the Week of Proper 22 / Ordinary 27
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Green's Literal Translation
Deuteronomy 32:15
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"But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—You grew fat, thick, and sleek—Then he abandoned God who made him,And treated the Rock of his salvation with wicked foolishness.
"But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked— You are grown fat, thick, and sleek— Then he forsook God who made him, And scorned the Rock of his salvation.
But he that shoulde haue ben vpright, when he waxed fat, spurned with his heele: Thou art well fed, thou art growen thicke, thou art euen laden with fatnesse: And he forsoke God his maker, and regarded not the God of his saluation.
"But Jeshurun became fat and kicked like a bull. (Yes, you people were fed well and became full and fat.) They left the God who made them! They ran away from the Rock who saved them.
"But Jesh'urun waxed fat, and kicked; you waxed fat, you grew thick, you became sleek; then he forsook God who made him, and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.
But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked: You have grown fat, you are grown thick, you are become sleek; Then he forsook God who made him, Lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
But Iesurun waxed fat, and kicked: Thou art waxen fat, thou art growen thicke, thou art couered with fatnes: then he forsooke God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rocke of his saluation.
But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
And whan he was fat and had ynough, he waxed wanton. He is fat, and thicke, and smothe, & hath letten God go, that made him, and despysed the rocke of his saluacion.
Jeshurun put on weight and bucked; you got fat, became obese, a tub of lard. He abandoned the God who made him, he mocked the Rock of his salvation. They made him jealous with their foreign newfangled gods, and with obscenities they vexed him no end. They sacrificed to no-god demons, gods they knew nothing about, The latest in gods, fresh from the market, gods your ancestors would never call "gods." You walked out on the Rock who gave you your life, forgot the birth-God who brought you into the world.
But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: Thou art waxed fat, thou art grown thick, thou art become sleek; Then he forsook God who made him, And lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
But Jeshurun became fat and would not be controlled: you have become fat, you are thick and full of food: then he was untrue to the God who made him, giving no honour to the Rock of his salvation.
Jacob ate and had his fill, Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: You have waxed fat, you have grown thick, you have become sleek; Then he forsook God who made him, And lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou hast waxed fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered [with fatness]; then he forsook God [who] made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
But Jeshurun became fat and kicked, you got fat, thick, and stuffed! Then he deserted the God who made him, and treated the Rock who saved him with contempt.
"But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; You grew fat, you grew thick, You are obese! Then he forsook God who made him, And scornfully esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
Israel, you grew fat and rebelled against God, your Creator; you rejected the Mighty Rock, your only place of safety.
"But Yeshurun grew fat and kicked (you grew fat, thick, gross!). He abandoned God his Maker; he scorned the Rock, his salvation.
Then Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked—Thou art waxen fat, Thou art grown thick, And thou art covered with fatness;—He gave up +God who made him, And lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
But he that should haue bene vpright, when he waxed fat, spurned with his heele: thou art fat, thou art grosse, thou art laden with fatnes: therefore he forsooke God that made him, and regarded not the strong God of his saluation.
And Israel grew fat and kicked; he became rich and mighty, he gained wealth; then he forsook God who made him, and reviled the Mighty One who had saved him.
"The Lord 's people grew rich, but rebellious; they were fat and stuffed with food. They abandoned God their Creator and rejected their mighty savior.
"But Jeshurun (Israel) became fat and kicked [at God]. You became fat, thick, sleek, and obstinate! Then he abandoned God who had made him, And scorned the Rock of his salvation.
But Yeshurun grew fat, and kicked: You have grown fat, you are grown thick, you are become sleek; Then he forsook God who made him, Lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked--thou didst wax fat, thou didst grow thick, thou didst become gross--and he forsook God who made him, and contemned the Rock of his salvation.
"But Israel soon became fat and unruly; the people grew heavy, plump, and stuffed! Then they abandoned the God who had made them; they made light of the Rock of their salvation.
"But Jeshurun grew fat and would not obey. You became fat and full of food. Then he turned away from God Who made him. He hated the Rock of His saving power.
Jacob ate his fill; Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked. You grew fat, bloated, and gorged! He abandoned God who made him, and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.
So Jacob ate and was filled, and the beloved one kicked; he grew fat, he became thick and broad: then he forsook the God that made him, and departed from God his Saviour.
But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: Thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art become sleek: Then he forsook God which made him, And lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked-becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
Then Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: Thou wast fat, Thou wast thick, Thou wast gorged, So he forsook the GOD who made him, And treated as foolish his Rock of salvation.
The beloved grew fat, and kicked: he grew fat, and thick and gross, he forsook God who made him, and departed from God his saviour.
And Jeshurun grew fat, and he kicked; you grew fat, you bloated, and you became obstinate; and he abandoned God, his maker, and he scoffed at the rock of his salvation.
"But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked; you grew fat, stout, and sleek; then he forsook God who made him and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.
"But Jeshurun became fat and kicked— You have become fat, thick, and obstinate— Then he abandoned God who made him, And rejected the Rock of his salvation.
Israel grew fat and kicked; they were fat and full and firm. They left the God who made them and rejected the Rock who saved them.
Then Jeshurun became fat and rebelled— you became fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
The louede puple was `maad fat, and kikide ayen; maad fat withoutforth, maad fat with ynne, and alargid; he forsook God his makere, and yede awei fro `God his helthe.
And Jeshurun waxeth fat, and doth kick: Thou hast been fat -- thou hast been thick, Thou hast been covered. And he leaveth God who made him, And dishonoureth the Rock of his salvation.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Jeshurun: Deuteronomy 33:5, Deuteronomy 33:26, Isaiah 44:2
kicked: 1 Samuel 2:29, Acts 9:5
waxen fat: Deuteronomy 31:20, Job 15:27, Psalms 17:10, Psalms 73:7, Psalms 119:70, Isaiah 6:10, Acts 28:27, Romans 2:4, Romans 2:5
then he: Deuteronomy 6:10-12, Deuteronomy 8:10-14, Deuteronomy 31:16, Deuteronomy 31:20, Nehemiah 9:25, Isaiah 1:4, Jeremiah 2:5, Jeremiah 5:7, Jeremiah 5:28, Hosea 13:6
the Rock: Deuteronomy 32:4, 2 Samuel 22:47, Psalms 18:46, Psalms 89:26, Psalms 95:1
Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 6:11 - when thou Deuteronomy 8:12 - Lest when Deuteronomy 32:18 - the Rock Judges 2:12 - forsook Judges 3:29 - lusty Judges 10:13 - General 1 Samuel 12:25 - But if 2 Kings 13:6 - departed 2 Kings 17:7 - sinned 2 Kings 21:22 - General 2 Kings 22:16 - all the words 2 Kings 22:17 - have forsaken 2 Chronicles 12:1 - he forsook 2 Chronicles 24:7 - did they bestow 2 Chronicles 34:21 - great 2 Chronicles 36:17 - who slew Ezra 9:7 - for our iniquities Nehemiah 9:16 - dealt Psalms 22:12 - strong Psalms 41:9 - which Psalms 73:6 - Therefore Psalms 78:35 - God was Psalms 78:56 - General Psalms 81:11 - would none Psalms 119:67 - Before Proverbs 1:32 - and the Proverbs 30:9 - I be full Isaiah 5:17 - the waste Isaiah 17:4 - the fatness Isaiah 17:10 - the rock Isaiah 24:5 - because Isaiah 26:4 - everlasting strength Isaiah 26:10 - favour Isaiah 53:3 - we hid as it were our faces from him Jeremiah 2:31 - We are lords Jeremiah 19:4 - they have Jeremiah 22:21 - This Jeremiah 26:4 - If Jeremiah 28:8 - prophesied Jeremiah 46:21 - the day Jeremiah 50:11 - ye are Lamentations 1:5 - for Lamentations 2:17 - done Ezekiel 5:6 - she hath Ezekiel 9:9 - The iniquity Ezekiel 14:5 - estranged Ezekiel 16:15 - thou didst Ezekiel 16:49 - fulness Ezekiel 34:16 - but I Ezekiel 39:26 - when they Hosea 7:12 - as their Amos 2:4 - For Amos 4:1 - ye kine Luke 6:48 - rock 1 Timothy 5:11 - to wax James 5:1 - ye
Gill's Notes on the Bible
But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked,.... This is undoubtedly a name of the people of Israel; it is to be met with only in three places more, in Deuteronomy 33:5; it is generally thought to come from a word d which signifies upright and righteous, such these people ought to have been, and some among them were; and they generally professed themselves, and outwardly appeared to be upright, just, and righteous persons, and were desirous of being reckoned so; which was their character in the times of Christ, when they rejected him: others derive it from a word e which signifies to behold, to see, and so describes them as seeing ones; and such they had been in the times of Moses, saw extraordinary sights and wonders in Egypt, the great salvation at the Red sea, the Lord going before them in a pillar of cloud and life; the manna every day falling about their tents; twice rocks smitten, and waters flowing from them, and had often very uncommon sights of the glory of God: and in the times of Christ, to which this song refers, they saw him in the flesh, preaching in their synagogues, doing miracles, riding on an ass to Jerusalem, according to one of their prophecies, and expiring on the cross, and yet rejected him. They are said to "wax fat", enjoy great outward prosperity, to abound in temporal good things, as they also did in spiritual, privileges; enjoying, or they might have enjoyed, such a ministry of the word, as never was before or since, the ministry of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, of Christ himself, and of his apostles, yet they "kicked"; which may denote their disobedience to the laws of God, moral and ceremonial, see 1 Samuel 2:29; and particularly the introduction of idolatry among them, which was kicking against God, and his worship; first among the ten tribes, in the times of Jeroboam, and among the two tribes, more especially in the times of Manasseh; and this kicking was particularly verified in Judas's lifting up his heel against Christ, and betraying him; which was not merely the sin of him only, but what the whole body of the people were involved in, see Psalms 41:9:
thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered [with fatness]; which is repeated and expressed by different words, both for the certainty of it, and to denote their great affluence of good things, and so the more to aggravate their impiety and ingratitude, next observed:
then he forsook God [which] made him; the worship of God, as the Targum of Jonathan, giving into idolatry in times past; and the written word of God, by giving heed to the traditions of the elders, to the making void and of none effect the word of God; or Christ, the essential Word of God; so the Targum of Jonathan,
"and left the Word of God, who created them;''
that Word of God which was in the beginning of all things, and by whom all things were made, and they also; who in the fulness of time was made flesh, and dwelt among men, John 1:1;
and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation; the same divine Person, described in Deuteronomy 32:4; and there called "the Rock",
Deuteronomy 32:4- :; here "the rock of salvation"; because salvation flows from him: he is the author of it, and it is to be had of him, and no other; and this epithet shows not only his ability and strength to effect it, but the security of it in him, which being wrought out is an everlasting one. He is said to be the rock of "his" salvation, Jeshurun or Israel, he being of the Jews, raised up among them, and sent unto them, and was the Saviour of some of them actually, even of the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and on account of his salvation deserving of universal esteem. But the Jews "lightly esteemed" him, had no value for him, set this rock and stone at nought; he was refused and rejected by the builders, who is now the head of the corner; they despised him, mocked at him, and treated him with the utmost contempt and disdain, yea, with abhorrence; all which, and more, is signified by the word here used: they traduced him as a vile and wicked person, and charged and, treated him as such, so some render the word f; and, as others g, they made a dead carcass of him, they crucified and slew him; this is the crime of ingratitude hinted at in Deuteronomy 32:6; and all between is an enumeration of instances of divine goodness to this people, mentioned with a view to aggravate this unheard of sin.
d ×שר "rectum esse". e ש×ר "cernere, intueri", Cocceius, Van Till. f ×× ×× "pro scelerato tractavit", Cocceius. g "Cadaver fecit", Van Till.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Song of Moses
If Deuteronomy 32:1-3 be regarded as the introduction, and Deuteronomy 32:43 as the conclusion, the main contents of the song may be grouped under three heads, namely,
(1) Deuteronomy 32:4-18, the faithfulness of God, the faithlessness of Israel;
(2) Deuteronomy 32:19-33, the chastisement and the need of its infliction by God;
(3) Deuteronomy 32:34-42, Godâs compassion upon the low and humbled state of His people.
The Song differs signally in diction and idiom from the preceding chapters; just as a lyrical passage is conceived in modes of thought wholly unlike those which belong to narrative or exhortation, and is uttered in different phraseology.
There are, however, in the Song numerous coincidences both in thoughts and words with other parts of the Pentateuch, and especially with Deuteronomy; while the resemblances between it and Psalms 90:0: âA Prayer of Moses,â have been rightly regarded as important.
The Song has reference to a state of things which did not ensue until long after the days of Moses. In this it resembles other parts of Deuteronomy and the Pentateuch which no less distinctly contemplate an apostasy (e. g. Deuteronomy 28:15; Leviticus 26:14), and describe it in general terms. If once we admit the possibility that Moses might foresee the future apostasy of Israel, it is scarcely possible to conceive how such foresight could be turned to better account by him than by the writing of this Song. Exhibiting as it does Godâs preventing mercies, His peopleâs faithlessness and ingratitude, Godâs consequent judgments, and the final and complete triumph of the divine counsels of grace, it forms the summary of all later Old Testament prophecies, and gives as it were the framework upon which they are laid out. Here as elsewhere the Pentateuch presents itself as the foundation of the religious life of Israel in after times. The currency of the Song would be a standing protest against apostasy; a protest which might well check waverers, and warn the faithful that the revolt of others was neither unforeseen nor unprovided for by Him in whom they trusted.
That this Ode must on every ground take the very first rank in Hebrew poetry is universally allowed.
Deuteronomy 32:1-3
Introduction. Heaven and earth are here invoked, as elsewhere (see the marginal references), in order to impress on the hearers the importance of what is to follow.
Deuteronomy 32:4
He is the Rock, his work is perfect - Rather, the Rock, perfect is his work. This epithet, repeated no less than five times in the Song Deuteronomy 32:15, Deuteronomy 32:18, Deuteronomy 32:30-31, represents those attributes of God which Moses is seeking to enforce, immutability and impregnable strength. Compare the expression âthe stone of Israelâ in Genesis 49:24; and see 1 Samuel 2:2; Psalms 18:2; Matthew 16:18; John 1:42. Zur, the original of âRock,â enters frequently into the composition of proper names of the Mosaic time, e. g., Numbers 1:5-6, Numbers 1:10; Numbers 2:12; Numbers 3:35, etc. Our translators have elsewhere rendered it according to the sense âeverlasting strengthâ Isaiah 26:4, âthe Mighty Oneâ Isaiah 30:29; in this chapter they have rightly adhered to the letter throughout.
Deuteronomy 32:5
Render: âItâ (i. e. âthe perverse and crooked generationâ) âhath corrupted itself before Him (compare Isaiah 1:4); they are not His children, but their blemish:â i. e., the generation of evil-doers cannot be styled Godâs children, but rather the shame and disgrace of Godâs children. The other side of the picture is thus brought forward with a brevity and abruptness which strikingly enforces the contrast.
Deuteronomy 32:6
Hath bought thee - Rather perhaps, âhath acquired thee for His own,â or âpossessed thee:â compare the expression âa peculiar people,â margin âa purchased people,â in 1 Peter 2:9.
Deuteronomy 32:8
That is, while nations were being constituted under Godâs providence, and the bounds of their habitation determined under His government (compare Acts 17:26), He had even then in view the interests of His elect, and reserved a fitting inheritance âaccording to the number of the children of Israel;â i. e., proportionate to the wants of their population. Some texts of the Greek version have âaccording to the number of the Angels of God;â following apparently not a different reading, but the Jewish notion that the nations of the earth are seventy in number (compare Genesis 10:1 note), and that each has its own guardian Angel (compare Ecclus. 17:17). This was possibly suggested by an apprehension that the literal rendering might prove invidious to the many Gentiles who would read the Greek version.
Deuteronomy 32:9-14
These verses set forth in figurative language the helpless and hopeless state of the nation when God took pity on it, and the love and care which He bestowed on it.
Deuteronomy 32:10
In the waste howling wilderness - literally, âin a waste, the howling of a wilderness,â i. e., a wilderness in which wild beasts howl. The word for âwasteâ is that used in Genesis 1:2, and there rendered âwithout form.â
Deuteronomy 32:11
Compare Exodus 19:4. The âso,â which the King James Version supplies in the next verse, should he inserted before âspreadeth,â and omitted from Deuteronomy 32:12. The sense is, âso He spread out His wings, took them up,â etc.
Deuteronomy 32:12
With him - i. e., with God. The Lord alone delivered Israel; Israel therefore ought to have served none other but Him.
Deuteronomy 32:13
i. e., God gave Israel possession of those commanding positions which carry with them dominion over the whole land (compare Deuteronomy 33:29), and enabled him to draw the richest provision out of spots naturally unproductive.
Deuteronomy 32:14
Breed of Bashan - Bashan was famous for its cattle. Compare Psalms 22:12; Ezekiel 39:18.
Fat of kidneys of wheat - i. e., the finest and most nutritious wheat. The fat of the kidneys was regarded as being the finest and tenderest, and was therefore specified as a part of the sacrificial animals which was to be offered to the Lord: compare Exodus 29:13, etc.
The pure blood of the qrape - Render, the blood of the grape, even wine. The Hebrew word seems (compare Isaiah 27:2) a poetical term for wine.
Deuteronomy 32:15
Jesbarun - This word, found again only in Deuteronomy 33:5, Deuteronomy 33:26, and Isaiah 44:2, is not a diminutive but an appellative (containing an allusion to the root, âto be righteousâ); and describes not the character which belonged to Israel in fact, but that to which Israel was called. Compare Numbers 23:21. The prefixing of this epithet to the description of Israelâs apostasy contained in the words next following is full of keen reproof.
Deuteronomy 32:16
They provoked him to jealousy - The language is borrowed from the matrimonial relationship, as in Deuteronomy 31:16.
Deuteronomy 32:17
Devils - Render, destroyers. The application of the word to the false gods points to the trait so deeply graven in all pagan worship, that of regarding the deities as malignant, and needing to be propitiated by human sufferings.
Not to God - Rather, ânot God,â i. e., which were not God; see the margin and Deuteronomy 32:21. Compare Deuteronomy 13:7; Deuteronomy 29:25.
Deuteronomy 32:19
The anger of God at the apostasy of His people is stated in general terms in this verse; and the results of it are described, in words as of God Himself, in the next and following verses. These results consisted negatively in the withdrawal of Godâs favor Deuteronomy 32:20, and positively in the infliction of a righteous retribution.
Daughters - The women had their full share in the sins of the people. Compare Isaiah 3:16 ff; Isaiah 32:9 ff; Jeremiah 7:18; Jeremiah 44:15 ff.
Deuteronomy 32:20
I will see what their end shall be - Compare the similar expression in Genesis 37:20.
Deuteronomy 32:21
God would mete out to them the same measure as they had done to Him. Through chosen by the one God to be His own, they had preferred idols, which were no gods. So therefore would He prefer to His people that which was no people. As they had angered Him with their vanities, so would He provoke them by adopting in their stead those whom they counted as nothing. The terms, ânot a people,â and âa foolish nation,â mean such a people as, not being Godâs, would not be accounted a people at all (compare Ephesians 2:12; 1 Peter 2:10), and such a nation as is destitute of that which alone can make a really âwise and understanding peopleâ Deuteronomy 4:6, namely, the knowledge of the revealed word and will of God (compare 1 Corinthians 1:18-28).
Deuteronomy 32:24
Burning heat - i. e., the fear of a pestilential disease. On the âfour sore judgments,â famine, plague, noisome beasts, the sword, compare Leviticus 26:22; Jeremiah 15:2; Ezekiel 5:17; Ezekiel 14:21.
Deuteronomy 32:26, Deuteronomy 32:27
Rather, I would utterly disperse them, etc., were it not that I apprehended the provocation of the enemy, i. e., that I should be provoked to wrath when the enemy ascribed the overthrow of Israel to his own prowess and not to my judgments. Compare Deuteronomy 9:28-29; Ezekiel 20:9, Ezekiel 20:14, Ezekiel 20:22.
Behave themselves strangely - Rather, misunderstand it, i. e., mistake the cause of Israelâs ruin.
Deuteronomy 32:30
The defeat of Israel would be due to the fact that God, their strength, had abandoned them because of their apostasy.
Deuteronomy 32:31
Our enemies - i. e., the enemies of Moses and the faithful Israelites; the pagan, more especially those with whom Israel was brought into collision, whom Israel was commissioned to âchase,â but to whom, as a punishment for faithlessness, Israel was âsold,â Deuteronomy 32:30. Moses leaves the decision, whether âtheir rockâ (i. e. the false gods of the pagan to which the apostate Israelites had fallen away) or âour Rockâ is superior, to be determined by the unbelievers themselves. For example, see Exodus 14:25; Numbers 23:0; Numbers 24:0; Joshua 2:9 ff; 1 Samuel 4:8; 1 Samuel 5:7 ff; 1 Kings 20:28. That the pagan should thus be constrained to bear witness to the supremacy of Israelâs God heightened the folly of Israelâs apostasy.
Deuteronomy 32:32
Their vine - i. e., the nature and character of Israel: compare for similar expressions Psalms 80:8, Psalms 80:14; Jeremiah 2:21; Hosea 10:1.
Sodom ... Gomorrah - Here, as elsewhere, and often in the prophets, emblems of utter depravity: compare Isaiah 1:10; Jeremiah 23:14,
Gall - Compare Deuteronomy 29:18 note.
Deuteronomy 32:35
Rather: âVengeance is mine and recompence, at the time when their foot slideth.
Deuteronomy 32:36
Repent himself for - Rather, have compassion upon. The verse declares that Godâs judgment of His people would issue at once in the punishment of the wicked, and in the comfort of the righteous.
None shut up, or left - A proverbial phrase (compare 1 Kings 14:10) meaning perhaps âmarried and single,â or âguarded and forsaken,â but signifying generally âall men of all sorts.â
Deuteronomy 32:40-42
Render: For I lift up my hand to heaven and say, As I live forever, if I whet, etc. On Deuteronomy 32:40, in which God is described as swearing by Himself, compare Isaiah 45:23; Jeremiah 22:5; Hebrews 6:17. The lifting up of the hand was a gesture used in making oath (compare Genesis 14:22; Revelation 10:5).
Deuteronomy 32:42
From the beginning of revenges upon the enemy - Render, (drunk with blood) from the head (i. e. the chief) of the princes of the enemy.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Deuteronomy 32:15. Jeshurun — ×שר×× the upright. This appellative is here put for Israel, and as it comes from ×שר yashar, he was right, straight, may be intended to show that the people who once not only promised fair, but were really upright, walking in the paths of righteousness, should, in the time signified by the prophet, not only revolt from God, but actually fight against him; like a full fed horse, who not only will not bear the harness, but breaks away from his master, and endeavours to kick him as he struggles to get loose. All this is spoken prophetically, and is intended as a warning, that the evil might not take place. For were the transgression unavoidable, it must be the effect of some necessitating cause, which would destroy the turpitude of the action, as it referred to Israel; for if the evil were absolutely unavoidable, no blame could attach to the unfortunate agent, who could only consider himself the miserable instrument of a dire necessity. See a case in point, 1 Samuel 23:11-12, where the prediction appears in the most absolute form, and yet the evil was prevented by the person receiving the prediction as a warning. The case is the following: -
The Philistines attacked Keilah and robbed the threshing-floors; David, being informed of it, asked counsel of God whether he should go and relieve it; he is ordered to go, and is assured of success; he goes, routs the Philistines, and delivers Keilah. Saul, hearing that David was in Keilah, determines to besiege the place. David, finding that Saul meditated his destruction, asked counsel of the Lord, thus: "O Lord God of Israel, thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake. Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? Will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? And the Lord said, He will come down. Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the Lord said, They will deliver thee up. Then David and his men (about six hundred) arose and departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go: and it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah, and he forbore to go forth." Here was the most positive prediction that Saul would come to Keilah, and that the men of Keilah would deliver David into his hands; yet neither of these events took place, because David departed from Keilah. But had he continued there, Saul would have come down, and the men of Keilah would have betrayed their deliverer. Thus the prediction was totally conditional; and so were all these prophecies relative to the apostasy of Israel. They were only fulfilled in those who did not receive them as warnings. See Jeremiah 18:8-10.
The Rock of his salvation. — He ceased to depend on the fountain whence his salvation issued; and thinking highly of himself, he lightly esteemed his God; and having ceased to depend on him, his fall became inevitable. The figure is admirably well supported through the whole verse. We see, first, a miserable, lean steed, taken under the care and into the keeping of a master who provides him with an abundance of provender. We see, secondly, this horse waxing fat under this keeping. We see him, thirdly, breaking away from his master, leaving his rich pasturage, and running to the wilderness, unwilling to bear the yoke or harness, or to make any returns for his master's care and attention. We see, fourthly, whence this conduct proceeds - from a want of consciousness that his strength depends upon his master's care and keeping; and a lack of consideration that leanness and wretchedness must be the consequence of his leaving his master's service, and running off from his master's pasturage. How easy to apply all these points to the case of the Israelites! and how illustrative of their former and latter state! And how powerfully do they apply to the case of many called Christians, who, having increased in riches, forget that God from whose hand alone those mercies flowed!
