The Pulpit Commentary — Deuteronomy — Section 492

in 1tore wi!11 him, and sealed up among I.is mine enemiet, etc. Lifting np the hnn,1 lo treasures. All that had been done had heaven was o. gesture intenrled to exptcss been noted, 1mcl nil that shonlrl hnppen was that the perRon taking an r.ath appealer! to decroerl, nml should certo.inly como to pass.Gori o.s a witness of his oath, an•l wh0 w0tdrl The "this" has thus both a retrospective perish for falsr,hood (cf. Gen. xiv. 22); nnd o. prospective rcforenco; it includes both and " ne the Lord liveth" was a. common the sin of tho no.tion nnd God's deo.Iing formnln in taking an oath (cf. Numb. xiv. with them afterwnrds, ns well o.s his judg- 21; 1 Sam. xiv. 39, 45; Jer. v. 2). A.a ments on their enemies. God could swear by none greater, he swarc Ver. 34.-My treasures, God's treasures by himself (cf. Exorl. vi. 8; Nrtmh. xiv. 30: contain not only o. store of blessing, bnt nlso Isa. xiv. 23; Jer. xxii. 5; Heb. vi. 17), that instruments of punishment, which ns ho sr·es if he did come forth to avcng-c himself of meet, ho sends forth on men ( cf. eh. xxviii.Iris enemies, he woulrl n0t spnrc, but wonH 12; Job xxxviii. 22, 23; Ps. cxxxv. 7). do thoroughly what he had come forth to do. Yer. 35.-Render: Vengeance is mine, -Glittering swMd; literally, lightning of and retribution for the time when their feet sword (cf. Ez. xxi. 10 (15]). shall totter; for the day of their calamity is Ver. 42.-My sword shall devour flesh: at hand, nnd that which is prepared for literally, shall eat flesh; "the erlge of the them maketh haste. The tottering of the feet sword is called its mouth, because, like a represents the incipient fall. God would month, it is said toeatanddevour" (Gescnius). manifest himself as the Avenger when their From the beginning of revengeg upoa the calamity begcm to come upon them. enemy. Different renderings of this have Ver. 36.-The Lord shall judge his people been given: LXX., a.,ra ,mpa./\~, a.px:6v-rwv (cf. Ps. cxxxv. 14; 1 Pet. iv. 17). And •x8pwv, " from the head of the hostile repent himself for hie aervants; rather, a11dprinces ; " "from the bPatl of the chief, of have compassion upon his servants. And the enemy" ( Geseni11s, Furst, Rosenmiille,·); there is none shut up, or left. Tl10 words "from the hairy head of the foe" (Keil, rendered "shut up or left" are a proverbial Her:xheimer, Knobel). !"li!)i2, the plnral of expression for "every one, meu of oil sorts "Y!;l, hair, locks, signifies pri~arily hairs, and ( er. 1 Kings xiv. 10; xxi. 21 ; 2 Kings ix. 8; e. head of hairs, and may be taken as xiv. 26); but how the words are to be equivalent to "a hairy hei:d;" but the rendered or explnined is uncertain. Rosen- word is also used in the sense of " princes" miiller renders as iu the Authorized Version;or "chiefs" (probably because such were Gesenius has, "tho shut up o.nd the let go distinguished by copious flowing locks; free, the bond and the free ; " so also Fiirst cf. J udg. v. 2) ; hence the rendering, and Do Welte; De Dieu, "mnrried aud "head of the chiefs." The former is to be single, conjugatus et ccelebs,:' referring to the prefen·ed here, for why chiefs or princes Arabic usago iu support of bis conclusion should be referred to in thi.s connection docs (' Animo.d. in Vet. Test.,' p. 114), and thisnot appllnr (cf. Ps. lxviii. 22). The rendering Keil approves. Ewo.ld has "kept in (by of the Authorized Version is wholly un- legal impurity) or at large." The explana- authorized. This rnrse presents un in,,tance tion of Gesenius and Fiirst seems best. of alternate parallelism ; each half falls Ver. 37.-The Lord would show his into two members, and of the four members people the utter worthlessness of idols, and thus constituted, the third corresponds to bring them to acknowledge him as the only the first, and the fourth to the second; thus- true God. Their gods; the idols to which Israel hnd turned, the strange gods which a "I will make my arrows drunk wilh \Jloocl, they hncl foolishly nnd sinfully preferred to b And my sword shall devour flesh ; Jehovah. a' With the blood of the slain nud tho Ver. 39.-Bee now that I am, even I nm captives, he. The Hebrew is more expressive, See now b' From the ho.iry head of the foe." that I, I am; LXX., rn,T., r6er• 3n ,-yw ,/,,u Ver. 43.-" As this song commenced with (cf. Isa. xii. 4; xlviii. 12; John ,·iii. 24; nn appeal to hea\·en and earth to girn glory xviii. 5). Their own experience of the utter to the Lord (vers. 1-3), so it very suitably impotency of these idol-gods to help them closes with o.n appeal to the heathen to or to protect themselves from ihe stroke of rejoice with his people on account of the the Almighty was enough to convince tl1cm acts of the Lord" (Keil). Rejoice, 0 ye tho.t they wore no gods, and thnt ho a.lone nations, with his people. The .A.uthorizeu was to be feared o.n<l worshipped. Vcrsion hero follows the LXX., eucf>pa.v8,iTe Vore. 40, 41.-Theso verses should be (8v11 µ.<TO. 'TOV /\"ov avTov, and so St. Paul reud continuously : For I lift np my hand to cites the passage in Rom. xv. 10. Tlie Jewi:;h interpreters generally render, Praise his heaven, and ee.y, As I live for ever, if I whet my glittering sword, and if my hand take :people, 0 nations; and this sevcml Christinn hold on judgment; I will render vengeanoe to rnterpreters odopt. But as Roscnmiille.r  THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. [oa. xxxu. 1-&2.