xt ſo they mighr put” themſ#lves in Battel-array. 7 The fotmer + nnd oe 4 kim more Careleſs and ſecure, as is uſual in '
{tretched out the ſpear 1, until he had-utterly. deſtroyed all the inhabitancs of Ai, ; Y -J-Eithgr
JO 8H OD 4. Chap. xt.
In, Chap. VII. | | [Either 1, He ceafed not to fight with that Hand, Or 2. Hef
| # Numb.
{ame poſture, both ſtretched - out
his Hand and Spear in the kept his Hand and Speai them,and to dire& them
and lifred up,as a Sign both to encourage
togo on in the work. See on v. 18. 7 Th 2” * Only the cattel, and the ſpoil of that city,Iſrael
6. : JT. _ took for a prey unto chemſelves,according unto the word
: Verſl.
* Chap. 7. ab,
*Exod.20.
A
Deut. 27,
5:
9g
of the LORD, which he * commanded Joſhua. 28 And Joſhua burnt Ai, and made it an heap for
ever ww, even a deſolation unto this day. -
-» Or, for a leng time, as that word oft ſignifies, as Gen. 6s 3. Iſa. 42.14.For that it was after ſome Ages rebuilt,may ſeem from Nehem: 11. 31. unleſsthat were another City built near the former, there being ſome little difference in the name alſo. ;
29 Andthe king of Aihe hanged on a tree », until
even-tide : and afſoon as the ſun wasdown.Joſhuacom- manded,that they ſhouid take his carcaſe down trom the trees, and caſt it at the entring of the gate ofthe city p, and * raiſe thereon a great heap of ftones, that remainerb
unto this day. » He dealt more ſeverely with the Kings of Canaan than with the people, partly becauſe the abominable wickedneſs of that people was not reſtrained and puniſhed (as it ſhould have been) but coun- renanced and encouraged by their evil examples and adminiftrati- ons ; and partly becauſe they were. the principal Authors of the deſtruftion of their own people, by engaging them in an obſtinate oppoſition againſt the 1#-aelites. o According to Gods command in that caſe, Deut. 21. 22. p Which place he choſeeither as moſt com- modious, now eſpecially when all the city within the gate was al- ready turned intro an heap of Stones and Rubbiſh; or becauſe this was the uſual place of Judgment; and therefore properto bearthe monument of Gods juſt ſentence againſt him, not without refleCti- on upon that Injuſtice which he had been guilty of in that place. 20 Then 9 Joſbua builr an altar” unto the LORD
God of Iſrael in mount Ebal s.
9 To wit,after the taking of 47. For they were obliged to do this, when they were brought over Jordan into the Land of Canaan, Der. 11.29.and 27. 2,3.Which is not to be underitood ſtriftly,as if it were to be done the ſame moment or day; for it is manifeſt they were firſt to be Circumciſed, and to eat the Paſſover,which they did, and which was the work of ſome days ; butas ſoon as they had cppor- tunity to do it, which was now when theſe two great Frontier Cities were taken and deſtroyed, and thereby the Coaſt cleared, and the bordering people under great conſternation and confuſion, that all the 1ſraehtes might ſecurely march thither. And indeed this work was fit to be done as ſoon as might be, that thereby they might re- new their covenant with, and profeſs their ſubjeCtien to that God by whoſe help alone they could expett Succels in their great and difficult enterpriſe. r To wit, for the offering of Sacrifices, as ap- pears from the following verſe, and from Deut.27.5,6,7. 5 Why not on mount Gerizim alſo; Anſ. Becauſe Gods Altar was to be but in one place, Det. 12. 13, 14. and this place was appointed to be Mount Ebal,Deut.27.4,5. which alſo ſeems moſt proper for it,that in that place whence the Curſes of the Law were denounced againſt Sinners, there might alſo be the rokens and means of Grace, and Peace, and Reconciliation with God, for the removing ofthe Cur- ſes, and the procuring of Gods Bleſſing unto Sinners. |
21 As Moſes the ſervant of the LORD commanded the children of Iſrael, as it is written in the* book of the law of Moſes,an altar of whole ſtones, over which no man hath lifrup a»yiron ; and they offered thereon burnt-of- ferings unto the LORD, and ſacrificed peace-offerings.
22 Andhe wrote there upon the itones 7 a copy of the law of Moſes «, which he wrote in the preſence of the children of Iſrael.
£ Not upon the Stones of the Altar, which were to be rough and unpoliſhed, v. 13. but upon other Stones,ſmooth and plaiſtered,as is manifeſt from Deur. 27. 2. u Not certainly the whole five Books of Moſes, for what Stones and time would have ſufficed for this ! nor the Bleſling+ and the Curſes here following, which never are nor can without great impropriery be called the Law of Moſes, ſeing they pre- ſuppoſe the Law, and the Obſervation or Tranſgrefſion thereof, to which they belong, only as rewards of the one, and puniſhments of the other : but the moſt weighty and ſubſtantial parts of the Law, as may be gathered from the Laws which are mentioned,and to the violaters whereofthe Curſes are applied, Deur. 27. 15, &c. and eſpecially the Law of the Ten Commandments.
233 And all Iſrael x, and their e'ders,and officers, and
their judges ſtood on this ſide theark, and on that ſide y before the pricſts and Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as well the ſtranger, as he that was born among them : half of them over againſt mount
*Deut. xx, Gerizim 2, and halfofthem over againſt mount Ebal *
29. and E 7, I 2,
as Moſes the ſervant of the LORD had commanded be- fore, that they (bould bleſs a the people of Iſrael.
x (7. e. ) The whole congregation, old and young, male and fe- male, as it follows, v: 35. y ( z. e.) Some on one ſide of it, and ſome on the other. z Theſe two places were in the Tribe of E- phraim, not far from Shechem, as appears both from Scripture, Veur. 11. 29, 30. and 27. 12. Juag. 9. 7. and from other Authors who li- ved in thoſe parts, as Joſephus and the Jewiſh Do&ors. # Or Curſe, which 1s eaſily underſtood out of the following verſe, and from Dent. 27.13, &Cc.
34 Andafterward b he read c all the words of the law, the bleflingsand curſings 4, according to all that is
written in the book of the law e. 6 Affer the Altar was built, and the Stones plaiftered and writ Upon. c(#. e.) He commanded the Prieſts or Levites to read, Deut.
|
and above the words of the Law, e He ſaith not, atrording to all that was written upen thoſe Stones, but in the Book of the Law,which ſhews
written upon theſe Stones. |