Lectionary Calendar
Saturday, July 19th, 2025
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
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Bible Commentaries
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers Ellicott's Commentary
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliographical Information
Ellicott, Charles John. "Commentary on Deuteronomy 9". "Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers". https://studylight.org/commentaries/eng/ebc/deuteronomy-9.html. 1905.
Ellicott, Charles John. "Commentary on Deuteronomy 9". "Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers". https://studylight.org/
Whole Bible (45)Old Testament (1)Individual Books (3)
Verse 1
IX.
EXHORTATION TO REMEMBER THE SINS OF THE EXODUS.
(1) Hear, O Israel.âA fresh portion of the exhortation begins here. The cause of Israelâs conquest of Canaan is not to be sought in their own merit, but in the choice of Jehovah.
Thou art to pass.âLiterally, thou art passing: i.e., just about to pass.
Nations greater and mightier than thyself.âIf this is true (and there is no reason to doubt it), the responsibility of the conquest does not rest with Israel; they were the Divine executioners. (See Note on Joshua 5:13-14.)
Cities . . . fenced up to heaven.âComp. the expression in Genesis 11:4, âa city and a tower whose top may reach unto (literally, is in) heaven.â So here, âcities great and fortified in the heavens.â Was St. Paul thinking of this expression when he said, âWe wrestle against spiritual wickedness in the heavenly regions?â (Ephesians 6:12).
Verse 2
(2) Whom thou knowest.âThe pronoun is emphatic. The twelve spies, two of whom were still living, had seen them (Numbers 13:33), and their fame was doubtless notorious. It seems to have been a common saying, possibly among the Anakim themselves, âWho will stand up to the children of Anak?â No one could be found to face them.
Verse 3
(3) Understand therefore.âLiterally, the connection seems to be this: âThe children of Anakim thou knowestâthou knowest also (the same word) to-day, that it is Jehovah thy God Himself that passeth over before thee, a consuming fire. He will destroy them, and He will make them to bow down before thee. And thou shalt make a conquest of them, and speedily annihilate them, according as Jehovah hath commanded thee.â
Verse 4
(4) But for the wickedness.ââSay not in thine heart, âin my righteousness,â when it is in consequence of their wickedness that Jehovah is dispossessing them from before thee.â
Verse 5
(5) Not for thy righteousness . . . dost thou go.âThe pronoun is emphatic. There is no reason why thou of all others shouldest be thus honoured.
Verse 6
(6) Understand therefore.âLiterally, and thou knowest. Three times the formula occurs in these verses. âThe children of Anak thou knowest; and thou knowest the Lord thy God; and (thirdly) thou knowest thyself too.â
A stiffnecked people.âThe metaphor seems to be taken from a camel or other beast of burden, who hardens his neck, and will not bend it for the driver.
Verse 7
(7) Remember, and forget not.âMore abruptly in the original, âRememberâdo not forgetâhow thou hast stirred the indignation of Jehovah.â
Rebellious.âNot simply rebels, as Moses called them (in Numbers 20:10) at Meribah, but provoking rebelsârebels who rouse the opposition of Him against whom they rebel.
Verse 8
(8) Also.âEven in Horeb. In the very sight of the mountain of the Law, the Law was flagrantly violated.
Verse 9
(9) I neither did eat bread nor drink water.âThis fact is not related in Exodus concerning the first forty days which Moses spent in Mount Sinai âwith his minister Joshua.â It might be supposed or implied, but it is not recorded.
Verse 10
(10) Two tables of stone.âOf these tables it is said in Exodus 32:16, âthe tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.â
Verse 12
(12) Arise, get thee down.âThe words recorded here and in Deuteronomy 9:13-14, are given at length in Exodus 32:7, &c. Mosesâ intercession at that time is recorded also.
Verse 15
(15) So I turned . . .âThis verse nearly repeats Exodus 32:15.
Verse 16
(16) Ye had turned aside quickly.âThe words of Jehovah in Deuteronomy 9:16, repeated here, and also recorded in Exodus 32:8. There is nothing so sad in human experience as the rapidity with which good resolutions and impressions fade from the natural heart of man.
Verse 17
(17) I . . . brake them before your eyes.âThis shows that the act was deliberate on Mosesâ part. He did not simply drop the tables in his passion before they reached the camp; he deliberately broke the material covenant in the face of the people, who had broken the covenant itself. When we remember the effect of hastily touching not the tables of the Law themselves, but the mere chest that contained them, in after-times, we may well believe that the breaking of these two tables was an act necessary for the safety of Israel. In Exodus 33:7, we read that Moses placed the temporary tabernacle outside the camp at the same time. The two actions seem to have had the same significance, and to have been done for the same reason.
Verse 18
(18) And I fell down before the Lord, as at the first, forty days and forty nights.âMoses had already interceded for them in Sinai before he came down on the fortieth day (Exodus 32:11-14). He now spent forty days and nights in the work of intercession. We are not to understand that the first forty were so spent. At that time he received the pattern of the tabernacle and the directions for the priesthood, which he did not deliver to Israel until after he descended from Sinai the second time. (See Exodus 24:18, and Exodus 35:1. &c.) During the first forty days, Joshua was with Moses in the mount (probably to help in taking the pattern for the tabernacle); during the second forty Moses was alone.
Verse 19
(19) For I was afraid.âIn Hebrews 12:21, the words âI exceedingly fearâ are (in the Greek) identical with these.
Verse 20
(20) I prayed for Aaron also.âJewish commentators ascribe the loss of Aaronâs two sons (Leviticus 10:1-2) partly to Godâs anger at this time.
Verse 21
(21) I took your sin . . . and I cast the dust thereof into the brook.âThe stream from the rock in Horeb not only gave Israel drink, but bore away their âsinâ upon its waters. âAnd that Rock was Christ.â This identification of the sin with the material object is in harmony with the Law in Leviticus, where âsinâ and âsin-offeringâââtrespassâ and âtrespass offeringââare respectively denoted by a single word.
Verse 22
(22) At Taberah.âThe first place mentioned after they left Sinai.
At Massah.âThe last scene described before they reached it. Sinai is made the centre of provocation.
At Kibroth-hattaavah.âThe first encampment named after Sinai. It is not certain that they halted at Taberah. (See Numbers 11:0)
Verse 23
(23) Ye rebelled against the commandment.âLiterally, the mouth of Jehovah.
Ye believed him notâwhen He encouraged you to go up.
Nor hearkened to his voiceâwhen He forbad you. (See on Deuteronomy 1:32; Deuteronomy 1:43.)
Verse 24
(24) Ye have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you.âThis is one side of the truth. The other may be found in the words of Balaam, which Jehovah Himself put into his mouth: âHe hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, nor seen perverseness in Israelâ (Numbers 23:21). (See also Deuteronomy 31:16.)
Verse 25
(25) Thus I fell down . . .âLiterally, And I fell down before Jehovah forty days and forty nights, as 1 had fallen down (originally on the fortieth day) when the Lord said He would destroy you: i.e., when He told Moses of the calf.
Verse 26
(26) I prayed therefore . . . and said.âThe words that follow are very similar to those which are recorded in Exodus 32:11-13. Moses appears to be alluding to his first intercession here, before he descended from Sinai for the first time.
Verse 27
(27) Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.âThis is found exactly in Exodus 32:13. Very few of the words used by Moses in the second forty days are found in Exodus. (See Exodus 34:9.)
Verse 29
(29) Thy people . . . which thou broughtest out.âSo Exodus 32:11. It is noticeable that God said to Moses, âThy people which thou broughtest out . . . have corrupted themselvesâ (Exodus 32:7). Moses said, âLord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people which thou hast brought forth?â