of it. This fa more exRctly defined as re- former wns barren and rugged, the latter Ptrielc>d to the lRnd the boundaries or which fertile and smooth; but thia ia not borne nr<' ginm-from the Arabinn desert on the out by the nctunl appearnnce of the two s0uth to LebA.non on the north, and from hills, both being equnlly barren-looking, the river EuphrRtee on the e11st to the Medi- though neither is wholly destitute of culture tcrrnneRn on the west (eh. i. 7). From the and vegetation. That Gerizim was selected wilderness and Lebanon; react, even unto for the blessing because of its posi\ion on Lebanon; i'-;?n is for j\J~l,~-,p (of. o:,'} ,y the south side of the valley "towards the in the end oft.he ,·crse). The uttermost aea; region of light," while Ebo.I wns appointed rather, the hinder sea (Numb. xxxiv. 6), the for the curse because it wo.s on tho north sea thnt lay bdiind one looking to the cast side, can be regarded only as o.n ingenious (ver. 26; of. eh. -rii. 24; ii. 25; Exod. fancy. In ver. 30, the position of the two xxiii. 2i). mountains is defined o.s on the other side of Yers. 26-32.-llloses, in conclusion, refers Jordan, i.e. on the side opposite to wheru the Israelites then were, the western side; to the blessing and the curse consequent on and as by the way-rather, behind the way- the observance or the transgression of the where the sun goeth down; i.e. the road of Law, and prescribes that when they had the west, the great roo.d which po.sseu entered on possession of the land the bless- through the west-Jordan country, and which ing should be proclaimed· from Mount is still the main route from south to north Gcrizim, and the curse from Mount Ebal. in Palestine (Ritter, iv. 293, etc.; Robinson, iii. 127), passing NablO.s and the two moun- Yer. 26.-Behold, I set before you; place tains on the ea.at, so that they are behind it. for your consideration (eh. i-r. 8; xxx. 15), Which dwell in the champaign; in the so that you mny see whither tends obedience 'Arabah (see eh. i. 1), "mentioned here as on the one hand, o.nd disobedience on the that portion of the land on the west of the other. Jordan which lay stretched out before the Yer. 28.-0ther gods, which ye have not eyes of the Israelites, who were encamped in known; in contradistinction to Jehovah, the the steppes of Moab" (Keil). Over against r<'\'ealed God, made lrnown to them by word Gilgal; i.e. not the Gilgal mentioned in ,Josh. nnd deed. iv. 19, which was east of Jericho (hod. Yers. 29, 30.-(Cf. eh. xxvii. 11.) Thou JiljO.lia), nor the Gilgo.l of Josh. xii. 23 i;halt put the blessing; thou shalt give (probably the modern Jiljulieh, in the plain ~•lc;:t/), i.e. give forth, utter, announce, of Sharon), but the Gilgal of Josh. ix. 6; proclo.i.m (cf. Gen. xlix. 21; Job i. 22 x. 6; and 2 Kings ii. 1 (hod. Jiljilia), to the [gave, i.e. uttered impiety to God]; Ps. north of Bethel, from which there is " a I. 20 [gavest, didst utter, slander]). The very extensive prospect over the great lower two mountains named stand opposite to plain, and also over the sea." (Robinson, each other, with a valley between, about two 'Bib. Res.,' iii. 13S); so that the mountains hundred ynrds broad at the widest part, in by NablO.s may be very well described as which stood the town of Shechem, now "over against it." Beside the plains of K aLl us. They were selected for the purpose Moreh; for "plains" read nalcs (of. Gen. weutioned, doubtless, because of their rela- xii. 6; XXXV. 4), ti,-e position, and probably also because tb.ey Vere. 31, 32.-The assuro.nre that they stand in the centre of tb.e land both. from should pass over Jordan and possess the north to south, and from east to west. It land of Canaan, is assi;wed as a reason and bas been suggested tb.at Ebal was appointed motive why they should observe to do all for the uttering of the curse, and Gerizim that God had commo.nded them. for the uttering of the blessing, because the
HOMILETICS. V crs. 2-9.-Tl,e voice of God in passing events to be heeded, interpre~, and obeyed. A~ in fonuer paragraphs, we have here much repe~iti~n of the same teachin_gs which had been already given. We therefore select for hom1let1c treatment the one dis- tinctive feature which marks it. '.rhe people of God are now on the verge of Canaan. Multitudes of them had been born since the march through the wilderness had begun forty years before. They could not have seen the wonders in Egypt, nor could they know, except by report, of the manifestations of the Divine displeasure at the rebellious spirit manifested. by the people during the first years of their course. But there are still some seniors left who had setn all. To these Moses makes his appeal, ere the discourse i.n which he exhorts to obedience is brought to a close. And he urges them (lit. xt. 1-32.) THE BOOK OF DEUTtRONOM'l. 197