The Pulpit Commentary — Deuteronomy — Section 523

xli1. 13. i-ucceas in enterprise, nnd folicity taken by eome, who hy the mechokek under- nl ll(lme. Arc assured to both. "Althou1'h sl Ctn,l Moses ns the lCtwgivcr, an,! his • going out.' ( enterprise, labour) is att.ri- portion !ls the p!Ctcc of his gmvo, which Was hntcd to 7,,,bulun, and• remaining in tents' concealed, but was within tho inheritance (tlie 0omfortnble enjoyment or life) to or Gad. But it is n fota.l objection to this IBsRehnr. in a<'oordrmce with the delineation ,·icw that not only is tho word rendered of their resp('('t.ive el,araoters in the blessing "portion" (nR7~) now hero used of a grove, of Jocob. this is to be attributed to tho poetic p!lro\lelism of the olauses, and the but the grave of Moses on Mount Nobo was whole is to be understood as Clpplying to in the territory of Reuben, not in that of hoth in the sense suggested by Grar, • Re- Gnd. Gcscnius renders, "The portion of joice, Zcbuhm and Issnehar, in your Jabour (assigned by) tho l1Lwgiver WILS preserved." Ctnd your rest'" (Keil). They shall oall the But this does not tally with the immedi1Ltely peoJ>le unto the mountain; rather, they preceding sto.tement, thllt Gad chose his ,hall call nations to the mountain, i.e. the portion for himself; at !lily rote, it could noll ru0untain of the Lord's inheritance (E:s:od. be because of this that he chose it. Gad x.. 17). the pince or his sanctuary. Saori- chose for himself a portion on the east of fioes of righteousness; i.e. sacrifices offered Jordan, and the portion he had chosen was according to God's Lnw, and in a manner sacredly kept for him, though he went with nnd a sp:rit well pleasing to him (Ps. iv. 6; his brethren to the conquest of C1Ln11an. Ii. 21). They shall suck or the abundance And he oame with the heads of the people; of the seas, etc. The treasures of both i.e. his place of marching Wlls with the sea and land should be theirs. The Tar- leaders; his place was at the head of the gumist Jonathan Beu Uzziel explains this tribes (cf. Numb. xxxii. 17, 21, 32, 11ud Josh. ns referring especially to the obtaining of i. 14; iv. 12). He exeouted the justioe of the rich purple dye fron; the shell of the the Lord, etc.; i.e. he did what God re- oyster (mure:r: Sgriw;), and the producing quired of him, obeying his commands, and of mirrors and glass vases from the sand. thereby fulfilling all righteousness (cf. The c:s:istence of vitreous sand on the coaat Mutt. iii. 15; Phil. iii. 6). With Israel; in the fellowship of Israel. of Zebuluu is attested both by Strabo (lib. Ver. 22.-Ja.cob compared Dau to a ser- ni. p. 757) nud Pliny (' Nat. Hist.,' lib. pent that suddenly springs forth by the xxni. c. 286). way, and bite9 the heels of a horse so th11t Yers. 20, 21.-AB in the blessing of Shem the rider falls backward. Moses here com• 1.,y Koah, God is praised fur Shem's pros- pares the tribe to a young lion th11t sud- p~ritv (Gen. i:s:. 26), so here God is praised denly leaps from its lair in Boshan on the for the enlarge~ent of the wnrlike trihe of object of its attack. Both similitudes Gad (cf. Gen. d1x. 19). He dwelleth u a relate to the vigour and force which the lion ; rather, a, a lioness. Though the tribe should display in conflict. noun ~•::iS hBB a masc. termination, nsa.ge Ver. 23.-Iu Jacob's blessing, Naphtali shows th~t it wu the female nnd not the appears invested with the attributes of ma.le that was thereby designated (see e.g. freedom, graeerulness, and graciousness; Gen. xlix. 9; Numb. x:s:iv. 9, where it can here Moses assures that tribe of the Di vine hardly be n mere synonym; and Job iv. 11; grace and blessing, and promises to it x:s::s:viii. 39, where the reference to the prosperity and felicity. Possess thou the young or the animal accords better with the west and the south. The word rendered lioness than with the lion, Gesenius). Ver. " west'' here (o•) properly means sea, and 21 refers to Gsd's obtaining an inheritance came to signify " west " from the fact of the for himself from Moses beyond Jordan. Mediterranean, or Great Sea, lying to the And he provided the first pa.rt for hlmself; west of Palestine. The proper meaning of literally, and he saw for himself (i.e. chose) the word is to be retained here. As the tl.e first, i.e. either the most excellent part territory of N aphta.li lay in the north of or the fi.rstfruit.'l of the conquest. Ieee.use Canaan, and was for from the sea., the there in a portion of the lawgiver, was he blessing here pronounced upon him must seated; rntber, for there the portion of the be nuderstood generally of prosperity and lead.er was reserved. The word rendered felicity. He was to possess riches as of the "lawgiver," or "leader" (pj?_Mr;i), signifies sea, and genial and fructifying wnrmth as primarily one who ordains or appoints, and of the south. is used in both the above senses ( cf. Exod. Vere. 24, 25.-Asher, the prosperous one, xxxiii. 22; Judg. v. H); it is bne applied as bis name implies, was to be rich, 1111d to Gari, because that tribe dii;p!J1yed such honoured, and strong, and peaceful. Blessed prowptitude and energy at the head of t11_e with children; rather, bl,essed among the so11s; tribr.:s in tlie conquest of the land, that 1t i.e. either bles8'ed more than the rest of the might l>t: n,garded as their leacfor. An en- sons, or blessed by the sons who were to iliely different view of the pa.l!Sage baa been reap benefit from him. From whnt follows,  en. xxxrtt. 1-29.] 'l'IlE BOOK Qlo' DmU'l'ERONOMY, 539