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When the commissioner appointed the portions, he was

housed,

And had lodged the heads of the people.

He executed the just decrees of Jehovah,

And his judgments, with Israel.

21." a prime part for himself." In the land of Gilead. See Numb. xxxii, 1-5, 33.

"When the commissioner appointed the por tions, he was housed." Gad had received his inheritance in the land of Gilead, and was settled in it before the general division of the promised land. See Numb. xxxiv, 13—15.

-"the commissioner," PP. A delineator, one who traces and marks out, a definer, or determiner, and hence, perhaps, a lawgiver. But in this place the word denotes a public officer appointed to set out the boundaries of the allotments of the different tribes. One such person was named by Moses out of each of the tribes and half-tribe, among whom the land of Canaan was to be distributed, after the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, were housed in the conquered kingdoms of Sihon and Og. Numb. xxxiv, 17-29. And in the progress of the business, after the death of Moses, when the tabernacle was placed at Shiloh, three

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were appointed out of each of the seven tribes which at that time remained unsettled. Joshua xviii. It appears that these persons made a survey of the country, and marked out the districts in a map. Joshua xviii, 9. Each of these persons was literally PP, a tracer of boundaries. I use the word commissioner,' as the only one for the office which the English language affords. It is the name given in acts of parliament for the inclosure of commonable lands, to the persons authorised to make allotments of such lands among the different proprietors, or persons in any way interested in the lands, according to their respective interests. If a word might be coined for the occasion, determinator' would more properly denote the office, and better correspond with the etymology of the Hebrew word.

-"appointed the portions." I take

for the

verb, not for the adverb of place. PPD is the nominative case before the verb, and лp the accusative after it.

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housed," . The three verbs p, p, and , seem nearly allied. signifies, generally, to hide in any way, or under any sort of cover. P to hide in holes in the ground. But is a term of architecture, and signifies to form the inside cover

v

ing of a house,. to line the sides and top with boards. The participle, applied to a building, signifies this finished state of it,-wainscotted and cieled: applied to a person (of which application this text is I believe the only instance), it would literally signify that he was comfortably lodged in a house so finished. It is here used figuratively, and expresses the complete settlement of the tribe of Gad in the "prime portion" he had chosen for himself in the plain on the east of Jordan; not without allusion to the sheltered situation of that country under the towering hills of Gilead on the east and north-east.

-" and had lodged the heads of the people," viz. in the principal cities of the conquered country. See Numb. xxxii, 34-36.

-"had lodged," "; from the sense of the a chamber."

,תא noun

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-"the people." I read with Samaritan Dyn; for the individual people of the tribe of Gad is

meant.

-"He executed," &c. i. e. this tribe, in conjunction with the rest of the people of Israel, executed God's judgments upon the Canaanites. See Numb. xxxii, 18-32; Josh. i, 12-16, and iv, 12, 13, and xxi, 43 to xxii, 6.

VOL. I.

Q

Verse 22.

And of Dan he said,

Dan is a lion's whelp,

Which leapeth from Bashan.

Dan had no share in Bashan. But the lions of Bashan were fierce and strong.

Verse 23. -"possess thou;" rather, "he shall possess." ", Samaritan.

"the west and the south." Certainly the tribe of Nepthali had, in a literal sense, no possessions either in the west or south. But almost all the apostles, says Houbigant, were Nepthalites, and their preaching spread through every quarter of the world.

Verse 26." the God," or, "the Mighty One." -"who rideth upon the heaven in thy help ;" ra- ther, "thy helper rideth on the heavens." Compare Exod. xviii, 4; and see the translation of the LXX and Vulgate, here, and in that place.

Verse 27." refuge;" rather, "shelter."

-"Destroy [them]," or "perish." άoλ010, LXX.

* That is, like a lion of the strongest head. For this circumstance of leaping from Bashan is an adjunct of the lion, not of Dan.

Verse 28.

And Israel shall dwell in security,
The issue of Jacob all alone,*

Upon a land of corn and wine;

His skies also shall distil the thick small rain.

CHAP. XXXIV, 7. "nor his natural force abated;" rather, "nor his bloom gone."

* That is, without any ally but God.

Q 2

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