Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 29:19
And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:
19. curse ] Rather oath, for it is on the strength of Jehovah’s oath to be Israel’s God and so to protect them, that this Israelite flatters himself he is secure, no matter how he may behave. In the history of religion such a delusion has been lamentably frequent, and believers in extreme doctrines of election have presumed on these and recklessly indulged in evil.
bless himself in his heart ] Flatter himself! Found only here.
stubbornness ] Heb. sh e rirth, firmness but always in a bad sense; only here, Jer 3:17; Jer 7:24; Jer 9:13; Jer 11:8; Jer 13:10; Jer 16:12; Jer 18:12; Jer 23:17, and in Psa 81:12 (13). This of course is not the man’s own, but the writer’s, view of him.
to destroy the moist with the dry ] An unmeaning translation. The construction is elliptic and we should render: so as to sweep away the moist (herbage?) with the dried up; bring down a hurricane of destruction that would uproot the whole people, so fatal is the infectiousness, and so universal will be God’s punishment, of idolatry.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Compare on the thought Jer 23:17. The secret and presumptuous sinner is meant who flatters himself that all is well and will be well with him, since he follows his own devices and prospers. Compare Psa 73:11 ff.
To add drunkenness to thirst – The sense is probably: Himself, drinking iniquity like water, Job 15:16, he corrupts and destroys others who are thirsting for it or prone to it.
The sense of the whole passage from Deu 29:16 onward to Deu 29:20 may be exhibited thus: Ye have seen the abominations of idolatry among the pagan. Do you therefore look diligently that there be no secret idolater among you; a root of bitterness to all about him. Let there be no one, I say, who when he hears the curses of the Law against this sin, flatters himself, saying within himself, All will be well, for I walk unmolested in my own self-chosen path; and thus acting, not only takes his own fill of sin, but destroys likewise every tempted brother within his reach, for the Lord will not spare him, etc.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Deu 29:19
To add drunkenness to thirst.
The sin of drunkenness
Among the vices which stamp upon human nature its fallen condition, there is not one which causes such misery, or which leads on to such reckless crime, as drunkenness.
1. It is a most selfish as well as degrading vice: it debases man, created in the image of God, lower than the brute creation. God denounces this sin most strongly in His Holy Word. Under the law of Moses, the son who would not obey the voice of his father, but gave himself up to gluttony and drunkenness, was put to death by stoning; and, in the Gospel, drunkenness is classed with murder, as one of the works of the flesh, of which it is said they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Drunkenness is a vice which destroys soul and body. It weakens the intellect, making a man a madman in his rage, and an idiot in his sober moments. It ruins the health, producing the most painful diseases, and causing premature decay and death. It involves his family in poverty and misery. There is no peace in the drunkards home. Who can describe all the misery which follows in the train of drunkenness, all the crime to which it leads, all the sorrow which it causes to others? How fitly the words of the text describe it, when Moses warns the Israelites to beware lest there should be among them a root that beareth gall and wormwood; or, as the marginal reading is, a poisonful herb. Never did Satan plant a more fearful seed in the human heart than the love of strong drink. Drunkenness is, indeed, a root which beareth gall and wormwood; nothing sweet, or pleasant, or excellent, or beautiful can spring from it, or grow in the heart beside it. Like the deadly upas tree, it poisons all which rests under its shade, or comes near to it. The drunkard cannot be a high-principled, virtuous, or amiable man. In his sober moments the testimony of every drunkard must be, that the root of that fatal passion beareth gall and wormwood–that it is a poisonful herb.
2. The next particular–which the text points out–is the deceptive nature of the vice. Of all self-deceivers, the drunkard is the most deluded, the most blinded. And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination (or as the marginal rendering is), the stubbornness of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst. There is no man so difficult to convince of his folly and sinfulness as the drunkard, and no man so hard to turn away from his evil course. Satans most powerful weapon against our holy religion is drunkenness. A drunkard cannot be a true Christian, a child of God. He is more often an infidel, a blasphemer, and he is on the high road to every kind of sin and crime. Let us not stretch forth our hand to save the far-off heathen idolater, and remain indifferent and effortless about the drunkard dwelling close to us, and even one admitted into the fellowship of the same holy faith as ourselves. (S. Charlesworth.)
Degradation of drunkenness
Drunkenness is the shame of nature, the extinguisher of reason, the shipwreck of chastity, and the murder of conscience. Drunkenness is hurtful to the body; the cup kills more than the cannon; it causes dropsies, catarrhs, apoplexies; it fills the eye with fire, and the legs with water, and turns the body into an hospital. (T. Watson.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 19. To add drunkenness to thirst] A proverbial expression denoting the utmost indulgence in all sensual gratifications.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
When he, i.e. that root or that man mentioned Deu 29:18.
Of this curse, i.e. of that oath mentioned Deu 29:12, wherein he swore that he would keep covenant with God, and that with a curse pronounced against himself if he did not perform it. Now if when he reads this again, or hears of it from others.
Bless himself in his heart, i.e. flatter himself in his own eyes, as Psa 36:2, with vain conceits and hopes, as if God did not mind such things, and either could not or would not punish them. Compare Psa 49:18; Jer 2:20; Zec 11:5.
Peace, i.e. safety and prosperity.
Though I walk in the imagination of mine heart; though in my practices and worship I do not follow Gods command, but my own devices, and whatsoever my fancy best liketh, minding nothing but the gratifying of mine own fancy and humour.
To add drunkenness to thirst; i.e. not only to satisfy his
thirst, i.e. his concupiscence and inclination to wickedness, but even to exceed it, as drunkards take ofttimes more than their appetite desires, and drink out of mere wantonness, or from a desire to be drunk; and as filthy persons commit lewdness with others more than their natural inclinations desire, or their strength can well bear, merely from a wicked mind, and from contempt of God, and because they will do so. The words may be rendered, to add thirst to drunkenness, the particle eth, which is a note of the accusative case, being joined with thirst, and not with drunkenness; and so the sense may be this, that when he hath multiplied his sins, and made himself as it were drunk with them, yet he is not satisfied therewith, but still whets his appetite, and provokes his thirst after more, as drunkards commonly will use means and temptations to make themselves thirst after more drink, that they may drink more abundantly. Or thus, to add the moist or moistening to the thirsty, i.e. instead of restraining and mortifying, as he ought to do, fully and greedily to satisfy his idolatrous or wicked inclinations, and resolved to give up himself to all the desires of his own heart. Compare Job 34:7; Pro 23:35; Isa 30:1; 56:12; Eph 4:19.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And it cometh to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse,…. That is, the man before compared to a root bearing bitter herbs, when he should hear the curses pronounced by the law against such persons as himself:
that he bless himself in his heart; inwardly pronounce himself blessed, thinking himself secure from the curse of the law, and flattering himself it will never reach him nor come upon him:
saying, I shall have peace; all happiness and prosperity, in soul, body, and estate; inward peace of mind now, and eternal peace hereafter:
though I walk in the imagination of my heart; in worshipping idols which he vainly and wickedly imagined to be gods; to the worship of which his wicked heart prompted him, and he was resolutely and stubbornly bent upon, and in which he continued:
to add drunkenness to thirst; as a thirsty man to quench his thirst drinks, and adds to that, or drinks yet more and more until he is drunken; so a man inclined to idolatry, that has a secret desire after it, thirsts after such stolen or forbidden waters, and drinks of them, adds thereunto, drinks again and again until he is drunk with the wine of fornication, or idolatry, as it is called Re 17:2; so the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan understand the words of adding sin to sin, particularly of adding sins of ignorance to pride, or to presumptuous ones. Wicked men, deceivers and deceived, always grow worse and worse, increasing to more ungodliness, and yet promise themselves peace and impunity, 1Th 5:3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
19. And it come to pass when he heareth the words. He shews that it is not without reason that he has used so solemn and severe an adjuration; since nothing is more common than for men to flatter themselves, and by levity to evade the decision of God. He therefore repeats, that they are standing before God, who neither deceives, nor is deceived, nor even allows Himself to be thought lightly of; in order that they may tremble at His threats. Let the majesty of God, he says, be dreaded by you; so that none who despises Him, and wantons in his own lusts, should promise himself impunity. “To bless himself in his heart,” is to hope in his secret imaginations that all will go well; as the hypocrites do, who, in their foolish self-adulation, applaud themselves deceitfully, lest they should hear God thundering. (269)
From this passage, therefore, let us learn that nothing is worse than to hope for peace, whilst we wage war with God; and to promise ourselves that He will let us alone, when we provoke Him by the impetuosity of our lusts.
The conclusion of the verse, “to add the drunken to the thirsty,” is variously explained on account of its ambiguity. (270) I am ashamed to repeat the silly triflings of the Hebrew interpreters. To me it seems unquestionable that Moses, by a proverbial figure of speech, forbids us to excite the appetites of the flesh, already sufficiently heated, by new stimulants. As, therefore, they are said to add oil to the grate, who add more flames to a fire already lighted, (271) so they are said to add the drunken to the thirsty who seek provocatives of their audacity, in order to sin more freely; for lust in a man is like an insatiable dropsy; and if any one indulges in such intemperance, he adds the drunken to the thirsty, i e. , the madness of his own folly to unrestrained desire. רויה, ravah, however, is, in my opinion, used actively, as elsewhere. In Psa 23:5, it is said, “My cup רויה, revayah, runneth over;” and, in like manner, in Psa 66:12, a well-watered land (272) is expressed by the same word, because it abundantly moistens the corn and grass. It is very appropriate that the desires of the flesh, that we burn with, should be compared to thirst; and the licentious impetuosity, which carries us away without reflection, to drunkenness; because the sinner stupifies himself into forgetfulness of the distinction between good and evil. And thence Paul calls those who are plunged in brutal forgetfulness of God and themselves, ἀπηλγηκότες (past feeling.) ( Eph 4:19.)
(269) Addition in Fr. , “par maniere de dire.”
(270) Lat. , “Ut addat ebriam sitienti.” A. V. , “To add drunkenness to thirst;” Margin, “The drunken to the thirsty.” So Ainsworth, “To add the drunken, to wit, the drunken soul to the thirsty, or the moist to the dry, meaning to add sin unto sin in abundance, as in Isa 30:1.” Dathe follows Le Clerc, and explains it, “to add water to a thirsty soul;” and compares it to Isa 44:3, where, he says, the same metaphor is used, though in a good sense.
(271) “Que ceux, qui augmentent le mal, mettent l’huile en la cheminee;” that those who augment an evil put oil into the chimney. — Fr.
(272) A. V. , “a wealthy ( margin, moist) place. ” See Cal. Soc. Comment. on Psalms, vol. 2, p. 473.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(19) The imagination.Rather the stubbornness or obstinacy. The word is only found here and in Psa. 81:12 outside the writings of Jeremiah, who uses it eight times.
To add drunkenness to thirsti.e., the indulgence of the desire to the desire itself; to add sin to temptation. The LXX. have a strange paraphrase, So that the sinner shall not involve the righteous with him in destruction. The thought seems to be that, perhaps, one idolater would not make so much difference to Israel. He would never involve the whole nation in destruction. The drunkard could not be the ruin of the thirsty, so to speak, and, therefore, he might do as he pleased, and might, in fact, escape punishment, being protected by the general prosperity of Israel. The quotation in the Epistle to the Hebrews meets this mistaken view admirably: Lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled. The Targums render to add sins of infirmity to sins of presumption, a rendering which partly explains that of the LXX.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
19. Though I walk in the imagination of mine heart The word translated imagination is generally used in a bad sense. But it may be used, as in the corresponding Syriac, in a good sense.
To add drunkenness to thirst The literal translation is, so that satiety increases thirst. The whole passage has almost baffled the ingenuity of commentators. We think the meaning is, I shall have peace even though I do not keep the laws of God, even though I do what is pleasing to myself and indulge my passions to satiety even to a satiety that produces greater longing for indulgence.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ver. 19. To add drunkenness to thirst The Hebrew, literally rendered, is, that irrigation, or drinking may put an end to thirst; i.e. “that I may indulge my thirst, and satisfy my lust.” The phrase is strongly metaphorical, and expresses an abounding in all manner of wickedness; a giving indulgence to craving, thirsty appetites, and adding sin to sin; which the Scripture calls a drinking up iniquity like water. Job 34:7. See Isa 30:1; Isa 56:12.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 222
DANGER OF CARNAL SECURITY
Deu 29:19-20. And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst: the Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven.
GOD has declared that he desireth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live: and this is abundantly evident from the forbearance which he exercises towards sinners, and from the means he has used for their restoration to his favour. When he brought the Israelites out of Egypt, he entered into covenant with them on Mount Horeb: and when that whole generation had perished in consequence of their violations of his covenant, he was graciously pleased to renew the covenant with their children in the land of Moab: and the reason he gives for that condescending kindness is, lest they should presumptuously sin, and miserably perish, after the example of their fathers [Note: See ver. 1, 15, 1820.].
In the words which we have just read, he intimates,
I.
The astonishing delusion of sinners
That the greatest part of mankind are walking after the imaginations of their own hearts, is evident ; and that God denounces his vengeance against them, is equally evident: yet on every side we behold,
1.
Their fearlessness
[God speaks to them in the plainest terms, that the soul that sinneth shall die, and that the wicked shall be turned into hell, even all the people that forget God. They themselves too cannot but acknowledge, that the wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Yet they hear the denunciations of Gods wrath with perfect indifference: they account them not worth the smallest consideration: yea, to use the expressive language of the Psalmist, they puff at them [Note: Psa 10:5.], What though they do set at nought Gods law, and walk rather after the imagination of their own hearts ? What though they do add drunkenness to thirst, and draw out sin as a cart-rope [Note: Isa 5:18.], adding fresh materials continually, and drawing it out without any intermission to an indefinite length, will God regard such trifling matters ? No: He does not see them, or deem them worthy of his notice [Note: Psa 10:11 and Job 22:13-14.]. He does indeed threaten to punish these things ; but he will never execute his threatenings. If any menace their temporal welfare, they are open enough to the impressions of fear, and anxious enough to escape the danger: but if God threaten them with his everlasting displeasure, they regard it as an empty sound. Thus do they cast off all fear of God, and treat both him and his word with the utmost contempt [Note: Psa 10:13.].]
2.
Their self-complacency
[They can see no evil in sin: they are sensible that they do not conform to Gods law; (nor indeed have they any wish to do so 😉 but yet, though their actions are not correct, their hearts are good: they mean no harm: they do as they would be done by; and that, in their estimation, comprehends all that is required of them. It is truly astonishing to see how, in the midst of all their iniquities, men will bless themselves in their hearts, as much as if there were nothing amiss in their conduct. They quite resent the idea of being sinners, and of deserving Gods wrath and indignation: they conceive that they are very good sort of people (as the expression is), and deserving of Gods favour. Thus it was with the Jews of old; The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these [Note: Jer 7:4.]: they thought that no expressions were too strong to characterize their goodness. And thus do sinners in this day boast of their goodness: yea, not only the moral and sober do so, but even the drunken, the sensual, the profane: all are ready to think themselves as good as they need to be, and to answer, like the Youth in the Gospel, What lack I yet? So blinded are they by Satan, and hardened through the deceitfulness of their own hearts!]
3.
Their confidence
[They entertain no doubts or fears: they think that all go to heaven, and that they must of necessity be happy when they die. I shall have peace, is the bold assertion of every one amongst them ; nor will they suffer the safety of their state to be once questioned. On some occasions perhaps a suspicion arises in their minds that it is not quite so well with them as they imagine; but in general they go on as assured of happiness as if all the promises of the Gospel were on their side. Nor is this only in the thoughtlessness of youth: their confidence increases with their age: and even in death they frequently retain it to such a degree as to feel no fear of death: and this delusion of theirs is considered by the survivors as an evidence of their final acceptance. Well does the prophet say of them, A deceived heart hath turned them aside, so that they cannot deliver their souls, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?]
But God views them with other eyes, and denounces,
II.
Their awful doom
The terms in which this is declared are sufficient to alarm the most careless sinner. The wrath of God is here denounced against him. This must be his portion: and this doom is,
1.
Infallibly certain
[Sinners imagine that God cannot inflict punishment: they suppose that if not inconsistent with his justice, it would at least be contrary to his acknowledged goodness and benignity. They think that, when the time comes, he will relent, and spare them. But, in our text, he meets that error, and declares, The Lord will not spare him. I have spared him long enough, the Lord will say: I bore with all his wickedness for many years: I waited long to be gracious to him: I called to him, but he would not hear ; I entreated him, but he refused to hearken: and therefore he now may call, and I will not hear: I will even laugh at his calamity, and mock when his fear is come. Now God would repent him of the evil which he has thought to bring on any sinner: but how inflexible he will be in that day, the prophet has abundantly declared [Note: Eze 8:18; Eze 24:14.]. The sinner may knock at the door which is shut against him, saying, Lord, Lord, open to me: but I will say, Depart from me, I never knew thee, thou worker of iniquity.]
2.
Inexpressibly severe
[What must it be to have the anger and the jealousy of Almighty God incensed, and so incensed, as to be, as it were, smoking against us? But, to form a just idea of the sinners doom, we must take all the most terrific passages of the word of God, and contemplate all the images contained in them, and then conceive of all of them combined to fill up the measure of his misery. Oh, if we think of that lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched, where there is nothing but weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever, what an idea does it all give us of the judgments that await the impenitent transgressor! Yet these, yea and all the curses that are written in the sacred volume from one end of it even to the other, shall come upon him, and shall lie and abide upon him for ever and ever. Once, if he had sought for mercy through the Lord Jesus Christ, his name might have been written in the book of life; but now God will blot out his name from under heaven, and it shall be found registered only with those of the devil and his angels.
We are well aware that these truths are unwelcome to the generality of men: but it is infinitely better to contemplate them in time, than to be left to experience them in eternity.]
Let us learn then from this subject,
1.
To compassionate the ungodly world
[Were we to see men in danger of perishing in the sea, the most hardened amongst us would be moved to compassion: why then do we not pity those who are ready every moment to sink into the flames of hell? That they themselves are not alarmed is rather the reason why we should feel the more alarmed; because their foot will infallibly slide in due time, and the wrath of God will come upon them to the uttermost. Let our eyes then run down with tears for them, and our head be a fountain of tears to weep for them day and night. Let our efforts too be exerted to awaken them to a timely care of their own souls.]
2.
To be on our guard against being influenced by their advice
[Those who see not their own danger will be equally secure respecting us [Note: Eze 13:22.], and will endeavour to lull us asleep by their confident assertions. But, if their presumption will not benefit themselves, it will assuredly not benefit us. The antediluvian world, and the inhabitants of Sodom, despised the warnings given them, and accounted them as idle tales: but the threatened judgments came at last, and the deceivers and deceived perished in one indiscriminate mass. So will it be at the end of the world [Note: 2Pe 2:4-9.]. Every title of Gods word shall be fulfilled; and therefore let those who would draw you back to the world be disregarded by you [Note: Eph 5:6.]. Let God be true, but every man a liar.]
3.
To be thankful if God has made us to differ from them
[What reason had Noah and Lot to be thankful that they were enabled to believe the divine testimony! And truly, if we are enabled to come forth from an ungodly world, and to enter into the true Ark, the Lord Jesus Christ, we have no less reason to be thankful than they. It is no less the fruit of Gods sovereign grace, than was the mercy vouchsafed to them. Let us then be increasingly watchful against presumptuous confidence, and all the delusions of our own hearts; and, in an unreserved attention to all Gods commands, let us keep ourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Deu 29:19 And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:
Ver. 19. When he heareth the words. ] But feareth them no more than Behemoth doth the iron weapons, which are esteemed by him as straws. The presumptuous sinner, saith one, makes God a God of clouts, – one that, howsoever he speaks heavy words, will not do as he saith. Words are but wind, say they in Jeremiah. Jer 5:13 “God forbid,” say they in the Gospel. Luk 20:16 These things are but spoken in terrorem, thinks the practical atheist; bugbear words, devised on purpose to frighten silly people, &c. Ahab, after he was threatened with utter rooting out, begat fifty sons, as it were to cross God, and to try it out with him. So Thrasonical Lamech brags, and goes on to outdare God himself; “If Cain be avenged,” &c. Gen 4:24 The old Italians were wont, in time of thunder, to shoot off their greatest ordinance, and to ring their greatest bells, to drown the noise of the heavens: like unto these are many frontless and flagitious persons. “But shall they escape by iniquity? In thine anger” – it is not more a prayer than a prophecy – “cast down the people, O God.” Psa 56:7
To add drunkenness to thirst.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
this curse: Deu 29:12, Gen 2:17
that he bless: Deu 17:2, Num 15:30, Num 15:39, Psa 10:4-6, Psa 10:11, Psa 49:18, Psa 94:6, Psa 94:7, Pro 29:1, Jer 5:12, Jer 5:13, Jer 7:3-11, Jer 28:15-17, Jer 44:16, Jer 44:17, Jer 44:27, Eze 13:16, Eze 13:22, Eph 5:6
though I walk: Num 15:30, Ecc 11:9, Rom 1:21, 2Co 10:5, Eph 4:17
imagination: or, stubborness, Jer 3:17, Jer 7:24, *marg.
to add: A very forcible metaphor, denoting the natural progress and increasing avidity of sinful passions and depraved inclinations; which lead men to drink down iniquity as the drunkard does his liquor, without regard to the consequences. Some render, “to add thirst to drunkenness;” and then it implies the insatiableness of men’s sinful passions, which hanker for more and more indulgence after the greatest excesses.
drunkenness to thirst: Heb. the drunken to the thirsty
Reciprocal: Gen 3:4 – Ye Gen 4:11 – General Gen 6:5 – every imagination Num 25:6 – in the sight of Moses Deu 11:28 – General Jdg 2:14 – the anger 2Ch 18:26 – until I return Job 34:7 – General Psa 10:3 – and blesseth Psa 36:2 – For he Pro 3:33 – curse Pro 23:35 – I will Isa 30:1 – the rebellious Isa 65:2 – after Jer 2:25 – after Jer 11:3 – General Jer 16:12 – imagination Jer 18:12 – we will walk Jer 23:17 – imagination Jer 35:17 – Behold Jer 36:23 – he cut Jer 36:29 – Thou hast Jer 42:14 – we will go Jer 42:21 – but Zec 5:3 – the curse Zec 11:5 – Blessed Mal 4:6 – and smite Luk 1:51 – the imagination Luk 21:22 – all Luk 21:34 – surfeiting 1Th 5:3 – Peace
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Deu 29:19. The words of this curse This oath and execration, wherein he swore he would keep covenant with God, and that with a curse pronounced against himself if he did not perform it. Bless himself Flatter himself in his own eyes with vain hopes, as if God did not mind such things, and either could not, or would not punish them. Peace Safety and prosperity. My own heart Though I do not follow Gods command, but my own devices. To add drunkenness to thirst The words may be rendered, to add thirst to drunkenness, and so the sense may be, that when he hath multiplied his sins, and made himself as it were drunk with them, yet he is not satisfied therewith, but still whets his appetite, and provokes his thirst after more, as drunkards often use means to make themselves thirst after more drink. This is well deserving of our most serious consideration. Moses here assures the Israelites that, how much soever they might flatter themselves with hopes of peace and safety on account of their privileges, none of these would avail them at all if they forsook the law of God, and apostatized from his worship and service. This people, however, notwithstanding this solemn warning, did, in after ages, confide in those outward privileges, and that at a time when they lived in the open violation of the divine commands. The temple, the temple of the Lord! was their cry and their confidence, as if the having that among them had been sufficient to save and render them prosperous and happy, even although they defiled it with their abominations. But they found, by sad experience, that the threatenings denounced by Moses against the violators of Gods law were fulfilled. Let us all take warning by this, and neither as a nation nor as individuals dare to promise ourselves security and peace while we walk in the imagination of our own hearts, and live in sin and forgetfulness of God.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
29:19 And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add {k} drunkenness to thirst:
(k) For as he that is thirsty desires to drink much so he that follows his appetites seeks by all means and yet cannot be satisfied.