John Wesley (NT Notes)

“It may be of use to Christians, to preserve an account of the providences of God concerning them, the constant series of mercies they have experienced, and especially those turns which have made some days of their lives more remarkable.”

“On their gods - Their false gods, namely those beasts which the brutish Egyptians worshipped as gods, which were killed with the rest, for the first-born both of men and beasts were then killed.”

“Shittim - The place where the people sinned in the matter of Peor, is here called Abel-Shittim - Abel signifies mourning; and probably this place was so called, from the mourning of Israel for that sin, and the heavy punishment inflicted on the sinners.”

“Drive out - Not by banishing, but by destroying them. Pictures - Which seem to have been stones curiously engraven, and set up for worship. High Places - Chapels, altars, groves, or other means of worship there set up.”

“Coasts - Or limits or bounds, to wit, of the land beyond Jordan. Which are here particularly described, 1. to direct and bound them in their wars and conquests, that they might not seek the enlargement of their empire, after the manner of other nations, but b…”

“To encourage them in their attempt upon Canaan, and assure them of their success. There was a much larger possession promised them, if they were obedient, even to the river Euphrates. But this, which is properly Canaan, lay in a very little compass.”

“Your fourth quarter - Which is here described from east to west by divers windings and turnings, by reason of the mountains and rivers. The salt sea - So called from the salt and sulphurous taste of its waters. Eastward - That is, at the eastern part of that s…”

“The river of Egypt - Called Sihor, Josh. xiii, 3, which divided Egypt from Canaan. The sea - The midland sea, called the sea emphatically, whereas the other seas, as they are called, are indeed but lakes.”

“Hor - Not that Hor where Aaron died, which was southward, and bordering upon Edom, but another mountain, and, as it is conceived, the mountain of Libanus, which is elsewhere mentioned as the northern border of the land, and which, in regard of divers parts, or…”

“Eleazar - Who was to act in God's name, to cast lots, to prevent contentions, to consult with God in cases of difficulty, to transact the whole business in a solemn and religious manner.”

“Judah - The order of the tribes is here different from that, chap. i, 7, 26, and in other places, being conformed to the order of their several inheritances, which afterwards fell to them by lots. Which is an evident demonstration of the infinite wisdom of God…”

“A thousand cubits - In the next verse it is two thousand. But this verse and the next do not speak to the same thing; this speaks of the space from whence the suburbs shall be measured, the next speaks of the space unto which that measure shall be extended; an…”

“From the avenger - Hebrew. from the redeemer, or, from the next kinsman, to whom by the law belonged the right of redemption of the lands of; and vindication of the injury done to, the person deceased.”

“On this side Jordan - Because that land was as long as Canaan, though not so broad, and besides these might be convenient for many of them that lived in Canaan.”

“He shall slay him - Either by himself, as the following words shew; so it is a permission, that he may do it without offense to God or danger to himself: or by the magistrate, from whom he shall demand justice: so it is a command.”

“The death of the high- priest - Perhaps to shew that the death of Christ (the true High- priest, whom the others represented) is the only means whereby sins are pardoned and sinners set at liberty.”

“And the principal reason why God was solicitous to preserve tribes and families unmixed was, that the tribe and family too, out of which the Messiah was to come, and by which he should be known, might be evident and unquestionable.”