Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 33:19
They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness: for they shall suck [of] the abundance of the seas, and [of] treasures hid in the sand.
19. lend upon usury ] exact interest; the Eng. usury formerly meant like the Lat. usura no more than interest. Heb. neshek is lit. something bitten off; the denom. vb. is to take, or make one pay, interest.
usury of money, etc.] The loans were more frequently in kind.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
19. They call There they offer ] Their markets for their trade with other tribes or peoples were also religious festivals, a combination characteristic of the Semitic world (as of others even in modern times) and illustrated at Sinai, Jerusalem, Bethel ( vide Amos), Hierapolis and Mecca. The mountain may have been Carmel or Tabor; but the text is uncertain. LXX have a verb followed by and which suggests the Heb. yadaw = together, instead of the awkwardly constructed har = mountain. Sacrifices of righteousness are of course the legal, due or fitting sacrifices. Sam. s. of truth.
abundance ] This form of the Heb. term is found only here; but it occurs in Aram. The lit. meaning is flowing; render affluence, profusion (LXX ); all that the Phoenicians drew from the sea their sea-borne trade and fisheries and possibly the dredging for sponges still carried on off ‘Athlit and Carmel.
of the seas ] Plur. as often in poetry, Jdg 5:17, Gen 49:13.
And the hidden treasures, etc.] The Heb. construction (confirmed by Sam.) is awkward, and perhaps we should read a finite vb instead of the participle hidden: and gather (or scrape, cp. Ar. safan) the hoards of the sand. The reference is either to the manufacture of glass which took place on the sands S. of ’Akka (Josephus, II. Bell. Jdg 10:2; Tacitus, Hist. Deu 33:7; Pliny, Hist. Nat. Deu 33:17, xxxvi. 65) or to the production of purple from the murex (Pliny, H.N. ix. 60 65) large quantities of the emptied shells of which are still found about Tyre.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Deu 33:19
They shall call the people unto the mountain, there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness.
The seamans return
I. Their privilege. To suck the abundance of the sea is a metonymical expression, signifying as much as to be enriched with the wares and merchandise imported by sea to them. The sea, like an indulgent mother, embraces those that live upon it in her bosom, and with full flowing breasts nourisheth them, and feeds them as a mother doth the infant that sucks and depends for its livelihood upon her breasts. And these breasts do not only afford those that hang upon them the necessaries of life, bread, raiment, etc., but the riches, ornaments, and delights of life also. This was the blessing of the tribe of Zebulun, whose cities and villages were commodiously situated upon the seashore for merchandise (Jos 19:11).
II. Their duty to which these mercies and privileges obliged them: They shall call the people to the mountain, etc. By the mountain, we are here to understand the temple, which Moses, by the spirit of prophecy, foresaw to be upon Mount Sion and Mount Moriah; which two were as the shoulders that supported it (Deu 33:12). Here was the worship of God; the sacrifices were here offered up to Him. And hither Zebulun, in the sense of Gods mercies to them, should call the people, i.e. say some, their own people, their families, and neighbours; or as others, the strangers that were among them for traffic; saying, as Isa 2:3. And here they shall offer the sacrifices of righteousness. By which we are to understand their thank offerings for the mercies they had received of the Lord.
1. The nature of the duty needs opening; for few understand what it is. Alas! it is another manner of thing than a customary, formal, cold God be thanked. Now, if we search into the nature of this duty, we shall find that whoever undertakes this angelic work, must–
(1) Be a heedful observer of the mercies he receives. This is fundamental to the duty. Where no observations of mercies have been made, no praises for them can be returned.
(2) Particularly consider them in their natures, degrees, seasons, and manner of conveyance; there is much of Gods glory and our comfort lost for want of this (Psa 111:2). And indeed, there is no employment in all the world that yields more pleasure to a gracious soul than the anatomising of providence doth.
(3) Duly estimate and value his mercies. It is impossible that man can be thankful for mercies he little esteems.
(4) Faithfully record His mercies, else God cannot have His due praise for them (Psa 103:2). Forgotten mercies bear no fruit: a bad memory in this case makes a barren heart and life.
(5) Be suitably affected with the mercies he receives. It is not a speculative, but an affectionate remembrance that becomes us: then God hath His glory, when the sense of His mercies melts our hearts into holy joy, love, and admiration.
(6) Order his conversation suitably to the engagements that his mercies have put him under. When we have said all, it is the life of the thankful that is the very life of thankfulness. Obedience and service are the only real manifestations of gratitude.
2. The grounds and reasons of this duty; why you are obliged after the reception of mercies to such a thankful return of praises.
(1) God requires and expects it. As great landlords oblige their tenants to a homage and service, when they make over their estates to them, and reserve a quit rent to themselves, which they value at a high rate; so God, when He bestows deliverances of mercies upon us, still reserves an acknowledgement to Himself: and this is dear to Him, He will not endure to be defrauded of it; much less that it be given to another.
(2) You are under manifold engagements to render it to the. Lord. Common ingenuity obliges to a due acknowledgment of favours freely received; and unthankfulness on that score is the odium of mankind. The examples of the very heathens will condemn you. They praised their gods, which yet were no gods, when they received any deliverance (Jdg 16:24). Many of you have formally and expressly obliged your souls to it, by solemn vows and promises in the day of your distress: and yet will you deal perfidiously with God
(3) Your ingratitude is the ready way to deprive you of the mercies yon have, and to withhold from you the mercies you might have in your future distresses and wants.
Use
1. Is it your unquestionable duty to return praises upon every receipt of mercies? Then, in the first place, bear your shame and just reproof for your manifest unthankfulness. Mourn heartily for thy unkindness to thy best friend, The God that hath done thee good all thy life long, and deserves other returns from thee than these.
2. It calls upon you all to be thankful for your mercies. Chrysostom once wished for a voice like thunder, that all men might hear him. O that I could so call you to this duty, that some of you might effectually hear Gods call in this exhortation!
Argument
1. How freely have all your mercies streamed to you from the Fountain of grace! There was nothing in you to engage it.
2. How seasonably your mercies have been bestowed upon you in the very point of extremity and danger I
3. How special and distinguishing have some of your mercies been! God hath not dealt with everyone as He hath with you.
4. Did not your mercies find you under great guilt? Surely such mercies have a constraining power in them, upon all sensible souls.
5. To conclude; if all the goodness of God which hath passed before your eyes does indeed prevail upon you to love the Lord, and fear to offend Him; if it really constrains you to give up yourselves, and all you have, to be His; then all this is but the beginning of mercies, and you shall see yet greater things than these. God hath more mercies yet behind, and those of a higher kind and more excellent nature than these temporal mercies are. Happy souls, if these deliverances do in any measure prove introductive to the great salvation. (John Flavel.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 19. They shall call the people unto the mountain] By their traffic with the Gentiles (for so I think ammim should be understood here) they shall be the instruments in God’s hands of converting many to the true faith; so that instead of sacrificing to idols, they should offer sacrifices of righteousness.
They shall suck of the abundance of the seas] That is, grow wealthy by merchandise.
And of treasures hid in the sand.] Jonathan ben Uzziel has probably hit upon the true meaning of this difficult passage: “From the sand,” says he, “are produced looking-glasses and glass in general; the treasures – the method of finding and working this, was revealed to these tribes.” Several ancient writers inform us that there were havens in the coasts of the Zebulunites in which the vitreous sand, or sand proper for making glass, was found. See Strabo, lib. xvi.; see also Pliny, Hist. Nat. l. xxxvi., c. 26; Tacitus, Hist. l. v., c. 7. The words of Tacitus are remarkable: Et Belus amnis Judaico mari illabitur; circa ejus os lectae arenae admixto nitro in vitrum excoquuntur. “The river Belus falls into the Jewish sea, about whose mouth those sands, mixed with nitre, are collected, out of which glass is formed,” or which is melted into glass. Some think that the celebrated shell-fish called murex, out of which the precious purple dye was extracted, is here intended by the treasure hid in the sand: this also Jonathan introduces in this verse. And others think that it is a general term for the advantages derived from navigation and commerce.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
They; either,
1. Zebulun and Issachar. Or rather,
2. Zebulun only, as the following matter shows; and it was Zebulun that Moses takes more special notice of, Deu 33:18, bringing in Issachar only by the by, in conjunction with him, or in opposition to him. And so having despatched Issachar in two words, he returns to Zebulun, a more active tribe.
The people, i.e. the Gentiles; either those of Galilee, which was called Galilee of the Gentiles, who were their neighbours; or people of other nations, with whom they had commerce, which they endeavoured to improve in persuading them to the true God, and his worship and service.
Unto the mountain, i.e. to the temple, which Moses knew was to be seated upon a mountain.
Sacrifices of righteousness, i.e. such as God requires and righteousness obligeth them to offer. Their trafficking abroad with heathen nations shall not make them forget or neglect their duty at home, nor shall their distance from the place of sacrifice hinder them from coming to it to discharge that duty.
They shall suck of the abundance of the seas; they shall grow rich by the traffic of the sea; and their riches shall not make them the worse, as they do others, but they shall consecrate themselves and their riches to the service of God.
Treasures hid in the sand; such precious things as either,
1. Are contained in the sand of the sea and rivers, in which sometimes there is mixed a considerable quantity of gold and silver. Or,
2. Such as grow in the sea, or are fetched from the sandy bottom of it, as pearls, coral, ambergris, &c. Or,
3. Such as being east into the sea by shipwreck are cast upon the shore by the workings of the sea, and thence taken either by merchants, or by the people that live upon the sea-coast.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
19. shall suck of the abundance ofthe seas, and of treasures hid in the sandBoth tribes shouldtraffic with the Phoelignicians in gold and silver, pearl and coral,especially in murex, the shellfish that yielded the famousTyrian dye, and in glass, which was manufactured from the sand of theriver Belus, in their immediate neighborhood.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
They shall call the people unto the mountain,…. To the mountain of the house of the sanctuary, as all the three Targums; to the temple built on a mountain, which Moses by a spirit of prophecy foresaw would be, to which the tribes of Zebulun and Issachar would not only come up themselves, though at the more distant parts of the land; but call and urge others, both Israelites and Gentiles, to do the same, partly by their example, and partly by persuasions and arguments; not the tribes of Israel that lay nearest them only, but the Heathens, the Tyrians and Sidonians, on whom they bordered, and the Gentiles in Galilee of the Gentiles, which were neighbours to them; a like instance see in Isa 2:2; and perhaps this may have respect to the times of Christ and his apostles, and to their being in those parts where the Gospel was preached, and many people were called, Mt 4:13;
there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness; or true sacrifices, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem, in opposition to illegitimate ones, which were not according to the law, that had blemishes and defects in them, and to such as were gotten by robbery, or in an unlawful way; and may signify all righteous actions and good works done in faith, and from right principles, though not to be depended upon for a justifying righteousness before God; and all spiritual sacrifices, especially the sacrifices of praise for all blessings, and particularly for the righteousness of Christ; and these are to be offered in the church of God, and upon the altar, which sanctifies every gift, and from whence they come up with acceptance to God:
for they shall suck [of] the abundance of the sea; get a great deal of riches by trading at sea, and therefore under great obligations to offer sacrifices to the Lord, by whom they were prospered:
and [of] the treasure hid in the sand; as gold and silver, pearls and corals, and the like, extracted from thence; or riches buried there through shipwrecks; or it may design the great wealth and riches they got by glass made of sand, taken out of the river Belus, which washed the coast of the tribe of Zebulun, as many historians relate z.
z Strabo. Geograph. l. 16. p. 521. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 19. Tacit. Hist. l. 5. c. 7.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(19) They shall call the people unto the mountain.Or, they shall give the mountain-call to the peoplesi.e., they shall call the tribes of Israel to Mount Moriah to offer the sacrifices of righteousness. (See 2Ch. 30:11; 2Ch. 30:18 for an illustration of this.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
This verse throws a further light upon the former. The mountain of the LORD, hath always been considered in scripture terms, as referring to the gospel of JESUS. Isa 25:6-8 ; Mic 4:1-2 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Deu 33:19 They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness: for they shall suck [of] the abundance of the seas, and [of] treasures hid in the sand.
Ver. 19. They shall call the people to the mount, ] i.e., To God’s house, situate on mount Zion. Though they be Littorales, men dwelling by the sea shore, which are noted to be Duri, horridi, immanes, omnium denique pessimi, the worst kind of people; and though they dwell farther from the Temple, yet are they not farthest from God, but ready with their sacrifice of righteousness, as those that have sucked of the abundance of the sea, and of treasures hid in the sand, which, though of itself it yield no crop, yet brings in great revenues, by reason of sea trading.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
treasures hid in the sand = hidden treasures of the sand: amber, agate, jet, pearls, glass, &c.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
call the people: Isa 2:3, Jer 50:4, Jer 50:5, Mic 4:2
they shall: Psa 4:5, Psa 50:13-15, Psa 51:16, Psa 51:17, Psa 107:22, Heb 13:15, Heb 13:16, 1Pe 2:5
suck of: Deu 32:13, Isa 60:5, Isa 60:16, Isa 66:11, Isa 66:12
Reciprocal: Gen 46:14 – Zebulun Gen 49:13 – General Jos 19:10 – Zebulun Psa 104:25 – this great
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Deu 33:19. They Zebulun, of whom Moses takes more special notice. And so having despatched Issachar in two words, he returns to Zebulun. Shall call the people The Gentiles, either those of Galilee, which was called Galilee of the Gentiles, who were their neighbours; or people of other nations with whom they had commerce, which they endeavoured to improve, in persuading them to worship the true God. The mountain That is, to the temple, which Moses knew was to be seated upon a mountain. Sacrifices of righteousness Such as God requires. Their trafficking abroad with heathen nations shall not make them forget their duty at home, nor shall their distance from the place of sacrifice hinder them from coming to it to discharge that duty. Of the abundance of the sea They shall grow rich by the traffic of the sea, and shall consecrate themselves and their riches to God. Hid in the sand Such precious things as either, 1st, Are contained in the sand of the sea and rivers, in which sometimes there is mixed a considerable quantity of gold and silver.
Or, 2d, Such as grow in the sea, or are fetched from the sandy bottom of it, as pearls, coral, ambergris. Or, 3d, Such as, being cast into the sea by shipwrecks, are cast upon the shore by the workings of the sea. This, however, Le Clerc refers, with Jonathan, to their enriching themselves by making glass of a kind of sand found upon their coasts. For the river Belus, famous for its glassy sands, of which alone glass was for a long time manufactured, was in the territories of the Zebulunites. These glassy sands are mentioned by several authors. But treasures hid in the sand, may import the same as sucking of the abundance of the seas That is, enriching themselves by naval commerce.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
33:19 They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness: for {n} they shall suck [of] the abundance of the seas, and [of] treasures hid in the sand.
(n) The tribe of Zebulun.