EXCURSUS TO NOTES ON DEUTERONOMY. EXCURSUS ON CHAPTER X. 6, 7. to THESE verses have always seemed Hashmonah to to Mosera, (where to me to present the greatest Moseroth; from Aaron died and difficulty in the whole of Deuter- Moseroth to Bene- was buried), from onomy. If it were not for their jaakan; from Mosera to Gudgobeautiful spiritual connection with Bene-jaakan dah; from Gudthe context, I should not know Horhagidgad; godah to Jotbath, how to account for their presence from Horhagid- a land of rivers in this place at all. And even so, gad to Jotba- of waters." the difference between this allusion thah." Mosera is sinto Aaron's death and the account Three other gular, Moseroth given in Numbers, and the super- encampments- plural in form. ficial resemblance between the four at Ebronah, Bene-jaakan stages of the journey of Israel Eziongaber, and means "the chilhere mentioned, and four stages Kadesh-inter- dren of Jaakan" which belong to a different period vened before - Beeroth-bene(in Num. xxxiii. 31-34)-together their arrival at jaakan the wells create a somewhat formidable per- Mount Hor, of the children of plexity. The Samaritan Penta- where Aaron Jaakan. teuch increases the confusion by died, in the fifth hagidgad means introducing here the stages men- period of the Ex- the mount of tioned in Num. xxxiii. 34-37-an odus, on the first Gid-gad, which obvious attempt to harmonise the day of differs from Gudaccounts of two distinct things. month. god only in the The LXX. version of Deuteronomy vowel pointing. x. 6, 7 supports the Hebrew text. Gudgodah may The fact that the burial of Aaron mean the neighis alluded to in this place only, shows that the verses in Deuteronomy cannot have been taken from those in Numbers. The following comparison will show the difference. the Hor N. B. -The fourth period of the Exodus has no dates men- bourhood of tioned. Gudgod or Gidgad, and Jotbathah may mean simply to Jotbath. The fifth period begins with the death of Miriam at Kadesh in the first month of the fortieth year. Num. xx. 1. Gadgad and Ete batha are found both in Numbers and Deuteronomy in the LXX. The other names are given with some variation. The places are not mentioned in the same order in the two passages, and the difference in the form of the words shows that neither passage is copied from the other. All four sites are at present unknown. The additional particulars given in Deuteronomy suggest a reason why Israel should re-visit two of the four places; namely, because of the water which was to be had from the wells of the children of Jaakan, and in Jotbath, the "land of rivers of waters. Exodus, given in Num. xxxiii. is made to be 42 for a special reason, like the forty-two generations of Matt. i., in which there are at least three evidently intentional omissions. And therefore we need not be surprised at the insertion of places elsewhere, which are not included in that list. No place is mentioned twice in Num. xxxiii. Yet the children of Israel were certainly twice at Kadesh (for Numb. xiii. 26 and xx. 1, cannot refer to the same time), and probably twice at many other places. , The return of Israel in the last period of the Exodus to four places The real difficulty is not in the previously visited is in no way facts related in Deut. x. 6, 7, but remarkable. We are told that they in the question why they should be were compelled, about the time of narrated there. Further, they are Aaron's death, to " journey from narrated in the third person, "the Mount Hor to compass the land of children of Israel journeyed," but all Edom," which the Edomites would the other portions of their journey not permit them to cross (Num. are narrated in the first person xxi. 4, and xx. 21). The return to (Deut. i 19, we went; and so ii. 1, these former encampments may 8, 13, iii. 1, 26). A reader of Deuhave enhanced the weariness and teronomy who was not already annoyance of the people, so that familiar with the earlier books, "their soul was much discouraged would naturally suppose that at because of the way," and if they this period of the discourse the were travelling in a different di- children of Israel did journey, as rection, they may well have re- the narrative says. It is only by visited these four places in a close attention that the verses are different order. They need not seen to refer to a time previous to have encamped at all of them the the beginning of the book, but second time. The narrative in much later than the events reDeuteronomy merely says, "they capitulated in Deut. x. 5, 8. journeyed from," not "they encamped in." There is no reason why the district of Mount Hor may not have been called Mosera or Moseroth. And the name "chastisement may have been given to it by Moses, like many other significant names inthe Exodus (Meribah, Kibroth-hattaavah, &c.), in consequence of what took place there. Further there is some reason to believe that the number of the goings out" of Israel in the 66 In form, these verses correspond to what may be called the historical or editorial, as distinct from the hortatory portions of Deuteronomy; as the title, chap. i. 1-5 ; the parenthetical notes, chap. ii. 10-12, and 20-23; chaps. iii. 14, and iv. 41-43, 44-49; with the historical portions of the last six chapters of the book. Upon the whole, I am disposed to think that the only reason for the insertion of these verses is the ADDITIONAL NOTE ON CHAP. XXXIII. 2. "A FIERY LAW." THE original expression, eshdath | reason to doubt that the word dath or esh dath, sometimes written as one word, and sometimes as two, has created some difficulty. Eshis "fire," and dath, if taken as a distinct word, is "law." But dath does not appear elsewhere in the Hebrew of the Old Testament, until we meet it in the book of Esther, where it occurs frequently. It is also found in Ezra viii. 36. In the Chaldee of Daniel and Ezra it occurs six times. Modern authorities assert that it is properly a Persian word. But since it is found in the Chaldee of Daniel, it was in use among the Chaldæans before the Persian empire. The word has Semitic affinities. The Hebrew syllable thêth would have nearly the same meaning. A datum (or dictum) is the nearest equivalent that we have. There seems no had obtained a place both in Chaldee and in Hebrew at the time of the Captivity. It is perfectly possible that its existence in Chaldee dates very much earlier. We must remember that Chaldee was the language of the family of Abraham before they adopted Hebrew. "A Syrian ready to perish was my father," is the confession dictated by Moses in Deut. xxvi. 5. Syriac and Chaldee in the Old Testament are names of the same language. In the Babylonish captivity the Jews really returned to their ancestral language. It is therefore quite conceivable that Chaldæan words lingered among them until the Exodus; and this word dath, if it be a true Chaldæan word, may be an example. But, obviously, these Chaldæan reminiscences would be fewer as the years rolled on. are extremely alike in Hebrew, is The three Targums all take dath to very common. The parallels rebe "law" in this place. The ferred to in the notes on the verse LXX. has "angels" (ayyeλo), show that "fiery law" will yield instead of the combination sshdath. a good sense. The only question Possibly the word was taken as is whether dath, "law," can be ashdoth (plural of the Chaldee ashda), reasonably supposed to have ocmeaning "rays" (of light?) and so curred in the Mosaic writings. "angels." Comp., "He maketh If the word were at all generally His angels spirits, and His ministers known at that period, to whatever a flame of fire; they ran and language it properly belonged, returned as a flash of lightning" it would hardly have escaped (Ps. civ. 4; Ezek. i. 14). It is such a man as Moses. I think it also possible that the LXX. read r quite possible that the common instead of d in the word which translation may be right. The they had before them, and that Hebrew commentators accept it. they arrived at the meaning The only alternative I can "angels" through the Hebrew suggest is that of the LXX., word sharath, "to minister." The which cannot be verified with confusion between and d, which certainty. Abarim, Mount, 202. Abib, Month of, 105. Abominable things, 96. Abominations, 177. Achan stoned, 95. Adultery forbidden, 52, 136. Advice of Jethro taken, 22. ́Altars of Canaan destroyed, 60. Amalek to be exterminated, 149. Amorites, Mount of the, 22, 24. Analysis of the Book of Deutero- Animals for food, 96. Appliers of the law, 10, 113. fuge, 47. Ar, 30, 32. Baal-peor, 40, 41. Balaam, 139. Barzillai, 37. Bashan overcome, 35, 36. Bastards excluded, 138. Bat, The, 97. Battle of Edrei, 35. Jahaz, 34. Bedstead of Og, 36. Belial, Children of, 94. Blessing and curse, 85, 160. Blessings of obedience, 160, 161. of three cities of re- Blood of the sacrifice, 91. Ark of wood, The, 75, 76. Asher, Blessing of, 209. Avenger of Blood, The, 121. Azzah or Gaza, 33. |