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27,299 commentary entries
The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 7:12-16
The rewards of obedience. If Israel fulfilled its vocation, in keeping itself separate from the idolatries of the heathen, and in destroying them from the land; if further, in possession of the land, it adhered to God's…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 7:12-26
Reward in proportion to arduous service. The enterprise upon which the Jews were entering was one of prodigious difficulty. They had to contend at the same time with stalwart human foes, and with the internal foes of ev…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 7:12-15
Temporal prosperity a result of obedience to Divine Law. The aged lawgiver in this paragraph shows the people how largely their well-being depends on obedience to God, and also to what an extent that welt-being would be…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 7:13
This favor would take effect in a blessing on the fruit of the womb, the produce of the field, and the increase of their flocks and herds (comp. Exodus 23:25-27). Thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. These comprise th…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 7:15
The mercy of God should be showed to them also in preserving them from sickness, especially of a virulent and dangerous kind, such as they had seen in Egypt, where disease has in all ages readily assumed a malignant cha…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 7:16
And thou shalt consume; literally, eat, devour ( וְאָכַלְתָּ). Unless they consumed them as one consumes food, they would be a snare to them, by tempting them to join in their idolatry. Deuteronomy 7:17, Deuteronomy 7:1…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 7:16-26
The heathen they were utterly to extirpate from the land which God was about to give them; mighty as these nations were, they were not to be afraid of them, for God would be with his people, and would deliver these nati…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 7:17-25
God for us. The numbers, strength, and fortified security of the seven nations made the conquest of Palestine a task of difficulty, and might naturally produce a disheartening effect on the invaders. I. A NATURAL FEAR.…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 7:17-26
Canaan gradually won. The winning of the whole land seemed a great task—too great for sense and sight. But the Divine programs, though comprehensive, are taken in detail. The Israelites are to win the country little by…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 7:19
Temptations, etc. (cf. Deuteronomy 4:34; Deuteronomy 6:22).
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 7:20
Hornet (cf. Exodus 23:28). Instances are on record of armies being obliged to give way before swarms of insects by which they were attacked; but it may be doubted if the statement here is to be understood literally, and…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 7:22
(Cf. Exodus 23:30.)
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 7:24
The kings also of these nations should they utterly destroy, so that their memory should perish from the earth. Deuteronomy 7:25, Deuteronomy 7:26 The idols of the Canaanites they were utterly to destroy by fire, not sa…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 7:26
Cursed thing; a thing devoted ( הֵרֶם), either, as in this case, to destruction (comp. also 1 Kings 20:42; Zechariah 14:11; Malachi 3:1-18 :24; [Malachi 4:6]) or, as elsewhere, to God (Le Deuteronomy 27:21; Numbers 18:1…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 8:1-6
The lessons of the wilderness. Moses here recalls the leadings of God in the wilderness, for the warning and instruction of the Israelites. And we are taught, surely, such lessons as these— I. THE WAY OF SALVATION IS ON…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 8:1-6
That they might be induced the more faithfully to observe all the commandments which had been enjoined upon them so as to go on and prosper, they are called to remember the experiences of the forty years in the wilderne…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 8:1-6
Life's meaning discerned by the retrospect of it. The remark has not infrequently been made that incidents closely connected cannot be rightly understood till the time has come for them to be reviewed in their entirety…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 8:1-6
The moral uses of memory. The memory of man exerts a mighty influence over his history and his destiny. Minus memory, man would be altogether another being. Remembrance of the past is a guidepost, or a beacon, for the f…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 8:1-20
EXPOSITION FURTHER EXHORTATION TO OBEDIENCE, ENFORCED BY A REVIEW OF GOD'S DEALINGS WITH ISRAEL IN THE WILDERNESS.
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 8:2-6
The uses of adversity. It is a great matter when in any experience of life we can read the Divine purpose in bringing us through it. The speaker in these verses unfolds the design and lessons of the wilderness disciplin…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 8:3
Not bread, but God's Word. The lesson of the manna gathered up into one concise sentence. It teaches us— I. TO SEE GOD IN SECONDARY CAUSES. The Word of God is as truly the creative and nourishing principle in ordinary b…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 8:3
God humbled the Israelites by leaving them to suffer hunger from the want of food, and then supplying them with food in a miraculous manner. They were thus taught that their life depended wholly on God, who could, by hi…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 8:4
As the manna furnished by God's creative power saved them from hunger, so by God's providence and care their raiment was marvelously kept from decay, and they had not to go barefoot from their sandals being worn out. Wa…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 8:5
Thus God educated, disciplined, and trained his people as a father does his child. Chasteneth. The idea is not so much that of punishment or chastisement, properly so called, as that of severe discipline and training. G…