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9:1 Audi, Israel : tu transgredieris hodie Jordanem, ut possideas nationes maximas et fortiores te, civitates ingentes, et ad caelum usque muratas,
*H Hear, O Israel: Thou shalt go over the Jordan this day; to possess nations very great, and stronger than thyself, cities great, and walled up to the sky,


Ver. 1. This day, very soon, (M.) within the space of a month. C. — Sky: an hyperbole to denote their surprising height. W.

A.M. 2553.
9:2 populum magnum atque sublimem, filios Enacim, quos ipse vidisti et audisti, quibus nullus potest ex adverso resistere.
*H A people great and tall, the sons of the Enacims, whom thou hast seen, and heard of, against whom no man is able to stand.


Ver. 2. Stand. Heb. "who can stand before the sons of Enak?" as if this were a sort of proverb. C. — The spies had formerly terrified the people with the report of the high walls and gigantic inhabitants of Chanaan. Num. xiii. 18.

9:3 Scies ergo hodie quod Dominus Deus tuus ipse transibit ante te, ignis devorans atque consumens, qui conterat eos, et deleat atque disperdat ante faciem tuam velociter, sicut locutus est tibi :
*H Thou shalt know therefore this day that the Lord thy God himself will pass over before thee, a devouring and consuming fire, to destroy and extirpate and bring them to nothing before thy face quickly, as he hath spoken to thee.


Ver. 3. Fire. See C. iv. 24. The conducting angel would fight for the Hebrews. H.

9:4 ne dicas in corde tuo, cum deleverit eos Dominus Deus tuus in conspectu tuo : Propter justitiam meam introduxit me Dominus ut terram hanc possiderem, cum propter impietates suas istae deletae sint nationes.
Say not in thy heart, when the Lord thy God shall have destroyed them in thy sight: For my justice hath the Lord brought me in to possess this land, whereas these nations are destroyed for their wickedness.
9:5 Neque enim propter justitias tuas, et aequitatem cordis tui ingredieris, ut possideas terras earum : sed quia illae egerunt impie, introeunte te deletae sunt : et ut compleret verbum suum Dominus, quod sub juramento pollicitus est patribus tuis, Abraham, Isaac, et Jacob.
For it is not for thy justices, and the uprightness of thy heart that thou shalt go in to possess their lands: but because they have done wickedly, they are destroyed at thy coming in: and that the Lord might accomplish his word, which he promised by oath to thy fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
9:6 Scito ergo quod non propter justitias tuas Dominus Deus tuus dederit tibi terram hanc optimam in possessionem, cum durissimae cervicis sis populus.
Know therefore that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this excellent land in possession for thy justices, for thou art a very stiffnecked people.
9:7 Memento, et ne obliviscaris, quomodo ad iracundiam provocaveris Dominum Deum tuum in solitudine. Ex eo die, quo egressus es ex Aegypto usque ad locum istum, semper adversum Dominum contendisti.
*H Remember, and forget not how thou provokedst the Lord thy God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that thou camest out of Egypt unto this place, thou hast always strove against the Lord.


Ver. 7. Strove. Heb. "irritated." C. — Sept. "continually disbelieved the Lord." Moses hence takes occasion to lay before the people their frequent and most heinous offences, on account of which they might justly have feared being destroyed, as much as the infamous nations whom they were about to supplant. They might thus be convinced that they had been chosen gratuitously. H. — For God hates nothing more than ingratitude and presumption. C.

9:8 Nam et in Horeb provocasti eum, et iratus delere te voluit,
*H For in Horeb, also thou didst provoke him, and he was angry, and would have destroyed thee,


Ver. 8. Would, if He had not been appeased by earnest supplication, as v. 20.

* Footnote * Exodus 17 : 6 Behold I will stand there before thee, upon the rock Horeb, and thou shalt strike the rock, and water shall come out of it that the people may drink. Moses did so before the ancients of Israel:
* Footnote * Exodus 19 : 3 And Moses went up to God; and the Lord called unto him from the mountain, and said: Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel:
9:9 quando ascendi in montem, ut acciperem tabulas lapideas, tabulas pacti quod pepigit vobiscum Dominus : et perseveravi in monte quadraginta diebus ac noctibus, panem non comedens, et aquam non bibens.
When I went up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, the tables of the covenant which the Lord made with you: and I continued in the mount forty days and nights, neither eating bread, nor drinking water.
* Footnote * Exodus 14 : 18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall be glorified in Pharao, and in his chariots, and in his horsemen.
9:10 Deditque mihi Dominus duas tabulas lapideas scriptas digito Dei, et continentes omnia verba quae vobis locutus est in monte de medio ignis, quando concio populi congregata est.
And the Lord gave me two tables of stone written with the finger of God, and containing all the words that he spoke to you in the mount from the midst of the fire, when the people were assembled together.
* Footnote * Exodus 31 : 18 And the Lord, when he had ended these words in Mount Sinai, gave to Moses two stone tables of testimony, written with the finger of God.
* Footnote * Exodus 32 : 15 And Moses returned from the mount, carrying the two tables of the testimony in his hand, written on both sides,
9:11 Cumque transissent quadraginta dies, et totidem noctes, dedit mihi Dominus duas tabulas lapideas, tabulas foederis,
And when forty days were passed, and as many nights, the Lord gave me the two tables of stone, the tables of the covenant,
9:12 dixitque mihi : Surge, et descende hinc cito : quia populus tuus, quem eduxisti de Aegypto, deseruerunt velociter viam, quam demonstrasti eis, feceruntque sibi conflatile.
*H And said to me: Arise, and go down from hence quickly: for thy people, which thou hast brought out of Egypt, have quickly forsaken the way that thou hast shewn them, and have made to themselves a molten idol.


Ver. 12. Have quickly. Heb. "have become corrupt; they have quickly abandoned the way which I commanded them." H. — Sept. "the people hath sinned...they have quickly transgressed," &c. C. — Idol. Protestants have "image." The Hebrews had called the similitude of a calf their god. Ex. xxxii. H.

* Footnote * Exodus 32 : 7 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Go, get thee down: thy people, which thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, hath sinned.
9:13 Rursumque ait Dominus ad me : Cerno quod populus iste durae cervicis sit :
And again the Lord said to me: I see that this people is stiffnecked:
9:14 dimitte me ut conteram eum, et deleam nomen ejus de sub caelo, et constituam te super gentem, quae hac major et fortior sit.
Let me alone that I may destroy them, and abolish their name from under heaven, and set thee over a nation, that is greater and stronger than this.
9:15 Cumque de monte ardente descenderem, et duas tabulas foederis utraque tenerem manu,
And when I came down from the burning mount, and held the two tables of the covenant with both hands,
9:16 vidissemque vos peccasse Domino Deo vestro, et fecisse vobis vitulum conflatilem, ac deseruisse velociter viam ejus, quam vobis ostenderat :
*H And saw that you had sinned against the Lord your God, and had made to yourselves a molten calf, and had quickly forsaken his way, which he had shewn you:


Ver. 16. Sinned, by idolatry, which comprises every sort of sin. Hence the Scripture only specifies that Jeroboam caused Israel to sin, when it means to assert that he engaged the people in the worship of idols. C.

9:17 projeci tabulas de manibus meis, confregique eas in conspectu vestro.
I cast the tables out of my hands, and broke them in your sight.
9:18 Et procidi ante Dominum sicut prius, quadraginta diebus et noctibus panem non comedens, et aquam non bibens, propter omnia peccata vestra quae gessistis contra Dominum, et eum ad iracundiam provocastis :
*H And I fell down before the Lord as before, forty days and nights neither eating bread, nor drinking water, for all your sins, which you had committed against the Lord, and had provoked him to wrath:


Ver. 18. Sins. Many believe that Moses spent the whole time in obtaining pardon. Hiscuni agrees herein with the other Rabbins, only he thinks Moses was all the time in the tabernacle. Other 40 days, or a third rigid fast, were requisite to obtain the second tables of the law, as the text seems to insinuate, (v. 25. C. x. 10,) unless Moses repeat what he has here asserted, as many able chronologers suppose. Torneil, Usher, &c. C. T. — The former opinion is maintained, however, by Salien, &c. Ex. xxxiv. H.

9:19 timui enim indignationem et iram illius, qua adversum vos concitatus, delere vos voluit. Et exaudivit me Dominus etiam hac vice.
For I feared his indignation and anger, wherewith being moved against you, he would have destroyed you. And the Lord heard me this time also.
9:20 Adversum Aaron quoque vehementer iratus, voluit eum conterere, et pro illo similiter deprecatus sum.
And he was exceeding angry against Aaron also, and would have destroyed him, and I prayed in like manner for him.
9:21 Peccatum autem vestrum quod feceratis, id est, vitulum, arripiens, igne combussi, et in frusta comminuens, omninoque in pulverem redigens, projeci in torrentem, qui de monte descendit.
*H And your sin that you had committed, that is, the calf, I took, and burned it with fire, and breaking it into pieces, until it was as small as dust, I threw it into the torrent, which cometh down from the mountain.


Ver. 21. Sin. The Scripture designates by this name not only the evil action, but also the propensity to it, the object, matter, occasion, punishment , or victim of sin. — The calf. He broke the idol in pieces, and then ground it small. Ex. xxxii. 20. C.

9:22 In incendio quoque, et in tentatione, et in Sepulchris concupiscentiae provocastis Dominum :
*H At the burning also, and at the place of temptation, and at the graves of lust you provoked the Lord:


Ver. 22. Burning, &c. The places called in Heb. "Tabera, Masa, and Kibroth Hattaavah." H. — At the first, the murmurers were burnt; (Num. xi. 1) at the second, or at Raphidim, (C.) the people demanded water, and were supplied from Horeb; (Ex. xvii. 2. 7. M.) though some confound this with the former place. It seems rather to refer to the temptation, or murmur of the people, on account of quails. Num. xi. 34. Ps. lxxvii. 18. C.

* Footnote * Numbers 11 : 1 In the mean time there arose a murmuring of the people against the Lord, as it were repining at their fatigue. And when the Lord heard it he was angry. And the fire of the Lord being kindled against them, devoured them that were at the uttermost part of the camp.
* Footnote * Numbers 16 : 2 Rose up against Moses, and with them two hundred and fifty others of the children of Israel, leading men of the synagogue, and who in the time of assembly were called by name.
* Footnote * Numbers 21 : 5 And speaking against God and Moses, they said: Why didst thou bring us out of Egypt, to die in the wilderness? There is no bread, nor have we any waters: our soul now loatheth this very light food.
9:23 et quando misit vos de Cadesbarne, dicens : Ascendite, et possidete terram, quam dedi vobis, et contempsistis imperium Domini Dei vestri, et non credidistis ei, neque vocem ejus audire voluistis :
*H And when he sent you from Cadesbarne, saying: Go up, and possess the land that I have given you, and you slighted the commandment of the Lord your God, and did not believe him, neither would you hearken to his voice:


Ver. 23. Slighted. Heb. "rebelled against," &c. as v. 24. Sept. "you were incredulous to." See Num. xiii. 3.

9:24 sed semper fuistis rebelles a die qua nosse vos coepi.
*H But were always rebellious from the day that I began to know you.


Ver. 24. To know you. When Moses slew the Egyptian, and would have pacified two of his contending brethren, they refused to receive his mediation; so also, when he returned from Madian, to rescue them from slavery, they presently began to murmur against him, and continued to do so frequently for 40 years. H. — Sept. refers this to God, "from the day that he was known to you," and received you for his peculiar people. Ex. xi. 25.

9:25 Et jacui coram Domino quadraginta diebus ac noctibus, quibus eum suppliciter deprecabar, ne deleret vos ut fuerat comminatus :
*H And I lay prostrate before the Lord forty days and nights, in which I humbly besought him, that he would not destroy you as he had threatened:


Ver. 25. Nights. See v. 18. C. — After specifying various seditions of the people, Moses returns to what he had been saying respecting the tables of the law, and shews with what difficulty he obtained pardon for the people, and the second tables. H. — Some people believe that Moses was thrice 40 days in the mountain. He mentions the prayer which he addressed to God before his first descent. Ex. xxxii. 11. M.

9:26 et orans dixi : Domine Deus, ne disperdas populum tuum, et haereditatem tuam, quam redemisti in magnitudine tua, quos eduxisti de Aegypto in manu forti.
And praying, I said: O Lord God, destroy not thy people, and thy inheritance, which thou hast redeemed in thy greatness, whom thou hast brought out of Egypt with a strong hand.
9:27 Recordare servorum tuorum Abraham, Isaac, et Jacob : ne aspicias duritiam populi hujus, et impietatem atque peccatum :
Remember thy servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: look not on the stubbornness of this people, nor on their wickedness and sin:
9:28 ne forte dicant habitatores terrae, de qua eduxisti nos : Non poterat Dominus introducere eos in terram, quam pollicitus est eis, et oderat illos : idcirco eduxit, ut interficeret eos in solitudine :
Lest perhaps the inhabitants of the land, out of which thou hast brought us, say: The Lord could not bring them into the land that he promised them, and he hated them: therefore he brought them out, that he might kill them in the wilderness,
9:29 qui sunt populus tuus et haereditas tua, quos eduxisti in fortitudine tua magna, et in brachio tuo extento.
Who are thy people and thy inheritance, whom thou hast brought out by thy great strength, and in thy stretched out arm.
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