Deuteronomy - ccbiblestudy

?Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary - Deuteronomy (Vol. 1)?(Various
Authors) Commentator
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary, by Joseph Exell, William
Jones, George Barlow, W. Frank Scott, and others, was published in 37
volumes as a sermon preparation and study resource. It is a commentary
"written by preachers for preachers" and offers thousands of pages of:
. Detailed illustrations suitable for devotional study and preaching
. Extensive helps in application of Scripture for the listener and
reader
. Suggestive and explanatory comments on verses
. Theological outlines of passages
. Expository notes
. Sketches and relevant quotes
. Brief critical notes on chapters
Although originally purposed as a minister's preparation tool, the
Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary is also a fine personal study
supplement. 00 Introduction The Preacher's Complete Homiletic
COMMENTARY
ON THE FIFTH BOOK OF MOSES CALLED
Deuteronomy
By the REV. JAMES WOLFENDALE
Author of the Commentaries on the Chronicles and Minor Prophets
NEW YORK
FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY
LONDON AND TORONTO
1892
THE PREACHER'S COMPLETE HOMILETIC
COMMENTARY
ON THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
WITH CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES, INDEXES, ETC., BY VARIOUS AUTHORS
HOMILETICAL COMMENTARY
DEUTERONOMY
INTRODUCTORY NOTES ON THE BOOK
I. The Name. The Books of the Pentateuch are called by their first word,
e.g., Genesis ????????? B'rçshîth = "In beginning:" Exodus ?????????
???????? V'çl'leh Sh'môth = "And these the names." So Deuteronomy has been
called ??????? ??????????? Çl'l?h H?dd'bhârim = "These the words." The
Rabbins, however, sometimes named the Book ????? ????????? Sçph?r
Thôchâhôth = "Book of Rebukes." But by the Jewish people it was frequently
called ???????? ????????? M?shçh H?ttörâh = recapitulation or repetition of
the law, from Deu , which name was adopted by the LXX. Who christened the
Book ??v??????????, and the Vulgate, following, Deuteronomium; English,
Deuteronomy.
II Author. "One of the first questions connected with the Pentateuch"
(and of course Deuteronomy) "is that of authorship" (Davidson). "Moses was
the originally received author of the Book of Deuteronomy. In early times
no one, Jew, Christian, or heathen, denied the Mosaic authorship till Aben
Ezra, in the twelfth century, raised some doubts" (Patrick). "In the
seventeenth century Richard Simon, in his 'Critical History of the Old
Testament,' denied that Moses was the author of the Pentateuch" (Kitto's
Dict., s. v. Simon). "Since the middle of the eighteenth century, the
authorship of the Pentateuch has given rise to much discussion" (Horne's
Introduction). But the whole controversy may be summarised under two heads:
(a.) The Supplementary (Horne) or Fragmentary Hypothesis (llävernick); and
(b.) The Mosaic authorship. In our limited space we refrain from adding one
word to the controversy, but would rather refer the reader to two or three
works where the question is stated and literature on the subject is given,
e.g., Articles "Pentateuch," "Deuteronomy," in Kitto's Cyc. Bib. Lit. and
Smith's Dictionary; Horne's Introduction, vol. ii. 593; Davidson's
Introduction to Old Testament, vol. i.; Keil and Delitzsch on Pentateuch,
vol. i. 17-28; Hengstenberg's Egypt and Books of Moses; Hävernick's
Introduction to Old Testament; Colenso's Pentateuch; Speaker's Commentary.
We would, however, quote a word from two writers on this matter before
leaving it: "If the Pentateuch is not the work of him who names himself in
it as its author, it is the work of deception. The history is then an
untrue history: the laws are falsely ascribed to Moses: the predictions
have been invented post eventum" (Hävernick). "The genius and disposition
in other words, the character of the author; the contents of the Books
themselves, or what they treat of in relation to historical, political, and
geographical topics; the nature of the style and language, and the
arrangement and form of these Books, all show Moses to be the author"
(Jahn).
III. Contents. The Book is divided into two parts: the first, from
Deuteronomy 1-30; the second, from Deuteronomy 31-34
I. Consists of three addresses which Moses delivered to all the people
according to the head of Deu
(a.) Deu to Deu 4:40. First address, to prepare the way for exposition
and enforcement of the law.
(b.) Deuteronomy 5-26. Second address, is the law itself, which Moses
set before the people, and consists of two parts-
(1) Deuteronomy 5-11. General.
(2) Deuteronomy 12-26. Special.
(c.) Deuteronomy 27-30. Third address, has reference to the renewal of
the covenant.
II. The second part of the Book contains the close of Moses' life and
labours.
(a.) Appointment of Joshua to be the leader of Israel into Canaan
(31.)
(b.) Song of Moses (Deu ).
(c.) Announcement of Moses' death (Deu ).
(d.) Blessing of Moses (33)
(e.) Account of Moses' death (34)
Vide Keil and Delitzsch, Angus' Handbook to Bible, Davidson's
Introduction, Smith's Dictionary, Speaker's Commentary, and Kitto's Cyc.
Bib. Lit.
IV. Date. If the Mosaic authorship be accepted, then the date of the Book
is easily fixed, and may be determined by Deu , which implies that the Book
was composed during the last two months of the life of Moses. (Cf. Keil and
Delitzsch, Horne, Hvernick, Speaker's Commentary.) On the other hand, if
the Mosaic authorship be rejected, then the date is fixed variously by
different critics, e.g., De Wette, time of Solomon; Ewald, of Manasseh; and
so on, and so on, quot homines tot senteni. But see the authorities already
named, with the addition of Jahn, from whom a word: "The language of the
Pentateuch is very ancient Hebrew, and differs considerably from the Psalms
and other more modern books. There are no foreign words to be found in the
Pentateuch, except some of old Egyptian origin. Archaisms occur, and forms
less frequent in the modern books."
V. Purpose of the Book. Exodus depicts the inauguration of the kingdom of
God on Sinai. Leviticus and Numbers, the former narrates the spiritual, the
latter the political organisation of the kingdom, by facts and legal
precepts. Deuteronomy recapitulates the whole in a hortatory strain,
embracing both history and legislation, and impresses it upon the hearts of
the people, for the purpose of arousing true fidelity to the covenant, and
securing its lasting duration. The economy of the old covenant having been
thus established, the revelation of the law closes with the death of its
Mediator (Keil and Delitzsch).
VI. Relation of Deuteronomy to the other Books of the Pentateuch. It is
not quite accurate to speak of Deuteronomy as merely a recapitulation of
things commanded and done in the preceding books, nor yet as a compendium
and summary of the law. Large portions of the Mosaic code are omitted.
Still less is it a manual for the ignorant ... Deuteronomy is an
authoritative and inspired commentary on the law, serving in some respects
also as a supplement and codicil to it. The preceding books displayed Moses
principally in the capacity of the legislator or annalist. Deuteronomy sets
him before us in the light of the prophet (cf. Speaker's Commentary, Keil
and Delitzsch).
VII. Genuineness. "A very strong proof of the genuineness of the Book
lies in its relation to the later writings of the prophets. Of all the
books of the Pentateuch, Deuteronomy has been made most use of by the
prophets, simply because it is best calculated to serve as a model for
prophetic declarations, as also because of the inward harmony that exists
between the prophecies and the law upon which they are built" (Hvernick).
VIII. Style. "The speeches exhibit a unity of style and character which
is strikingly consistent with such circumstances. They are pervaded by the
same vein of thought, the same tone and tenor of feeling, the same
peculiarities of conception and expression. They exhibit matter which is
neither documentary nor traditional, but conveyed in the speaker's own
words. Their aim is strictly hortatory; their style earnest, heart-
stirring, impressive, in passages sublime, but throughout rhetorical"
(Speaker's Commentary). "The style throughout is changed" (from that of the
other books of the Pentateuch). "The manner of representation is somewhat
rhetorical, verbose, and not unlike the prophetic. The tone is no longer
that of the narrator or a lawgiver, but that of a moral preacher who
expatiates in long exhortations. Moreover, the style has some peculiar
turns, which appear not in the other books, but in the prophets, especially
Jeremiah" (Schumann). "In Deuteronomy the speaker is evidently an old man,
whose age has rendered him somewhat verbose, captious, and querulous, and
disposed to censure the errors of his juniors" (Jahn).
IX. Deuteronomy in the Synagogue. The Jews divided the Pentateuch into
fifty-four parts. The division into fifty-four sections was to provide a
lesson for each Sabbath, from the Pentateuch, of those years which,
according to Jewish chronology, have fifty-four Sabbaths. In those years
which have only fifty-two Sabbaths, four shorter sections are read on two
Sabbaths. The first section, Gen to Gen 6:8, is read on the first Sabbath
after the Feast of Tabernacles. Deuteronomy embraces sections 44 to
54. For a full account see Dr. Ginsburg's article "Haphtara," in
Kitto's "Cyclopdia of Bibli