should have condescended to deposit His Law with them; and that if they did not receive it with reverence, the punishments for such foul ingratitude would be by no means light. For, in order to deprive them of the pretext of error, He separates them from the heathen nations, which through ignorance of the right way vacillated, as in uncertainty, between life and death. He says, therefore, that He has set before their eyes life, and that indeed connected with true and complete happiness; and likewise death with its consequences. Now, there is no one who, under the guidance of nature, would not seek for life and recoil from death; and thence Moses reproaches them with being more than senseless if they should plunge voluntarily into all miseries. Meanwhile, he signifies that he is not addressing to them mere idle menaces, but that his doctrine is armed with the power of God, so that whosoever should embrace it would find salvation in it, whilst none would despise it with impunity. The distribution of the two clauses then follows, viz., that the love of God and the keeping of His Law is prescribed that they may live; but if they turn away from it, their destruction is denounced. It is not, then, without reason that I have called the promises and threats the Sanctions of the Law, because, in order that its authority may be assured to us, it is necessary that both the recompence of obedience, and also the punishment of transgression, should be set before us. By the worship of other gods, he means every revolt from God, as I have observed already. He does not speak of their being “drawn away” to superstition as an excuse for their instability, but rather as an aggravation of their crime, inasmuch as they are carried away by their depraved desires, ¹²² and thus desert the truth of God when well acquainted with it.

19. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you. Though the verb is in the past tense, it indicates a present act. It is in order to deal with them with greater urgency that he calls heaven and earth to witness the vengeance of God. In these words he does not address men and angels, as some tamely expound it, but in amplification attributes sense to things inanimate. I pass this over briefly, because I have ¹²³ treated it more fully before; as also what soon afterwards follows about life and death. For the Law, as respects its doctrine, contains in it life and death; for the reward of eternal life is not promised in it in vain; but since no one is found worthy of the promised reward, Paul justly teaches that the Law ministers death. Still this is accidental, and proceeds not from any fault in the doctrine, but from the corruption of men. Nevertheless, it is asked how, if the corruption of our nature causes that the Law should engender nothing but death, Moses commands us to “choose life,” which the sinner cannot attain to by it? Thence the Papists uplift their crests, both to extol freewill and to boast of merits; as if Moses did not also testify and proclaim the gratuitous mercy of God, and direct his disciples to Christ in order to seek salvation from Him. When, therefore, he speaks of keeping the Commandments, he does not exclude the two-fold grace of Christ, that believers, being regenerated by the Spirit, ¹²⁴ should aspire to the obedience of righteousness, and at the same time should be reconciled freely to God through the forgiveness of their sins. And assuredly, since the same covenant is common to us and to the ancient people, it is not to be doubted but that they “chose life” who of old embraced the doctrine of Moses. At the same time, in so far as his legation was different from the Gospel, he rather insists on the office peculiarly entrusted to him, so that the distinction between Christ and himself might more clearly appear. This is the reason why he more sparingly touches upon justification by faith, whilst he enlarges fully on loving and serving God and fulfilling His Commandments.