The Bible, Douay-Rheims Part 130

33:14. Of the fruits brought forth by the sun and by the moon.

33:15. Of the tops of the ancient mountains, of the fruits of the everlasting hills:

33:16. And of the fruits of the earth, and of the fulness thereof. The blessing of him that appeared in the bush, come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the Nazarite among his brethren.

The Nazarite... See the note on Gen. 49.26.

33:17. His beauty as of the firstling of a bullock, his horns as the horns of a rhinoceros: with them shall he push the nations even to the ends of the earth. These are the mult.i.tudes of Ephraim and these the thousands of Mana.s.ses.

33:18. And to Zabulon he said: Rejoice, O Zabulon, in thy going out; and Issachar in thy tabernacles.

33:19. They shall call the people to the mountain: there shall they sacrifice the victims of justice. Who shall suck as milk the abundance of the sea, and the hidden treasures of the sands.

33:20. And to Gad he said: Blessed be Gad in his breadth: he hath rested as a lion, and hath seized upon the arm and the top of the head.

33:21. And he saw his pre-eminence, that in his portion the teacher was laid up: who was with the princes of the people, and did the justices of the Lord, and his judgment with Israel.

He saw, etc... The pre-eminence of the tribe of Gad, to which this alludeth, was their having the lawgiver Moses buried in their borders; though the particular place was not known.

33:22. To Dan also he said: Dan is a young lion, he shall flow plentifully from Basan.

33:23. And To Nephtali he said: Nephtali shall enjoy abundance, and shall be full of the blessings of the Lord: he shall possess the sea and the south.

The sea... The lake of Genesareth.

33:24. To Aser also he said: Let Aser be blessed with children, let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil.

33:25. His shoe shall be iron and bra.s.s. As the days of thy youth, so also shall thy old age be.

33:26. There is no other G.o.d like the G.o.d of the rightest: he that is mounted upon the heaven is thy helper. By his magnificence the clouds run hither and thither.

33:27. His dwelling is above, and underneath are the everlasting arms: he shall cast out the enemy from before thee, and shall say: Be thou brought to nought.

Underneath are the everlasting arms... Though the dwelling of G.o.d be above in heaven, his arms are always stretched out to help us here below.

33:28. Israel shall dwell in safety, and alone. The eye of Jacob in a land of corn and wine, and the heavens shall be misty with dew.

33:29. Blessed art thou, Israel: who is like to thee, O people, that art saved by the Lord? the s.h.i.+eld of thy help, and the sword of thy glory: thy enemies shall deny thee, and thou shalt tread upon their necks.

Deuteronomy Chapter 34

Moses seeth the promised land, but is not suffered to go into it. He dieth at the age of 120 years. G.o.d burieth his body secretly, and all Israel mourn for him thirty days. Josue, replenished (by imposition of Moses's hands) with the spirit of G.o.d, succeedeth. But Moses, for his special familiarity with G.o.d, and for most wonderful miracles, is commended above all other prophets.

34:1. Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab upon mount Nebo, to the top of Phasga over against Jericho: and the Lord shewed him all the land of Galaad as far as Dan.

34:2. And all Nephtali, and the land of Ephraim and Mana.s.ses, and all the land of Juda unto the furthermost sea,

34:3. And the south part, and the breadth of the plain of Jericho the city of palm trees as far as Segor.

34:4. And the Lord said to him: This is the land, for which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying: I will give it to thy seed. Thou hast seen it with thy eyes, and shalt not pa.s.s over to it.

34:5. And Moses the servant of the Lord died there, in the land of Moab, by the commandment of the Lord:

Died there... This last chapter of Deuteronomy, inwhich the death of Moses is related, was written by Josue, or by some of the prophets.

34:6. And he buried him in the valley of the land of Moab over against Phogor: and no man hath known of his sepulchre until this present day.

He buried him, viz... by the ministry of angels, and would have the place of his burial to be unknown, lest the Israelites, who were so p.r.o.ne to idolatry, might wors.h.i.+p him with divine honours.

34:7. Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, neither were his teeth moved.

34:8. And the children of Israel mourned for him in the plains of Moab thirty days: and the days of their mourning in which they mourned Moses were ended.

34:9. And Josue the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands upon him. And the children of Israel obeyed him, and did as the Lord comanded Moses.

34:10. And there arose no more a prophet in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face,

34:11. In all the signs and wonders, which he sent by him, to do in the land of Egypt to Pharao, and to all his servants, and to his whole land,

34:12. And all the mighty hand, and great miracles, which Moses did before all Israel.

THE BOOK OF JOSUE

This Book is called JOSUE, because it contains the history of what pa.s.sed under him, and according to the common opinion was written by him. The Greeks call him Jesus: for Josue and Jesus in the Hebrew, are the same name, and have the same signification, viz., A SAVIOUR. And it was not without a mystery that he who was to bring the people into the land of promise should have his name changed from OSEE (for so he was called before, Num. 13.17,) to JOSUE or JESUS, to give us to understand, that Moses by his law could only bring the people within sight of the promised inheritance, but that our Saviour JESUS was to bring us into it.

Josue Chapter 1

Josue, encouraged by the Lord, admonisheth the people to prepare themselves to pa.s.s over the Jordan.

1:1. Now it came to pa.s.s after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spoke to Josue, the son of Nun, the minister of Moses, and said to him:

1:2. Moses my servant is dead: arise, and pa.s.s over this Jordan, thou and thy people with thee, into the land which I will give to the children of Israel.

1:3. I will deliver to you every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, as I have said to Moses.

1:4. From the desert, and from Liba.n.u.s unto the great river Euphrates, all the land of the Hethites, unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border.

1:5. No man shall be able to resist you all the days of thy life: as I have been with Moses, so will I be with thee: I will not leave thee, nor forsake thee.