name Sebaita or Sepato., tho Arabic rorm nsconcl); Syrino,.cm~~ ,i::Ofi\\~\llo of Zepha.Lh, the name of a. heap of ruins (nncl yo incitccl yourselves to go up). on tho western slope or the rocky mountnin- Ver. 42.-Moscs, by tho command of God, pl(llea.u Rakhmah, about two hours (lnrl a wnrnecl the people thnt, if they presumed to h(l!f south-west of Khalasa. (Ritter 'Geo- go up, thoy shoulcl go without his protection, graphy of Palestine,' i. 431 ; Prdmer, on<l so would corta.inly full bofore their 'Desert of Et-Tih,' p. 289, etc.). This is a more probable identification than that of enemies. Robinson (' Res.,' ii. 18), wlio finds Hormah Ver. 43.-ln va.in were they thus wa.me,1. Moses spoke to them as Goel corumantled, in the rocky clcfile of Es-Sufab, an unlikely but thoy would not bo persua.ded. Went place for a city of the importu.nce of Zepbatb to bo in. presumptuouely; rather, acte,l insolently and went up; margin, Authorized Version," Ye Ver. 45.-Ye returned; i.e. either t~ were pl'csumptuous, ancl went up." The Kadesh, where Moses had 1·emainerl or from verb bcl'o (7'E:1, from 111, to boil) signifies their rebellious and clefiant attitUfl~ to one tropically, to act prouclly, haughtily, in- of apparent submission and csmtrition, or solently (comp. Neh. xi. 29, Autliorized the whole phrase, ·• Ye returned and wept," Version," dealt proudly"). may mean mel'ely that they wept an-ain as Ver. 44.-The Amorites, for the Cana.unites in Numb. xi. 4, where the same wo~rls ~re generally; in Numbers, the Ama.lekites a.re used. And wept. They mourned their mis- specinlly mentionecl as joining with the fortune, and complaiued on account of it Amorites in cha.stising the Israelites. These (~omp. for the meaning of the phrase, Numb. tl'ibes came down from the higher mountain XI. 4, 18, 20). Before Jehovah; i.e. before runf!e to the lower height which the Israel- the tabernacle or sanctuary (comp. Judg. ites hacl gained, und drove them with great xx. 23, 26). Their mourning was not that slaug!Jter as far as Hormah, in Seir, chasing of true repentance, and, therefore, the Lord them os bees do, which pursue with keen would not listen to them or give heed to ferocity those 'who disturb them. Hormah their wail (comp. Prov. i. 2!, etc.). (Ban-place), the earlier name of which was Ver. 46.-It was nnnecess(lry that Moses Zephath (Judg. i. 17), was a royal city of should tell the people the precise length of the Ca.naanites, taken by the Isrnelites timo they a.bode in Kadesh after this, be- towards the close of their wanderings, uncl cause that was well known to them; he, placed by them under a ban (Numb. xxi. 1, therefore, contents himself with sayin~ that etc.), which ban was fully executecl only in they rema.ined there as long as they dill the time of tLe Judges. It is here aud else- rema.in ( comp. for a. similar expression, eh. where called Horma.h by anticipation. Tho ix. 25). How Jong they actually remained old name Zephath 8eems to have survived there cannot be determined, fur the e:s:pres- that given to it by the Israelites in the sion, many days, is wholly indefinite.
HOMILETICS. Vers. 10-33.-Sending the spies. This paragraph contains II brief review of events which are recorded in Numb. xiii., xiv. Israel had left the wilderness of Sinai; the cloud now J·ested in the wilderness of Paran. At this point they were not very many days' journey froru the land of promise. But it would seem that they did not like to go in and take possession of the land without more information than they as yet possessed as to its accessibility and its fitness for thefr permanent home. So they proposed that spies should be sent ahead. We gather that, at the desire of the people, Moses asked advice of the Lord, and in consequence he wa3 biuden to accede to their request. 'l'welve men were sent. Ten brought an evil report of the land; two only were full of heart and hope, strong in faith, giving glory to God. Numbers carried moro weight than worth. '!'be report of ten bore down that of two. The people would not believe the Lord. They said iu their unbelief, " Let us make a captain, 11nd return into Egypt," and even (Neh. ix. 17) "appointed a caJ.ptain to return to their bonclacre." And a sad and sorrowful glance cloes Moses cast over the sin of that time. Let ~s glance at it too. We will endeavour to gather a true estimate of the course which Israel took takincr care, as we go on, to see how far the incidents recorded here convey instruction to ma;y whose feelings are analogous to theirs. In estimating this case, let us look- I. AT THE COURSE ISRAEL TOOK IN SE:S:DINO THE SPIES. 1. It was unnecessary. For they had been redeemed by a strong hand and by a stretched-out arm from the bondage 20 THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. [en. r. 10-40.