The Pulpit Commentary — Deuteronomy — Section 40

nnd 1hc wTnth ,-·hieh broke forth npon the Abmhnm's scrrnnt, "Wo oo.nnot speak unlo rPoph'~n <listinetion 'l\·hfoh is aptly prc- theo _bad ,or goo,\" (Gen, xxiv. 60), tho FN'"C'd in the A11thorizoo Version by the mennmg 1s, We can say nothing nt nil. ,n;rds "wns wroth" ('l~R) and" was 1mgry" Absnlom spnko to Amnon "neither good ('']l~). For your se.kes; rather, beca11,•e ofyo11, uor bad" (2 Sorn. xiii. 22); tbnt is, ho did on accom,t of you. The Hebrew word (?7~) Tcl~oa not say l\llything to him. Tbo· womo.n of said to Davi~, "As nn nngcl of God, comes from e. root meaning to roll, and so 1s my lord tho lnng to discern good nnd si,::ni(ks rrimni~ly a turn in events, a eir- bnd" ~2 Sam. xiv. 17); i.e. 'fhero is nothing c nmst nneo. an ocension or reason. Moses the kmg does not know-his Jmowlodgo is rPmiuds the Isroelites that the misconduct universnl. Henco to know good o.nd evil of the rrople wns what Jed to God's being came to mean to be intelligent, and not to nni:r~- nlso wilh him (soe Numb. xx. 7, etc.; know good and evil to ho unintelligent, ns comp. rs. e\"i. 32, 33). is o. babe. Tho children here referred to Yer. 3S.-Tbough the rebellious genera- knew nothing, o.nd consequently could not tion were to perish, nrnl Moses wns not to be h~~d ns morally responsible; comp. be perruiltc,l to mter Canaan, God would Isa. vu. 15; Homer,• Odyssey,' xviii. 228- not depnrt from his promise, but would by another leader bring the people to the " .ra.. {,cciCTTII iubcritnnce which he hnd sworn to their lcr8Ad TE ,cal TA xlpEIII' ,rcip'bs 6' fr, l'ij7rlOS ijU," fathers to girn them. (For the nccount of ,Joshua's appointment o.nd installntion, see Ver. 40.-The coll)mand to go to the Numb. xxvii. 15-23.) Which standeth be- mount of the Amoriles (ver. 7) is reco.lled, fore thee; i.e. to be thy minister er servnnt o.nd they nre ordered to turn into tho wilder- (Exod. xxiv. 13; xxxiii. 11; Numb. xi. 28; ness and go by tho wny leading to tho Red comp. for the mco.ning of the phrase eh. Sea (comp. Numb. xiv. 25). x. 8; x,·iii. 7; Do.n. i. 5). Enoourage him; Vers. 41-46.-The people, appalled nt literally, strengtloen him (comp. eh. iii. 21, the prospect of another sojourn in the wilder- 22; x:i.:ri. 7, 8). Inherit it; the "it" refers bnck to vcr. 35, "that good land." Iu vers. ness, yet still rebellious nnd disobedicn t to 8 and 21, the Innd is spoken of o.s to be . God's command, though professing peni- possessed by the Israelites ; here it is tenee, determined, in spite of direct pro- spoken of us to be inherited by them. The hibition on the port of God by l\loscs, to go former has reference to their hnving to up and force their wny, into Canaan; but wrest the land by force from the Canao.nites were punished for their presumption by being (~~:, to occupy ·by force, to dispossess; cf. utterly defeated e.nd put to flight by the eh. ii. 12, 21, 22, where the verb is, in tho Authorized Version, rendered by " de- Amorites (comp. Numb. xiv. 40-45). • stroy ") ; the lntter has reference to their Ver. 41.-We have si..ued; in Numbers receiving the l.ll.nd as a heritage ("7:iJ) from it is simply said that "the people mourned God, who, when he divided to the nations greatly" (bemoaned themselves, ,r,~~J:1'.); but their inheritance, assigned Canaan to the this is not incompatible with the stiitement children Gflsrnel (eh. mii. 8). "Joshua the here that they confessed their sius ; the one executor of the inheritance" (Schroeder). would noturally accompany the other. Ver. 39.-Only among the ~•oung of Their confession, however, was in word thnt generation should the inheritanllC be only; their conduct showed thot it was not divided, as they had no part in the rebellion sincere. 1n Numbers (xiv. 44) it is said, of their seniors. Your little ones; i.e. chil- "They presumed to go up;" here it is so.id dren beginning to walk (']!?, from '1~9• to (ver. 41), Ye were ready to go up, rather, trip, to take short and quick steps). And Ye acted heedletrBly with levity, or f-rivo- your children-boys aud girlB-which in that wusly, u, go up. The verb here (•l'1JI;}) day had no knowledge between good and occurB only in this pince, and is of doubtful evil; rather, of 1clunn [ye said] they know not .signification. The Robbins compare it with tu-day good and evil. The Hebre\\"s were .the mn, lo we I liere wo be I of the peoplo wont to express totality or unil'eraality by in Numb. xiv. 40. It is the Hiph. of j1i1 specifying contradictory opposites, as, e.g. which is supposed to be the same 68 th~ great and small (2 ClHon. xxxiv. 30), master aud scholar (Mo.I. ii. 20), free and bond Arabic club, to be light, easy; and from (Ilev. xiii. 16; xiL IS), shut up and left thi.Jl the meaning, "ye went up heedlessly," (eh. xx.i::ii. 36, where sec note; I Ki.ugs xiv. is deduced. None of the ancient versions, 10), etc. Accordingly, when good .nnd ecil however, give this mooning. The LXX. arc sf:t over ogo.inst each other, the notion has cruvci8po,cr8ill'f'n a.11,/3cil11n• ds TO ~pos; of cutireneBS or universality hi expressed. the Vulgute, inBtructl- a1mi, pe,geretiB i11 'l'Lne, when Laban and llethuel ea.id to montem; Onk., poo? pnili/1 (1md ye began to en.,. 10-40.] THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. 19