offering; oh. xviii. 1; often in the Pentateuch; onoe in Josh. xiii. 14; andonoe in 1 Sam. ii. 28. Cl~~~:;,, two things heterogeneous; eh. xxii. 9; elsewhere only in Lev. xix. 19. ~t\); a young bird; eh. xxxii. 11; Gen xv. 9; not found elsewhere. ~:it, a male; eh. xvi. 19; xx. 13; elsewhere only Exod. xxiii. 17; xxxiv. 23. i"l;ii?.~, female; eh. iv. 16; often in the Pentateuch; once in Jer. xxx:i. 22. :i 1~~. the month Abib; eh. xvi. 1; Exod. ix. 31; xiii. 4; xxiii. 15; xxxiv. 18; Lev. ii. 14; nowhere else. "\~~. young of a beast; oh. vii. 13, 28; iv. 18, 51; elsewhere only Exod. xiii. 12. Cl~i';, substance, living thing; eh. xi. 6 ; Gen. vii. 4, 23; nowhere else. i"lit;i, bush; oh. :uxiii. 16; else- where only in Exod. iii. 2, 3, 4. (3) The antiquity of the book is further guaranteed by certain state• ments and references contained in it. Ch. vii. 1, etc. Intercourse with the nations of Canaan is here strenuously forbidden to the Israelites. This was fitting before they took possession of that land; at a later period such a prohibition would have been superfluous, if not ridiculous. Ch. :xxv. 9. Reference is here made to the taking off of the shoe as a symbol of the transference of an inheritance, in a way which shows, as already observed, that the usage was then common. In the time of the judges this was regarded as a usage of "the former time" (Ruth iv. 7). The time of Deuteronomy, therefore, must have preceded that of the judges. Ch. :x.xv. 1 7, etc. The Israelites are commanded to remember what Amalek did to them by the way, as they came out of Egypt, eto. Such an injunction it would have been absurd to publish in writing at a much later period in the history of Israel, long after the Amalekites had ceased to exist as a nation. So also of the Canaanites ( eh. xx. 16~18). Ch. xvii. 14, etc. It is here assumed that at some future time the people of Israel would propose to set a king over them, like all the nations about them, and directions are given as to the choice of a king in this case, and as to the conduct of the king when he should be chosen. The fair presumption from this is that the book in which these are recorded must haT"e been written before the time of Samuel; fur it is not credible that any writer would have introduced into his narrative any such statements posterior to the election of Saul to be King of Israel. Especially is it to be noted that one of the directions given is that the king is "not to multiply horses, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses; forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.'' Such a cautionary injunction was fitting at a time when there was some danger of the people being seduced into returning to Egypt; at a later period, long after they had been settled in the promised land, it would be simply preposterous. It has indeed been said, on the other hand, that, had this book been then extant, Samuel must have known this passage, and in that case would not have rebul<ed the people as he did for their sin in desiring a king. There would be THE IlOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. xvii
some force in this did the passage in Deuteronomy contain an enactment that a king should be chosen or express approval of such an act. But this is not the case ; rather is the contrary implied, for it is plain, from th 0 manner in which th0 subject is introduced, that the anticipated act was not regarded by the speaker with approval, but was rather viewed by him as a wilful departure from an order instituted by Gou, prompted by a desire on th0 part of the people to be like to the nations around them ; in fact, a species of apostacy_ from ,Jehovah, second only to a renunciation of him for other gods. When Samuel, therefore, rebuked the people, even whilst conceding their request, he spoke in the very spirit of this passage, and not improbably with this very passage in his mind. It has also been urged that, as the appointment of a king was incompatible with the Theocracy, it is highly improbable that any such thing would hav0 been contemplated and legislated for by Moses. It is to be ob~erve<l, how- ever, that the king whom it was supposed the people were to be allowed to set up was not to be an autocrat or one whose rule was to be independent; he was to be one whom God should choose, and who was to be under law to God, and so was really to be the vicegerent of Jehovah, the Great King. By the appointment of such a king, therefore, the Theocracy remained intact. The administration of government by means of a king whom God should choose no more superseded the supreme kingship of Jehovah, than the administration of law by judges interfered with his supremacy as Lawgiver and Judge. It is further asked-Had this passage been in existence and known, how could Solomon have dared to contravene it as he did by multiplying wives and sending to Egypt for horses? But Solomon, we know, dared to do many things which were contrary to law, both Divine and human. His having many wives and concubines was as much against the law of the Decalogue as against the law in eh. xvii. 14-17. Oh. xxvii. 11-26. Directions are here given concerning blessing and cursing on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. . These, however, are of a. very general character, details evidently being left to the discretion of the parties by whom the injunction was to be carried into effect. An author writing after the event would, it is presumed, have been more precise, and would have so framed his statement as to present to his readers a. distinct and easily apprehensible representation of the whole transaction. Oh. xix. 1-10. Here it is enacted that, on the establishment of the people in Canaan, the land is to be divided, and certain cities to be set apart as places of refuge for the manslayer. This is a law which could be obeyed only at the time of the entrance of the people on the possession of the land, and which, therefore, it would be absurd to prescribe in a book written long after that took place. In several parts of the book allusion is made to the condition of the Israelites as then in the wilderness, and to their experiences there as then recent ( of. ob. i,-iii. ; iv. 3, 4, 44-49 ; vii. 1 ; viii. 1 ; ix. 1 ; rEOTERONOMY, 0 Xl"iii INTRODUCTION TO