Deuteronomy 18:11 Komentář

In this chapter, I. The rights and revenues of the church are settled, and rules given concerning the Levites' ministration and maintenance (Deu 18:1-8). II. The caution against the idolatrous abominable customs of the heathen is repeated (Deu 18:9-14). III. A promise is given them of the spirit of prophecy to continue among them, and to centre at last in Christ the great prophet (Deu 18:15-18). IV. Wrath threatened against those that despise prophecy (Deu 18:19) or counterfeit it (Deu 18:20), and a rule given for the trial of it (Deu 18:21, Deu 18:22).

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 18 This chapter gives an account of the provision made for the priests and Levites, with the reason of it, Deu 18:1, of allowance of a country Levite to minister at Jerusalem, and take his portion with the rest, Deu 18:6, and of several persons of bad practices not to be suffered among the people of Israel, Deu 18:9, and of an extraordinary prophet that should be raised up among them, to whom they should hearken, or it would be the worse for them, Deu 18:15, but a false prophet was to be put to death, of whom a sign is given by which he might be known, Deu 18:20.

Or a charmer,.... That pretends to cure diseases by charms, or a charmer of serpents; according to Jarchi, one that gathers together serpents and scorpions, and other animals, into one place; with which agree the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem,"which bind serpents and scorpions, and all kind of creeping things;''but, according to Aben Ezra, one that says certain words to gather demons together: or a consulter with familiar spirits; or the inquirer of "Ob", or the bottle, which the Jews interpret of Python, or one that has the spirit of Python; see Act 16:16, a ventriloquist, one that spoke or seemed to speak out of his belly, or from under his armpits; so it is said in the Misnah (h) of Ob, this is Python, one that speaks out of his arm holes; agreeably to which, Jarchi says, this is that sort of witchcraft which is called Python, and he speaks from his arm holes, and brings up the dead thither: of Baal Ob, or the master of the bottle, say some Jewish writers, one way he uses is, he takes the skull of a dead man, the flesh of which is consumed from it, and he hides it and burns incense to it, and mutters words by it, and hears from it, as if from a dead man (k): or a wizard: a knowing one, as the word signifies, such an one as we call a cunning man; See Gill on Lev 19:31. or a necromancer that inquiries of the dead, or seeks instruction from them, as the Targum of Jerusalem. Aben Ezra describes him as one that goes to burying grounds, and takes the bone of a dead man, and because of his wild imagination there appears to him the likeness of forms; or as Maimonides (l), better still, he is one that fasts and sleeps in graveyards, and utters words; and, according to his imagination, sees future things in dreams. (h) Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 7. sect. 7. (k) Maimon. & Bartenora in ib. (l) In ib.

THE LORD IS THE PRIESTS' AND THE LEVITES' INHERITANCE. (Deu 18:1-8) The priests the Levites . . . shall eat the offerings--As the tribe of Levi had no inheritance allotted them like the other tribes but were wholly consecrated to the priestly office, their maintenance was to arise from tithes, first-fruits, and certain portions of the oblations presented on the altar, which God having by express appointment reserved to Himself made over, after being offered, to His ministers.

Laws Concerning the Cities of Refuge, the Sacredness of Landmarks,and the Punishment of False Witnesses - Deuteronomy 19 After laying down the most important features in the national constitution, Moses glances at the manifold circumstances of civil and family life, and notices in this and the two following chapters the different ways in which the lives of individuals might be endangered, for the purpose of awakening in the minds of the people a holy reverence for human life.