Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 34:24
For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the LORD thy God thrice in the year.
24. An ideal picture. The Israelites may feel quite secure in observing these pilgrimages; for their enemies will be dispossessed, and their territory enlarged, so that, even though their men are absent from their homes on pilgrimage, no one will think of invading their land.
cast out ] dispossess (Jdg 11:23 EVV., 24 RV.). The thought as Exo 23:27 f.; the expression as Deu 4:38; Deu 9:4-5; Deu 11:23; Deu 18:12 (EVV. in all, drive out, which, however, confuses the word with the different one ( grash) so rendered in v. 11 here), all with Jehovah as subject.
goest up ] viz. to Jerusalem, for pilgrimages to which ‘go up’ was the technical expression (1Ki 12:27-28; Isa 2:3; Psa 122:4).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 24. Neither shall any man desire thy land] What a manifest proof was this of the power and particular providence of God! How easy would it have been for the surrounding nations to have taken possession of the whole Israelitish land, with all their fenced cities, when there were none left to protect them but women and children! Was not this a standing proof of the Divine origin of their religion, and a barrier which no deistical mind could possibly surmount! Thrice every year did God work an especial miracle for the protection of his people; controlling even the very desires of their enemies, that they might not so much as meditate evil against them. They who have God for their protector have a sure refuge; and how true is the proverb, The path of duty is the way of safety! While these people went up to Jerusalem to keep the Lord’s ordinances, he kept their families in peace, and their land in safety.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I will cast out the nations; so thou shalt have no intestine enemy to do time or thine mischief. This God promised to do, but upon condition of Israels discharge of their duty in following God in this work of driving them out, which they neglecting, it was not fully done.
Neither shall any man desire thy land; I will not only tie their hands, that they shall make no invasion upon you, but I will take off their thoughts and affections from such an enterprise, which it was very easy for God to effect many ways.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
For I will cast out the nations before thee,…. Who are particularly mentioned, Ex 34:11 and therefore they need not be in any fear of them, when they should go up to the appointed place, and appear before the Lord; for to this they were not obliged, until they were come into the land of Canaan, and the inhabitants driven out before them:
and enlarge thy borders; so that as they should have no enemies within them, to hinder and molest them, or discourage and deter them from attendance on the Lord at such set times, so they would be set at a great distance from them, that they should have nothing to fear from them; and should it be objected that at such times, when only women and children were left at home, and their borders were defenceless, it would be a proper opportunity for their enemies to invade them, it is further promised:
neither, shall any man desire thy land; though it is a desirable land; and their neighbours, and especially the old inhabitants of it, envied the happiness of the Israelites, and could not but wish it was in their possession; yet God, who has the hearts of all men in his hands, and can direct their thoughts, and turn the inclinations of their minds, and influence their affections, and engage them with other objects, promises that they should not think of an invasion of them, or have their minds, and the desires and affections of their hearts, in the least turned that way at these seasons, whatever they might have at other times; even
when thou shall go up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in a year; at the feasts before mentioned, which was a most wonderful display of the power and providence of God.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(24) I will . . . enlarge thy borders.The promise of a land for his posterity made by God to Abraham was twofold. At first it was the land of Canaan alone which they were to receive (Gen. 12:5-7); but subsequently the promise was extended, and made to include the entire tract of territory between the river of Egypt (the Nile) and the great river, the river Euphrates (Gen. 15:18). In remarkable parallelism with this double promise was the double fulfilment. At first Canaan alone was occupied, but under David and Solomon the borders were greatly enlarged; and Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river (Euphrates) unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt (1Ki. 4:21). The rebellion of Jeroboam, and the establishment of the kingdom of Israel, caused a contraction of the land to its original limits; but Menahem seems once more to have carried the dominion of Israel to the Euphrates (2Ki. 15:16).
Neither shall any man desire thy land.It was a part of the unwritten law of the Greeks that free passage should be given to all who were on their way to or from any of the great Pan-Hellenic festivals. But the present promise went beyond any such understanding. It secured the territory of Israel from all attack at such seasons, and must have been enforced miraculously by that providential government which God exercises over all the nations upon the earth (Psa. 67:4).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 34:24. Neither shall any man desire thy land Almost every thing in the Jewish policy tends to prove the immediate interposition of God with them. But nothing can prove it more strongly, than that restraint which the Lord here promises to lay, and which in after-times he did lay, upon the minds of their enemies, while the Israelites went up to appear before him thrice every year. It is manifest, that without such a restraint upon their enemies, the Jewish polity must have been soon utterly subverted; and it is equally manifest, that God alone could lay such a restraint upon minds. Note; 1. When God calls, we may safely leave our all in his hands. 2. Every man is under the restraint of a superior power: even the wicked are confined in bounds which they cannot pass oExodus 34:3. God’s service is a service of great gladness; they who are faithful in it, find that therein only true joy is to be found.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Observe the over-ruling power of God in this promise, that during the people’s religious observance of those feasts, none should come up to invade their land. Gen 35:5 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 34:24 For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the LORD thy God thrice in the year.
Ver. 24. Neither shall any man desire. ] A wonderful providence, since Judea was compassed about with such warlike adversaries, that they should not watch and catch at such opportunities. Pompey besieging Jerusalem, made his strongest batteries on the Sabbath day, whereon he knew the superstitious Jews would not make their defence – and took it. a
a Dio Cass.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
I will: Exo 34:11, Exo 23:27-30, Exo 33:2, Lev 18:24, Deu 7:1, Psa 78:55, Psa 80:8
enlarge: Exo 23:31, Deu 12:20, Deu 19:8, 1Ch 4:10
desire: Gen 35:5, 2Ch 17:10, Job 1:10, Pro 16:7, Act 18:10
Reciprocal: Gen 20:6 – withheld Deu 31:11 – to appear Psa 122:4 – Whither
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
RELIGION NO LOSS
Neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in the year.
Exo 34:24
I. The bravery expectedThrice in the year shall all your men-children appear before the Lord God. History has no parallel to thisthe entire male population, from twelve years and upwards, leaving field and homestead, village and town, stripped bare of all its able-bodied male defenders, for a space of eight to ten days! this, too, not once in a while, but three times a year; and always when the plunderers spoil would be richest! And, worst of all, these dates were fixed, and must have been known, long before, by the neighbouring and hostile nations. What madness, what an inviting of overwhelming disaster, it must have seemed! Let us not be surprised if occasionally we, too, are called to what, in worldly eyes, are acts of madness,to risk all for conscience and for truth, with an almost certain prospect of disaster.
II. The blessedness of the braveGod Himself was pledged to be their defence. Never were they so safe as when their homes lay apparently exposed to every invader. He promised to work a perpetual miracle on their behalf, saying:Neither shall any man desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord thy God. Oh, there is a glorious security, and an indescribable blessedness, in stepping boldly forth to do what looks like an act of sheer insanity, solely on the ground of a clear mandate from the Eternal.
Illustration
(1) These gatherings would promote the bond of unity throughout the country, making it felt everywhere that though they were twelve tribes they were but one people, a sentiment especially needful to keep alive in a nation constituted as Israel was, composed of a number of cantons, separated from, as well as connected with, one another by blood and descent, organisation and traditions. Psalms 122, for example, is very expressive from this point of view; and we well remember how Jeroboam the son of Nebat so dreaded the binding effect of these pilgrimages that he was prompted to establish those rival worships at Dan and Bethel, which have for all time pointed him out as the man who made Israel to sin.
(2) The picture, conceived in its normal idea and according to the divine intention, is exceedingly beautiful and captivating to the imagination. A scene of saintly pilgrims going up from all sides of a Holy Land to worship and serve the Creator in a sacred city with all the tokens of religious gladness, leaving the defence of their houses and lands to their heavenly King, according to His special promise; approaching from the more distant borders to assist in, and, as it were, to have a nearer view of, and to perpetuate the symbolic ritual of a half-disclosed revelation, until the fulness of time and the Messiah should arrive, just as they had once of old assembled round the awful mount to hear the first utterance of the Law, is indeed divine.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
34:24 For I will cast out the nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders: neither shall any man {h} desire thy land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the LORD thy God thrice in the year.
(h) God promises to defend them and theirs, who obey his commandment.