The Pulpit Commentary — Deuteronomy — Section 39

up to heaven; Iitero.Ily, arc great and fortified i~;i, like the Greek pi;µ.a, signifies either in the heavens. To their excited imo.gina• thing or word. If the former ren,lerin,,. be tion, tho walls and towers of tbo cities adopter! here, the mcanin"' will be Not- seemed o.s if they rco.ched tho very sky; so withstanding this fact of ~vhich yot; hnve when mon ccnso to bnve faith in Goel, diffi- ha,! experience, viz. how Gori hns interposed culties appenr insurmountable, o.nd the for your protection and rlel iverancc, ye were power of thll adverso.ry is oxaggerated until still unbelieving in him. Jf the latter conrngo is pnrnlyzed nnd despair bnnishes rendering bo adopterl, the meanino- will be hopo. Sons of the Anakime; elsewhere Notwithstanding what I then sai~l to you: (Numb. xiii. 22; Josh. xv. 14; Judg. i. 20) ye remained unbelieving, etc. This latter children oi· sons of the 'Analc. 'Annk may seems the more probable meanin,,., In the originnlly have been the proper name of an Hebrew text there is o. strong stop' alhnach) ii:dividuo.l, but it appears in the Bible rather after this u:ord, as if a pause of astonishment ns the designation of the tribe. It is the followed this utterance-Notwithstandin,,. word for nee/(, and this mco, which were this word, strange to say! ye were not be": strong and powerful men, or their pro- )ie~ing, etc. T~e J?llrticiple ("believing") genitor, may bnve been remarko.ble for 1s mtende,1 to md1cate the continning of thickness of neck; this, at least, is more t!1i~ unbelief._ So also in ver. 3!, the po.r- probnble than tbo.t it wo.s from length of t1c1ple form 1s used-" who was going in neck (Gesenius) tho.t they got the name, for the way before you," to indicate that not a Jong neck is usually associate<l with weak- once and again, but continually, the Lord ness ro.ther than strength. Somo ho.ve sup- went before them; o.nd this made the sin posed the Anakim to ho.ve been originally of their unbelief o.11 the more marked and Cushites; but the origin of the tribe is in- aggrnvo.ted. (For the fact here referred to volved in obscurity. see Exod. xiii. 21, etc.; Numb. u. 15, etc.; Vere. 29-40.-Mosee endeavoured to x. 33-36.) Ver. 3-1.-And the Lord heard the voice of rouse the drooping courage of the people, your words, and he was wroth, and awar& and persuade them to go up by reminding etc. (comp. Numb. xiv. 21-2'1). ' them that God, who was with them, would Vere. 35, 36.-They were all, the whole go before them, and fight for them as he had generation of them, evil, and therefore not often done before; but without success, so a man of them should see the good land that God was angry with them, and forbade which God had promised to their fathers, with the exception of Caleb, who had their entrance iuto Cano.a.a. '.rhis is not wholly followed the Lord-bad remained mentioned in Numbers, probo.bly because steo.dfast and faithful whilst the others fell lllosee' appeal wo.s uneuocessful. The whole nwo.y. Joshua o.lso was exempted from this of that generation was bound to foll in the doom; but before mentioning him, Moses wilderness, except Co.leb and Joshua; only refers to himself o.s having o.Iso come under the Di vine displeasure. their children should enter tho promised land. Ver. 37.-The Lord was angry with me also for your sakes, saying, Thou also shali Vers. 29, 30.-Moses exhorts the people not go in thither. This must be regarded not to be ~fro.id, as if theY. lmd to encounter C\s parenthetical, for what he here refers these terrible enemies solely in their own to in regard to himself occurred, not o.t strength; for Jehovah their God was with the time of the rebellion at liil.desb, but U1oru and would go before them, as he had lit the time of the second arrival of ths go~e b~fore them hitherto, to p1-oteot them people at that place, many years later. This o.nd strike down their euemies. pnrenthetical reference to himself wns pro- Ver. 31.-Not only o.t the Red SeB did bably thrown in by Moses for the purpose Goll appe~r for the defence of his people of preparing for what be was about to so.y and the diecomfitme of their enemies, but respecting Joshua, in whom the people were aleo Jn the wildemess, which they had seen to find II leoder ofter he himself wo.s gone. (us In Yer. 19), where (,~.I!, elliptioally for It may be noted also that Moses distinguishe11 1:i ,o/_~) Jehovah their God 'boro thoui ne I\ between the anger of the Lord against him. Di':l'TERONOMY, C lR THE DOOK OF DEUTEHO~mlY. [en. r. 19-40.