Commentaria in Deuteronomium
Chapter Thirty-one
Moses strengthens the people and Josue to go on into Chanaan. Secondly, verse 9, he writes Deuteronomy, and commands it to be read to the people in the seventh year of remission. Thirdly, verse 14, God addresses and appoints Josue in the place of Moses. Fourthly, verse 19, He commands the canticle of the following chapter to be written, and learned and sung by the Israelites. Fifthly, verse 26, He commands Deuteronomy to be kept at the side of the ark.
1. And Moses went, and spoke all these words to all Israel, 2. And he said to them: I am this day a hundred and twenty years old, I can no longer go out and come in, especially as the Lord also hath said to me: Thou shalt not pass over this Jordan. 3. The Lord thy God therefore will pass over before thee: he will destroy all these nations in thy sight, and thou shalt possess them: and this Josue shall go over before thee, as the Lord hath spoken. 4. And the Lord shall do to them as he did to Sehon and Og, the kings of the Amorrhites, and to their land, and shall destroy them. 5. When therefore the Lord shall have also delivered these into your hands, you shall do in like manner to them as I have commanded you. 6. Do manfully, and be of good heart: fear not, nor be ye dismayed at the sight of them: for the Lord thy God himself is thy leader and will not leave thee, nor forsake thee. 7. And Moses called Josue, and said to him before all Israel: Be strong and couragious: for thou shalt bring this people into the land, which the Lord swore to their fathers that he would give them, and thou shalt divide it by lot. 8. And the Lord who is your leader, he will be with thee: he will not leave thee, nor forsake thee: fear not, nor be discouraged. 9. And Moses wrote this law; and delivered it to the priests the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the ancients of Israel. 10. And he commanded them, saying: After seven years, in the year of remission, in the feast of tabernacles, 11. When all come together to appear in the sight of the Lord thy God, in the place which the Lord shall choose, thou shalt read the words of this law before all Israel in their hearing, 12. And the whole people being gathered together, both men and women, children and strangers, that are within thy gates: that hearing they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and keep, and fulfil all the words of this law: 13. And their children also, who now know not, that they may hear, and fear the Lord their God, all the days that they live in the land, whither you are going over the Jordan to possess it. 14. And the Lord said to Moses: Behold the days of thy death are at hand: call Josue, and stand in the tabernacle of the testimony, that I may give him charges. Moses and Josue went, and stood in the tabernacle of the testimony. 15. And the Lord appeared there in a pillar of a cloud, which stood in the entry of the tabernacle. 16. And the Lord said to Moses: Behold thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, and this people rising up, will go a fornicating after strange gods in the land, to which they go in to dwell: there will they forsake me, and make void the covenant which I have made with them. 17. And my wrath shall be kindled against them in that day: and I will forsake them, and will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured: all evils and afflictions shall find them, so that they shall say in that day: In truth, because God is not with me, these evils have found me. 18. But I will hide, and conceal my face in that day, for all the evils which they have done, because they followed strange gods. 19. Now therefore write ye this canticle, and teach it the children of Israel: that they may know it by heart, and sing it by mouth, and that this song may be to me for a testimony among the children of Israel. 20. For I will bring them into the land, for which I swore to their fathers, that flows with milk and honey. And when they shall have eaten and be full and fat, they will turn to strange gods, and will serve them: and they will detract me, and make void my covenant. 21. After many evils and afflictions shall have found them, this canticle shall answer them as a testimony, which no oblivion shall take away out of the mouth of their seed. For I know their thoughts, what they are about to do this day, before I bring them into the land which I have promised them. 22. Moses therefore wrote the canticle, and taught it to the children of Israel. 23. And the Lord commanded Josue the son of Nun, and said: Take courage, and be valiant: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I have promised, and I will be with thee. 24. Therefore after Moses had written the words of this law in a volume, and finished it, 25. He commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying: 26. Take this book, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God: that it may be there for a testimony against thee. 27. For I know thy obstinacy, and thy stiffest neck. While I am yet living, and going in with you, you have always been rebellious against the Lord: how much more when I shall be dead? 28. Gather unto me all the ancients of your tribes, and your doctors, and I will speak these words in their hearing, and will call heaven and earth to witness against them. 29. For I know that after my death you will do wickedly, and will quickly turn aside from the way that I have commanded you: and evils shall come upon you in the latter times, when you shall do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him by the works of your hands. 30. Moses therefore spoke in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel, the words of this canticle, and finished it even to the end.
1. AND MOSES WENT, AND SPOKE,—that is, Moses added, or began to speak these words that follow: for the Hebrews by to go out, to go away, to rise, often understand to begin: “went” therefore means, began. So Abulensis and Oleaster.
2. I CAN NO LONGER GO OUT AND COME IN,—I can no longer lead you, and be your leader, both on account of old age, and because God forbade me entrance into the promised land, as follows. So Oleaster.
3. THE LORD THY GOD THEREFORE WILL PASS OVER BEFORE THEE,—not by changing place, but by working and subduing thy enemies; as if to say: God will be thy leader even to Chanaan.
9. AND MOSES WROTE THIS LAW,—namely of Deuteronomy. Note: Moses wrote this (as well as the following canticle, chap. xxxii, as is plain from verse 22 here) before he spoke and promulgated it to the people. For on the same day on which Moses said these things, and blessed the people, he went up into mount Nebo, as is plain from the following chapter, verse 48, and died there: nor could Moses on the same day have both spoken and written the whole of Deuteronomy at once. So Abulensis.
Hence it seems that Moses did not speak the whole of Deuteronomy at one time: both because this would have been long and wearisome; and because after he began to utter it, before he finished it, he wrote it, as is here said.
10 and 11. AFTER SEVEN YEARS (to be reckoned from the division and peaceful possession of the holy land), IN THE YEAR OF REMISSION, IN THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES, etc., THOU SHALT READ THE WORDS OF THIS LAW.—Every seventh year, therefore, Deuteronomy had to be read publicly, before all, even the little ones. For first impressions are the strongest. Hence Aristotle says: It matters greatly to be accustomed to this or that from youth. Hence also Plato ordered men from tender years to be trained to rejoice and to grieve rightly, because in these perfect discipline consists, namely that we rejoice in virtues and grieve at vices. Mystically, the seventh year of remission is the time of grace, in which Christ and the Apostles promulgated the second law, namely the Evangelical. So Cyril in his Glaphyra.
13. AND THEIR CHILDREN ALSO WHO NOW KNOW NOT,—namely little ones, who as yet know nothing, and therefore likewise know not this law of God.
16. THIS PEOPLE RISING UP WILL GO A FORNICATING AFTER STRANGE GODS,—will follow strange gods, and worship them, forsaking me; for idolatry is called fornication by the Prophets.
17. I WILL HIDE MY FACE FROM THEM,—by withdrawing from them my protection.
19. WRITE YE THIS CANTICLE (namely this song, of which in chap. xxxii), AND TEACH IT THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, THAT, etc., IT MAY BE FOR A TESTIMONY,—namely of their own iniquity and of divine justice.
21. AFTER MANY EVILS SHALL HAVE FOUND THEM, THIS CANTICLE SHALL ANSWER THEM,—as if to say: Then this song, which I shall compose in the following chapter, will testify to the Hebrew people that they have offended and fallen away from God, when in very fact they shall see that those evils have befallen them which I shall threaten and proclaim in this song to deserters of God.
FOR I KNOW THEIR THOUGHTS, WHAT THEY ARE ABOUT TO DO THIS DAY.—The “this day” is to be referred, not to “are about to do,” but to “I know”; as if to say: I know this day and from now the disposition and inclination of this people to idols and other evils, and that they will in fact do these things in their own time.
26. TAKE THIS BOOK (of Deuteronomy), AND PUT IT IN THE SIDE OF THE ARK OF THE COVENANT OF THE LORD.—Not that this book was placed, or ordered to be placed, within the ark itself, in some corner of it: for in the ark were laid up only the tables of the law; but it was placed at the side of the ark, as the Hebrew has it, that is, outside the ark, on its edge, or in its fold, or near it, together with the rod of Aaron and the urn containing the manna, says Abulensis; from which place afterwards, when the temple was built, it seems to have been transferred to the treasury, or to the place of the treasures, as is gathered from 2 Paralipomenon xxxiv, 14.
27. I KNOW THY OBSTINACY, AND THY STIFFEST NECK.—… rebellion, and thou mightest boldly deny that this law was ever given thee by me; therefore I will that this book of the law be laid up in the ark, and thence be brought forth against thee for a testimony, when need shall be. Note: God here addresses the Levites as though they were the whole people, because they, as priests and Levites, represented the whole people.
28. AND WILL CALL HEAVEN AND EARTH TO WITNESS AGAINST THEM,—that they may be witnesses of what I say, namely of their future transgression as well as of their punishment. Whence the following canticle, which is about this matter, thus begins: “Hear, O ye heavens, the things I speak: let the earth give ear to the words of my mouth.” See what was said chap. iv, verse 26.
29. BY THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS—by your wicked actions. Secondly, by the idols which you shall make with your hands and worship. So Abulensis.
30. MOSES THEREFORE SPOKE IN THE HEARING OF THE WHOLE ASSEMBLY OF ISRAEL.—Hence it seems that by a miracle the aged voice of Moses was so strengthened and increased that it was heard by each, that is, by three millions of men, as I said chap. i, verse 4: so Abulensis.
ALL THE WORDS OF THIS CANTICLE,—which, namely, Moses composed and sang, chap. xxxi. Note here the zeal and last admonitions of Moses, now about to die: for like fire he burns to impress the law of God upon the people.
So Josue, chap. xxiv, when about to die, bound the people to the law of God by a covenant, and set up a great stone to be a witness against them, lest they should break the faith given to God.
So David, when about to die, said to Solomon his son and heir of the kingdom: “I go the way of all flesh: take courage, and shew thyself a man. And keep the charge of the Lord thy God,” 3 Kings ii.
So Constantius Caesar, father of Constantine the Great, when about to die, placing the crown on his son, said to him and to the Senate: “Now death will be sweeter to me than life itself, now my departure is welcome. For I leave an Emperor as son, who will wipe away the tears of the Christians and avenge the cruelty of the tyrants.” Then turning to the multitude, he bade all be of good heart who had not fallen away from true piety towards Christ, and added that Christ would henceforth be in arms with Constantine. So Baronius from Eusebius, tom. II, year of Christ 306.
So the Emperor Theodosius, when about to die, called his sons Arcadius and Honorius, and with ardent affection earnestly exhorted them, conjuring them by their own safety and that of the commonwealth, that following his footsteps they should make it their one care to spare no labours or expense that the doctrine of faith and piety might be preserved pure and uncorrupted; for in this one thing the highest happiness is placed: and by this means alone, and by no other, peace is rightly established, wars are ended, trophies are raised, and victories are won. So Theodoret, book V, chap. xxv, and others.
St. Louis the king, when about to die, gave his son these precepts: “My son, before all things take care to love God: for no one can be saved unless he love God. Beware ever to admit mortal sin, but rather be willing to bear every kind of torment than to commit any such fault. Confess thy sins often, and choose for thyself wise Confessors, who can teach thee what thou oughtest to do and what to avoid: before them so bear thyself that they may dare sincerely both to reprove thee and to point out thy faults to thee. To thy parents thou owest love, obedience and reverence. Be ever devoted and attached to the Roman Church, and show thyself obedient to its Pontiff no otherwise than to a spiritual father.” So his Life has it, and Robertus Gaguinus, book VII of the History of the Franks.
Euric, king of the Visigoths, having called the nobles to him, foretold that on the ninth day he would pass from this mortal life, and obtained from them that they should set his son Alaric on the throne of the kingdom. Dying, he enjoined him above all to love God, to honour the ministers of God, to attempt nothing arduous without the counsel of faithful nobles, to love his subjects, to cultivate justice, to preserve clemency, and to show himself kind and generous to all. Witness John Magnus, book XV of his History, last chapter.
Philip II, king of the Spains, dying in the year 1600, commended these things to his son Philip III: “God will have shown thee great grace if He raise thee to that summit of glory in which I have seen myself, and prosper thee as He prospered me. I earnestly beseech thee, when thou hast attained it, to remember this bed on which thou seest me. I commend to thee obedience to the Apostolic See, the protection of the Catholic faith, zeal for the Christian religion, the peace of the commonwealth and justice towards thy subjects. If God confirm these my counsels, this kingdom will not have lost its king; for thou seest where all the glory of this world comes to rest, and that I have exchanged it for fruit alone.”