Nitzavim Vayelech 2nd-4th Portions
Prosperity After Turning
to the Lord
1
When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you
take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the
nations,
Ellicott’s Commentary for English
Readers
And you take them to heart—An awakening among the people
themselves must precede their restoration.
Joseph Benson’s Commentary
And you take to heart—The benefits of obedience, and
miseries of disobedience; reflect seriously upon your ways, and the ends to
which they will certainly lead: in which consideration true repentance begins.
2
and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey
him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I
command you today,
John Trapp Complete Commentary
And . . . return to the Lord—By sin we run away from God; by
repentance we return to him.
3
then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes [the Shechinah, as
it were, having shared with Israel the suffering of the exile] and have
compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered
you.
The Adam Clarke Commentary
Gather you . . . from all the
nations—This
must refer to a more extensive captivity than that which they suffered in
Babylon.
4
Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from
there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English
Readers
If you have been banished—In the LXX., “If your dispersion
be.”
The Treasury of Scripture
Knowledge
There the—As this promise refers to a return
from a captivity among all nations, consequently it cannot be exclusively the
Babylonish captivity which is intended; and the repossession of their land must
be different from that which was consequent on their return from Babylon. Nor
at that period could it be said that they were multiplied more than their
fathers, or, as the Hebrew imports, made greater than their fathers, when after
their return they were tributary to the Persians, and afterwards fell under the
power of the Greeks, under whom they suffered much; nor have their hearts, as a
nation, yet been circumcised.
5
He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will
take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your
ancestors.
Joseph Benson’s Commentary
He will make you more prosperous
and numerous than your ancestors—There are in this and several other prophecies concerning the
restoration of the Jews, such magnificent descriptions of it as do by no means
appear to have been sufficiently fulfilled in any restoration yet past; and
therefore are to be accomplished in a more complete one yet to come, after
their conversion, in principle and practice, to true Christianity.
The Adam Clarke Commentary
Will bring you to the land—As this promise refers to a return
from a captivity in which they had been scattered among all nations,
consequently it is not the Babylonish captivity which is intended; and the
repossession of their land must be different from that which was consequent on
their return from Chaldea.
6
The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your
descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your
soul, and live.
John Wesley’s Explanatory Notes on
the Whole Bible
The Lord—Or, For the Lord will circumcise your
heart, will by his word and spirit change and purge your heart from all your idolatry
and wickedness, and incline your heart so that you may love him. God will first
convert and sanctify them, the fruit whereof shall be, that they shall again
obey God’s commands, Deu 30:8, and then shall prosper in all things, Deu 30:9. This
promise principally respects the times of the gospel, and the grace which was
to be then imparted to all Israel by Christ.
7
The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate
and persecute you.
8
You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands I am giving
you today.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English
Readers
You will again . . . follow all
his commands—It
is as certain as anything can be in this world that the laws of Deuteronomy
have never been kept perfectly. The minute observances of the Talmudical system
took the heart and spirit out of the law of Moses. Christians do not profess to
obey any commandments but those which are called moral. If the Law itself is to
be fulfilled, a restoration of Israel would seem to be necessary.
9
Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work
of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and
the crops of your land. The Lord will again delight in you and make
you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors,
E.W. Bullinger’s Companion Bible
Notes
Just as—According as.
John Wesley’s Explanatory Notes on
the Whole Bible
In you and make you prosperous—To make you prosperous; as he did
delight to destroy you.
Joseph Benson’s Commentary
In you and make you prosperous—To make you prosperous; as he did
delight to destroy you.
10
if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that
are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English
Readers
If you obey—“If” is the LXX. translation. The
Hebrew word signifies “for,” or “when.”
The Offer of Life or Death
11
Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your
reach.
12
It is not up in heaven [if it were, you would have to go up after it to study
it], so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and
proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”
Eruvin 55a:1
And this idea, that one must exert great effort to retain one’s Law knowledge, is in
accordance with what Avdimi bar Ḥama bar Dosa said: What is the
meaning of that which is written: “It is not in heaven . . . nor is it
beyond the sea?”(Deu 30:12-13) “It is not in heaven”indicates that
if it were in heaven, you would have to ascend after it, and if it were beyond
the sea, you would have to cross after it, as one must expend whatever
effort is necessary in order to study the Law.
Rashi’s Commentary
It is not . . . in heaven—For were it in heaven it would still be your duty to go up after
it and to learn it (Eruvin 55a).
The Adam Clarke Commentary
It is not . . . in heaven—Shall not be communicated in that
way in which the prophets received the living oracles; but the Word shall be
made flesh, and dwell among you.
13
Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to
get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”
14
No, the word is very near you [the Law having been given in writing and by word
of mouth]; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.
Eruvin 54a:11
Rabbi Yitzḥak said that this idea is derived from here: “No, the matter is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you
may obey it” (Deu 30:14). When is it very near you? When it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it, i.e., when you articulate your Law study.
John Wesley’s Explanatory Notes on
the Whole Bible
In your heart—In your mind, (as the heart is very commonly taken) to understand
and believe it. In a word, the Law is plain and easy: but the gospel is much
more so.
Matthew Poole’s English Annotations
on the Holy Bible
In your heart—i.e. in your mind, (as the heart is very commonly taken) to
understand and believe it.
Rashi’s Commentary
No, the word is very near
you—The Law has been given to you in writing and
orally.
15 See,
I set before you today life and prosperity [the first is contingent upon the
second], death and destruction.
The Adam Clarke Commentary
Life and prosperity—Present and future blessings.
16 For
I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience
to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws [this is “the good”]; then
you will live and increase [this is “the life”], and the Lord your
God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
John Trapp Complete Commentary
To love the Lord—God must be obeyed out of love, or all is lost.
17 But
if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to
bow down to other gods and worship them [this is “the evil”],
John Trapp Complete Commentary
But if your heart turns away—This is that death and evil (Deu 30:15).
Rashi’s Commentary
But if your heart turns away—Here you have evil.
18 I
declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed [this is “the
death”]. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to
enter and possess.
John Trapp Complete Commentary
I declare to you—See on Deu 30:15.
Rashi’s Commentary
That you will certainly be destroyed—Here you have death.
19 This
day I call the heavens and the earth [They endure forever, and if evil befall
you, they will testify that I forewarned you of all this] as witnesses against
you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now [I
urge you to] choose life, so that you and your children may live
E.W. Bullinger’s Companion Bible
Notes
As witnesses—To witness.
Joseph Benson’s Commentary
Choose life—They shall have life that choose it: they that choose the favour
of God, and communion with him, shall have what they choose. They that come
short of life and happiness, must thank themselves only. They would have had
them, if they had chosen them, when they were put to their choice: but they
die, because they will die.
20 and
that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold
fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many
years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Joseph Benson’s Commentary
That you may love
the Lord your God—Here he shows them in
short what their duty is; to love God as the
Lord, a being most amiable, and as their God, a God
in covenant with them: as an evidence of their love, to listen to his voice
in every thing, and by constancy in this love and obedience, to hold
fast to him all their days. And what encouragement had they to do this?
For the Lord is your life,
and he will give you many years—He gives life,
preserves life, restores life, and prolongs it, by his power, though it be a
frail life, and by his presence, though it be a forfeited life. He sweetens
life by his comforts, and completes all in life everlasting.
The Adam Clarke Commentary
That you may love the Lord—Without love there can be no obedience.
Listen to his voice—Without obedience love is fruitless and dead.
And hold fast to him—Without close attachment and perseverance, temporary love, however
sincere and fervent—temporary obedience, however disinterested, energetic, and
pure while it lasts—will be ultimately ineffectual. He alone who endures to the
end, shall be saved. Reader, how do matters stand between God and thy soul? He
cannot persevere in the grace of God whose soul is not yet made a partaker of
that grace. Many talk strenuously on the impossibility of falling from grace,
who have not yet tasted that the Lord is gracious. How absurd to talk and
dispute about the infallibility of arriving safely at the end of a way in which
a man has never yet taken one hearty step! It is never among those that have
the grace of God, but among those that have it not, that we find an overweening
confidence.
Joshua to Succeed Moses
1 Then
Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel:
E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible
Notes
These words—The Massorah itself, with Targum of Onkelos, Septuagint, Syriac,
and Vulgate, read “all these words.” This is the beginning of the
seventh address, which ends with Deu 31:6.
John Trapp Complete Commentary
Went . . . and spoke—i.e., Went on to speak, setting things in order before
his death.
John Wesley’s Explanatory Notes on
the Whole Bible
Went . . . and spoke—Continued to speak, an usual Hebrew phrase.
Matthew Poole’s English Annotations
on the Holy Bible
Went . . . and spoke—i.e. proceeded or continued to speak, a usual Hebrew phrase. Or,
went to the place where he had assembled the people, that he might speak to
them.
2 “I am
now [on this day I was born, and on this day I shall die] a hundred and twenty
years old and I am no longer able to lead you [the warrant to do so having been
taken from him and accorded Joshua]. The Lord has said to me, ‘You
shall not cross the Jordan.’
Commentary Critical and Explanatory
on the Whole Bible—Unabridged
The Lord has said to me—Should be “for the Lord has said.”
John Wesley’s Explanatory Notes on
the Whole Bible
Lead you—Perform the office of a leader or governor, because the time of my
death approaches.
3
The Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will
destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land.
Joshua also will cross over ahead of you, as the Lord said.
4 And
the Lord will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of
the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land.
Calvin’s Commentary on the Bible
And the Lord will do to
them—He promises that, when they shall come into
the land of Canaan, they shall be conquerors of all its nations: and this he
confirms by experience; for, as God had delivered Sihon king of the Arnorites,
and Og king of Bashan, into their hands, so also he would give them the same
success in subduing their other enemies. The world is indeed subject to many
revolutions, but God still remains like himself, not only because his counsel
is never changed, but because his power is never diminished. By a real proof,
therefore, as it is called, he encourages the expectations of the people, and
at the same time exhorts them resolutely to execute God’s command, viz., that
they should purge the land of Canaan by the destruction of all its inhabitants.
In appearance, indeed, this was fierce and cruel, to leave not even one alive;
but, since God had justly devoted them to extinction, it was not lawful for the
Israelites to inquire what was to be done, but to abandon all discussion, and
to obey God’s command. In that they spared many, so much the worse was their
remissness, since God had often prepared them to execute the vengeance which he
had decreed.
John Trapp Complete Commentary
And the Lord will do to
them—Every former mercy is a pledge of a future.
Matthew Poole’s English Annotations
on the Holy Bible
Which he gave to you to possess.
5
The Lord will deliver them to you, and you must do to them all that I
have commanded you.
Comments
Post a Comment