Commentary on the Pentateuch

CHAP. XXIIII.

Vers. 1. HE went not as at other times] As being resolved to curse howsoever, and without God's leave; yea all despito di Dio (as that mouth of blasphemy Pope Juli • s the third, once said in another case) to take his own course, whatever came of it.

He set his face] As fully bent to do it, and nothing should hinder him; So our Savior Christ steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, Luk. 9.51. He steeled his forehead against all oppositions.

Vers. 2. And the spirit of God came upon him] A common spirit, a spirit of Prophecy: have not we Prophesied in thy name; said those cast-awayes. In impiis quandoque sunt dona Dei, sine Deo. God gives gifts to men, yea to the rebellious, for the use of his Church. A blind man may bear a torch in his hand, whereby others may receive benefit, though himself receive none, so here.

Vers. 3. Whose eyes are open] And therefore can speak it of a certainty: for what is more sure then sight? q.d. Israel shall be blessed, and I will stand to it. He is blessed, yea and he shall be blessed, Gen. 28.33.

Vers. 4. Falling into a trance] As was usual with the Prophets, Gen. 15. Dan. 8.17, &c. 2 Pet. 1.21. See the Note there; they were carried out of, and beyond themselves. And still Amor Dei est ecstaticus, neque juris Se sinit esse sui. —

Vers. 5. How goodly are thy tents ] It fareth with an hypocrite, as with a surveyor of lands, that taketh an exact compass of other men's grounds, of which he shall never enjoy a foot. See Chap. 23.10.

Vers. 6. As the trees of lign-aloes] An odoriferous sweet-smelling tree, growing in Arabia, which is said to be a country so sweet, that swine cannot live in it.

Vers. 7. His seed shall be in many waters ] He shall sow in locis irriguis, (as men are bid to cast their bread, their alms upon the Waters, upon the poor, as) upon a well-watered soil▪ ( Eccles. 11.1.) such as is the land of Egypt, watered by 〈◊〉 ; which makes the ground so fruitful, that they do but throw in the seed, and have four rich harvests in less the • 〈…〉 , saith One that had been there. [ He shall 〈…〉 King of the Amalekites, who was then 〈…〉 of those parts; and did, haply, think as 〈…〉 that proud Prince of Tyre, Ezek. 28. or, as the great 〈◊〉 of •• taia; of whom it is reported, that every day, after health 〈◊〉 , he causeth the trumpets to be sounded; by that sign giving leave to other Princes of the earth, to go to dinner.

Vers. 8. God brought him forth out of Egypt ] This he tells Balac, in answer to that complaint of his, Chap. 22.5. Behold, there is a people come out of Egypt, q.d. Come they 〈…〉 , but not of themselves, but by God; who said, Out of 〈◊〉 have I called my son.

Vers. 9. He lay down as a Lion ] See the Note on Gen. 49.9.

And cursed is he ] Here the sorcerer pronounceth a curse upon himself; for he desired to curse Israel, and therefore in God's account he did it.

Vers. 10. And he smote his hands together ] So doth God at the covetous person, such as Balaam was, Ezek. 22.13. Behold, I have smitten my hands at thy dishonest gain, which thou hast made, &c.

Vers. 13. I cannot go beyond ] Here was coloured covetousness, or a cloke of covetousness, 1 Thess. 2.5. See the Note there. God lets out the tedder to wicked men for a time, and then calls them back with shame enough to their task; lets them have the ball on the foot, till they come almost to the goal, and then defeats them of their great hopes; as he did this sinful couple. Balac had not his will, nor Balaam his wages; God fooled them both; pulling the morsel out of their mouths, that they had well-nigh dev • ured.

Vers. 14. I will advertise thee] viz. what to do, as he did, Num. 31.16. Parasites propound to Princes, suavia poti • s quam sana consilia, pleasing but pestilent counsel, and so do officiously mischieve them; as the dragon is said to bite the Elephants ear, and there-hence to suck his blood; that being the only place, that he cannot reach with his trunk to defend.

Vers. 16. And knew the knowledge of the most High ] The eye may be clear, while the hand is palsied. Balaam 's great knowledge was but intuitiva, standing in speculation; it was not directiva vitae: he knew but by hear-say, as a blind man knows colors; his light served but to light him into utter da • kness. Neronis Quantus artifex pereo quadrabit in te peritum, & periturum.

Vers. 17. I shall see him ] So shall every eye, and those also that pierced him, Rev. 1.17. but not as Abraham saw him, and rejoiced; nor as Job, Chap. 19.25, 27. The pure in heart, only, shall see him to their comfort; as pure glass or Crystal lets in the light of the Sun. Some wicked have greater common gifts then the godly; as many metals are brighter and more orient then the heavens; yet as those metals are not so fit, either to receive, or convey the light of the Sun; so neither are the wicked so fit, either to take, or give toothers, the knowledge of salvationby the remission of their sins.

A star out of Jacob ] Jesus Christ the true Morning-Starr, Revel. 22.16. Joh. 1.9. that those Wise-men, Matth. 2. had heard of, (probably) either from the Chaldean Sibyll, or from the Jews in the Babylonish captivity; or from this Prophecy of Balaam: for he was an East-country-man, and uttereth here a very clear and comfortable Prophecy of the Messiah, by whom himself received no benefit. Thus the Church (Christ's garden enclosed ) may be watered thorough a wooden gutter, the Sun give comfortable light thorough a sluttish window; the field may be well sowed with a dirty hand; the bell call us to the Church, though it never enter itself, but by the sound; the Well may yield excellent water, though it have much mnd, &c.

And destroy all the children of Seth] Heb. unwall; that is, conquer and subdue. Christ, by those rams-horns, by the foolishness of preaching, pulls down strong holds, 2 Cor. 10.4, 5.

Vers. 18. And Edom shall be a possession ] This was, literally, fulfilled in David, 1 Chron. 18.13. Psal. 60.8. but spiritually, and especially in Christ, Isaiah 63.1, 2, &c. who shall shortly subdue the Romish Edomite, 2 Thess. 2.8.

Vers. 19. And shall destroy him] David in the history, 1 King. 11.15, 16. Christ in the mystery, Obad. 18. even all the Antichristian rout and rabble, Revel. 19.21.

Vers. 20. First of the Nations ] Or, principal; see verse. 7.

Vers. 21. The Kenites] i. e. The Midianites, Judge. 1.16. & 4.11. mingled among the Amalekites, 1 Sam. 15.6, for whom they are, and fare the worse; as Hamath did for Damascus, Zech. 9.2.

Vers. 22. Untill Ashur ] Who, together with the Jews, carried captive all the neighbor Nations, Ier. 25.9.

Vers. 23. Who shall live when, &c.] The Assyrian (that rod of God's wrath, that over-flowing scourge,) shall take all afore him, shall bereave millions of their lives; as Caesar is said to have done: and of Mahomet the first, Emperor of the Turks, it is storied, that he had been, in his time, the death of 800000 men.

Vers. 24. From the coast of Chittim ] From Greoce and Italy. Those four great Monarchs had their times and their turns; their ruins as well as their rise.

Vers. 25. Returned to his place ] Homewards he went; but staid amongst the Midianites, and soon after came back to them, to receive money of them, saith Chazkuni; when he heard say of the plague, which had been in Israel, by his counsel: But as Shimei sought his servants, and lost his life; so Balaam, &c.

CHAP. XXV.

Vers. 1. TO commit whoredom ] By the wicked counsel of Balaam, who knew well, that no one means hath more enriched hell, then beautiful faces; and therefore taught Balac to lay this stumbling block before the children of Israel; and is therein held, by some, to have sinned against the Holy Ghost. Howsoever, he goes out in a stench, as it is usually said of his Master, the Devil.

Vers. 2. Unto the sacrifices of their gods ] Unto their idolfeasts; for S • ne Cerere & Libero friget Venus; Gluttony is the gallery that leachery walketh thorough. [And bowed down to their gods] Nemo repent sit turpissimus, by degrees, they were drawn to open idolatry. If a man's foot slip into hell-mouth, it is a miracle if he stop ere he come to the bottom. Principiis obsta dally not with the Devil; sin is very insinuative; and the old Serpent, if he once get in his head, will quickly wind in his whole body.

Vers. 3. joined himself to Baal-Peor ] Separated himself to that shame, Hos. 9.10. that abominable and shameless service of Priapus, (as Jerome and Isidore understand it) as Maachah the mother of Asa, seems to have done, 1 King. 15. and other filthy persons, whose fashion was, as soon as their sacrifice was ended, to step aside into the grove of their god, and there, like brute beasts, promiscuously to satisfy their lusts, &c. Vah scelus infandum!

Vers. 4. Take all the heads ] The chieftains; their greatness might not bear them out. Potentes potenter torquebuntur. Hell is paved, said One of old, with the bald-pates of shavelings, and with the crests of great Commanders; who had ever opposed with crest and breast whatsoever stood in the way of their sins and lusts.

Vers. 5. Unto the Judges of Israel ] Those of them that had not defiled themselves; else with what face could they punish others? or look upon those, that before their faces had been hanged up against the Sun, whose destruction was forever to be remembered, Mic. 6.5.

Vers. 6. In the sight of Moses ] This man's face was hatched over with detestable impudence; he thought, it may be, that being so great a man, none durst meddle with him. Pliny reports of Proculus Caesar, that by him, viginti virgins intra dies quindecim foetum conceperunt. Lewis the 11. of France, inviting our Edward 4. to the French Court, Recte erit cognate, saith He, jucundi vivemus & suaviter, teque oblectabis cum lectissimis foeminis, &c. (He should have added, But know, that for all these things, thou must come to Judgment: that would have, haply, allayed his lust, cooled his courage. And not have come in with his) Adhibebo tibi Cardinalem Borbonium; is, quicquid peccaris, pro ea quam habet potestate, facile expiabit, Thou shalt take thy full pleasure, and then my Cardinal shall give thee full pardon.

Vers. 7. He rose up] An heroical act, by an extraordinary motion; as was also that of Ehud: and therefore is not to be made a rule of practice; as Burchet conceited; when by this example, he held himself warranted, to kill a great personage in this Kingdom, whom he took to be a vicious man, and God's enemy.

Vers. 8. And thrust both of them thorough ] So they died in the flagrancy of their lust: as did likewise One of the Popes, taken in the act, and slain together with his harlot, by the husband of the adulteress. Mention is likewise made, by William Malmesbury, of one Walter Bishop of Hereford, Anno 1060. his offering to force his Sempster. She resisted what she might, but finding him too strong for her, thrust her sheers into his belly, and gave him his deaths-wound.

Vers. 9. Twenty and four thousand] Twenty and three thousand, saith S. Paul, 1 Cor. 10.8. insisting only in the special punishment of the people, who were provoked to sin by that other thousand, their Princes, as ver. 4. And all to show, quàm frigida & jejuna sit eorum defensio, &c. saith Junius, how poorly they plead for themselves, that think to excuse their sins, by alleging the examples of their superiors.

Vers. 13. Because he was zealous for his God ] Enraged (as a jealous man) with a holy hatred of sin, and inflamed with love to God, quem aliter amare non didicerat, as Chrysostom speaks of Basil. Non amat, qui non Zelat, saith Augustine, He is no friend to God, that is not zealous for him. To one that desired to know what kind of man Basil was, there was presented in a dream, (saith the history) a pillar of fire, with this Motto, Talis est Basilius, Basil is such a one; all on a light fire for God.

Vers. 14. A Prince of a chief house ] Whom yet Phineas spared not; as neither did John the Baptist spare Herod; nor Nathan, David; nor Bishop Lambert, King Pippin, whom he freely reproved to his face for his adultery, Anno 798. though he were afterwards therefore slain by the harlots brother. Odo Severus the 22. Archbishop of Canterbury, Anno 934. dealt like plainly with King Edwin, excommunicated his Concubines, and caused one of them, on whom the King doted unreasonable, to be fetched out of the court by violence, burnt her in the forehead with a hot iron, and banished her into Ireland.

Vers. 17. Vex the Midianites] As more malicious and mischievous then the Moabites; as appears, 1. By their detaining of 'Balaam, when the Moabites dismissed him in great displeasure. 2. By the wickedness of their women, who by Cozbi, may seem to have been meretrices meretricissimae, such as afterwards was Julia. Messalina, and that Romish Lucretia, Concubine to Pope Alexander 6. of whom Pontanus,

Vers. 18. For they vex you with their wiles ] Not with their wars; they out-wit you, over-reach you by counterfeit courtesy, cut-throat kindness; they have deceived you into those sistersins, fornication and idolatry, which God hath so severely punished.

CHAP. XXVI.

Vers. 2. FRom twenty ] See the note on Chap. 1.3.

Vers. 9. Which were famous ] But for no goodness. Tubulus (who was the Roman Praetor, a little afore Tullius time) was homo tam projecte improbus, ut ejus nomen non hominis sed vitii esse videretur, so wicked a wretch, that he seemed to be wickedness itself. Portius Latro calleth Catiline, sacrarium libidinum, portentum scelerum, gurgitem & sentinam flagitiorum, &c. a sink of sinfulness. And Josephus saith of Antipater, that his life was no better then a mystery of iniquity. These men were famous, or rather infamous, for their slagitious practices, notoriously naught, signally sinful.

Vers. 10. And they became a sign] An example of that Rule, that Great sins bring great plagues; as Herodotus hath it, speaking of the destruction of Troy, Aliorum perditio, tua sit cautio, Enjoy other men's madness. Discite justitiam moniti, &c. Let all that behold me, beware; this was written upon the statue of Sennacherib, as saith Herodotus.

Vers. 11. The children of Korah died not] As being either innocent or penitent; for, Aut poenitendum, aut pereundum, Luk. 13.3.

Vers. 44. The family of the Jesuits] Serrarius will needs derive the name (Jesuits) from the 24. verse of this chapter, (it is wonder how he missed of this plainer text) Jesuits quasi Jashubites: Like as Erasmus found Friers in St. Paul 's time, inter falsos fratres, amongst the false brethren. In Salamanca, a Frier would prove, that the name of the Virgin Mary was spoken of, Gen. 1. God called the gathering together of the waters, Maria. Doctor Poynes writes, that it was foretold in the Old Testament, that the Protestants were a malignant Church, alleging, 2 Chr. 24.19. Mittebatque prophet as ut reverterentur ad Dominum, quos protestants illi audire nolebant. We may with far more show of reason, fetch the name of Protestants (retained also by their Douay translation) from that text, then they can from this, the name of Jesuits, alias Jebusites.

CHAP. XXVII.

Vers. 3. BUt died in his own sin] i. e. By a natural and an ordinary death, not by a special plague, as that Arch-rebel Korah. Death is the just hire of the least sin, Rom. 6. ult. But some evil-doers, God doth not only put to death, but also hangs them up in gibbets, as it were, for public notice and admonition.

Vers. 4. Give unto us therefore a possession ] This plea for a part in a land not yet conquered, is a proof of their faith, and could not but encourage others. Such a masculine faith, was that of Mrs. Anne Askew, Martyr, who thus subscribed her confession, Written by me Anne Askew, that neither wisheth for death, nor feareth his might; and as merry as one that is bound for heaven. I will not bid you good night, (said Hellen Stirk, Scotchwoman, to her husband, at the place where they both suffered Martyrdom,) for we shall suddenly meet in the heavenly Canaan. And was it not by the force of her faith, (that substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, Heb. 11.1.) that Crispina gaudebat, cum tenebatur, cum audiebatur, cum damnabatur, cum ducebatur.

Vers. 7. And thou shalt cause the inheritance ] Let the French defend their Salique law as they can. It was a witty Essay of him, who styled women, the second Edition of the Epitome of the whole world; witness Artemisia, Zenobia, Blandina, the Lady Jane Gray, (whose excellent beauty, adorned with all variety of virtues, as a clear sky with stars, as a Princely Diadem with jewels, gave her the style of Eruditionis, pietatis, & modestiae delicium, ) and Queen Elizabeth, in whom, besides her sex, there was nothing woman-like, or weak: as if (what Philosophy saith) the souls of those noble creatures, had followed the temperament of their bodies; which consist of a frame of rarer rooms, of a more exact composition then man's doth; and (if place be any privilege,) we find theirs built in Paradise, when man's was made out of it. Besides, in Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female, but all are one, (souls having no sexes;) and whosoever are Christ's, are Abraham 's seed, and heirs according to the promise, Gal. 3.28, 29.

Vers. 11. A statute of judgment] A standing law, a standard for all cases of like kind, in that policy at least; for we cannot consent to Carolostadius, who contended, in foro jus ex Mose dicendum esse, that all other national and municipal laws were to be abolished; and that all courts were now to pass sentence according to Moses 's laws. Hic non intellexit vim & naturam Christianae libertatis; This man knew not the extent of Christian liberty, saith Melancthon.

Vers. 12. See the land ] It was somewhat, to see; but oh how fain would he have entered the Land, and could not! we shall have in heaven, not only vision, but fruition; we have it already in Capite-tenure, in Christ our head and husband; who will not be long without us: it being part of his heaven, that we shall be where he is, John. 17.24. and enjoy God, which is heaven itself: whence in Scripture, God is called Heaven; I have sinned against heaven. And I had rather be in Hell, and have God present; then in Heaven, and God absent, saith Luther.

Vers. 13. Gathered to thy people ] To that great Panegyris, the general Assembly and Church of the first-born in heaven, Heb. 12.23. to that glorious Amphitheatre, where the Saints shall see and say, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , &c. as Chrysostom hath it; Look, yonder is Peter, and that is Paul, &c. we shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; have communion with them, not only as godly men, but as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Vers. 14. For ye rebelled ] Sin may rebel in the Saints, but not reign; neither is it they that rebel, but sin that dwelleth in them; dwelleth, but not domineereth.

Vers. 16. The God of the spirits of all flesh ] Thou, Lord, that knowest the hearts of all men, Act. 1.24. See the Note there. Artificers know well the nature and properties of their own work. Deus intimior nobis intimo nostro.

CHAP. XXVIII.

Vers. 2. MY offering ] He is owner of all; and of his own we give him, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , said that great Emperor. [And my bread] Called their bread for their souls, that is, the bread for their natural sustenance, common bread; when not rightly offered. So Ier. 7.21. God, in scorn, calls their sacrifice, flesh, ordinary flesh, such as is sold in the shambles. So at the Lord's Supper, impenitent communicants receive no more then the bare elements; panem Domini; but not panem Dominum. [In their due season] Which for 38. years they had intermitted. Get a settlement, or Sabbath of spirit; or else God shall be but ill (if at all) served.

Vers. 3. This is the offering ] See the Note on Exod. 29.38, 39.

Vers. 9. And on the Sabbath day ] Every day should be a Sabbath to the Saints, in regard of ceasing to do evil, learning to do well: but on the seventh-day-Sabbath our devotion should be doubled. 'Debet totus dies festivus a Christiano expendi in operibus sanctis, said Robert Grosthead Bishop of Lincoln, long since. The whole Sabbath should be spent in God's service, Psal. 92. titled a Psalm for the Sabbath, mentions morning and evening performances, verse. 2. Variety of duties, may very well take up the whole day with delight. Besides, God gives us fix whole days. Now to sell by one measure, and buy by another, is the way to a curse.

Vers. 11. And in the beginning of your months ] Thus they had their daily, weekly, monthly, yearly addresses unto God, that they might ever be in communion with him, and conformity unto him, by this continual intercourse: On the new-Moons they rested, Amos 8.5. feasted, 1 Sam. 20.5. heard the Word, &c. 2 King. 4.29.

Vers. 17, 18, 19, &c.] See the Notes on Exod. 12.18. and on Levite. 23.7, &c.

CHAP. XXIX.

Vers. 1. ANd in the seventh month ] This Sabbath-month (as it were) had as many feasts in it, as were celebrated in all the year besides. So that, as the Sabbath is the Queen of days, so was this of months. [It is a day of blowing] See the Note on Levite. 23.24.

Vers. 7. And ye shall have ] See Levite. 16.19. with the Notes.

Vers. 12. And on the fifteenth ] See Levite. 23.34, 35, &c. with the Notes. There the feasts were prescribed, and here the sacrifices belonging to them are described.

Vers. 17. And on the second day ye shall offer twelve, &c.] In every of these seven-days-sacrifices, one bullock is abated: Hereby the Holy Ghost might teach them their duty, to grow in grace, and increase in sanctification: that their sins decreasing, the number of their sacrifices (whereby atonement was made for their sins) should also decrease daily. Or it might signify a diminishing and wearing away of the legal offerings, &c. as One well observeth; Hac caeremoniâ significabat Deus gratiam suam de die in diem crescere, it a nempe ut minuatur vetus homo, & novus augeatur, &c. (saith Alsted ) till the very ruins of Satan's castles be (as most of our old Castles are) almost brought to ruin.

Vers. 18. After the manner ] That is, in manner and form aforesaid. The Manner is that that makes or mars the action; as a good suite may be marred in the making, so a good duty: there may be malum opus in bona materia. Jehu 's zeal was rewarded as an act of justice, quoad substantiam operis; and punished as an act of policy, quoad modum agendi, for the perverse end. Yea David, for failing in a ceremony only, though with an honest heart, suffered a breach instead of a blessing, 1 Chron. 15.17. Idolaters also went on in their own manner, Amos 8.14. as their idol-Priests prescribed, The manner of Beersheba liveth; that is, the form of rites of the worshipping in Beersheba, as the Chaldee paraphraseth.

CHAP. XXX.

Vers. 1. ANd Moses spake unto the heads ] Because they were in place of judicature; and had power, either to bind • men to their vows, or set them at liberty.

Vers. 2. If a man vow a vow unto the Lord ] God is the proper object of a vow, Psal. 76.11. Papists vow to saints, both themselves (as to Francis, Austin, Dominick, &c.) and other things, as pilgrimages, oblations, &c. Our Lady (as they call her) of Loretto, hath her Churches so stuffed with vowed presents and memories, as they are fain to hang their cloisters and church-yards with them. This is sacrilege, yea it is idolatry.

To hind his soul with a bond ] Which none ought to do, but such as. 1. Are free, or have the consent of their governors. 2. Such as have knowledge and judgment, to discern of a vow, or oath, Eccles. 5.3, 5. 3. Are conscientious, as Jacob, Hannah, &c. Not such votaries as Herod, Mat. 14.7. those Assassins, Act. 23.14. those Idolaters, Ier. 44.27. [He shall not break his word] If he do, he will make a great breach in his conscience, and crack his comfort exceedingly: better not vow, then not pay, Eccles. 5.4. It is a sin, as bad or worse then perjury: and God takes it heavily at men's hands, Ier. 34.10, 11.

Vers. 4. And her father shall hold his peace ] Qui tacet, consentire videtur; a rule in civil law, silence is a kind of consent.

Then all her vows shall stand ] Provided, that she vow. 1. Such things as are lawful, and warrantable by the word; for to vow to do evil, is an utter abomination, as Act. 23.14. Deut. 23.18. 2. Such things as are possible, and in her power, either naturally, or by the assistance of God's grace, promised to her: Such is not the popish vowing of virginity, since, omnes non capiant hoc, all men cannot contain. Their vows of continency, breed all manner of incontinency in their Clergy.

Vers. 5. But if her father disallow her ] Those that vow Monastical obedience, renounce all duty to their parents, and service to their country. Parents are our 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , as a heathen said, our household gods, as it were; and have power to disannul, or ratify the vows of their children: but the • apists are true heirs to the Pharisees, who taught not to honor father or mother, Mat. 15.6. and so do make the Commandment of God, of none effect, by their tradition. Full well have they done it, Mark 7.9. But what cannot they do? The Pope, saith Cardinal Bellarmine; potest de injustitia facere justitiam, ex nihilo aliquid, ex virtute vitium: he can make righteousness of unrighteousness, something of nothing, vice of virtue; And it seems so indeed by his practice. For when the Cardinals meet to choose a Pope, they make a vow, whosoever is chosen, he shall swear to such articles as they make. And Sleidan saith, the Pope is no sooner chosen, but he breaks them all; and checks their insolencies, as if they went about to limit his power, to whom all power is given, both in heaven and earth.

Vers. 6. And if she had at all an husband ] Hannah 's vow, 1 Sam. 1.11. was made, either by the consent of her husband, or else by peculiar instinct from God.

Vers. 13. To afflict her soul▪ This is one instance of what she may vow. She may curb wanton flesh, from the use of things lawful in themselves, but hurtful to her; and that by a vow, as did the Rechabites, Ier. 35.8, 9.10. which the devil seeing, will despair; for vows are as exorcisms, to allay our rebellious spirits, and as cords to hamper our treacherous hearts, when they would slip the collar, and detrect the yoke. In short, a man may lawfully vow a thing that is either a part of God's worship, (as to fast once a month before the Sacrament, to pray so many times a day, &c.) or a furtherance thereof; as to found a lecture, build a college, school, alms-house, give so much weekly to the poor, &c.

CHAP. XXXI.

Vers. 2. Avenge the children of Israel ] This is called the vengeance of Jehovah, verse. 3. The righteous Judge will not fail to avenge our unrighteous vexations, if we commit ourselves to him in well-doing.

Vers. 3. Arm some of yourselves unto the war ] Lactantius being (according to his name,) a mild and milken man, abhorred bloodshed, thought it not lawful for a just man to be a warrior; whose justice was his warfare. But this was his error: Patres legendi sunt cum venia; God bids here: Arm your selves, &c. Indeed it is utterly unlawful for men, willfully to thrust themselves into unnecessary wars: and it is reported, in the life of Saint Augustine, that he would never pray for such. But when God sounds the alarm, as here, Cursed is he, that doth this work of the Lord negligently: Cursed is he, that keepeth back his sword from blood, Ier. 48.10.

Vers. 5. Twelve thousand ] This was no great army; but they were Deo armati, with whom there is no restraint, to save by many, or by few, 1 Sam. 14.6. How wondrously did God work, by that handful of Hussites in Bohemia, when all Germany was up in arms against them, by the Popes instigation! And may it not be said of that small remnant, that now fighteth the Lord's battles in Ireland? The Lord hath done great things for them, whereof we are glad. Have they not been helped, with a little help indeed? the more is our shame, that send them no more.

Vers. 6. Them and Phinehas ] Not without Joshua the General, (though not here mentioned) the mighty conqueror of all Israel's enemies, that rose up and resisted them: famours is he for his faithfulness and fortitude; in cognoscendis rebus bellicis perspicax, in agendo solers: noverat optime insidias facere, proelium committere, victoria uti, &c. as Dio saith of Decebalus king of the Daci, in Domitians days. i.e. Well-skilled in war-like businesses, and diligent in dispatching them; He knew well how to lay an ambush, worst an enemy, use a victory, &c.

Vers. 8. And Zur ] The father of Cozbi, that noble harlot. Dignitas in indigno est ornamentum in luto. S • des prima, et vita ima, is but golden rubbish, eminent infamy, noble dishonor.

Balaam also the son of Beor ] See the Note on Chap. 24.25. O that God would cause the false • rophets, and the unclean spirit (for whom they act, and by whom they are acted,) to pass out of our land, according to his promise, Zeph. 13.2.

Vers. 9. Took all the women ] The Jews are a nation, to this day, noted for effeminate; and yet they hold, that women are of a lower creation, made for the propagation and pleasure of man; and therefore they suffer them not to enter their Synagogues, but appoint them a gallery without.

Vers. 10. And they burnt all their ci • yes ] For the same reason, perhaps, that our Henry the eight demolished so many Monasteries, saying, C • rvorum nidos esse penitus disturbandos, ne iterum ad cohabitandum convolent, that the crows-nests were to be utterly destroyed, lest they should make further use of them again another time. Or rather, lest sloth or covetousness shouid draw any of the Israelites, to hide themselves in these nests, and neglect the promised land.

Vers. 13. Went forth to meet them] As Melchisedee went forth to meet Abraham, returning with victory, Gen. 14. as Archb. Hubert met our Richard the first, returning from the holy land (as they called it;) both of them first falling to the earth, rose again, ran into each others arms; comforting themselves with mutual embraces, and weeping with joy.

Vers. 14. And Moses was wroth ] For all the joy, he could not but be zealous for the Lord of Hosts, when he saw the train. Zeal is the cream of all the affections.

Vers. 15. Have ye saved all the women alive?] By whom ye have so lately sinned, and so lately suffered? Keep thee far from an evil matter, Exod. 23.7. Circa serpentis antrum positus, non eris diu illaesus, saith Isidor. We should take heed, how we play about the hole of the asp, or near the den of the cockatrice, Isai. 11.8. Sin and temptation come both under our name, in the Lord's prayer. To pray, lead us not into temptation, and yet to run upon the occasion of sin, is, to thrust a finger into the fire, and then pray, not be burnt. These Israelites should have said to those Midianitish huswives, as those in Isaiah did to their Idols, Get you hence, Avaunt; they should have here been as cautelous, as they were in other cases. For being forbidden to make Covenants with the Gentiles, they also abstained from drinking with them; because that was a ceremony, used in striking of covenants; and so it might have drawn them on thereunto. Our dallying with the occasions of sin, doth usually tempt the devil to tempt us.

Vers. 18. That have not known a man] As far as they could conjecture by their age. But the way of a man with a maid, is one of Solomon's secrets, Prov. 30.19. Of Rebecca it is noted, that she went for a maid, and she was so, Gen. 24.16. But Quartilla the strumpet in Petronius, was not ashamed to say, junonem meam iratam habeam, si unquam me meminerim virginem fuisse. That she could not remember, that ever she was a maid. And what a base slander was that, cast upon our religion by an impudent Jesuit, Sylvester petrasancta; Puellas plerunque corruptas nuptui dari in reformato Evangelio; that few maids amongst us, come clear to marriage.

Vers. 19. Whosoever hath killed any person ] War, though never so just, is the slaughter-house of mankind, and the hell of this world. Homer brings in Mars the god of battle, as most hated of Jupiter; bellum per antiphrasin, quia minime bellum. For every battle of the Warriour is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood, Isai. 9.5. What a strange man then was Pyrrhus King of the Epirotes; of whom Justin reports, that he took more pleasure in fighting, then in reigning? And what a hard heart had Hannibal, who when he saw a pit full of man's blood, which he had spilled, cried out, O formosum spectaculum! O brave sight! So, O rem regiam, said Valesus, ( i.e. O Kingly act!) when he had slain three hundred persons. And what a strange hell-hag was that Queen, who when she saw some of her Protestant Subjects lying dead, and stripped upon the earth, cried out, The goodliest tapestry that ever she beheld? God, that he might teach his people not to have feet swift to shed blood, tells them here of a ceremonial uncleanness, contracted by killing, though an enemy, devoted by him to destruction.

Vers. 23. And all that abideth not the fire ] We must deal with every man (saith One from this text) according to his temper; indulge them what lawfully you may. Quod tamen accipiendum est cum grano salis.

Vers. 49. And there lacketh not one man of us] A wonderful work of God; a whole Nation cut off with no loss at all. This was the Lord's own doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. Surely, if the Grecians so thankfully acknowledged to their Jupiter, that overthrow they gave to the Persians, by Themistocles, and called him 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , their Deliverer; how much more might these Israelites celebrate the unparalleled goodness of their gracious God, in this so unbloody a victory?

Vers. 53. For the men of war had taken spoil] And kept what they caught, to themselves. The Turks, when they had taken Constantinople, wondered at the wealth thereof, (which the Citizens would not be drawn to part with for their own preservation,) and were so enriched therewith, that it is a proverb amongst them at this day, if any grow suddenly rich, to say, He hath been at the sacking of Constantinople.

CHAP. XXXII.

Vers. 1. A Place for cattle ] Fat, and fit for the purpose; like those pastures in Ireland, so fertile and abounding with sweet grass, that the people are forced to drive their cattle to some other more barren grounds, at some time of the day, lest they should surfeit. See Mic. 7.14. Ier. 50.19.

Vers. 5. Let this land be given unto thy servants] An unsavory and unseasonable motion this might seem at first; and did, even to Moses himself; as appears in the next verse. And surely, it is probable, that they were too much set upon that portion of earth, as Lot was upon the Plain of Sodom, Gen. 13.10. and was therefore, soon after, carried captive by the four Kings; as these in the text are noted to be the first that were carried captives out of their land, 1 Chron. 5.25, 26. Strong affections cause strong afflictions: when God seeth people set upon it, to have this or that, have it they may, but with an afterclap, that shall disweeten it. How was David crossed in his Absalom, Absalom in his Kingdom, Amnon in his Tamar, &c. 1 Sam. 1.5? He loved her, and the Lord made her barren.

Vers. 11. They have not ] See the Note on Chap. 14.24.

Vers. 14. An increase of sinful men] A race of rebels; neither good egg, nor bird; sin runs in a blood, many times; ye seed of serpents, ye generation of vipers, ye fill up the measure of your fathers sins, Matth. 23.32. Domitius, the father of Nero, foretold the wickedness of his son; for it cannot be, said he, that of me and my wife Agrippina, any good man should be born. When One complained, that never father had so undutiful a child; yes, said his son, (with less grace then truth) My grandfather had.

Vers. 16. We will build sheep-folds ] This was their intent at first, though Moses mistook them. There may be gross mistakes (and thereupon grievous unkindnesses) betwixt dearest friends. Cyril, and John, Bishop of Antioch, objected heresy one to another, and proceeded as far as excommunication, postea comperti idem sentire; so did Cyril and Theodoret.

Vers. 23. Be sure your sin will find you out ] The guilt will haunt you at heels, as a bloodhound; and the punishment will overtake you, as it did that Popish Priest in Lancashire, who being followed by one that found his glove, with a desire to restore it him, but pursued inwardly with a guilty conscience, leaps over a hedge, plunges into a Marle-pit behind it, unseen, and unthought of, wherein he was drowned. Or as it did that other Priest, who having escaped the fall of Black-Friers, Anno 1623. (where two of his fellow-shavelings, with about a hundred more, perished,) and taking water, with purpose to sail into Flanders, was east away, with some others, under London -Bridge, the boat being over-turned.

Vers. 38. Their names being changed ] Out of detestation of those idols, Baal, Nebo, &c. (See Exod. 23.13. Psal. 16.4.) Isai. 46.1. Absit ut de ore Christiano sonet Jupiter omnipotence, & Mehercule, & Mecastor, & coetera, magis portenta quam numina, saith Jerome. Heathenish gods should not be so far honored, as to be heard of out of Christian mouths; nor Popish Idols neither. I myself, saith Latimer, have used in mine earnest matters, to say, yea by the Rood, by the Mass, by St. Mary, which indeed is naught. Some simple folk say, they may swear by the mass, because there is now no such thing; and by our Lady, because she is gone out of the Country.

CHAP. XXXIII.

Vers. 2. ANd Moses wrote ] Moses was primus in historia, as Martial saith of Salust.

Vers. 4. For the Egyptians buried] As iron is very soft, and malleable, whiles in the fire; but soon after, returns to its former hardness: so was it with these Egyptians. Affliction meekneth men: hence affliction and meekness grow upon the same Hebrew root.

Vers. 29. From Mithcah ] Which signifies sweetness.

And pitched in Chasmonah ] Which signifies swiftness. We must also, when we have tasted of God's sweetness, use all possible swiftness in the ways of holiness: as Jacob, when he had seen visions of God at Bethel, he lift up his feet, and went on his way lustily, like a generous horse after a bait; or a giant after his wine; the joy of the Lord is your strength, Neh. 8.

Vers. 38. And died there in the fortieth year ] Nec te tua plurimaPenthe • Labentem texît pietas. — The righteous die as well as the wicked; yea the righteous oft before the wicked: 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , God sends his servants to bed, when they have done their work; as here he did Aaron: and as within these few days, he hath done, (to mine unspeakable loss and grief,) my dearest brother, and most faithful friend, Mr. Thomas Jackson, that able and active instrument of God's glory, (while he lived) in the work of the Ministry at Gloucester; the sad report of whose death, received whilst I was writing these things, made the pen (almost) fall out of my singers; not for my own sake so much, as for my Country, whereof he was, I may truly say, the Bul-wark and the Beauty; as Ambrose is said to have been the walls of Italy: 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , said Theodosius. Ambrose, whiles alive, was the only Minister, (to speak of) that I knew in the whole Country: And dilexi virum, qui cum corpore solveretur, magis de Ecclesiarum statu, juam de suis periculis angebatur, said the same Emperor, of the same Ambrose; I could not but love the man, for that when he died, his care was more for the Churches welfare, then for his own. I can safely say the same of the man in speech, (without offense to any be it spoken;) and I greatly fear, lest as the death of Ambrose fore-ran the ruin of Italy; so that it bodes no good to us, that God pulls such props and pillars out of our building. But this by way of digression, to satisfy my great grief for so dear a friend deceased, as David did his, for his brother Jonathan; and made him an Epitaph, 2 Sam. 1.17.

Vers. 52. Destroy all the pictures ] Those Balaam 's blocks, those excellent instruments of idolatry; such as was the rood of Hailes, and Cockra • rood; which if it would not serve to make a god, yet with a pair of horns clapt on his head, might make an excellent Devil; as the Mayor of Doncaster persuaded the men of Cockram, who came to him, to complain of the Joyner that made it, and refused to pay him his money for the making of it.

Vers. 55. Shall be pricks in your eyes ] The eye is the tenderest part, and soon vexed with the least mote that falls into it. These Jebusites preserved, should be notorious mischi • fs to them; as the Jesuits, at this day, are to those Christian States that ha • bour them. Shall we suffer those vipers to lodge in our bosoms, till they eat out our hearts? Sic notus Ulysses? Jesuits, like bells, will never be well tuned, till well hanged. Among much change of houses in foreign parts, they have two, famous for the accordance of their names; the one called the Bow at Nola, the other, the Arrow (la Flesc • e, given them by Henry 4, whom afterwards they villainously stabbed to death,) in France. Their Apostate Ferrier plaid upon them, in this distich:

CHAP. XXXIV.

Vers. 2. THis is the land that shall fall ] It is God that assigns us our quarters, and cuts us out our several conditions; appointing the bounds of our habitation, Act. 17. This should make us rest contented with our lot, and (having God our portion) say howsoever, as David did, The lines are fallen to me in a fair place, Psal. 16.6. It is that our Father sees fit for us.

Vers. 3. Then your South-quarter shall be ] Judea was not above 200 miles long, and 50 miles broad; not near the half of England, by much, but far more fertile, (called therefore Sumen totius orbis: ) and yet England is, for good cause, counted the Western granary, the garden of God, whose valleys are like Eden, whose hills are as Lebanon, whose springs are as Pisgah, whose rivers are as Jordan, whose walls is the Ocean, whose defense is the Lord Jehovah.

Vers. 6. The great Sea ] Commonly called the Mediterranean Sea; betwixt which and the Jews, lay the Philistines; as now betwixt the Church and the Turk, lies the Pope and his followers; Italy being the mark that the Turk shoots at, Loe, a sweet providence of God.

Vers. 8. Unto the entrance of Hamath ] Called Hamath the Great, Amos 6.8. affecting, haply, to be held the greatest Village, as the Hague in Holland doth, and remains therefore unwalled.

Vers. 12. It shall be at the salt-Sea ] That is, the Lake of Sodom, called also, Asphaltites, and the dead Sea. Josephus saith, that an ox having all his legs bound, will not sink into the water of this sea, it is so thick.

Vers. 17. Eleazar the Priest ] Pointing to the high Priest of the new Covenant, by whom we have entrance into the promised inheritance, whither he is gone before, to prepare a place for us, and hath told us, that in his Fathers house are many mansions, room enough.

CHAP. XXXV.

Vers. 2. SUburbs ] These were for pasture, pleasure, and other Country-Commodities, not for tillage; for the Levites were to have no such employment, Num. 18.20, 24.

Vers. 6. That he may flee thither] All sins then are not equal, as the Stoics held; neither are all to be alike punished, as by Draco's laws they were, in a manner. Those laws were said to be written, not with black, but with blood; because they punished every peccadillo almost with death, as idleness, stealing of potherbs, &c. Aristotle gives them this small commendation, that they are not worth remembrance; but only for their great severity.

Vers. 7. Shall be forty and eight cities ] Thus the Levites were dispersed throughout the land, for instruction of the people; so ought Ministers of the Gospel, who are fi • lie called the salt of the earth, that being sprinkled up and down, may keep the rest (as flesh) from rotting and putrisying.

Vers. 8. From them that have many ye shall give ] By the equity of this proportion, the richer are bound to give more to the Ministers maintenance, then the poorer. Let this be noted by those that refuse to give anything to their Ministers, because they have not those things, the tithes whereof the law requires for this purpose. See Gal: 6.6. with the Note there.

Vers. 15. Shall be a refuge ] Christ is our Asylum, to whom running for refuge, when pursued by the guilt of an evil conscience, we are safe; None can take us out of his hands; If we be in Christ the Rock, temptations, and oppositions as waves dash upon us, but break themselves.

Vers. 16. So that he die ] Though he had no intent to kill, yet because he should have looked better toit, he is a murderer, he smote him purposely and presumptuously, and the man dies of it. King James was wont to say, that if God did leave him to kill a man, (though besides his intention,) he should think God did not love him.

Vers. 18. The murderer shall surely be put to death ] This is jus gentium. The Turks justice, in this case, will rather cut off two innocent men, then let one offender escape. The Persians punish theft and man-slaughter so severely, that in an age, a man shall hardly hear either of the one, or the other. A severity fit for Italy, where they blaspheme, oftener then swear; and murder, more then revile or slander: (like the dogs of Congo, which, they say, bite, but bark not;) And no less fit for France; where, within ten years, 6000 gentlemen have been slain; as it appears by the Kings pardons. Byron, Lord high-Marshal of France, and Governor of Burgundy, slew a certain Judge, for putting to death a malefactor whom he had commanded to be spared; For this he sued for a pardon, and had it: but not long after, he turned traitor to his Prince that had pardoned him, and was justly executed.

Vers. 21. He shall surely be put to death] And yet the Papists allow willful murderers, also, to take sanctuary; who should, as Joab was, be taken from the altar to the slaughter. Their hatred to Protestants is so deadly, that they hold us unworthy to live on God's ground; fit for nothing but fire and fagot; yea they send us to hell without bail or main-prize, as worse then Turks or Jews. They tell the people, that Geneva is a professed Sanctuary of all roguery; that in England, the people are grown barbarous, and eat young children, that they are as black as Devils, &c.

Vers. 23. Or with any stone] As at the funeral solemnities of Q. Anne, a scholar was slain by the fall of a letter of stone, thrust down from the battlements of the Earl of Northamptons house, by one that was a spectatour.

Vers. 25. Unto the death of the high Priest ] Because he was, amongst men, the chief god on earth, and so the offense did most directly strike against him. Or rather, because the high Priest was a type of Christ: and so this release was a shadow of our freedom and redemption by the death of Christ.

CHAP. XXXVI.

Vers. 1. ANd spake before Moses ] Who was their common Oracle to inquire of, in all doubtful cases. Like as at Rome, C. Scipio Nasica, (whom the Senate, by way of honor, called Optimus, ) had a house in the high-street assigned him, at the public charge, quo faciliùs consuli posset? that any man might go to him for counsel. And surely, as the Roman General never miscarried, so long as he followed the advice of Polybius, his historian; so neither did, or could, this people do amiss, if ruled by Moses, who was the mouth of God, verse. 5.

Vers. 6. To whom they think best ] See Gen. 24.57, 58. with the Note there.

Vers. 7. Shall keep himself to the inheritance ] This was an excellent law to cut off quarrels, strifes, and law-suites, and to frustrates those qui latrocinia intra moenia exercent, as Columella said of the Lawyers of his time.

Vers. 11. For Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, &c.] The names of these virgins, (as one Interpreter elsewhere observeth) seem to be not without mystery. For, Zelophehad, by interpretation, signifieth, the shadow of fear, or of dread: his first daughter, Machlah, Infirmity; the second, Noah, Wandering; the third, Hoglah, Turning about for joy, or Dancing; the fourth Milcah, a Queen; the fifth, Tirzah, Well pleasing, or Acceptable. By these names, we may observe the degrees of our reviving by grace in Christ; for we all are born, as of the shadow of fear, being brought forth in sin; and for fear of death, were all our life-time subject to bondage, Heb, 2.15. This begetteth infirmity, or sickness, grief of heart for our estate. After which, Wandering abroad for help and comfort, we find it in Christ, by whom our sorrow is turned into joy. He communicates to us of his royalty, making us Kings and Priests unto God his Father; and we shall be presented unto him glorious, and without blemish, Ephes. 5.27. So the Church is beautiful as Tirz • h, Cant. 6.3.

Deo soli Gloria.

CHAP. I. Vers. 1. These be the words which Moses spake.

A Nd surely he spake thick, if he spake (as some cast it up) this whole Book in less then ten days space. Certain it is, that he spake here (as ever) most divinely, and like himself, or rather beyond himself; the end of a thing being better (if better may be) then the beginning thereof, Eccles. 7.8. as good wine is best at last; and as the Sun shines most amiably when it is going down. This book of the law it was, that the King was to write out with his own hand, Deut. 17.18, 19. that it might serve as his Manual, and attend him in his running library. This was that happy book that good Josiah lighting upon, (after it had long lain hid in the Temple) melted at the menaces thereof, and obtained of God, to die in peace, though he were slain in battle. This only book was that silver brook, that pretiously-purling current, out of which the Lord Christ, our Champion, chose all those three smooth stones, wherewith he prostrated the Goliath of hell, in that sharp encounter, Mat. 47, 10. And surely, if Tully could call Aristotle's Politicks, (for the elegancy of the style, and for the excellency of the matter) aureum flumen orationis: And if the same Author durst say. that the law of the twelve tables did exceed all the libraries of Philosophers, both in weight and worth: how much rather is all this true of this second edition of God's law, with an addition?

Vers. 2. There are eleven d • yes journey ] So many days march for a foot army. But Philo the Jew saith, a horseman might dispatch it in three days.

Vers. 3. In the eleventh month] And in the twelfth month of this same year, he died; so that this was his swan-like song: Sic ubi fata vocant, &c.

Vers. 4. After he had slain Sihon ] If Sampson had not turned aside to see the Lion, that not long before he had slain, he had not found the honey in the carcass, Judge. 14.8. So if we recognize not our dangers, deliverances, and achievements, we shall neither taste how sweet the Lord is, nor return him his due praises. To true thankfulness is required; 1 Recognition. 2. Estimation. 3. Retribution. See them all, Psal. 116.3, 7, 12.

Vers. 5. Began Moses to declare] And he was not long about it. See the Note on verse. 1. A ready heart makes riddance of God's works; for being oiled with the Spirit, it becomes lithe and nimble, quick of dispatch.

Vers. 6. Long enough ] The law is not for men to continue under, but for a time, till they be fitted for Christ, Gal. 3.16, 17, 18. Humbled they must be, and hammered for a season; sense of misery, goes before sense of mercy.

Vers. 8. Go in and possess it ] God was ready, but they were not ripe for such a mercy. So 2 Chron. 20.33. the high places were not taken away; for the people had not yet prepared their hearts for such a reformation: the work was ensnarled and retarded by their unfitness. See Isai. 59.2.

Vers. 9. I am not able ] Politici & Ecclesiastici labores maximi sunt, saith Luther. None have so hard a tug of it, as Magistrates and Ministers. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , said Augustus to his Livia. Had we not businesses, and cares, and fears, above any private person, we should be equal to the gods.

Vers. 11. The Lord God of your fathers ] Such holy ejaculation, such sallies of soul, and egression of affection to God and his people, are frequently found in heavenly-minded men.

Vers. 12. Bear your cumbrance] A Princes temples, are not so compassed with a crown, as his mind besieged with cares: nor is he so lifted up with the Splendour of his train, as cast down, with the multitude of his fears. See the Note on verse. 9. Saint Paul also had the cumber of the churches, 2 Cor. 11.28. All care numbered and mustered together, and that with anxiety; with the same solicitude, that a man hath about his own most important business.

Vers. 15. And officers among your tribes ] That might put the laws in execution; which is the same to the law, that the clapper is to the bell. There were in good Josiah 's days, horrible abominations. And why? by the slackness of under-officers, Zeph. 3.3.

Vers. 16. Hear the causes, &c ] Hear them out. In the Forum of Rome, the accuser had six hours allotted him to accuse; the accused had nine hours to make his answer. [And judge righteously] So upright was the sentence of the Areopagites in Athens, that none could ever say, he was unjustly condemned: nay both parties, as well those that are cast, as they that cast, are alike contented.

Vers. 17. Ye shall not respect persons ] God will surely reprove you, saith Job, if you secretly accept persons, Chap. 13.10. Aequum me utrique parti tam in disceptandis controversies, quam in tuenda disciplina praebebo, said Justinian; I will hear causes without prejudicate impiety, judiciously examine them without sinister obliquity; and sincerely judge them, without unjust partiality. It was the oath of the heathen Judges, as the Orator relates, Audiam accusatorem & reum sine affectibus & personarum respectione: I will hear the plaintiff and defendant, with an equal mind, without affection, and respect of persons. And agreeable hereunto, is the oath taken by our Circuit-Judge, as it is recorded in the statute of the 18 of Edward the third.

You shall not be afraid ] For, facile a justitia deviat, qui in causis non deum sed homines pertimescit, saith Chrysostom: A fainthearted judge, doth easily pervert justice. A man of courage he must be, a Cuer-de-lion, another Cato, à quo nemo unquam rem injustam petere audebat, of whom no man ever durst desire anything unjust. This, Solomon symbolized by the steps of his throne, adorned with lions; the Athenian Judges, by sitting in Mars-street. [For the judgment is God's] whose person ye bear, and in whose seat ye sit; and should therefore sit in as great, though not so slavish a fear of offending, as Olanes in the history, sat upon the flaid skin of his father Silannes, nailed by Cambises on the tribunal: or as a Russian Judge, that fears the boiling caldron; or the Turkish Senate, when they think the great Turk to stand behind the arras, at the dangerous door. Cave, spectat Cato; take heed, Cato seeth you, was an ancient watchword among the Romans, and a great retentive from evil: how much more, amongst us, should, Cave, spectat Dominus; Take heed; the Lord looks on.

Vers. 19. That great and terrible wilderness] Abounding with want of all necessaries, Jer. 2.6 and surrounded with many, mighty, and malicious enemies. Such is this present evil world, to those that are bound for the Heavenly Canaan. Many miseries and molestations, both satanical and secular, they are sure to meet with; this world being a place of that nature, that (as it is reported of the straits of Magellan, ) which way soever a man bend his course (if homeward,) he is sure to have the wind against him.

Vers. 21. Behold the Lord ] See the Note on verse. 8.

Vers. 22. We will send men before us ] Thus empty man will be wiser then God, ( Job 11.12.) though Man be born like a wild asse-colt. It was unbelief, that prompted them to this practice: for they could not enter, because of unbelief. Carnal policy serves the worldling (as the Ostrich wings,) to make him outrun others upon earth; but helps him never a whit towards Heaven.

Vers. 23. Pleased we well ] Seeing you were set upon it, and it would be no better.

Vers. 25. And brought us word again ] Joshua and Caleb did: for the rest are not here reckoned of; God counts of men, by the goodness that is in them.

Vers. 27. Because the Lord hated us] A gross mistake: Why should it then so greatly grieve us, that our good intentions, are so much misconstrued▪ That is here complained of, as an argument of God's hatred, that he intended for an instance of his love. Deut. 4.37. & 7.8. In quo dilexistinos, wherein hast thou loved us? said those Male-contents in Malachi, that cast the helve after the hatchet, (as the proverb is:) and like children, because they might not have what they would, grew sullen, and would have nothing.

Vers. 31. As a man doth bear his son ] Charily and tenderly, as his own bowels: not hating them, as they desperately belied the Lord, verse. 27. For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? 1 Sam. 24.19. Will he accommodate him, as God did these murmurers? Never was any Prince served in such state, as they were.

Vers. 32. Ye did not believe ] Sic surdo plerunque fabulam: there was none within to make answer. Who hath believed our report, &c? We cannot get men to credit us.

Vers. 37. The Lord was angry with me ] The Saints afflictions, proceed oft from love displeased, from love offended. Fury is not in God, Isai. 27.

Vers. 41. We have sinned, we will go up ] Temporaries are set upon sin, in the very confession thereof. Unless to the confession of sin, we add confusion of sin, we do nothing, Prov. 28.13. Yet, honor me before the people, said Saul: Give me a bribe, said trembling Felix.

CHAP. II.

Vers. 1. THen we turned ] viz. When we had bought our wit, and had paid for our learning, by our late discomfiture.

Vers 3. Turn you North-ward ] Thus God word was their directour unto all places, and in all actions: In which respect, these historics of holy Scripture excel all human histories in the world; as is well observed. That which they tell us of their Dea vibilia, guiding passengers, &c. is a mere fiction.

Vers. 4. Which dwell in Seir ] To distinguish them from the Amalekites, Esau's seed too, but devoted to destruction.

And they shall be afraid of you ] Though worse afraid then hurt. Hic rogo, non furor est, ne moriare, mori? We read of some Jews, that at the sack of Jerusalem killed themselves, lest they should be taken by the enemy.

Vers. 5. Because I have given mount Seir ] Thus the Most High, divided to the nations their inheritance, Deut. 32.8. And a man must needs have some right to his inheritance, to his portion, Psal. 17.14. What Ananias had, Act. 5. was his own, whilst he had it, as Peter tells him; yet Satan had filled his heart. It is therefore a rigor, to say, the wicked are usurpers of what they have, and shall be called to account for it. When the King gives a traitor his life, he gives him meat and drink, that may maintain his life. That Duke D' Alva, is worthily taxed for a tyrant, that starved his prisoners, even after quarter; saying, though he promised to give them their lives, he did not promise to find them meat. Wicked men have both a civile title to that they have, and a title before God; who will call them to account indeed at last day, not for possessing what they had, but for abusing that possession.

Vers. 6. Buy meat of them for money ] Money answereth all things, saith Solomon, Eccles. 10.19. Money is the monarch of the world, saith another, and hears most mastery. But that covetous Chaliph of Babylon, taken by Haalon brother to Mango the great Cham of Tartary, and commanded to eat his fill, of that great wealth that he had heaped up together, found ere he died, that one mouthfull of meat was more worth then a whole houseful of money.

Vers. 7. For the Lord thy God hath blessed thee ] viz. With money, to fetch thee in other commodities: It is the blessing of God (when all's done,) that maketh rich: without this, men do but labor in the fire, labor all night and take nothing, trouble themselves to no purpose: all their endeavors, are but Arena sine calce, sand without lime, they will not hold together; but, like untempered mortar, fall asunder: there being a curse upon unlawful practices, though men be never so industrious; as you may see in Ieho • achi • , Ier. 22.

Vers. 9. Because I have given Ar ] The royal city, set upon an hill. Num. 21.15, 28. God (as liberal Lord,) gives not some small cottage or annuity, for life, to his elder servants, great men use to do,) but bountifully provides for them and theirs, to many generations. Who would not serve thee then, O King of nations?

Vers. 10. Many and tall are the Anakims] And if God cast out those Emims, or terrible-ones, before the Moabites, will he not much more cast out these Anakims before the Israelites? Nihil unquam ei negasse credendum est, quem ad vituli hortatur esum.

Vers. 12. As Israel did unto the land ] This and some other parcels, scattered here and there, seem to have been added to Moses his words, (whether by Joshua, or Ezra, or some other Prophet, it much matters not,) after the conquest of the land of Canaan.

Vers. 19. Because I have given it ] See the Note on verse, 5.

Vers. 20. Zamzummims ] 1. Big and boisterous, bearing down all before them; presumptuous wicked ones they were, and yet they called themselves Rephaims, that is, Physicians, or preservers; such indeed rulers ought to be, Isai. 3.7. The Greeks therefore call a King, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 ab 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 medela, because he is to be ligator vulnerum, chirurgus, & Reip. medicus, the commonwealths Surgeon and Physician. But such were not these Zamzummims, more then in name: 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , &c. As he said of his bow; thy name is life, but thy use is present death.

Vers. 23. And the Avims which dwelt in Hazeroth ] These are ancient things, as it is said in another case, 1 Chron. 4.22. such, as whereof there is no record but this, extant in the world. Well might that Egyptian Priest say to Solon that wise man of Greece: You Greeks are very babyes; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , neither is there an ancient writer amongst you.

Vers. 26. With words of peace ] So the Romans by their heralds, sent to those that opposed or wronged them, caduceu • & hastam, a proffer of peace first: For if we Princes (said our Henry the seventh,) should take every occasion that's offered, the world should never be quiet, but wearied with continual wars. Cuncta prius tentanda, &c.—truncatur et artus, ut liceat reliquis securum vivere membris.

Vers. 30. Had hardened his Spirit ] Deus quem destruit, dementat, God makes fools of those, whom he intends to destroy.

Vers. 37. Only unto the land ] This kindness these Ammonites in after-ages very evil requited, Am. 1.13. Ier. 49.1. dealing by them, as that monster Michael Balbus, dealt by the Emperor Leo Armenius, whom he slew the same night that this Prince had pardoned and released him.

CHAP. III.

Vers. 1. THen we turned • How pleasant must the continuation of this holy history needs be to every good heart, out of the mouth of Mosus? Methinks I see the people's ears linked to his tongue, with golden chains; as the Heathens fable of their Hercules. And surely, if King Alphousus, and some others, of whom the Physicians despaired, did recover health beyond all expectation, only by reading Livy, Curtius, Aventinus, &c. What may we think may be done by these Wholsome words, these healing histories, if rightly regarded?

Vers. 2. Fear him not▪ Though of a formidable stature, verse. 11. The Lion is not so fierce as he is painted, saith the Spanish proverb. God will crack the hairy scalp of his enemies, Psal. 68.

Vers. 6. The men, women, and children,] The Hebrew word, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 ; here rendered Men, written with tsere, signifieth, Dead men: Surely, every man in his best estate, or when best underlaid, is altogether vanity, Selah.

Vers. 11. Remained ] Sc. in Bashan; and he seems to have been of the remnant of those Rephaims, whom Chedorlaomer and his company smote in Ashteroth, Gen. 14.5. with Josh. 13.12.

Is it not in Rabbah ] Kept for a monument of so mighty and massy a man.

Vers. 13. Land of Giants ] Such as are said to be in another land, in another life. For he knoweth not that the Giants are there, and that her guests are in the depths of hell, Prov. 29.18.

Vers. 16. Unto the river Jabbok.] Famous for Jacob 's wrestling with God, near unto it, Gen. 32.22.

Vers. 21. So shall the Lord ] God hath, and therefore God will, is a strong Medium of hope, if not a demonstration of Scripture-Logic.

Vers. 26. Speak no more ] Christians must be sober in prayer, 1 Pet. 4.7.

CHAP. IV.

Vers. 1. THe statutes and the judgments ] By statutes, we may understand the moral law; by Judgments, the judicial; which was fitted to the Jews: Like as Solon being asked whether he had given the best laws to the Athenians? answered, The best that they could suffer. As for the ceremonial law, it is called, Statutes that were not good, because they commanded neither virtue nor vice, in themselves; as One gives the reason.

Vers. 2. Ye shall not add ] The Jews have added their Deuteroseis, the Turks their Alfurta; the Papists, their unwritten verities, which they equalize (at least) to the holy Scriptures; and so argue them of insufficiency and imperfection.

Vers. 3. Destroyed them ] Hanging them up in gibbets, as it were, before your eyes, to warn you.

Vers. 4. Are alive ] Your innocence prevailed for your safety; as it usually doth in a common defection.

Vers. 6. For this is your wisdom ] Omnis sapientia hominis in hoc uno est, (saith Lactantius) ut Deum cognoscat & colat: hoc nostrum dogma haec sententia est: To know and do the Will of God, this is the whole of man's wisdom. The heart of the wise man is at his right hand, Eccles. 10.2. as teaching it to put things in practice, and to prove by experience, what that good, and holy, and acceptable will of God is, Rom. 12.2.

A wise and understanding people ] The Spaniards are said to seem wise, and are fools; the French to seem fools, and are wise: the Portugals neither to be wise, nor so much as to seem so; the Italians both to seem wise, and to be so. But may not that of the Prophet be fitly applied to them all, Behold, they have rejected the Word of the Lord, and what wisdom is in them? Jer. 8.9.

Vers. 7. Who hath God so nigh unto them ] Yea, this was it that made them so great a nation, who otherwise were but Methemispar, few in number. This made Moses so passionately cry one, Happy are thou, O Israel! who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord! &c. Deut. 33.29.

Vers. 8. So righteous ] See the Note on Chap. 1. verse. 1.

Vers. 9, Only take heed ] Cavebis autem, si pavebis.

Lest thou forget ] Eaten bread is soon forgotten.

Teach them thy sons] A special help against forgetfulness; yea this is the best art of memory. Of all things, God cannot abide to be forgotten.

Vers. 10. Specially the day] An high favor, and most honourably mentioned, Neh. 9.13.

Vers. 12. Ye saw no similitude ] Numa, the Roman Law-giver, would not permit any image, whether painted, or carved, to be placed in their Temples, eo quod nefas duceret praestantiora deterioribus adsimulare, because he held it unlawful to set forth a better thing by a worse. &c. Hence it was, that the Roman Temples had no pictures in them, for 170 years after the building of that city. Irenaeus reproves the heretics, called Gnostici, for that they carried about the Image of Christ, made in Pilate's time, after his own proportion; for, to whom will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? Isaiah. 40.18.

Vers. 14. Statutes and Judgments ] See verse. 1.

Vers. 15. Take ye therefore good heed ] These many cautions note our proneness to this evil, above others; this appeareth somewhat in children so delighted with pictures, and in that idolomania of these Jews; of the Eastern Churches, and of the Synagogue of Rome.

Vers. 16. The likeness of male or female] As the blind Ethnics did; concluding their petitions with that general, Dii, Deaeque omnes.

Vers. 17. The likeness of any beast ] Which was a piece of the Egyptian madness. Israel, by being there, had learned to set up one calf; Jeroboam, two.

Vers. 18. The likeness of any fish] As was Dagon the God of the Philistines, whence he had his name.

Vers. 19. All the host of heaven ] Called the Queen of heaven, Ier. 7. _____ [should be driven] Or, drawn by the enticement of the Devil, who is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , (saith Synesius ) a great Image-monger; or by the seduction of others, or of thine own evil heart; for Nemo sibi de suo palpet: quisque sibi Satan est, saith a Father. _____ [ which the Lord thy God hath divided] And shall we fight against God (as Jehn did against Jehoram ) with his own servants, nay with those things which he hath given us for common servants to us all?

Vers. 20. But the Lord ] Deliverance commands obedience: Servati sumus ut serviamus.

Vers. 21. And sware that I should not ] So that you have a privilege above me; only beware how you provoke him (as I did) thorough unbelief.

Vers. 22. But I must die ] This was a sore affliction to this good man, and is therefore so often mentioned. Cato Major also died three years before the destruction of Carthage, which he had so vehemently urged, and would so gladly have outlived.

Vers. 24. For the Lord thy God] And should therefore be served truly, that there be no halting; and totally, that there be no halving, Heb. 12.28, 29.

Vers. 25. And shalt have remained long ] So that thou thinkest there is no removing thee, thou art so rooted and rivetted. Nicephorus Phocas having built a mighty wall, heard from heaven, Though thou build as high as heaven, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , Sin is within, all will be lost.

Vers. 28. And there ye shall serve gods] As ye have made a match with mischief, so ye shall have enough of it. Ephraim is joined to Idols, &c. See Act. 7.42.

Vers. 29. But if from thence ] Sweet and sour, make the best sauce. Promises and menaces mixed, soonest operate upon the heart. The Sun of righteousness loves not to set in a cloud; nor the God of consolation, to leave his children comfortless.

Vers. 30. Even in the latter days ] This is, by some, understood of the Messias his days, which are the latter times of the world; as Hos. 3.5. 1 Cor. 10.11. and they believe, that here is pointed at, the great and last conversion of the Jews.

Vers. 32. For ask now of the days ] Historiae sunt fidae monitrices; great good use is to be made of history; this holy history especially, whereof every word is pure, precious, and profitable.

Vers. 37. Therefore he chose ] He chose for his love, and then loved for his choice: After God's example, deligas quem diligas.

Vers. 39. That the Lord he is God in heaven] A Philosopher could say, that God is a Circle, whose Center is everywhere, whose circumference is nowhere; ubi est Deus? quid dixi miser? sed ubi non est? Where is God? or rather, where is not God? He is higher then heaven, lower then hell, broader then the sea, longer then the earth. Nusquam est & ubique est, quia nec abest ulli, nec ullo capitur loco. He is nowhere, and yet everywhere; far from no place, and yet no contained in any place.

Vers. 40. That thou mayst prolong thy days ] Hence some Lutherans have gathered, that God hath not determined the set period of man's days; but that it is in men's power to lengthen, or shorten them. But this is against Job, 7.1. & 14.14. Eccles. 2.3. Isa. 38.5, 15. Stat sua cuique dies. Our hairs are numbered, much more our days.

Vers. 42. That the slayer ] See the Note on Numb. 35.9, 10, &c.

Vers. 44. And this is the law ] That is, this that followeth in the next chapter, whereunto these verses serve for a preface.

CHAP. V.

Vers. 1. ANd keep, and do them ] The difference between Divinity and other Sciences, is, that it is not enough to learn, but we must keep and do it; as lessons of Music must be practiced; and a copy not read only, but acted. Man goeth forth to his work, and to his labor, until the evening, Psal. 104.23. He must arise from the bed of sin, and go forth out of himself, as out of his house, to his work, and to his labor; working out his salvation with fear and trembling, until the evening, till the Sun of his life be set.

Vers. 2. God made a Covenant with us ] We also have the Covenant, the seals, Ministers, &c. But (alas) are not these blessings, amongst us, as the Ark was among the Philistines, rather as prisoners, then as privileges, rather in testimonium & ruinam, quàm salutem?

Vers. 3. With our fathers ] i. e. With our fathers only. Or; if it be understood of all the foregoing Patriarchs, then it is to be expounded by Gal. 3.17.

Vers. 4. Face to face ] i. e. Openly, and immediately, by himself, and not by a messenger, or mediator. Prosper 's conceit was, that the Israelites were called Judaei, because they received jus Dei.

Vers. 5. I stood between the Lord ] Sc. after the decalogue delivered by God himself out of the fire. For of that, he might say, as once Joseph did to his brethren; Behold, your eyes see that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you, Gen. 45.12. And as Paul did to Philemon, verse. 19. I Paul, &c. so, I the Lord have written it with mine hand, I will require it.

Vers. 6. I am the Lord, &c.] See the Notes on Exod. 20. It is well observed by a Reverend Writer, that the two tables of the Law are in their object, answerable to the two natures of Christ. For God is the object of the one; man of the other: And as they meet together in the person of Christ, so must they be united in the affections of a Christian.

Vers. 12. Keep the Sabbath-day ] In this repetition of the law, some things are transposed, and some words changed: Happly, to confute that superstitious opinion of the Jews, who were ready to dream of miraculous mysteries in every letter.

Vers. 15. And remember that thou ] It being a figure of our redemption by Christ; and so a fit subject for Sabbath-meditations.

Vers. 18. Neither shalt thou commit ] Or, And thou shalt not commit, &c. and so in the following laws; to teach us, that the law is but one copulative, as the Schools speak. For the sanction indeed, it is disjunctive; but for the injunction, it is copulative. The sanction is, either do this, or die: but the injunction is not, either do this or that, but do this and that too. See Mat. 23.2.3. Ezek. 18.10, 11, 13. I am. 2.10. Do everything, as well as anything: to leave one sin and not another, is (with Benhadad ) to recover of one disease, and to die of another.

Vers. 22. These words the Lord spake ] If human laws are 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , the invention of the gods, as Demosthenes calls them, how much rather this perfect law of God, that needs no alteration or addition?

Vers. 23. Even all the heads of your tribes ] These are called all Israel, verse. 1. as being their representatives.

Vers. 25. Why should we die?] But why should they fear to die, since they had seen that day, that God doth talk with man, and he liveth? It is answered, that they looked upon their present safety, as a wonder; but feared what would follow, upon such an interview, if continued. And indeed it is still the work of the law, to scare men and to drive them to seek for a Mediator.

Vers. 27. We will hear it and do it ] This is well said, if as well done. Many can think of nothing, but working themselves to life; spinning a thread of their own, to climb up to heaven by. But that will never be.

CHAP. VI.

Vers. 1. NOw these are the Commandments ] Moses having repeated the Decalogue, begins here to explain it: and first, the first of the ten, in this present Chapter: that first Commandment being such, as that therein the keeping of all the other nine is enjoined, as Luther rightly observeth.

Vers. 2. That thou mightest fear the Lord ] Fear God, and keep his Commandments, Eccles. 12.13. fear the Lord and depart from evil, Prov. 16.6. this is the beginning, Prov. 1.7. and end of all, Eccles. 12.13. This is the whole of man, or as some read it, This is the whole man. ib. It is a problem in Aristotle; why men are credited, more then any other creatures? The answer is, man alone reverenceth God. Deum siquis parum metuit, valde contemnit: hujus qui non memor at beneficentiam, auget injuriam: Not to fear God, is to slight him; as not to praise him, is to wrong him, saith an Ancient.

Vers. 3. That it may be well with thee ] Respect may be had to the recompense of reward: We may make it our scope, our aim, 2 Cor. 4.18. though not our highest aim; Moses cast an eye, when he was on his journey, Heb. 11.26. he stole a look from glory; and got fresh encouragement.

Vers. 4. The Lord our God is one Lord ] One in Three, and Three in One. Here are three words, answering the three persons: And the middle word, Our God, deciphering fitly the second, who assumed our nature, as Galatinus well observeth. Others take notice, that the last letter of this first word Hear, is extraordinarily great in the Hebrew; as calling for utmost heed and attention: And so is the last letter in the word rendered, One. See the Note on Exod. 34.14. This last letter Daleth, which usually stands for four, signifieth (say the Hebrews, ) that this one God, shall be worshipped in the four corners of the earth.

Vers. 5. And thou shalt love ] See the Note on Mat. 22.37. This shows the impossibility of keeping the law perfectly: Ità ut frustrà sint sophistae, &c. The true Christian counts all that he can do for God, but a little of that much he owes him, and that he could gladly beteem him. But what a wretched Monk was that, that died with these words in his mouth; Redde mihi aeternam vitam quam debes; Lord, pay me heaven, for thou owest it?

Vers. 6. Shall be in thy hears] A bible, men should get stamped in their heads, and another in their hearts, as David had, Psal. 119.11. Knowledge, that swims in the head only, and sinks not down into the heart, does no more good, then rain in the middle region doth; or then the Unicorns horn, in the Unicornes head.

Vers. 7. And thou shalt teach them diligently ] Heb. Thou shalt whet or sharpen them, as one would sharpen a stake, when he drives it into the ground: Or, as one would set an edge upon a knife, by oft going over the whetstone. A learned Hebrician observes a near affinity between the word here used, and another word that signifies to repeat, and inculcate the same thing. Innuit studium et diligentiam, qua pueris praecepta dei inculcari debent, saith Vatablus. Children should be taught the principles, that they understand not: First, that they might have occasion much to think of the things that are so much and commonly urged. Secondly, that if any extremity should come, they might have certain seeds of comfort and direction, to guide and support them. 3. That their condemnation might be more just, if having these so much in their mouths, they should not get something of them into their hearts.

Vers. 8. And thou shalt bind them ] See the Note on Mat. 23.5.

Vers. 9. And on thy gates ] In a foolish imitation whereof, the English Jesuits beyond sea have written on their Church and College-doors, in great golden letters, Jesu, Jesu converte Angliam, Fiat, Fiat. Habent et vespae favos.

Vers. 11. When thou shalt have eaten and be full ] Saturity oft breeds security, fullness forgetfulness. The best, when full fed, are apt to wax wanton, and will be dipping their fingers sometimes in the devils sauce: ipsis opibus lascivire caepit Ecclesia. The Moon never suffers eclipse, but at the full, and that by the earths interposition. The young mulets, when they have sucked, turn up their heels, and kick at the damme.

Vers. 12. Lest thou forget the Lord ] Should we with the sed hawk, forget our master? Or, being full with God's benefits, like the Moon, be then most removed from the Sun, from whom she hath all her light? See Prov. 30.8, 9.

Vers. 13. And shalt swear by his name] An oath rightly taken, is a piece of our holy service to God; and may well be reckoned amongst our prayers and other pious performances.

Vers. 14. Thou shalt not go ] See the Note on Exod. 34.14.

Vers. 15. A jealous God amongst you ] Let the gods of the heathens be good-fellows; our God will endure no corrivals. He is both a jealous God, and is ever amongst us; so that our faults, our furta 's, cannot be hid from his eyes. Now he that dares sin, though he know God looks on, is more impudent in sinning, then was Absalom, when he spread a tent upon the top of the house, and went in to his fathers concubines, in the sight of all Israel, and of the Sun,

Vers. 15. Ye shall not tempt the Lord▪ By prescribing to God, and limiting the holy one of Israel; as these men did at Massah, Psal. 78.41. See the Notes on Mat. 4.7. and on Act. 5.9. and on Exod. 17.2.

Vers. 17. You shall diligently keep ] So Psal. 119.4. Howbeit, the most that David could do towards it, was to wish well to it, verse. 5.

Vers. 20. What mean the testimonies ] Here we have a brief Catechism; which is a course and practice of singular profit. Luther scorned not to profess himself Discipulum Catechismi: and the Jesuits, by the example of our Churches, do Catechize their novices.

CHAP. VII.

Vers. 1. ANd hath cast out many nations ] God did all, Psal. 78.55. He cast out the heathen before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, &c. Hence Josephus calls the Common-wealth of Israel, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . Sic, Regnum Angliae, Regnum Dei.

Vers. 2. Nor show mercy unto them ] Their iniquity was now full, Gen. 15.16. they filled the land with filthiness, from corner to corner, Ezra 9.11. they were ripe for the sickle, ready for the vintage of God's wrath; which now came upon them to the utmost.

Vers. 3. Neither shalt thou make marriages with them] As neither with any other that were idolaters, Ezra 9.1, 2.

Vers. 4. For they will turn away thy son] As the outlandish women did Solomon, 1 King. 11.2, 4. What's the reason the Pope will not dispence in Spain or Italy, if a Papist marry a Protestant, yet here they will, but in hope to draw more to them? The Tyrant Mezentius tied the living bodies of his captives to the dead; but the dead did not revive by the living; the living rather putrefied, by the dead.

Vers. 5. And break down their images] Cromwell did notable service here in Henry 8. time, by discovering the knavery of Popish Priests, and pulling down those mawmets and monuments of idolatry, the Rood of grace, the blood of Hales, &c. And in Edw. 6. his days; the same day the Popish pictures were publicly burnt at Paul 's Cross, the great victory was gotten by the English at Muscle-borough field in Scotland.

Vers. 6. For thou art an holy people] Viz. with a federal holiness; which yet, without an inherent holiness in the heart and life, will profit a man no more then it did Dives in the flames, that Abraham called him Son; or Judas, that Christ called him Friend. An empty title yields but an empty comfort at last.

Vers. 8. But because he loved you ] Loe, he loved you, because he loved you. This may seem, idem per idem, a woman's reason. But it excellently shows the ground of God's love, to be wholly in himself.

Vers. 9. The faithful God ] The God of Amen, Psal. 31.6. Amen, the faithful and true Witness, Rev. 3.14. that will not suffer his faithfulness to fail, nor alter the thing that is gone out of his lips, Psal. 89.33. all his precepts, predictions, promises, menaces, being the issue of a most faithful and righteous Will, void of the least insincerity or falsehood. Thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thy hand, as it is this day saith Solomon, in his prayer, 1 King. 8.24. Neither could ever any day or age produce one instance to the contrary. The promises are ancient, Tit. 1.1, 2. and yet they never failed: nor the menaces, Zeph. 3.5.

Vers. 10. He will not be slack ] slow he may be, but sure he will be, supplicii tarditatem gravitate compensat, The higher he holds his hand, the heavier he will strike. Aries quo altius erigitur, hoc figit fortius. Arcus quo retrahitur longius, hoc jaculatur ulterius. Aqua quae aegre calefit, agre denuo frigescit, &c.

Vers. 13. And he will love thee ] So he did before, verse. 8. but so he will continue to do. See a like expression, 1. Joh. 5.13. These things write I unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

Vers. 14. Thou shalt be blessed ] There is a 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , in Godliness, 1 Tim. 6.6. See the Note there.

Vers. 15. And the Lord ] Health is a sweet mercy; Non est vivere, sed valere, vita, A sickly life, is a lifeless life. A healthy body is the reward of piety, Prov. 3.8.

Vers. 20. Send the hornet ] See the Note on Exod. 23.28.

Vers. 21. For the Lord thy God is amongst you] And how many do you reckon him for? as Antigonus said once to his soldiers, when they feared their enemies, as more in number.

Vers. 25. Left thou be snared ] Lest it prove as the gold of Toulouse, baneful to all that fingered it; or the sepulcher of Semiramis, which they that rifled, expecting to find treasure, met with a deadly poison.

CHAP. VIII.

Vers. 1. ALL the Commandments] All, is but a little word, but of large extent. There are magnalia legis, & minutula legis; Look to both, the greater and the lesser things of the law, Matth. 23.23.

Vers 2. To know what was] i.e. To discover and make known to thyself and others. When fire is put to green wood, there comes out abundance of watery stuff, that afore appeared not. When the pond is empty, the mud, filth, and toads, come to light. The snow-drift covers many a muckhill; so doth prosperity, many a rotten heart. It is easy to wade in a warm bath; and every bird can sing in a Sun-shine-day, &c. Hard weather tries what health; afflictions try what sap we have, what solidity. Withered leaves soon fall off in windy weather. Rotten boughs quickly break with heavy weights, &c.

Vers. 3. And he humbled thee] Humbled they were, (many of them) but not humble: low, but not lowly. Perdiderunt fructum afflictionum, &c. Aug. [That he might make thee know ] We never know so well, how good, sweet, and seasonable the Lord is, as when under the cross. Vexatio dat intellectum.

That man doth not live ] See the Note on Matth. 4.4.

Vers. 4. Thy raiment waxed not old ] It was not the worse for wearing, but grew as their bodies did; as some are of opinion. They needed not to trouble themselves with those anxious thoughts of Heathens, what they should eat, drink, or put on. Never was Prince served and supplied in such state, as these Israelites were.

Vers. 5. That as a man chasteneth his son ] This is reckoned here, as an high favor. So Job accounts it, Chap. 7.17, 18. and Paul describes it, Heb. 12.7, 8. and Jeremy prays for it, Jer. 10.24.

Vers. 6. Therefore thou shalt keep] As good children are the better for beating; and do gather under the wing of a frowning father.

Vers. 7. That spring out of valleys] Quantum miraculi sit in admiranda illa fontium perennitate, nemo, credo, Philosophorum satis explicare hactenus potuit. The perennity of springs is a just wonder, and not far from a miracle.

Vers. 8. A land of wheat and barley] Sumen totius orbis. Strabo basely slandereth this fat and fertile country, as dry and barren; but Rabshakeh, 1 King. 18.32. and Tacitus tell us otherwise. The testimony here given of it, is above all exception.

Vers. 9. Thou shalt not lack anything in it ] Of the Island Cyprus, it is said, that it sendeth forth great abundance of commodities to other Countries; of whom it craveth ho help again. It was anciently called Macaria, the Blessed. Marcellinus, to show the fertilty of it, saith, that Cyprus aboundeth with such plenty of all things, that without the help of any other foreign Country, it is, of itself, able to build a tall ship, from the keel, to the top sail, and so put it to Sea, furnished of all things needful. Of Egypt also it is reported, that it is so fruitful a Country, ut cunctos mortals pascere, deos ipsos excipere hospitio salvâ re posse gloriaretur. It was anciently called publicum orbis horreum, the worlds great barn; as some foreign Writers have termed our Country, the Court of Queen Ceres, the granary of the Western world, the Fortunate Island, the Paradise of Pleasure, and garden of God. The worst is, that as Aristotle was wont to tax his Athenians, that whereas they were famous for two things, the best land, and the best laws, frumentis uterentur, legibus nequaquàm, they abused their plenty, and lived lawlesly; so it may be said of us, that we live in God's good land, but not by God's good laws.

Vers. 10. Then thou shalt bless ] — rarae fumant foelicibus arae. Solomon 's wealth did him more hurt, then ever his wisdom did him good. But that should not have been. Solomon's Altar was four times as big as Moses his, Exod. 27.1. to teach us, that as our peace and prosperity is more then others, so should our service, in a due proportion.

Vers. 11. Beware that thou forget not the Lord ] By casting his words behind thee, Psal. 50.17 and not considering the operation of his hands, Isai. 5.12. fullness breeds this forgetfulness; laden bodies, leaden minds.

Vers. 12. And hast built goodly houses] Haec su • t quae nos invitos faciunt mori; These are the things that make us loath to die, said Charles, 5. Emperor, to the Duke of Venice, who had shown him the stateliness of his Palace, and Princely furniture.

Vers. 13. When thy silver and thy geld ] Which what is it else, but white and red mould, the guts and garbage of the earth? wonder it is, surely, that treading upon it, we should so much esteem it. Well; if si • ver and gold be our happiness, then it is in the earth, and so (which is strange) nearer hell, (which the Scripture placeth in the deep) then heaven, which all know to be aloft; and so nearer the Devil, then God.

Vers. 14. Then thy heart be lifted up ] The Devil will easily blow up this blab in the rich man's heart; whose usual diseases are earthly-mindedness, and high-mindedness. Prosperity makes men proud, secure, impatient, Ier. 22.21. In rest, they contract much rust.

Vers. 15. Who led thee thorough, &c.] Good turns, aggravate unkindnesses; and our offenses are increased by our obligations.

Vers. 16. Who fed thee ] God will give his people, pluviam • scatilem, & petram aquatilem, Psal. 78.20, 24. he will set the flint abroach, and rain corn from heaven, rather then they shall pine and perish.

Vers. 17. My power] As that great dragon of Egypt, lying at ease in the swoln waters of his Nile, saith, My river is mine own, I have made it for myself.

Vers. 19. ye shall surely perish ] Idolatry is a land-desolating sin, Judge. 5.8.

CHAP. IX.

Vers. 1. HEar, O Israel ] It was all their business, at present, to hear; and yet he excites them so to do, by an Oyez, as it were. He knew their dullness, and the din that corruption maketh in the best hearts; how soon sated men are with divine discourses, and how little heed they give to the most wholesome exhortations. Let a child be never so busy about his lesson, if but a bird fly by, he must needs look where he lights; so, &c.

Vers. 2. The children of Anak ] Hence seems to come the Greek word, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , for a King; for these great men were looked upon, as so many little Kings. See the Note on Gen. 6 4.

Vers. 3. As a consuming fire ] The force whereof is violent, and irresistible: Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God? Woe unto us; who shall deliver us, &c? said those crest-fallen Philistines, at the sight of the Ark, 1 Sam. 4.8. So, The sinners in Zion are afraid, fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites; Who among us (say they) shall dwell with this devouring fire? (meaning God) who amongst us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? Isaiah 33.14.

Vers. 4. For my righteousness ] We are all apt to weave a web of righteousness of our own, to spin a thread of our own, to climb up to heaven by; to set a price upon ourselves above the market, to think great thoughts of ourselves, and to seek great things for ourselves. Coelum gratis non accipiam, saith One Merit-monger, I will not have heaven for nothing; and Redde mihi aeternam vitam quam debes, saith Another; Give me heaven, for thou owest it me. How blasphemous is that direction of the Papists to dying men, Conjunge, Domine, obsequium meum, cum omnibus quae Christus passus est pro me; Join, Lord, my righteousness with Christ's righteousness? How much better was it with those ancient Papists here in England; to whom, upon their death-beds, the ordinary instruction appointed to be given was, that they should look to come to glory, not by their own merits, but alone by the virtue and merit of the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ: that they should place their whole confidence in his death only, and in no other thing, &c. Those Justiciaries, that seek to be saved by their works, Luther fitly calls the devils Martys; they suffer much, and take much pains to go to hell; and by their much boasting, haec ego feci, haec ego feci, they become no better then Faeces, saith he wittily. It is a good observation of a reverend Divine, that the Church in the Canticles is nowhere described, by the beauty of her hands or fingers: Christ concealeth the mention of her hands, that is of her works. 1. Because he had rather his Church should abound in good works in silence, then boast of them (especially when they are wanting,) as Rome doth. 2. Because it is he alone, that worketh all our works for us, Isai. 26.12. Hos. 14.8.

Vers. 6. Understand therefore ] We are wondrous apt to wind ourselves into the fools-paradise of a sublime dotage, upon our own worth and righteousness; otherwise, what need▪ so many words here, to one and the same purpose. The Scripture doth not use to kill flies with beetles, to cleave straws with wedges of iron, to spend many words where's no need.

Vers. 7. Ye have been rebellious against the Lord ] Nothing is so hard, as to be humbled; for man is a proud cross creature, that would be something at home, whatever he is abroad; and comes not down, without a great deal of difficulty. Hence it is, that Moses so sets it on here, and with one knock after another, drives this nail home to the head, that he might cripple their iron sinews, bring their stiff necks to the yoke of God's obedience, and make them know that he was Jehovah, when he had wrought with them for his Name sake; not according to their wicked ways, nor according to their corrupt doings, Ezek. 20.43, 44, and 36.31, 32.

Vers. 8. The Lord was angry ] God is said to be angry, when he doth as an angry man useth to do; viz. 1. Chide. 2. Smite: revenge being the next effect of anger.

Vers. 9. When I was gone up into the Mount ] Sins are much aggravated by the circumstances: and every sin should swell as a toad in our eyes; we should bring them out, as they took the vessels of the Temple, Ezra 8.34. by number, and by weight. See Lev. 16.21. all their transgressions in all their sins.

Vers. 10. See the Note on Exod. 31.18.

Vers. 12. Arise ] From off thy knees, the petitioners posture: Saint James, they say, had knees as hard as cammels knees, with continual kneeling: and Hilarion was found dead in his Oratory, with knees bent, eyes and hands lift up. Father Latimer, during his imprisonment, was so constant and instant in prayer, that ofttimes he was not able to arise without help.

Vers. 14. Let me alone ] See the Note on Exod. 32.10.

Vers. 15. So I returned ] Yet not till he had first prayed, and prevailed, Exod. 32.1, 14.

Vers. 16. Ye had turned aside quickly ] Levitate prorsus desultoria: Apostates have religionem ephemeram; being constant in nothing, but in their inconstancy.

Vers. 17. And cast them ] See the Note on Exod. 32.19.

Vers. 19. For I was afraid ] Moses was more troubled for the people, then the people were for themselves: so was Dauiel for Nebuchadnezzar, Chap. 4.19. and Nahum for the Chaldeans, Chap. 3.16.

Vers. 22. And at Taberah ] Catalogues should be kept of our sins, and oft perused; yea though they be pardoned; that we may renew our repentance, and keep our souls humble, supple, and soluble.

Vers. 24. You have been rebellious ] Here he repeats the former charge, verse. 7. which now he had sufficiently proved against them: We must object no more against any man, then we are able to make good. If Erasmus had lived to these days, very shame would have crammed those words of his, down his throat; Ubicunqu eregnat Lutherus, ibi literarum est interitus: duo tantum quaerunt, censum, & vxorem; Wheresoever Luther's doctrine takes place, learning is little set by: all the care is for a wife, and for wealth. Os durum.

Vers. 25. Thus I fell down ] The three former verses, come in by a parenthesis. Here he returns again to the history of his interceding for them, the second time.

Vers. 26. I prayed] And he had a hard tug of it: but prayer is the best lever at a dead lift.

CHAP. X.

Vers. 1. LIke unto the first ] Which Moses had broken: to show, how we in our nature, had broken the law, and could not be saved by the keeping of it. This, Christ our true Moses, repairs again: writing the law, not in tables of stone, but in the heart of unbelievers; and enabling them, in some good measure to keep it, Job. 1.17. walking (as Luther phraseth it,) in the heaven of the promise, but in the earth of the law; that, in respect of believing, this of obeying.

Vers. 2. Which thou breakest ] See the Note on Exod. 34.1.

Vers. 3. And I made an Ark ] In its use, far beyond that Persian casket imbroydered with gold and pearl; which Alexander reserved for Homers I •• ads.

Vers. 4. Out of the midst of the fire ] The law was given in fire; it is a law of fire, Deut. 33.2. given by God, who is a consuming fire, Heb. 12.29. and hath a tribunal of fire, Ezek. 1.27. and shall plead with transgressors in flames of fire, Isai. 66.15, 16. the trial of our works shall be by fire, 1 Cor. 3, 13. Let us therefore have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear. It is the Apostles use, Heb. 12.28.

Vers. 5. And put the tables in the Ark ] Which was thenceforth called, the Ark of the Testimony.

Vers. 6. And the children of Israel ] Here are some seeming contradictions, betwixt this place, and that, Num. 33.31, 32. But, though they seem to be, as the accusers of Christ, never a one speaking like the other; yet if we well observe the text, and consult with interpreters, we shall find them like Nathan and Bathsheba, both speaking the same things.

Vers. 7. A land of rivers of water] A rare thing in a dry desert. Lysimachus sold his crown for a less matter.

Vers. 8. At that time ] viz. Whiles they were yet at mount Sinai; for the two former verses are inserted by a parenthesis.

The Lord separated the tribe of Levi ] This setting up of the Ministry amongst them, is reckoned as a sign of God's singular love to them. And so it is to us, no doubt, albeit a late pamphleter, makes that sacred and tremend function of the Ministry, to be as mere an imposture, as very a mystery of iniquity, as arrant a juggle, as the papacy itself. Now the Lord rebuke thee Satan. [To stand before the Lord] As also the Angels do, Luk. 1.19.

Vers. 12. What doth the Lord thy God require of thee ] Beneficium postulat officium: Mercy calls for duty.

But to fear the Lord ] This is the totum hominis, Eccles. 12.13. the bonum hominis, Mic. 6.8. the unum necessarium, Luk. 10.42. the primum quarendum, Mat. 6.33.

Vers. 14. Behold the heaven and the heaven of heavens ] Not the air and sky only, the visible heaven, but the third heaven, whereof no natural knowledge can be had, nor any help by human arts, Geometry, Opticks, &c. For it is neither aspectable, nor moveable. [The earth also] So that there was no necessity of pitching upon thee, for his peculiar; since he had choice enough before him.

Vers. 15. To love them ] Because he loved them, as Chap. 7.7, 8. See the Note there.

Vers. 16. Circumcise therefore ] Deus jubendo juvat. Set about this work in God's strength, and pray, that the heaven may answer the earth, Hos. 2.21. For it is a work that must be done without hands, Col. 2.11. Beg of God to thrust his holy hand into our bosom, and to pull off that filthy foreskin; urge him with his promise, Deut. 30.6. doubt not of his power, lex jubet, gratia juvat, &c.

Vers. 17. Is God of God's] And will be served like himself.

Vers. 19. Love ye therefore the stranger] And so show yourselves the friends of God. For idem velle & idem nolle, ea demum vera amicitia est. Friends are like-minded.

Vers. 21. He is thy praise ] Thy praised one, Psal. 18.3. or, thy praise-worthy one. He is also thy chief glory, and praise amongst all nations; who shall admire thy happiness in such a God!

CHAP. XI.

Vers. 1. THerefore thou shalt love the Lord ] Cos amoris amor. Ama amorem illius, saith Bernard: Not to love them that so loved us, is to be worse then a Publican; more hardhearted then a Jew. Matth. 5.46. That the three children burnt not in the furnace, was a miracle; so it is that men so favored, love not God.

Vers. 2. And which have not seen ] Segniùs irritant animos demissa per aures, Quam quae sunt oculis commissa fidelibus: He speaks unto them, as to eye-witnesses; and those that have such evidence and self-experience, are usually more affected, then those that have things by hear-say only. Mine eye affects my heart, Lam, 3.51.

Vers. 4. Hath destroyed them unto this day ] i. e. Hath so destroyed and dismayed them, that to this day we hear no more of them: As the Romans so quailed and quelled King Aitalus, that he made a law, that none of his successors should make war with that State forever.

Vers. 5. And what he did unto you] A Diary should be diligently kept of what God does for us, Psal. 102.18. for the help of our slippery memories, and the firing up of our dull hearts to a contention in godliness.

Vers. 9. And that ye may prolong ] See the Note on Chap. 4.40.

Vers. 10. And wateredst it with thy foot ] Fetching and carrying water, called therefore the water of their feet, as our life is called, the life of our hands, Isaiah 57.10. because maintained with the labor of our hands.

Vers. 11. And drinketh water of the rain of heaven ] God crowning the year with his goodness, and his paths dropping fatness, Psal. • 5.10 11, 12. In the Hebrew it is, thy chariot-wheel-tracks; for the clouds are God's chariots, Psal. 104.3. in which water is bound, Job 26.8. How they are upheld, and why they fall here and now, we know not, and wonder. The Egyptians used, in a profane mockery, to tell other nations, that if God should forget to rain, they might chance to starve for it; they thought the rain was of God, but not their river Nile. See Ezek. 29.3, 9. Isai. 19.5, 6.

Vers. 12. Which the Lord thy God careth for ] Deus sic curat universa, quasi singula; sic singula, quasi sola.

From the beginning of the year ] How easy were it for God to starve us all, by denying us a harvest or two!

Vers. 13. And it shall come to pass This passage of Scripture following, the Jews read daily in their families, as Maimonides reporteth.

Vers. 14. That I will give you the rain ] Rain, God gives to all by a providence, Act. 14.17. Job 38.26. but to his Israel, by virtue of a promise; whereby the might live, not as by bread only, but as by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God.

Vers. 16. That your heart be not deceived ] Having first deceived itself; for the heart is deceitful above all things, &c. and may say to many, as the heart of Apollonius, the Tyrant, seemed to say to him; who dreamed one night, that he was flayed by the Scythians, and boiled in a Caldron, and that his heart spake to him out of the kettle, and said, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , It is I that have drawn thee to all this. Those in hell cry so.

Vers. 17. And he shut up the heaven ] The keys of heaven, of the heart, of the womb, and of the grave, God keeps and carries under his own girdle, as we may say.

Vers. 18. In your heart ] Yea upon your heart, Isaiah 47.7. & 57.11. so as they may sink thereinto, Luk. 9.44. as the best balm cast into water, sinks to the bottom.

Vers. 19. Teach them your children ] See the Note on Chap. 6.7.

Vers. 21. As the days of heaven ] i. e. As long as the world standeth. Hence, haply, we may conceive hope of the repentance of the Jews, and their re-establishment in this promised land.

Vers. 26. A blessing and a curse ] With the way to either; that if ye miscarry, ye may have none to blame but yourselves. For oft it falls out, that whereas the foolishness of man perverteth his way, his heart fretteth against the Lord, Prov. 19.3.

Vers. 29. Put the blessing upon Mount Gerizim ] That is, pronounce it there. See Josh. 8.33. Hence the Samaritans built their Temple on this mount, as a blessed place, and there worshiped they knew not what, Joh. 4.20, 22. calling themselves, Those that belong to the blessed Mount.

CHAP. XII.

Vers. 1. THese are the Statutes ] Here Moses begins to comment upon the second Commandment of the law. See the Note on Chap. 6.1.

Vers. 2. Ye shall utterly destroy ] This clause of this law is judicial, peculiar only to the Jews, saith a grave Interpreter; as being chiefly intended to prevent their worshipping God in any other place, then that one that he had appointed, to which we in the days of the Gospel are not tied. See Vers. 5, 6. It was a temporary Ordinance, saith another, and a part of Moses polity, now abrogate.

Vers. 3, And you shall hew down] As was here done notably in King Edward the sixths days, notwithstanding the withstandings of the rude rabble, which more regarded commotioners then Commissioners, and were more guided by rage then by right, &c. So that as one Master Body, a Commissioner, was pulling down images in Cornwall, he was suddenly stabbed into the body, by a Priest, with a knife.

Vers. 4. Ye shall not do so] As wicked Ahaz did, 2 Chron. 27.24. by the advice and help of Uriah, that turn-coat, 2 King. 16. who had once passed for a faithful witness, Isai. 7.2. but afterwards proved a factor for the Devil.

Vers. 5. And thither shalt thou come ] In token of an holy communion with God.

Vers. 6, Heave-offerings of your hand ] For none might appear empty-handed before the Lord.

Vers. 7. And there ye shall eat before the Lord ] Loe this ye shall have of God's hand, as a recompense of all your charge and pains; ye shall feast before him with joy. This made those good souls go bodily on from strength to strength; though they took many a weary step, yet their comfort was, that they should everyone of them in Zion appear before the Lord, Psal. 84.7. This was the sweet-meats of that feast; other dainty dishes there might be, but this was the banquet.

Vers. 9. For ye are not as yet come to the rest ] No more are any of us indeed, till we come to that rest which remaineth for the people of God, Heb. 4.3, 8, 9, 10. The Ark was transportative, till settled in Solomon's temple; so till we come to heaven, are we in continual unrest.

Vers. 10. So that ye dwell in safety ] Having peace both external and internl, of country and of conscience.

Vers. 12. And ye shall rejoice ] No one duty is more pressed in both the Testaments, then this of rejoicing in the Lord always, but specially in his immediate services. And the contrary is complained of, Mal. 2.13. and sorely threatened, Deut. 28.47.

Vers. 14. But in the place ] This taught them unity and uniformity in divine worship; as also that there was but one only way to obtain pardon of their sin, and acceptance of their services, viz. by Jesus Christ, of whom their Tabernacle and Temple was a type.

Vers. 15. According to the blessing ] God allows his not only a sufficiency, but an honest affluency, so they keep within the bounds of their ability.

Vers. 16. Only ye shall not eat ] See the Note on Gen. 9.4.

Vers. 19. That thou forsake not the Levite ] But look to his livelihood; since, Ad tenuitatem beneficiorum necessario sequitur ignorantia sacerdotum; small allowances make either ignorant or negligent Ministers.

Vers. 20. Thou mayst eat flesh ] Only it is noted as a fault, to feed without fear, Jude 12. And flesh-mongers are taxed by Solomon. Nos etiam animas incarnavimus, saith an Ancient, complaining of the surquedry of his times.

Vers. 22. Even as the roe-buck ] i. e. as common and profane meats; for these creatures were rejected for sacrifice.

Vers. 25. Thou shalt not eat it ] Who can ever think any commandment of God to be light or little, when this of not eating the blood, is charged with so much strictness? The Minutula of the law, as well as the Magnalia, must be carefully heeded and practiced.

Vers. 26. Go unto the place ] Far off though it be, yet go thou must thither with thy sacrifices; though at home thou mayst kill and eat for thine own repast and refreshing.

Vers. 28. And with thy children after thee ] Whose comfort they that seek not, are peremptores potiùs quam parents, rather parricides, then parents.

Vers. 32. Thou shalt not add thereto ] To add anything to the Word of God, saith Theodoret, is bold madness; but to open those things by the Word, that in the Word are more darkly delivered, is both lawful, and laudable.

CHAP. XIII.

Vers. 1. IF there arise among you a Prophet] A public Deceiver, that shall boldly obtrude upon you his erroneous opinions for divine oracles; seeking to drag disciples after him, Act. 20.20. Such as of late times were Servetus, Socinus, Arminius, Vorstius, Pelargus the first Anabaptist, Islelius Agricola, the first Antinomian: H. N. that is, Henry Nicolai of Leiden, the first Familist. Howbeit, Gerson tells us of a woman, one Maria de Valentiana, that had, lately, before his relation, written a book with incredible subtlety, concerning the prerogative and eminence of divine love; to the which, whatever soul had attained, is (according to her) let loose from all the law of God's Commandments.

Vers. 2. And the sign or the wonder come to pass ] For so it may fall out by Divine permission, for the patefaction and pudefaction of hypocrites; as when Jannes and Jambres turned water into blood, or at least, seemed to do so.

Vers. 3. Thou shalt not hearken ] Heretics have their pithanology, their good words and fair speeches, wherein they can vent a spittle of diseased opinions, and whereby they deceive the hearts of the simple, Rom. 16.18. It is not safe therefore to hear them, or hold discourse with such; lest they insinuate and infect us, as the Montanists did Tertullian; as the Valentinians did divers well-affected Christians; as Acacius the heretic, did Anastasius, 2 Bishop of Rome, Anno 497. who sought to rectify him. It is reported of Placilla, the good Empress, that when Theodosius Seniour desired to confer with Eunomius, she dissuaded her husband very earnestly; lest, being perverted by his speeches, he might fall into heresy. Keep thee far from an evil matter, saith Solomon. Mark those that make divisions, and avoid them, saith Paul. And again, There are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers—whose mouths must be stopped, &c. Tit. 1.11.

Vers. 4. Ye shall walk after the Lord] A special Antidote against Apostasy from the truth, 2 Pet. 3.17, 18. whereas those that have put away a good conscience, do, as concerning faith, easily make shipwreck.

Vers. 5. Shall be put to death ] This power is still in the Christian magistrate, to inflict capital punishment on gross heretics; such as was Servetus at Geneva, and Campian here; who spiderlike, was swept down by the hand of justice, and drew his last thread in the triangle of Tiburn, as the Historian wittily phraseth it. Quid Imperatori cum Ecclesia? was a question moved by the old Donatists. Libertas prophetandi, is much challenged by the Arminians, and other Sectaries. But if in matter of religion, every man should think what he lists, and utter what he thinks, and defend what he utters, and publish what he defends, and gather disciples to what he publisheth, this liberty, or licentiousness rather, would soon be the bane of any Church.

Vers. 6. Thy friend, which is as thine own soul ] Amicitia fit tantùm inter binos qui sunt veri, & bonos qui sunt pauci.

Entice thee secretly, saying ] Christ found the Devil in Peter, persuading him to spare himself. Cassianus reports of a young man, that had given himself up to a Christian life; and his parents misliking that way, wrote letters to him, to dissuade him; which when he knew, he would not once open them, but threw them in the fire. Mention is also made in Ecclesiastical history, of one Phileas, a Noble-man, and constant Martyr, who going to execution, seemed as one deaf at the persuasions, and blind at the tears of his dearest friends: As the waters use to break themselves on a rock, so was he inflexible.

Vers. 9. Kill him ] i. e. Deliver him up to the Magistrate, to be killed; for he bears not the sword in vain, like S. Paul in a glass-window, or George on a sign-post.

Vers. 10. To thrust thee away ] By force, not of arms, but of arguments, as the Valentinians, qui priùs persuadebant quam docebant. Thus Jeroboam is said to have driven Israel from following the Lord, 2 King. 17.21.

Vers. 12. If thou shalt hear say ] Rumours are not always to be credited, nor always to be contemned.

Vers. 13. Childron of Belial ] Renegadoes are the worst of men. Rabshakeh is held such a one; so Bertius, Tilenus, Staphylus, &c.

CHAP. XIV.

Vers. 1. YE are the children of the Lord ] Ye should therefore do nothing unworthy of such a Father. Antigonus being invited to a place, where a notable harlot was to be present, asked counsel of Menedemus, what he should do? He bad him only remember, that he was a Kings son, and do accordingly. [ye shall not cut] See the Note on Levite. 19.28.

Vers. 2. For thou art ] See the Note on Chap. 7.6.

And the Lord hath chosen thee ] Hence all thy holiness. The maids were first purified, before Ahasuerosh chose one; but here it is otherwise, Ephes. 5.25, 26.

Vers. 3. Thou shalt not eat any abominable ] See the Notes on Levite. 11. This law taught them to abstain from communion with wicked men, in whom are found the malignities and evil properties of all other creatures, Act. 10.13, 17, 20, 28. They feed hard on sin, the Devils excrement; as the Tartarians eat the carrion, carcases of horses, camels, asses, cats, dogs, yea when they stink, and are full of magots, and hold them as dainty, as we do venison.

Vers. 5. The Hart, and the roe-buck ] These were dainties fit for a King, 1 King. 4.23. Rice and mutton is the cheer wherewith the great Turk entertaineth foreign Ambassadors; and that so plainly and sparingly dressed, as if they would give check to our gourmandize and excess.

Vers. 6. That parteth the hoof ] See the Note on Levite. 11.3.

Vers. 21. Thou shalt not seethe ] See the Note on Exod. 23.19.

Vers. 22. Thou shalt truly tithe ] He seems to mean that second tithe, wherewith they were to feast before the Lord; and not the tithe given to the Levites, Num. 18.24.

Vers. 23. That thou mayst learn] A man cannot converse with God, but he shall learn something. Semper a te doctior redeo, said He to his friend. Moses came from the Mount with his face shining. Confer Eccles. 81.

Vers. 29. That the Lord thy God, &c.] Not getting, but giving, is the way to thrive in the world.

CHAP. XXV.

Vers. 1. AT the end of every ] This Sabbatical year signified the year of grace, the Kingdom of Christ, wherein all Israelites indeed, are discharged of their debts, Matth. 6.12. See the Note there.

Vers. 2. He shall not exact it ] For that seventh year at least; because there was neither sowing, nor reaping, that year: how then could the poor pay their debts? We must all put on bowels of mercy, forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, &c. Col. 3.12, 13.

Vers. 3. Of a forraigner ] To show, that none that are alienated from the life of God, (or a godly life) have remission of sin by Christ: He sanctifies all whom he justifies, Compare Rom. 11.26. with Isai. 59.20.

Vers. 4. Save when there shall be no poor ] Here (as in sundry other places of the new Translation) the margin is better then the text; as giving a good reason of the former law; To the end, that there be no poor amongst you, that is, extreme poor by your exactions. Of a cruel creditor it is said, Psal. 10.9. that he lieth in wait to catch the poor; he doth catch the poor, when he draws him into his net, that is, into bonds, debts, morgages, as Chrysostom expounds it.

Vers. 7. Thou shalt not harden thy heart ] But draw out thy soul to the hungry, Isaiah 58. Many have iron-bowels, and withered hands. See my common-place of Alms.

Vers. 8. Thou shalt surely lend him ] See the Note on Matth. 5.42.

Vers. 9. And he cry unto the Lord ] Who is the poor man's King, as James the fifth, of Scotland, was termed, for his charity.

Vers. 10. Thine heart shall not be grieved ] See the Note on 2 Cor. 9.7.

The Lord thy God shall bless thee ] See Prov. 19.17. and Alms, ubi supra.

Vers. 11. For the poor ] See the Note on Matth. 26.11. Aged and impotent poor, whose misery moves compassion, without an Orator, called here our poor, as well as our brethren.

Vers. 12. In the seventh year ] Viz. Since he was sold unto thee.

Vers. 16. Then thou shalt take an awle ] Ut si non horreret servitudinem, horreret saltem ignominiam publicam: If we can bear reproach for Christ, its an argument we mean to stick to him, as this bored servant, to his master.

CHAP. XVI.

Vers. 1. ANd keep the Passover ] Every man that seeth another stricken, and himself spared, is still to keep a Passover for himself.

Vers. 3. Even the bread of affliction ] Or, of poverty; as who should say, poor folks bread, ill-leavened, ill-prepared.

Vers. 4. And the • e shall be ] See the Notes on Exod. 12.

Vers. 10. With a tribute of a free-will offering ] Over and besides the sacrifice appointed for the feast-day, Numb. 18.27, 31. and the two loaves with their sacrifices commanded, Levite. 23.17, 20. so good-cheap is God's service to us, over what it was to them.

Vers. 12. And thou shalt remember ] It is very good to look back, and recognize our former worse condition. Agathocles, King of Sicily, being a potters son, would be served only in earthen vessels. Willigis, Archbishop of Ments, a Wheel-wrights son, hanged wheels, and the tools wherewith they were made, round about his bed-chamber, and had these words written upon the walls, in very fair Characters, Willigis, Willigis, recole unde veneris, Remember whence thou camest.

Vers. 13. Thou shalt observe ] See the Notes on Exod. 23.16.

Vers. 15. Thou shalt surely rejoice ] See the Notes on Chap. 12.12.

Vers. 18. With just judgment ] Heb. with judgment of justice. Ut fiat justitia, ruat coelum. Let heaven and earth be blended together, rather then Magistrates be drawn to deal basely. It is reported by a late traveler, that in Zant, over the place of judgment, these two Latin verses are written on the wall, in letters of gold,

Vers. 19. Neither take a gift ] Rain is good, and ground is good; yet, ex eorum conjunctione fit lutum, by the mixture of those two, is made dirt; so giving is kind, and taking is courteous; yet the mixing of them, makes the smooth paths of justice, foul, and uneven.

Vers. 20. That which is altogether just ] Heb. justice, justice; that is, let pure justice, without mud, run down; let all self-ish affections be strained out.

CHAP. XVII.

Vers. 1. THou shalt not sacrifice ] See the Note on Levite. 22.20.

Vers. 2. That hath wrought wickedness ] Idolatry is wickedness with a witness. Such was the venom of the Israelitish Idolatry, that the brazen Serpent stung worse then the fiery. Oh that the Lord as he hath revealed that Wirked one, so that he would at length, consume him with the spirit of his mouth, and dung his Vineyard with the dead carcase of that wild boar of the forest! He can as easily blast an oak, as trample a mushrome. Fiat, fiat.

Vers. 4. And it be told thee ] See the Note on Chap, 13.12.

And inquired diligently ] Men must be swift to hear, slow to speak that is, to censure, or pass sentence. Amongst the Athenians, an inditement of any crime, was but 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 ; the evidence and conviction, made it, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , the sentence 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . Athanasius pass • th for a sacrilegious person, a profane wretch, a bloody persecutor, a blasphemer of God, &c. and was so condemned, before he was heard, by fourscore Bishops, in that Pseudosynodus Sa • dicensis. Sunt quidem in Ecclesia Catholica plurimi mali; sed ex haere • icis▪ nullus est bonus, saith Bellarmine; There be many bad men Papists, but not one good to be found among Protestants. The Catholics follow the Bible, (saith Hill, in his quartern of Reasons,) but the Protestants force the bible to follow them; yea their condemnation is so expressly set down in their own Bibles, saith another Popeling, and is so clear to all the world, that nothing more needs hereto, then that they know to read, and have their eyes in their heads, at the opening of their Bible. By the shooting of which bolt, you may easily guess at the archer.

Vers. 7. Thou shalt put the evil ] Both person and thing, 1 Cor. 5.13.

Vers. 8. Too hard for thee in judgment ] i.e. For thee, O Judge, who art thereupon to consult with the Priests; and by them to be informed of the true sense and meaning of God's law. For apices juris non sunt jus. And the Rabbin's have a saying, Nulla est objectio in Lege, quae non habet solutionem in latere. Now the Priests lips should preserve knowledge, and the Law should be sought at his mouth; the high-Priest also, in some cases, was to inquire, and answer after the judgment of Urim, before the Lord, Num. 27.21. This the Pope cannot do; and therefore cannot claim the final determination of all causes and controversies; though his Parasites tell him.

Vers. 9. And unto the judge ] i.e. The council of judges, the Synedrion, 2 Chron. 19.8. consisting partly of Priests, and partly of civile Magistrates! Amongst the Turks, at this day, their Judges are ever Ecclesiastical persons; whereby both orders joined, give reputation one to another, and maintenance; for these places of judicature, are the only preferment of the Priest-hood.

Vers. 10. According to all that they inform thee ] viz. Agreeable to the sentence of the law, verse. 11. The Jews from this text, foolishly seek footing for their traditions, which they so much magnify, Mat. 15.1, 2.

Vers. 14. And shalt say, I will set a King] A King then they might choose, so they did it orderly. Zwingli in ea fuit sententia, regna omnia esse electiva, nulla proprie successiva & haereditaria. In quo non negamus eum errasse in facto, ut loquuntur.

Vers. 15. Whom the Lord shall choose] As he did Saul, but especially David, and his progeny, types of Christ.

Vers. 16. He shall not multiply horses ] Lest he be held as our Henry the third was, Regni dilapidator, the royal spend-thrift.

Vers. 17. Silver and gold ] Lest his exactours receive from his subjects, no less sums of curses then of coin; and lest he gather money, the sinews of war; but lose his people's affection, the joints of peace; as our King John did.

Vers. 18. He shall write him a copy ] The Jews say, that if printing had been found out then; yet was the King bound to write two copies of the law with his own hand: one to keep in the treasury, and another to carry about him. This Book of God was David's delight, Psal. 119.70. Alphonsus King of Aragon is reported to have read over the Bible fourteen times, with Lyra 's notes upon it. Charles the Wise of France, not only caused the Bible to be translated into French, (as our King Alfred, translated the Psalter himself into his Saxon tongue,) but was also very studious in the holy Scripture. And that peereless princesse Q. Elizabeth, as she passed in triumphal state through the streets of London, after her Coronation, when the Bible was presented to her, at the little Conduit in Cheape-side, she received the same with both her hands, and kissing it, laid it to her breasts, saying; that the same had ever been her chiefest delight, and should be the rule, whereby she meant to frame her government.

Vers. 19. And it shall be with him] As his Uade-mecum, his Manual, his running library, the man of his counsel. Luther said, he would not live in paradise without the Bible; as with it, he could easily live in hell itself.

V. 20. That his heart be not lifted up ] That his good and his blood rise not together, as that Kings of Tyre did, Ezek. 28.2. and that Lucifer, son of the morning, Isai. 14.12, 13. See my common place of Arrogancy: Of Caligula it is said, that there never was a better servant, or a worse Lord: Vespasian is said to be the only man that became better by the Empire. The most of the Emperors grew so insolent, that they got nothing by their preferment; nisi ut citius interficerentur, but to be sooner slain.

CHAP. XVIII.

Vers. 1. ANd his inheritance ] i.e. Whatsoever, by the Law, belonged to the Lord, as decimae deo sacrae, &c.

V. 4. The first fruit also ] Pliny lib. 18. tells us, that among the Romans, also, no man might taste of his own corn, wine, or other fruits; priusquam Sacerdotes primitias libassent, till the Priests had offered the first-fruits, and made their use of them.

Vers. 6. With all the desire of his mind ] To do God better service. A good heart, holds the best he can do, but a little of that much that he could gladly beteem the Lord, and is still devising what to do more, Psal. 116.12.

Vers. 8. Besides that ] He shall not maintain himself of his own private stock, but live of the Holy things of the Temple.

Vers. 10. That maketh his son ] See the Note on Levite. 18.21.

Vers. 11. Or a Necromancer ] Bellarmine, and other Papists, play the Necromancers, when they would prove a purgatory, from the apparitions of spirits, that tell of themselves, or others, there tormented.

Vers. 13. Thou shalt be perfect ] See the Note on Mat. 5.48.

Vers. 14. Hath not suffered thee so to do ] He • hath shown thee a more excellent way, and kept thee from these devoratory evils, as Tertullian calleth them; so ordering the matter, that that evil one toucheth them not with any deadly touch, I John. 5.18. For either he suffers not his to be tempted above strength, 1 Cor. 10.13. Or else, he with-holds the occasion, when temptation hath prevailed to procure consent and purpose, &c.

Vers. 15. Like unto me ] Both in the participation of nature, and of office: a true man, and a true Mediator; Similes, they are, but not pares: Christ being worthy of more glory then Moses, and why; See Heb. 3.3. &c. Heb. 7.22. & 9.15.

Vers. 18. And he shall speak unto them ] Christ is that palmoni hammedabbar, Dan. 10. that excellent speaker, that spake with authority, and so as never man spake; being mighty in word and deed. See my true treas. p. 1.

Vers. 22. Thou shalt not be afraid ] Though he spake great swelling words of vanity, 2 Pet. 2.18. millstones and thunderbolts, as Hacket here did.

CHAP. XIX.

Vers. 3. THou shalt prepare thee a way] A direct, plain, fair high-way: Such a way must Ministers prepare, and pave for their people to Christ (the true Asylum, ) by giving them the knowledge of salvation, by the remission of their sins, Luk. 1, 76, 77.

Vers. 4. Whom he hated not in time past ] There is a passion of hatred. This is a kind of averseness and rising of the heart against a man, when one sees him; so that he cannot away with him, nor speak to him, nor look courteously or peaceably upon him; and by his good will, he would have nothing to do with him. Secondly, there is a habit of hatred; when the heart is so settled in this alienation and estrangement, that it grows to wish, and desire, and seek his hurt. Both these must be mortified.

Vers. 5. And live ] So he keep within • his city of refuge, till the death of the high-priest. See the Note on Num. 35.25.

Vers. 6. Whiles his heart is hot] As Nebuchadnezzar's oven, viz. with anger and grief, and such like passions; which like heavy bodies down steep hills, once in motion, move themselves, and know no ground but the bottom.

Vers 8. And give thee all the land ] From Nile to Euphrates, Gen. 15.18. which by reason of their sins he never did. Pray we with Jabez, 1 Chron. 4.10. Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, (my heart!) and that thine hand might be with me, &c. When thou shalt have enlarged mine heart, saith David, then will I run the way of thy commandments, Psal. 119.32.

Vers. 11. But if any man hate his neighbor] As Cain did Abel, as Esau Jacob, as Absalom Amnon; as Dr. Story did Queen Elizabeth, whom he cursed daily in his grace at board: as Tirone did the English; therefore strangling some of his own men, for no other reason, but because they fed on english bread; howbeit he never spake of the Queen, but with honor: yea the profane wretch, styled himself Cousin to God, Enemy to all the world, and Friend to the Queen of England.

Vers. 12. And fetch him thence ] From the altar to the halter, from the palace to the gallows, Prov. 28.17.

Vers. 14. Thy neighbors land-mark, which they of old, &c.] Erasmus met with an adversary so silly, as to object unto him this text, against the new Translation of the New Testament. Quasi per terminos, voces intellexisset Spiritus S. atque hujus legis violatae illi postulari possent, qui mutant rerum vocabula. Whereas by terms orland-marks, here are clearly meant bounds, borders, limits, whereby every man's inheritance was fevered.

Vers. 15. One witness shall not rise up ] Yet if this One be a faithful witness, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , saith Aristotle; one faithful witness, in some case, may suffice; in private offenses, howsoever: And that our Savior speaketh of such, Mat. 18.19. Basil and others are of opinion. If thy brother (a Jew, ) shall trespass against thee being a Jew, right thyself by degrees. First, deal with him fraternally, tell him his fault, betwixt thee and him alone, verse. 15. Secondly, deal with him legally, take with thee one or two more, verse. 16. Thirdly, deal with him jewishly; tell the Church, verse. 17. complain to the Sanhed • in. Fourthly, if he shall neglect to hear them, deal with him Heathenishly, i.e. Let him be unto thee, as a Heathen, and a Publican; make benefit of Roman Sovereignty, let Caesar's justice end the difference between you.

Vers. 20. Shall hear and fear ] Others woes should be our warnings, others sufferings our sermons, yea standing sermons, 1 Cor. 10.5. to 12. God's house of correction, is the school of instruction.

Vers. 21. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth ] See the Note on Mat. 5.38.

CHAP. XX.

Vers. 1. WHen thou goest out to battle ] It is not unlawful therefore to go to war, (as Lactantius held, and some others;) whether it be pro religione, vel pro region • : Only because it is easier to stir strife, then to stop and stint it; ( non enim in ejusdem potestate est initium belli, • jusque finis, ) war is not rashly to be undertaken; lest it befall men, as in the battle between the dragon and the elephant. The dragon sucketh out the blood of the elephant, and the weight of the falling elephant oppresseth the dragon, and so both perish. Saint Augustine would never pray for such, as had willfully and voluntarily thrust themselves into unnecessary wars.

For the Lord thy God is with thee] And how many reckonest thou him for? as Antigonus said, to his discouraged soldiers: The Lord is a Man of war, Exod. 15.3. Or, as the Chaldee there expresseth it; A victor of wars, 2 Chron. 32.8. Si deus pro nobis, &c. Rom. 8.31.

Vers. 2. That the Priest shall approach ] For some Priests ordinarily went along with the army; not to be Tuba rebellionis, as the Papists said of Zwingli; nor evangelium flammeum praedicare, as they said of Beza; as a common fire-brand, or fomenter of discord: but to blow the holy trumpets, that the people might be remembered before the Lord, and saved from their enemies, Num. 10.8, 9. 2 Chron. 13.12. And to say unto them, as 2 Chron. 19. Deal courageously, and the Lord shall be with the good. The valor of the Gauls, was admired by the Romans. It proceeded from that instruction of the Druids their Priests, concerning the immortality of the soul, &c.

Vers. 4. For the Lord your God is 〈◊〉 ] Quid metuit homo in sinu dei positus, Deo armatus? Creatures of an inferior nature, will be courageous in the presence of their masters: And shall not men, when they have God with them? Xerxes was wont to pitch his tent on high, and stand looking on his army when in fight; to encourage them, So God.

Vers. 5. And hath not dedicated it ] By prayers, hymns, and other holy solemnities, then usual, Neh. 12.27. Psal. 30. title; that the house of David might be as God, as the Angel of the Lord before them, Zach. 12.8.

Vers. 6. That hath planted a vineyard • This privilege might encourage men to build and plant; which is good and profitable for the common-wealth, as the Apostle speaketh in a like case, Tit. 3.8.

Vers. 7. That hath betrothed a wife] A commendable custom, even among Heathens also: Placuit, despondi; nuptiis hic dictus est dies, said he in Terence.

Vers. 8. That is fearful and faint-hearted ] This cowardly passion dis-pirits a man, expectorates his manliness, and exposeth him to the cruel mercy of an enemy. Better be temerarious, then timorous: Ye fugitives of Ephraim, is no small brand of dishonor, Judge. 12.4. besides that, melting and trying judgments follow such at heels, as account one pair of heels, worth two pair of hands, Ier. 9.3, 7. The French fled so fast before the English, at the battle of Terrim, that it was called the battle of Spur • es. [Lest his brethren's hearts] Cowardice is catching, and shows that men, like stags, have great horns, but want hearts.

Vers. 9. Captains of the armies, to lead the people] As Hannibal did, of whom Livy reports, that princeps proelium inibat, vltimus, conserto proelio, excedebat; he was first in the battle, and last out: And the same is storied of Albert, Marquess of Brandenburg: In congressibus prior pugnam iniit, victor à proelio excessit vltimus.

Vers. 10. Then proclaim peace unto it ] Heb. Shalt call unto it for peace: This hath been the practice of most nations. The Romans sent their caduceum et hastam: the Herald was commanded, to throw his weapons on the enemies ground, with this speech: Ego, populusque Rom. ho • inibus Hermundulis bellum dico facioque: I and the people of Rome, bid battle to the Hermunduli. Alexander the great, when he besieged any city, would send his Herald into it, with a burning torch in his hand, to proclaim, that if any man would repair and submit himself unto him, while that torch continued burning, he should be safe: otherwise, they should expect nothing, but fire and sword. Tamerlain, when he came against any place, first, he hanged out a white flag of grace, then a red, and lastly, a black flag; to show, that now there was no hope of mercy for them: 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 ; God loves to give warning, saith Herodotus, a heathen. And the Turks are of opinion, that God would not prosper them, in their assaults, except they first make to their enemies some offer of peace, how unreasonable soever, it forceth not. So they did, at the last fatal siege of Constantinople.

Vers. 11. And open unto thee] As Tournay in France did, to our Henry the eight, with ten thousand pound sterling, for the Citizens redemption; yet was it never till then counted so invincible, that this sentence was engraven over one of the gates; Jannes ton me a perdu ton pucellage, thou hast never lost thy maiden-head.

Vers. 13. Thou shalt smite every male thereof ] Let them pay for their pervicacy. So Caesar answered the Adviatici, that he would have spared their city, if they had yielded, before he had assaulted. And so the Duke D' Alva, much blamed Prosper Columnus, for receiving a castle upon condition, after he had beaten it with the cannon. Howbeit, in the L. Protectours expedition into Scotland, in the reign of Edward the 6. one castle, when they understood they were not able to hold out: and that their obstinacy had excluded all hope of pardon, they made petition, that they might not presently be slain, but have some time to recommend their souls to God, and afterwards be hanged. This respite being first obtained, their pardon did the more easily ensue,

Vers. 17. The Hivites and the I • busites ] The Gergashites are not reckoned among the rest, as neither are they, I • sh. 9.1. happy, because they accepted of conditions of peace.

Vers. 19. Thou shalt not cut them down ] Fruit-trees might not be destroyed: doth God take care for trees? It was to teach us, that if we bring forth fruit fit for God's taste and relish, sanctifying God and Christ in our hearts, we shall not be destroyed. Oaks bring forth apples, such as they are, and acorns, but not fit for meat.

CHAP. XXI.

Vers. 1. IN the field ] Or elsewhere; the field is instanced, because in places more frequented, murders are not so easily concealed, or so commonly committed.

Vers. 2. Then thy Elders ] Some of the Sanhedrin.

Vers. 3. Shall take an heifer ] Signifying Christ, who is the propitiation for his people's sins, 1 Joh. 2.2.

Vers. 4. Which is neither eared nor sown ] That is, that afterwards should neither be tilled nor sown, for horror and hatred of the innocent blood there spilled. So the mountains of Gilboah, 2 • am.1.

Vers. 5. And by their word ] i. e. According to that exposition that they shall give of God's Word, and not by any absolute or arbitrary power of their own.

Vers. 6. Shall wash their hands] An old ceremony, used in this case, by the Gentiles also, as the Scholiast upon Sophocles, showeth. See the Note on Matth. 27.24.

Vers. 27. And they shall answer ] To the Priests examining them, and, in God's name, making inquisition for blood.

Vers. 8. And the blood shall be forgiven ] The fault of not well watching and guarding the place where the murder was committed. Our King Alfred was the first that divided this Kingdom into Shires: He ordained also, that his Subjects should be divided into tens or tithings; every of which, severally, should give bond for the good abearing of each other. By this course men were not only careful of their own actions, but each had an eye to all the nine, for which he stood bound, as the nine had over him. Insomuch, that a poor girl might travel safely with a bag of gold in her hand, and none durst meddle with her. The ancientest of these men, were called the Tithingmen.

Vers. 11. And hast a desire unto her ] This was permitted them, as divorce was, ob duricordiam. But that is a base passage in the Turks Quran, that God did not give men such appetites, to have them frustrate, but enjoyed; as made for the gust of man, not for his torment, wherein his Creator delights not; and therefore they hold it lawful, for a man to marry as many wives, as he is able to maintain.

Vers. 12. And she shall shave her head ] In token, that she must renounce her heathenism, and lead a new and holy life. And if she thus consented to marry, she saved her life by it; so do those their souls, that consent to Christ; casting away their transgressions, and paring off their superfluities, by the constant practice of mortification.

Vers. 13. A full month ] Worldly sorrow, like a land-flood, is for the present, impetuous and violent, but time wears it out; Not so, godly sorrow.

Vers. 14. Because thou hast humbled her ] This expression shows, that God approved not of his fact, which yet he tolerated.

Vers. 15. And another hated ] i. e. Less loved; as Gen. 29.31. See the Note there.

Vers. 17. A double portion] According to this phrase, Elisha, 2 King. 2.9. doth not desire a greater measure of the spirit, then rested upon his master; but only to excel the other children of the Prophets, by a right of primogeniture.

Vers. 20. He is a glutton ] The same word is used for a vile person, Jer. 15 19. And indeed, belly-gods, Philip. 3.19. are dungy-gods, Hab. 2.18 with Ezek. 4.17, 18. A scavenger, whose office is to empty, is to be preferred before him that liveth but to fill privies.

Vers. 21. Shall hear and fear ] See the Note on Chap. 19.20.

Vers. 23. For he that is hanged ] See the Note on Gal. 3.13.

CHAP. XXII.

Vers. 1. THou shalt not see thy brothers ] No not thine enemies, Exod. 23.4. for, have we not all one father? Mal. 2.10. See the Note on Matth. 5.44.

Vers. 5. The woman shall not wear ] Because it is against both natural and civil honesty.

Neither shall a man put on ] That is, (say Stage-Players, and those that plead for them,) a man shall not wear women's apparel ordinarily and daily, so as women use to do. But the word is, Put on, and so they do; The same word is used of David's putting on Saul's armor, which yet he put off again presently. So full (saith One hereupon) are our hearts of distinctions and shifts, odia restringere, ampliare favores, to restrain hatreds, (as they call them) that is, the Commandments that make against them.

Vers. 7. And that thou mayst prolong, &c.] They were commanded to spare the damme, because she represented the parents, in bringing up of her young ones: and if their days should be for that prolonged, much more for this. The Hebrews reckon this commandment, for the least of all in Moses law; and yet such a promise is annexed thereunto.

Vers. 9. And the fruit of thy vineyard be defiled ] Heb. be sanctified, per antiphrasin; as Auri sacra fames; and Anthony's fire is, ignis sacer. So a whore is called in Hebrew, Kedesha, of Kadash, i. e. Holiness, Deut. 23.17. by a contrary meaning, as most unholy, and unchaste.

Vers. 10. Thou shalt not plough ] These laws were made, to set forth how God abhorreth all mixtures in religion; and how carefully men should keep their minds from being corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

Vers. 12. Wherewith thou coverest thyself] Ne in motu • liquid indecerum appareat; Lust and malice are sharp-sighted, 2 Sam. 11.2. 2 Sam. 6.20.

Vers. 14. I found her not a maid] Silvester Petra-sancta Jesuita calumniatur puellas plerunque corruptas nuptui dari in Reformato Evangelio: Quod de Evangelio Romano (ait Rivettus noster) potiùs dici posset; postquàm puellae dementarunt a vobis seducta, & sub vestibus cordulis nodosis spurcis vestris manibus fuerunt ligatae. Papists falsely affirm, that few maids amongst us come clear to marriage: cujus contrarium verum est.

Vers. 15. Then shall the father of the damosel ] Whose house, hereby, was dishonested, and by whom his daughters honor was to be defended; especially, since children's miscarriages reflect upon the parents; and the daughters sin, is the fathers shame.

Vers. 16. And he hateth her ] Which is a monster in nature