Commentary on the book of Deuteronomy

“Interpretation on the book of Deuteronomy” (46 questions) is part of the essay “Questions on the Octateuch”, which is blessed. Theodoret of Cyrus dedicated it to his “beloved son Hypatius,” the chorebishop. The work was written after 453 and is compiled in the form of questions and answers. Basically, only difficult passages of Scripture are explained. In particular, questions about unleavened bread, the prohibition of eating blood and marriage with foreigners, etc. are considered. Contents Question 1. Why is the fifth book of the lawgiver called Deuteronomy? Question 2. How should we understand what is said: “Hear unto Israel: The Lord thy God is one Lord” (Deut. 6:4)? Question 3. What was said “thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,” etc. (Deut. 6:5) How should we understand? Question 4: Why does the law command one to swear by God (Deut. 6:13)? Question 5. How should we understand what is said: “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (Deut. 6:16)? Question 6: Why does the law prohibit marriages with neighboring foreigners (Deut. 7:3)? Question 7. Whom does Moses call the sons of Anak (Deut. 9:2)? Question 8. How should we understand what is said: “The Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords” (Deut. 10:17)? Question 9. How should we understand what is said: “Let us not create everything there, for we do here today whatever is pleasing to ourselves” (Deut. 12:8)? Question 10. Why did Moses, having given the law to the priests to bring tithes, said: You cannot eat in your cities the tithe of your wheat and your wine and your oil (Deut. 12:17)? Question 11: Why does Moses often prohibit the eating of blood (Deut. 12:23)? Question 12. By what power does a prophet who teaches what is contrary to God work miracles (Deut. 13ff.)? Question 13. What does the words mean: “Do not prophesy” (ού φοιβήσετε) “And do not lay bald spots between your eyes over the dead” (Deut. 14:1)? Question 14: Why does Moses forbid the sacrifice of the firstborn when it is crippled (Deut. 15:21)? Question 15. On what basis is it prescribed to eat unleavened bread? Question 16. What does it mean when it is said: “You persecute the righteous” (Deut. 16:20)? Question 17. What does it mean when it is said: “Unless your word is approved in judgment between blood and between judgment and plague” and so on. (Deut. 17:8)? Question 18. Why does Moses command the prince not to multiply horses for himself (Deut. 17:16)? Question 19. Why does Moses command the captive woman to mourn her relatives for a certain number of days and then marry the one who took her captive (Deut. 21:13)? Question 20: Why does Moses require that when parents accuse their son, both father and mother do so together (Deut. 21:18–21)? Question 21. Why does Moses command the one who finds the chicks to take them, and to release the old birds that hatched them (Deut. 22:6-7)? Question 22. Why did Moses command to make a fence on the roof of the house (Deut. 22:8)? Question 23. What does it mean when it is said: Lest you sow your grapes, lest the fruit be sanctified, and the seed that you sow with the fruit of your grapes (Deut. 22:9)? Question 24: Why does Moses command, like an adulterer, to punish the one who corrupts the betrothed to another (Deut. 22:23-24)? Question 25. Why does Moses prohibit the eunuch and the eunuch from entering the church (Deut. 23:1)? Question 26. Why does Moses prohibit communication with the Moabites and Ammonites, not for a certain time, but even for a century (Deut. 23:3)? Question 27. What does it mean when it is said, “For the Lord thy God walketh among thy army” (Deut. 23:14)? Question 28. What do the words “dedicating” (τελεσφόρος), “devoted” (τελεσκόμενος) and “she dedicated” (τελεσκομένη) mean (Deut. 23:18)? Question 29. What does the words mean: “keep what comes out of your mouth” (Deut. 23:23)? Question 30. Why, when God commanded that the one who commits a crime should receive fourty stripes, do the Jews inflict one less blow (Deut. 25:3; cf. 2 Cor. 11:24)? Question 31. What does it mean when it is said: Do not turn back the ox that is threshing (Deut. 25:4)? Question 32. Why does Moses command to spit in the face of anyone who does not want to marry the wife of a childless brother (Deut. 25:9)? Question 33. Why does Moses command the Amalekites to be put to death (Deut. 25:19)? Question 34: Why did God subject the Israelites to both curses and blessings (Deut. 27:11, 26)? Question 35. God did not give these blessings and curses to their fathers, so the book of Deuteronomy contains some kind of new teaching compared to other books? Question 36: Why are there more curses than blessings? Question 37. How should we understand what was said: “The Lord God did not give you hearts to understand, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, even to this day” (Deut. 29:4)? Question 38. How should we understand what has been said: if anyone hears the words of this oath and boasts in his heart, saying: Let it be done to me, for I will walk in the deceit of my heart (Deut. 29:19)? Question 39. Why did the lawgiver command the Israelites to read this book “in seven years” (Deut. 31:10)? Question 40: Why is heaven and earth commanded to testify (Deut. 32:1)? Question 41. How should we understand what is said: “I will provoke you not because of the heathen, but because of the foolish heathen I will provoke you to anger” (Deut. 32:21)? Question 42. How should we understand what is said: Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people, and may all the angels of God strengthen them (Deut. 32:43)? Question 43. Why was Moses commanded to see the land from afar for a minor offense, but was forbidden to bring the people into it? Question 44. How should we understand the blessings to the tribes of Israel? Question 45: Why was Benjamin, who was last, placed in fourth place (Deut. 33:12)? Question 46: Why didn't Moses bless Simeon? Question 1. Why is the fifth book of the lawgiver called Deuteronomy? The Lord God, having driven the Israelites out of Egypt, on Mount Sinai gave them a law by which they should lead their lives. Then, the next year, he commanded them to take possession of the land that he promised to give to their ancestors. Since they resisted and did not want to fulfill this, God confirmed with an oath that he would not give this land to any of those included in the national reckoning made by the legislator, but would destroy them all in the desert. Therefore, after forty years, when, by Divine determination, they bent, God commanded that their children should be numbered, having reached the same age as the fathers were at the time of the first number. Leading these children into the Promised Land, God, through the prophet, teaches the law that was given to their lawless fathers. Therefore, Deuteronomy contains a brief repetition of the laws and events set forth in the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. Moses tells the time and place when and where he taught this teaching to the young people. For he says: “about the land of Jordan, in the desert to the west, in the fourtieth year, in the first ten month, on the first day of the month after the killing of Zion king of the Amorites and Og the king of Bashan” (Deut. 1: 1, 3, 4). And that he did not give another law, but resembles the previous legislation, this is shown by the beginning of the book. For it is said: “Moses began to explain this law, saying: The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb” (Deut. 1:5–6). After this, Moses, having said that he commanded them to enter to inherit the land (Deut. 1:8), added, as at the same time he said about himself: “I cannot alone be the leader of so many thousands. And therefore,” he continues, “I decreed captains of thousands and rulers of hundreds, to have them as accomplices in the government” (Deut. 1:15). He reminded us of this because he appointed Joshua as leader after himself and taught that even during his lifetime he entrusted leadership to others and that the Israelites should willingly obey Jesus and do what he commanded them. And Moses also reminds them how God commanded them to take possession of the Promised Land, but they decided to send spies first, and when the spies returned and reported what this land was like, they did not believe God who saved them and did not want to take possession of the land, and the Lord God was angry and determined that out of all these thousands not one would enter that land except Caleb the son of Jephuniah. “This one,” it is said, “will see you, and to this one I will give the earth to come up, and his son will be close to the Lord” (Deut. 1:36). Although he mentioned only Caleb, he also meant Jesus as a prince, leader and prophet. This can be seen from what follows. For having said “and the Lord was angry with me for your sake” (Deut. 1:37), because when you were indignant, I did not exactly fulfill God’s command and for this reason I was forbidden to bring you into that land, I remembered the very words spoken to him by God: “Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, this one will go in there; strengthen this one, for he will give it to Israel as an inheritance” (Deut. 1:38). Moses says this, teaching the Israelites, since this leader was appointed by God Himself, not to create new confusion about the authorities over them. Then he describes how the Israelites, subsequently repenting, set out to fight with the Canaanites, but God forbade them to do this, and they voluntarily, contrary to God’s commandment, went and returned defeated (Deut. 1:41, 46). He describes how much time they spent in the desert, walking through this impassable and waterless land, what proposals they made to the Edomites and Moabites, how they did not receive friendly answers from them (Deut. 2:29, 30) and how they betrayed Sihon and Og, kings of the Amorites, with their entire army and with all the inhabitants of the cities and villages to their final death. At the same time, Moses also noticed the size of Og’s body, for he says: “his bed is iron, his length is nine lakotas, and his breadth is four lakotas” (Deut. 3:11). Then he advises and exhorts to carefully keep the Lord’s commandments and says: listen, O Israel, to justifications and judgments, “as I teach you to do, that you may live and go in and inherit the land which the Lord God your father is giving you” (Deut. 4:1). After this, out of necessity, he brings them in memory of Beelphegor and for this wickedness of those who died in the desert. Then, in contrast to this, he shows God’s good deeds and says: “Whose language is so great, since He is God, draw near to him, for the Lord is our God in all, even if we call on Him?” (Deut. 4:7). He commands not only to preserve God’s laws ourselves, but also to raise children and grandchildren in piety and teach God’s commandments from childhood. Then he again reminds them how the God of all appeared to them, speaking from the fire, but without showing His image, and expresses it this way: “from the midst of the fire you heard the voice of His words, and you did not see the image, only the voice” (Deut. 4:12). He says this, teaching them not to make sculptured likenesses and never to attempt to build any image of God, because they have not seen the prototype itself. And therefore he adds: “Do not commit lawlessness, and do not create for yourself the likeness of a sculpture, any image of the likeness of a man or a woman; and the likeness of every livestock that is on the earth, the likeness of every feathered bird that flies under the sky; the likeness of every reptile that crawls on the earth; The likeness of every fish is like a tree in the waters under the earth” (Deut. 4:16–18). All this, says Moses, God created for your needs. Therefore, it would be extreme madness to idolize images of what is subordinate to us. He also adds this: “Let not when you look up to the sky and see the sun and the moon and all the beauty of heaven, you are enticed to bow down to them and serve them, which the Lord your God has divided with all your tongue, which is under heaven” (Deut. 4:19). All this, says Moses, was arranged by the Creator for human needs. Therefore, do not recognize as gods the creatures who are appointed by God to serve human needs. For other interpreters have translated this passage as follows: “what your God has brought into order for the nations under the whole heaven.” Then Moses frightens the Israelites with threats that if they dare to break the Divine law, create a likeness of something and deify it, then God will scatter them throughout the entire earth and in enslavement they will worship false gods. And after this, comparatively, God’s omnipotence is again proven. For he says: “Ask the first days that were before you, from one day to the next God created man on earth, and from one end of the heaven even to the end of the heaven, if he did according to this word, if you heard this word; Whenever you heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, in the same way you all heard, and you all lived” (Deut. 4:32–33). Moses also described how God freed them from the bitter slavery of Egypt. He constantly repeats to them how the God of all spoke to them from heaven, and how, uttering a voice from the midst of the fire, he uttered the law so that they should not make any image of the invisible God. Moreover, he teaches that it is absolutely impossible to make an image of the Divine, because His nature is not only invisible, but also indescribable. For he says: “The Lord your God is a God in heaven and in earth, and He is not to be found” (Deut. 4:39). It should, however, be known that the prophet did not talk about all this with the people on one day, but over the course of many days he taught this teaching. Therefore, he repeatedly returns to the same words in order to confirm this in his memory with frequent repetition. Following this conversation, Moses talks about the cities to which he ordered those who unwittingly committed murder to flee (Deut. 4:41–43). Then he announces that he again gathered the people and reminded them of the God-given laws. And that it is not another who gives the law, but still teaches those who, due to imperfect age, could not hear the first legislation, the prophet’s own words make it known. For he says: “The Lord your God made a covenant with you at Horeb; The Lord did not command this covenant with your fathers, but with you” (Deut. 5:2–3). Since the fathers, having broken the law, died and God gave the children the land promised to the fathers, then Moses says that the law was also given to the children. Then he expounds the commandments, the meaning of which we revealed in our explanation of the book of Exodus. But even here he shows what the purpose of the Sabbath rest is, for he says: “Let your servant and your maidservant and your donkey rest” (Deut. 5:14). As you always use their services, so let your servants and maidservants and your livestock enjoy peace, at least once during the seven days of the week. And then he arouses compassion with the memory of slavery in Egypt and says: “For I was a slave all in Egypt, and the Lord brought you out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm; For this reason the Lord thy God commanded thee, that thou shalt keep the Sabbath day, and keep it holy” (Deut. 5:15). You have learned through experience the bitterness of slavery; Keeping this in mind, be kind and gentle to your subordinates, and what peace you yourself always enjoy, let them enjoy the same on the seventh day of the week. But what has been said does not prohibit spiritual matters. For he says: “You shall not do any work of labor” (Lev. 23:35), except for what is done for the soul, such as reading and listening to the word of God, psalmody, sacred rites, and the like. Question 2. How should we understand what is said: “Hear unto Israel: The Lord thy God is one Lord” (Deut. 6:4)? Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord. (Deut. 6:4). We have repeatedly said that the names Lord and God indicate the Divine nature, and not the difference of persons; the names Father, Son, Holy Spirit mean personal properties. But it was impossible to teach accurate theology to imperfect Jews, because it would be turned into a reason for polytheism. Therefore, the name of God in the Old Testament is pronounced in the singular. However, it also contains hidden indications of trinity. For the words the Lord your God, the Lord is one, teach the unity of essence, and make it possible to see the number of persons, because the name God is used once, and the name Lord twice. Question 3. What was said “thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,” etc. (Deut. 6:5) How should we understand? And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (Deut. 6:5). The Lord clearly taught us that “no one can work for two masters” (Matthew 6:24). Therefore, with these words we learn not to divide our love between God and gold, between God and wife, between God and children, between God and friends, but to devote all the power of love to God who created us, and after the Creator to parents, and wife, and children, and brothers, and friends, to give to each what is appropriate, because love for God requires doing this too. It is said: “Whoever loves Me will fulfill My commandments” (John 14:15). And God’s commandments command us to love our neighbors. Question 4: Why does the law command one to swear by God (Deut. 6:13)? Fear the Lord your God, and serve Him alone, and cleave to Him, and swear by His name. (Deut. 6:13). So that the Israelites would not swear by false gods. For God also spoke this through the prophet: “If you take away the names of Baalim from your mouth, and swear, the Lord lives in truth” (Jer. 4:1-2). Yes, and here Moses, having said: “Let you fear the Lord your God, and serve Him alone, and cleave to Him, and swear by His name,” added: “Do not go after alien gods, the gods of the pagans who are around you” (Deut. 6:13–14). Question 5. How should we understand what is said: “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (Deut. 6:16)? Do not tempt the Lord your God as you were tempted by temptation. (Deut. 6:16). The Lord explained this in the Holy Gospel. For when the devil said to Him: “Look down from above,” he answered him: “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (Matthew 4:7). He who does something without reasoning tempts God, plunging himself into danger. Question 6: Why does the law prohibit marriages with neighboring foreigners (Deut. 7:3)? Do something worse than matchmaking with them: do not give your daughter to his son, and do not give his daughter to your son (Deut. 7:3). This law has no need for interpretation, because it explains itself. For it is said: “He will turn your son away from Me, and serve as another god” (Deut. 7:4). Of necessity, Moses reveals to them the reason for God’s guardianship. For he said: “God did not prefer you over the pagan nations because of your numbers, but because of the piety of your ancestors and because of the promise given to them.” And then, proving the truth of this, he added: “True God, keep His covenant and mercy to those who love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations” (Deut. 7:9). And since the Israelites were imperfect, they demanded to be fed with milk, and could not hear about eternal blessings, God promises them many children, fruitful land, multiplication of oxen and sheep, bodily health, victory in battles, and all the like. Then Moses again reminds them of their stay in the desert and shows the reasons for this. For he says: “And make you angry, and starve you, and feed you with manna, so that he may tell you that man will not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Deut. 8:3). And in this way, let us learn not to be upset when falling into any difficult circumstances, but to accept Divine orders with love and expect the end of temptations. Moses also points out other good deeds: “Your robe has not worn you out; Your nose has not been sore, behold, for fourty years. And you shall understand in your heart that if any man punishes his son, so will the Lord your God punish you. And thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in His ways, and to fear Him” (Deut. 8:4–6). Behind temptation there is consolation, behind punishment there are affections: hunger - and an abundance of food, fatigue on the road - and physical health, lack of necessary things - and contentment due to unfading clothes and shoes. Then Moses advises that the Israelites, when they win, attribute the victory not to their own strength, but to the helper and supporter of God. Question 7. Whom does Moses call the sons of Anak (Deut. 9:2)? The people are great and many and long-lived, the sons of Anak, even as you weigh, and you have heard: who against him will become the son of Anak? (Deut. 9:2). These were the descendants of giants, as history tells us. For the following is said: “People are many and long, the sons of Anak, even as you have weighed, and you have heard: who against will become the son of Anak?” (ibid.) What was said, “even though you have weighed and heard,” is reminiscent of the words of those who spied the earth, for they said: “I ran before them as if I were Christians” (Numbers 13:34). And thus, having humbled the arrogance of bodily strength, he teaches to think lowly about spiritual success. For he says: “Do not dwell in your heart: for the sake of my righteousness, the Lord has brought me in to inherit this good land, because for the sake of these tongues the Lord will consume wickedness from your presence; not for the sake of your righteousness, lower than the honor for the sake of your heart, you enter to inherit the land” (Deut. 9: 4–5). Moses said this in order to suddenly achieve two goals, namely: to teach the Israelites to behave modestly and attribute everything to God’s help, and also to predict that they too would suffer the same as these nations if they acted like them. By the way, it also reminds us of the lawlessness they committed in the desert, confirming the same idea that they will not inherit the earth for the sake of their righteousness. For he says: “Remember and do not forget, if you anger the Lord your God in the wilderness” (Deut. 9:7). And now he shows them the service of the calf, and the fact that because of their wickedness he crushed the God-given tablets, and that, having offered only fervent prayer, he appeased God, who was extremely angry with them and with Aaron. For he says: “The Lord was very angry with Aaron to destroy him; and pray for Aaron at the time” (Deut. 9:20). And thus, having described other events, he continues: “And now unto Israel what the Lord thy God asketh of thee, that is, that they may fear the Lord thy God, and walk in all His commandments, and serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart” (Deut. 10:12). And so as not to conclude that God lays down this law because he needs sacrifices, Moses adds: “Behold, the Lord your God is heaven and heaven is heaven; the earth and all the trees are on it; “Before your fathers made the Lord to love them, and chose their seed after them, you above all others” (Deut. 10:14, 15). We learn from this that children enjoy benefits for the piety of their ancestors. But Moses also made it clear what kind of circumcision is pleasing to God. For he said: “Circumcise your hardness of heart, and do not harden your necks to anyone” (Deut. 10:16). He says this to those who have not yet circumcised the foreskin, because Joshua circumcised them after crossing the Jordan at Gilgal. However, he commanded them, who were not yet circumcised, to circumcise not the foreskin, but their hardness of heart and stiffness of neck. Therefore, circumcision of the heart is much more important. And the Lord God thus accused the Israelites, saying through the prophet Jeremiah: “All the nations are uncircumcised in the flesh, but the house of Israel is uncircumcised in their hearts” (Jer. 9:26). Question 8. How should we understand what is said: “The Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords” (Deut. 10:17)? For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great and mighty and awesome God, who does not marvel at the face, but will take a gift (Deut. 10:17). Moses here refers to the judges as gods. For he says: “Do not speak evil of the gods, and do not speak evil to the prince of your people” (Ex. 22:28). And where the Seventy expressed “you will bring him to the judgment seat” (Ex. 21:6), there Aquila and Symmachus translated “you will bring him before the gods,” calling the judges gods. It was these gods, and not the false ones, that Moses called Him God. And we have already explained this many times. Question 9. How should we understand what is said: “Let us not create everything there, for we do here today whatever is pleasing to ourselves” (Deut. 12:8)? May you not create everyone there, as long as you do here today, everyone who pleases before you (Deut. 12:8). At every place where they set up their tabernacles, the Israelites made sacrifices to the Lord God, building altars from native stones before the construction of the tabernacle, and after the construction of the tabernacle, performing God's services in it. And at first they did this not in just one place, but in the place of each camp, because they often changed places during the forty-year wandering in the desert. Therefore, Moses forbids doing like this in the Promised Land, so that this does not turn into an excuse to offer sacrifice to false gods, but commands that divine services be performed in that one place that the Lord God chooses. In this place he gives the command to bring sacrifices and feast. For he says: “There will be a place where the Lord your God chooses to call on His name, there you will offer everything that I command you today: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices and your tithes and the firstfruits of your hands and your gifts,” etc. (Deut. 12:11). The word other gifts was translated “voluntary offerings,” that is, what one would like to bring of one’s own free will. Then, having forbidden making sacrifices in any place, he allowed, if they wished to eat the meat, to eat it in the cities in which they would live, after the priest had slaughtered the animal and the blood had been spilled on the ground. He commanded such meat to eat without distinction, both clean and unclean, teaching that animals slaughtered in this way were something ordinary, and not something divine, because the unclean were not allowed to partake of the victims. Why did Moses very opportunely add: eat this like chamois and olives (Deut. 12:15). These animals, although they were clean, were not sacrificed. Question 10. Why did Moses, having given the law to the priests to bring tithes, said: You cannot eat in your cities the tithe of your wheat and your wine and your oil (Deut. 12:17)? You will not be able to eat in your cities the tithe of your wheat and your wine and your oil, the firstborn of your oxen and your sheep, and all the vows you make, and your confessions, and the firstfruits of your hands (Deut. 12:17). Moses commanded to separate two tithes from the estate and bring one to the Levites, and sell the other and spend its price on preparing a feast for themselves and serving widows, orphans and strangers, and commanded them to feast at the divine church. And the all-wise Lord legitimized this, freeing them from the delusion of serving false gods. Since the teacher in wickedness, enslaving the human race through gluttony and voluptuousness, mixed a lot of amusements into demonic festivities, the prudent Lord, saving the Israelites from this delusion, decreed laws on holidays, allowed sacrifices, allowed musical instruments, and commanded them to feast, preventing idolatrous wickedness with such consolations. Question 11: Why does Moses often prohibit the eating of blood (Deut. 12:23)? Take note of the hedgehog, who cannot eat blood: for blood is his soul: let the soul be carried away from the flesh (Deut. 12:23). The Lawgiver himself said that the blood of an animal is its soul (ibid.). However, I think that the law also means something else, namely: it heals the murderous nature of the Israelis. For if eating the blood of dumb animals means consuming the soul, then it is much more criminal to separate a rational soul from the body. Question 12. By what power does a prophet who teaches what is contrary to God work miracles (Deut. 13ff.)? Demons act by God's permission. So, Pharaoh’s magicians performed miracles over the rod, the river and the frogs, because the all-wise God allowed this due to the madness of the ruler, who gave them the order to increase the executions sent down from above, but they were not able to stop the punishments and were not able to produce scrips, because they produced the one thing that God allowed them. Moses made this clear here too. For, having said: “If a prophet arises in you, or sees a dream, and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder comes, and says: Let us go and serve another god, whose you do not know; May you not listen to that prophet, or the one who sees that dream; For the Lord your God tempts you, if you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind” (Deut. 13:2-4). Consequently, the false prophet works miracles by God's permission. Through this we learn not to pay attention to signs when the one performing them teaches what is contrary to piety. Moses commands both to kill the false prophet and to deliver the people from the evil teaching. For he says: “Destroy what is evil from yourselves” (Deut. 13:5). since it happened that either a brother, or a friend, or a relative, enslaved to error, attempted to deceive others, then, of necessity, he gives a law about this too and commands that the teacher of wickedness be declared about this and the first to throw a stone at the one who obeyed such a teaching, and then to publicly stone the guilty person, so that others would be disciplined by his punishment. Question 13. What do the words mean: “Do not prophesy” (ού φοιβήσετε) 1 “And do not lay bald spots between your eyes over the dead” (Deut. 14:1)? You are the sons of the Lord your God: let not ye be cut, nor lay bald spots between your eyes over the dead (Deut. 14:1). Moses prohibits the custom of the wicked peoples and with the words “Do not prophesy” rejects the prophecies; because Thebes (φοίβον) was the name of the Pythian false soothsayer [Apollo]. And with the words “do not lay bald spots between your eyes over the dead”, it prohibits the immoderation of mourning for the dead, because some of the foreign peoples cut the hair on their heads, and others cut the hair on their beards and eyebrows and brought them as gifts to the dead. And Divine law prohibits doing this. That Moses commanded to separate two tithes from everything, this is clearly understood here. For he says: “Give tithes of all the fruit of your seed, the fruit of your fields from year to year, and let me bring it before the Lord your God in the place where the Lord your God chooses to call on His name there” (Deut. 14:22–23). But if there were only one tithe, how would it be possible for the Levites to take it, and for those who brought it to feast? On the contrary, it is clear that Moses assigned one tithe to the Levites, and the other to those bringing feasts. This is also revealed from the following words. For it is said: “If the way be far from you; sell and, having taken the price, go to the place that the Lord your God chooses, and give money for everything your soul desires, for oxen and sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for everything that your soul desires, and bring it there before the Lord your God, you and your house. And the Levite who is in your cities, because he has no part or lot with you” (Deut. 14:24–27). Then he legitimizes what should be given to the Levites: “Thou shalt bring all the tithes in the summer of three years, and put them in thy cities; And the Levite, because he has no part or lot with you, will come, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, even in your cities, may eat and be satisfied; May the Lord your God bless you in all that you do” (Deut. 14:28–29). You should know that Joseph, based on these words or as a Jew knowing Jewish customs better, says that the law commanded that three tithes be brought: one to the Levites, another to orphans and widows, and a third to those who bring feasts. Question 14: Why does Moses forbid the sacrifice of the firstborn when it is crippled (Deut. 15:21)? If there be a blemish on him, lameness, or blindness, and every vice is evil, do not devour it to the Lord your God. (Deut. 15:21). Through the dumb he wants to teach those who have the gift of speech, so that they may have a sound mind, prepared for every good deed. Question 15. On what basis is it prescribed to eat unleavened bread? The law explained this to us. For it is said: “For seven days eat the bread of bitterness, as you came out of Egypt with diligence” (Deut. 16:3). But we have already said enough about this in the interpretation of the book of Exodus. Question 16. What does it mean when it is said: “You persecute the righteous” (Deut. 16:20)? Pursue the righteous, that you may live, and go in and inherit the land which the Lord your God is giving you. (Deut. 16:20). In accordance with the goal of truth, begin a good work, not for vain glory, not to please people, but for the good itself. For others, not respecting the truth from the heart, for the sake of those who truly respect the truth, themselves hypocritically show respect to the truth. Question 17. What does it mean when it is said: “Unless your word is approved in judgment between blood and between judgment and plague” and so on. (Deut. 17:8)? If the word of judgment cannot be understood by you in judgment between blood and blood, and between judgment and judgment, and between plague and plague, and between controversy and controversy, the words of judgment in your cities, and you will rise up to the place that the Lord your God chooses to call on His name there (Deut. 17:8). If you are not able to find out the truth when you judge or examine leprosy on the body (Moses calls this an ulcer), and you do not recognize whether it is leprosy or lichen (Lev. 13:39), then do not draw a conclusion and do not pronounce judgment on a guess, but go to the divine church and report this to the priest or to whomever the people’s government was entrusted at that time, and do what they command. If anyone, out of arrogance, contradicts what is said by the bishop or judge, then let him be punished with death as an example and for the benefit of others. Question 18. Why does Moses command the prince not to multiply horses for himself (Deut. 17:16)? Moreover, let him not multiply horses for himself, let no man return to Egypt, for he let him not multiply horses for himself: But the Lord says to you: Do not let anyone return this way (Deut. 17:16). Wants the Israelis to place their hope in God alone. Therefore, blessed David also cries out: “A king cannot be saved by much strength, and a giant will not be saved by the abundance of his strength. A horse lies for salvation, but in the abundance of its strength it will not be saved” (Ps. 33:16-17). Question 19. Why does Moses command the captive woman to mourn her relatives for a certain number of days and then marry the one who took her captive (Deut. 21:13)? And let her take off the robe of captivity from her: and let her sit in your house, and let her father and mother weep for a month: and therefore you will go to her, and copulate with her, and you will have a wife. (Deut. 21:13). He doesn’t want crying to be mixed with fun and tears to be mixed with a smile. Therefore, he orders that the captive be given time to cry for thirty days, and then, when she is freed from tears, she enters into marital intercourse. Moreover, she curbs the lust of the one who captivated her, commanding her to be guided in communication not by voluptuousness, but by reason. If someone, after communicating with the captive, refuses to marry her, then Moses commands to release her, giving her freedom as a reward for communicating with her. Question 20: Why does Moses require that when parents accuse their son, both father and mother do so together (Deut. 21:18–21)? If anyone has a son who is disobedient and rude, and does not listen to the voice of his father and the voice of his mother, and they will punish him, and will not listen to them, may his father and his mother take him, and may they bring him before the elders of their city and before the gates of their place, and may they say to the men of their city: This son of ours is disobedient and a rude man and does not listen to our speech, being voluptuous. he drinks: and let the men of that city beat him with a stone, and let him die: and take away the evil from yourselves, and the others who have heard it will fear. (Deut. 21:18–21). Because the consent of the accusers testifies to the truth of the accusation. For it often happens that the father accuses in vain, and the mother contradicts, or the mother complains, and the father contradicts. But when both are accused of the same thing, then the justice of the accusation will be obvious. Therefore, Moses commands that the accused by both be put to death. Question 21. Why does Moses command the one who finds the chicks to take them, and to release the old birds that hatched them (Deut. 22:6-7)? If you make a bird's nest in front of you on the way, or on a certain tree, or on the ground, and in it there are chicks or eggs, and the mother sits on the chick or eggs, do not interfere with the mother and the chicks: let the mother go with absolution, but do the chicks for yourself, so that it will be good for you and you will have a long life. (Deut. 22:6–7). Teaches mercy. For if he takes the hatched ones and leaves the chicks, then the latter, since there will be no one to feed them, will undoubtedly die; and if he catches both of them, then the whole race of birds will be wiped out, as soon as everyone starts doing the same. Question 22. Why did Moses command that a fence be made on the roof of the house (Deut. 22:8)? If you build a new house, and make a fence for your house, and do not commit murder in your house, lest anyone fall from it. (Deut. 22:8). This is explained by the following words, for it is said: “And thou shalt not commit murder in thy house, lest one fall by it.” God, having endowed us with reason, demands that we use it where we should, take care of everything ourselves, and not leave everything to God, as unreasonable ones, but, bringing in what we can from ourselves, expect help from Him. So, when we sow, we do not place our hope on earth, but we wait for God’s love for mankind; and resorting to the help of doctors, we know that with their help God heals, because art only has power to the extent that it pleases the One who bestowed the art. Question 23. What does it mean when it is said: Lest you sow your grapes, lest the fruit be sanctified, and the seed that you sow with the fruit of your grapes (Deut. 22:9)? Do not sow your grapes with any variety, lest the fruit be sanctified, and the seed that you sow with the fruit of your grapes be not sanctified. (Deut. 22:9). The legislator curbs gluttony and provides for the farmers themselves, because the earth, having received many seeds, produces meager fruits. Therefore, he commands not to sow mixed seeds and not to plant different kinds of vines. And this law punishes the transgressor, punishing him for the desire for profit. For He commands that such fruits should be brought to Himself, which He expressed with the words, Let the fruit not be sanctified. Question 24: Why does Moses command, like an adulterer, to punish the one who corrupts the betrothed to another (Deut. 22:23-24)? If a virgin betrothed to her husband, and a man (another) finds her in the city, will be with her, take them both out before the gates of their city, and beat (both) with a stone, and let them die: the young woman, because she did not cry in the city, and the husband, because he offended his neighbor’s wife: and take away the evil from yourselves. (Deut. 22:23–24). Because he appropriates the betrothal pledges to her, which is why he calls her wife. For he says: “I have offended my neighbor’s wife” (Deut. 22:24). That is why the Holy Virgin is called the wife of Joseph; It is said: “Do not be afraid to accept Miriam your wife” (Matthew 1:20). Question 25. Why does Moses prohibit the eunuch and the eunuch from entering the church (Deut. 23:1)? Let no eunuch and eunuch enter into the assembly of the Lord. (Deut. 23:1). This makes us understand the inability of the soul to bear fruit, because the barrenness of good deeds is disgusting to God. Moreover, the law prohibits making cazhenics not only people, but also cattle, because their distorted members are created for the propagation of the race. But just as the law prohibits infertility, it also rejects bad fruit. For he says: Let no one who is sexually immoral enter the church of the Lord (Deut. 23:2). Question 26. Why does Moses prohibit communication with the Moabites and Ammonites, not for a certain time, but even for a century (Deut. 23:3)? Let no Ammanite or Moabite enter into the church of the Lord; let him not even until the tenth generation enter into the church of the Lord, and even until forever (Deut. 23:3). Firstly, because their root is lawless and they were born from a lawless combination, and then because of wickedness, in which they also made the Israelites participants, adorning their wives, and through them entrapping the people of God in the service of idols. But he commands the Edomite and the Egyptian to enter the church according to the third generation (Deut. 23:8), and the first as a brother, and the second as a benefactor for a time, because when the famine came, their fathers, having come to Egypt, found food for themselves there. Therefore, the law teaches us not to forget a long-standing benefit. Question 27. What does it mean when it is said, “For the Lord thy God walketh among thy army” (Deut. 23:14)? For the Lord thy God walketh in thy army to deliver thee, and to deliver thee into thine hands before thy face: and let thy army be holy, and let not the shame of things appear unto thee, and turn away from thee. It is known that air filled with stench often produces infection. Therefore, Moses commands the Israelites, when they camp somewhere, to bury the droppings they spew into the ground. And so that they do not suffer harm from failure to fulfill what is commanded, he, of necessity, adds: “For the Lord your God walks in your army,” and explains the reason for this: deliver you, and betray your enemies before your face. And the sim teaches you not to do anything illegal. For he adds: “And let your regiment be holy, and let no shame appear to you.” Question 28. What do the words “dedicating” (τελεσφόρος), “devoted” (τελεσκόμενος) and “she dedicated” (τελεσκομένη) mean (Deut. 23:18) 2 ? Just as we call communicants of the Divine Mysteries faithful, so the pagans call those who have been taught the mysteries of any demons initiated. Therefore, he calls the one who initiates the secret master, and the initiate, the one who teaches the secret. Question 29. What does the words mean: “keep what comes out of your mouth” (Deut. 23:23)? Keep and do the gift that comes from your mouth, in the same way that you promised the Lord to your God, the gift that you spoke with your mouth. (Deut. 23:23). Having promised God, consider your vow a duty and therefore try to repay it quickly. For Moses expressed this with the words: “Do not delay in paying your vow, for the Lord your God will exact it from you, and sin will be upon you” (Deut. 23:21). Then, teaching that it depends on free will to make a vow or not to make one, he adds: “if you do not want to promise, you have no sin” (Deut. 23:22). Why does blessed David say: “I will give you the prayers 3 that my lips have spoken, and my mouth has spoken in my affliction” (Ps. 65:13–14). Proposing again the law on leprosy, Moses mentioned Miriam, saying: “Remember that the Lord your God has created for Mariam on the way” (Deut. 24:9), teaching that leprosy is a punishment sent down from God, and that God imposes it on them when they sin, and stops again when they repent. However, it resolves doubts regarding the threat to children. For he says: “Let not the fathers die for the sons, and let not the sons die for the fathers; Let every one die for his own sin” (Deut. 24:16). It is likely that although the fathers advised their children what was useful, it did not bring any benefit due to their disobedience; children were not made better than their fathers. Question 30: Why, when God commanded that the one who commits a crime should receive fourty stripes, do the Jews inflict one less blow (Deut. 25:3; cf. 2 Cor. 11:24)? And let them inflict upon him fourty wounds in number, and let them not add to this: if they apply more wounds to him than these wounds, it will be a disgrace to your brother before you. (Deut. 25:3). Five times the Jews gave me forty stripes minus one (2 Cor. 11:24). Because a greater number of wounds dishonors the person being punished: “if they try to beat him, your brother will be disgraced before you” (Deut. 25:3). They give one less blow, so that, while trying to maintain the exact number, they do not dishonor the person subjected to blows against his will when an extra blow is dealt to him. Question 31. What does it mean when it is said: Do not turn back the ox that is threshing (Deut. 25:4)? Don't turn away from the threshing ox. (Deut. 25:4). The highest meaning of this was clearly shown to us by the divine apostle (1 Cor. 9:9-10). But the meaning that appears at first glance is also pious. For it is unfair for someone who has cultivated the land and laboriously threshes the sheaves not to eat the fruit. Question 32. Why does Moses command to spit in the face of anyone who does not want to marry the wife of a childless brother (Deut. 25:9)? And his brother's wife came to him before the elders, and took one of his boots from his foot, and let him spit on his face, and when she answered, she said, Let them do the same to the man who has not built his brother's house in Israel (Deut. 25:9). By dishonor he compels the Israelites to brotherly love. It would be better, out of natural feeling, to take care of the deceased, but since not everyone respects the law of nature, the legislator forces them to dishonor. Question 33. Why does Moses command the Amalekites to be put to death (Deut. 25:19)? And when the Lord your God gives you rest from all your enemies who are around you on earth, the Lord your God has given you as a lot to inherit, so that you may destroy the name of Amalek from the earth, even under heaven, and may you not forget it. (Deut. 25:19). They were both wicked and brotherly-hating. Although they descended from Esau, they were the first to undertake war against the Israelites, and moreover, when they were still far away and did not approach their borders. After this, Moses again shows more clearly than before that they were commanded to separate two tithes. He says this: “When you have finished tithing all the tithes of the fruits of your land in the third year, give the second tithe to the Levite and the stranger and the widow and the orphan, and they will eat in your cities and be satisfied” (Deut. 26:12). And that the prophet proposed this teaching to the people more than once is clear from the following. It is said: And the commandment of Moses and the elders of Israel, saying: keep to do all these commandments, as I command you this day (Deut. 27:1). Then the Lord God commanded that after crossing the Jordan, two great stones should be placed and whitewashed with chalk and the commandments written on them (Deut. 27:2–3), then create an altar from native stones on Mount Ebal and make legal sacrifices, and in addition to other sacrifices, as if some kind of thanksgiving sacrifice, make a sacrifice of salvation, and finally, arrange a feast, glorifying the benefactor God (Deut. 27:5–7). Question 34: Why did God subject the Israelites to both curses and blessings (Deut. 27:11–26)? The Lord Christ, having taught His perfect teachings to the perfect, promised the Kingdom of Heaven to those who fulfill them, and threatened those who transgress with hell. But to the Jews, whose mind creeps on the earth and is attached to earthly things, he gave both curses and blessings limited to earthly things. For those who did not believe in visible miracles, how would they accept those things pertaining to the future life? It should be noted that he gave blessings to the tribes descended from the free, that here he included the priestly tribe among the people and commanded the two tribes of Joseph to be blessed as one. And he gave oaths as inheritance to the tribes descended from half-slaves, and added to them among the tribes of Reuben and Zebulun: the first, as having fallen into sin, and the second, as the last of the sons of Leah. First of all, he commanded to curse those who dishonor before God and worship hand-made images, and then those who act lawlessly with their parents (because justice requires, after God, to serve those from whom we received our existence), and after this, those who mock those deprived of sight and attempt to seduce them from the straight path; in a word, everyone who transgresses the above commandments. After the priests pronounced the curses, he commanded the people to exclaim “wake up, wake up,” accepting this proclamation from them as assault on the written testimony. And God gave all kinds of blessings to those who kept the Divine commandments, living in cities and villages: happiness, many children, reproduction of sheep and oxen, fruitfulness of the earth, peaceful life, victory in battles, and the like. He also added spiritual blessings to physical blessings: “May the Lord raise you up for His holy people, as they swore by your father” (Deut. 28:9). But he added the following restriction: “If you listen to the voice of the Lord your God and walk in His ways.” For those who see this and hear about this will fear, imagining in their minds the Divine care that you enjoy. The words “to be at the head, and not at the tail” (Deut. 28:13) mean leadership, not slavery. For he adds: “And then you will be higher, and you will not be lower.” Then again he imposes curses that contain the opposite of the blessings mentioned above: childlessness, failure, poverty, illness, distress, hunger, infection, war, defeat in battles, lack of rain, infertility of the earth. For this is meant by the expression “the earth is iron and the sky is copper” (Deut. 28:23). Then he describes the disasters that happen during the siege of a city: “You take a wife, and another husband takes her and leads her; you will build a house and not live in it; you plant grapes and do not harvest them; your calf was slain before you, and you shall not take it away” (Deut. 28:30–31). And the words that follow contain the same thought. He adds threats of plagues, various sufferings and enslavement and, what is most painful of all, he says: “The stranger who is with you will ascend above you, but you will go down below” (Deut. 28:43). Through this, he gives a divine understanding of the piety of the pagans, and predicts for the Israelites their unbelief, suffering from the Assyrians, Babylonians, Macedonians, and finally disasters during the siege of the city by the Romans. For he says: “Carry away the children of your womb, the flesh of your sons and daughters, which the Lord your God has given you in your distress and in your sorrow, with which your enemy will insult you” (Deut. 28:53), and predicts everything else that, having experienced it, the prophet Jeremiah realized when he wrote his lament. He threatens not only these, but also other executions of all kinds to impose on them who violate the Divine commandments. He also threatens them with Egyptian slavery, which, having recently experienced, was still in their memory. For he says: “Those who take you captive will sell you” (Deut. 28:68). Question 35. God did not give these blessings and curses to their fathers, so the book of Deuteronomy contains some kind of new teaching compared to other books? The prophet himself noticed this, for, having finished his speech about curses and blessings, he added: “these are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to establish with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which he commanded them in Horeb” (Deut. 29:1). since he was preparing to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land, he, of necessity, motivates them with promises of blessings, strikes them with threats of punishment, and puts into action all means to heal their souls. Question 36: Why are there more curses than blessings? Evil slaves benefit not so much from promises of freedom as from threats of punishment. Question 37. How should we understand what was said: “The Lord God did not give you hearts to understand, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, even to this day” (Deut. 29:4)? And the Lord God did not give you hearts to understand, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear, even to this day (Deut. 29:4). Just like what was said: “I gave them over to an unskilled mind” (Rom. 1:28); “I delivered them up in the passion of dishonor” (Rom. 1:26); “And the Lord harden the heart of Pharaoh” (Ex. 10:20) - because God is the author of good things, and not the author of evil. He shows what should be done, and although he turns away from the opposite, he does not force the disposition of the human will, but leaves it to freedom. But since he allows doing the opposite, having the opportunity to forbid, and does not forbid, so that what is done is not done under compulsion or necessity, because the voluntary choice of virtue is commendable, then Moses called this permission the reason. Similar to this is what is said in the Divine Gospel: “You have blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts” (John 12:40). However, God put into action all the means so that the Israelites could achieve salvation: he worked miracles, healing the affected members, fed them in the desert, and commanded the elements. Therefore, He is not the culprit of their unbelief. Why did the evangelist bring prophetic testimony? Wanting to show that all this was not unknown to the Lord God, but on the contrary, He predicted it long ago. For he says: “You will hear by hearing, but will not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not see” (Isa. 6:9). This is how we should understand what is said here: “The Lord has not given you hearts to understand, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear, even to this day” (Deut. 29:4). And if he really did not give them the ability to see, and hear, and reason, then why does the law involuntarily curse and name those who have transgressed? But I consider it unnecessary to continue talking about this. For even for the extremely unreasonable, it is clear that the One who proposed such a teaching does not take away the ability to see, but guides, enlightens and shows the straight path. The following teaches us the same thing: “I do not make this covenant and this oath with you alone, but also with those who walk 4 with you today, before the Lord your God, and with those who are not with you here today” (Deut. 29:14-15). But would He who provides for those who will yet exist neglect those who exist and have accepted the law? Why does he give laws to those who are unable to understand them? You should also know that prophets often use sayings that are commonly used among people, as if they were better known. It is the custom of others to reproach their servants and disciples by saying: “God has blinded your heart, God has blocked your hearing.” The prophet did the same thing here, and with common sayings he denounced their foolishness. Question 38. How should we understand what has been said: if anyone hears the words of this oath and boasts in his heart, saying: Let it be done to me, for I will walk in the deceit of my heart (Deut. 29:19)? And if he hears the words of this oath, he will boast in his heart, saying: Let it be venerable to me, for I will go in the deceit of my heart, lest the sinner destroy the sinless (with him) (Deut. 29:19). These words describe a person who goes against the commandments of God. For many transgress the Divine law out of negligence, and many neglect the commandments out of conceit and arrogance. Moses portrayed this man here as having chosen the opposite path and preferred the false path to the straight one, and threatens him with final death, so that he could serve as an example of punished wickedness for those who see and hear. Teaching the Israelites that everything that is done in secret is known to God, he added: “To the Lord our God, this has been revealed to you and to your children” (Deut. 29:29), i.e., just as you know what is done openly, so the very movements of thoughts are also clear to Me. He also introduces the word about repentance. For he says: “If, having transgressed the Divine commandments, you fall under these oaths and, having become a captive, bear the yoke of slavery, and then, guided by a chaste thought, you seek out the causes of slavery and appease the Lawgiver, then He will mercifully return you and again give you your father’s land” (Deut. 30:1, 5). This was fulfilled more than once, as the book of Judges, the history of the Kings and Chronicles clearly show. Finally, when the Israelites raged against the Savior, they were scattered throughout the land and the sea, and after four hundred years there was no return. But God also showed the ease of keeping laws. For he says: “This commandment, which I command you today, is not difficult, it is far from you; is not in heaven, saying: who will ascend from us into heaven and take it for us, and having heard it we will do it? Below there is a land of the sea, say: who will come to us in this land of the sea and take it for us, and when we hear it, he will do it, and we will do it?” (Deut. 30:11–13), - that is, you do not need wings to fly, or ships to sail, in order to learn what to do. “There is a great command near you, in your mouth and in your heart and in your hand, that you should do it” (Deut. 30:14). The word “mouth” means the study of Divine words, the word “heart” means spiritual jealousy, and the word “hands” means the active fulfillment of the commandments. The divine Paul also took advantage of this testimony. For he says: “If you confess the Lord Jesus with your mouth and believe in your heart, that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; For with the heart he believes in the truth, but with his lips he confesses for salvation” (Rom. 10:9-10). The legislator determined both the reward for fulfilling and breaking the laws - life and death. Question 39. Why did the lawgiver command the Israelites to read this book “in seven years” (Deut. 31:10)? And Moses commanded them on that day, saying: They flew seven by seven during the summer of abandonment, on the Feast of Tabernacles (Deut. 31:10). They had no free time, waging wars, besieging cities, and after victory, dividing the land among tribes, tribes, families, and each individual, then building houses, cultivating the land, and doing other things that needed to be done by those who had received someone else's land in their possession. Therefore, Moses commanded that it be read in the seventh year after liberation from all this. Question 40: Why is heaven and earth commanded to testify (Deut. 32:1)? Listen, O heavens, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth (Deut. 32:1). Not because they are animated and verbal, but because they embrace all creatures. The prophet Isaiah did the same, for he says: “Hear, O heavens, and teach, O earth, what the Lord has spoken” (Is. 1:2). The divine Jeremiah did the same, for he says: “The heavens were terrified at this and the earth trembled greatly, says the Lord” (Jer. 2:12). since the legislator called them to bear witness to the threat, it is rightly said that because of the violation of the laws they tremble and are horrified. Thus, Jacob and Laban called the hill the hill of testimony (Gen. 31:47), and the patriarch Abraham and Abimelech, king of Gerar, called the well the oath well, because with it they entered into an agreement with an oath (Gen. 21:31). Question 41. How should we understand what is said: “I will provoke you not because of the heathen, but because of the foolish heathen I will provoke you to anger” (Deut. 32:21)? These, having provoked me not because of God, have provoked me to anger because of their idols: and I have provoked them not because of the heathen, but because of the foolish heathen I have angered them (Deut. 32:21). Those who believed in Christ the Savior are not one people, but countless nations. And they were once unreasonable and senseless, as Blessed Paul says: “For sometimes we are foolish, and disobedient, and deceived, working with lusts and various pleasures,” and so on. (Titus 3:3). Therefore, God says: “Just as you, having abandoned one God, preferred many false gods, so I, having rejected one people, give salvation to all nations. But you, having given honor to those who are not gods, did not make them gods; and I will fill the foolish nations with Divine wisdom, and you, seeing this, will melt with envy.” Question 42. How should we understand what is said: Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people, and may all the angels of God strengthen them 5 (Deut. 32:43)? Rejoice, O heavens, be with him, and let all the angels of God worship him: rejoice, O heathen, with his people, and let all the sons of God be strengthened to him: for the blood of his sons avenges and will avenge, and will repay vengeance to the enemy and repay those who hate him: and the Lord will cleanse the land of his people. (Deut. 32:43). Many thousands of Jews, and a very large number of pagan peoples throughout the universe, believed in the Lord Christ. But those who believed from the Jews betrayed the teaching to the pagans, because the divine apostles were from the Jews. And predicting this, the prophet said: “Rejoice, you Gentiles, with His people” (that is, with those who believed from the Jews), and may all the angels of God strengthen them (that is, those who believed in Christ). For when our Savior was born, the face of the angels sings of Divine love for mankind, crying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14). And also His seedless and painless birth was predicted by the Archangel Gabriel; and in his struggle with the devil there were hosts of angels with Him, it is said: “The angels came and served Him” (Matthew 4:11). Angels were with Him both during the suffering and after the resurrection, they sat at the tomb and said to the wives: “Why are you looking for the living with the dead?” (Luke 24:5). And after His ascension into heaven they said to the holy apostles: “Why are you standing looking at heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him going into heaven” (Acts 1:11). And the angel pointed out the great Peter to Cornelius (Acts 10:5–6), and the divine apostle said to those sailing with him on the ship: “An angel of God, whom I am, appeared to me” (Acts 27:23). And whoever wishes will find many similar examples. However, the prophet, having said this about believers, also predicts punishments for unbelievers and reveals the reasons for these punishments. For he says this: “For the blood of His sons avenges and will avenge, and will take vengeance on the enemy and will repay those who hate Him; and the Lord will cleanse the land of His people” (Deut. 32:43). He called the saints who were killed by the murderous Jews the sons of God. For I am not talking about the killing of the prophets, about the saving suffering of the Master; They stoned the victorious Stephen, and killed the great Jacob on a tree. To please them, Herod also beheaded another Jacob. They dared to commit many other murders and plundered the houses of those who believed in the Lord. And the divine apostle announces this, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, saying: “and the plunder of your possessions you accepted with joy” (Heb. 10:34). And in the Epistle to the Thessalonians he said this: “Being like the saints of Judea, you too will suffer from your own people, just as you did from the Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus and His prophets, and drove us out, and did not please God, and resisted all men” (1 Thessalonians 2:14-15). The Lord accused them of this in the parable of the vineyard, namely that “His servants were killed, His servants were killed, and His servants were stoned” (Matthew 21:35), for which the Lord scattered them throughout the universe. Question 43. Why was Moses commanded to see the land from afar for a minor offense, but was forbidden to bring the people into it? The Lord teaches us that He demands high virtue from those who are perfect in virtue and, being long-suffering towards other people who fall into great iniquities, does not show such leniency to the saints; The Wise One also said this: “The little one is worthy of mercy, but the mighty will be tormented more severely” (Wis. 6:6). And the Lord in the Holy Gospel says that “to whom little is given, little will be required of him, but to him much will be given, much will be required of him” (Luke 12:48). However, one should also know that the Lord, through one thing, arranges another. So, without a doubt, this great prophet did not allow him to lead the people into the Promised Land, so that the Israelites would not worship him as God, because those who idolized inanimate things and called the image of a calf God, obviously, would have rendered worship as God to the one who was the minister of such good things for them. That is why God, who wisely rules over us, made the tomb of Moses unknown. It should also be noted that Moses serves as an image of the law, which is why the law is called Moses; it is said: “Moses and the prophets have” (Luke 16:29), and: “even to this day, Moses is always honored” (2 Cor. 3:15), and: “kingly death from Adam even to Moses” (Rom. 5:14). Just as we call Isaiah not only the prophet, but also his book, and also Jeremiah and Ezekiel - not only these men, but also their books, and the apostle - not the preacher of the truth himself, but also his book, so the law is called Moses. And Joshua is the image of the Savior of the universe. Therefore, just as Moses led the people out of Egypt, and Jesus led them into the Promised Land, so the law frees those who submit to it from wickedness, and introduces the gospel grace into the Kingdom of Heaven. Question 44. How should we understand the blessings to the tribes of Israel? First, the prophet recalled the Epiphany that took place on Mount Sinai, and says: “The Lord came from Sinai, and appeared to us from Siir, and burned from Mount Faroni with ten thousand Kadis, at His right hand angels with Him” (Deut. 33:2). Both in the Paran desert and in Siira, the Israelites saw Divine providence for them. By the word “Kadiz” Moses here does not mean the desert, but what this word means; and in Hebrew “kadiz” means holy. Therefore, he says that many thousands of holy angels were with the Holy Master when He vouchsafed His providence to the Israelites. Of necessity, Moses added: “And all things sanctified are under His hand, and these are under You” (Deut. 33:3). For although they are invisible by nature, they are under Your dominion, because they have You as their Creator. But he predicts that He who has now chosen Israel will soon after this call all nations and He Himself will be the Prince and King of the Israelites and other nations. For he says: “There will be a prince in the beloved, the people gathered together with the tribe of Israel” (Deut. 33:5). Having said this, Moses first blesses Reuben and absolves him from his fatherly oath, contrasting his crime against his father with brotherly love (he, as a legislator, was allowed to change the curse into a blessing). “Let Reuben live and not die, and let him be many in number” (Deut. 33:6). since the father said “let not boil water” (Gen. 49:4), i.e., you will not have the desire to have many children, Moses rightly promised him many descendants. Then, breaking the order, he pronounces a blessing on Judas for the sake of the Master who came from him in the flesh; “It is clear,” says the divine apostle, “that our Lord has risen from the tribe of Judah” (Heb. 7:14). He also predicts David’s reign, for he says: “Hear, O Lord, the voice of Judah and enter into his people; Let him fight with his hand, and let him be a helper to his enemies” (Deut. 33:7). So, having blessed the royal tribe, he moves on to the priestly tribe: “Give to Levi his revelation, and his truth to the venerable husband” (Deut. 33:8). The word was entrusted to the priest, and it contained manifestation and truth, because through it much was revealed. Truth is combined with what is revealed because of the untruthfulness of what is revealed. “I tempted him with temptation, reproaching him by the water of discord” (ibid.). Moses recalls what happened to him and his brother. “Say to your father and your mother: I have not seen you; and I do not know my brethren, and I do not know my sons; keep your words, and keep your covenant” (Deut. 33:9). This word makes clear the perfection of the priests. For the priest must neglect everything worldly and remain in divine priestly service. Therefore, he did not assign lots to the Levites and legitimized them not to have property, but to receive firstfruits and tithes from the people, so that, freed from everyday worries, they could holyly perform the sacred rites entrusted to them. So, for example, Aaron, the first bishop, was not allowed to bury dead children. Moses says this: “Having perfected themselves, they will show Your justifications to Jacob and Your law to Israel; They will always put incense in Your wrath on Your altar” (Deut. 33:10). This is what happened when the people were punished. For Aaron, by bringing incense, stopped the death sent down from above. Then Moses asks them for a Divine blessing: “O Lord, bless his strength and accept his work” (Deut. 33:11) - because the priests also need physical strength so that their zeal is not hindered. “Strike the loins of his enemies who rise up against him, and let those who hate him not rise up” (ibid.). This curbs the insolence of the tormentors, but at the same time reminds us what Korah, Dathan and Aviron suffered when they rebelled against the priests. Question 45: Why was Benjamin, who was last, placed in fourth place (Deut. 33:12)? And he said to Benjamin: He who is beloved of the Lord trusteth to dwell (in him), and God overshadows him all his days, and rests in the midst of his shoulders. (Deut. 33:12). The tribe of Benjamin had a capital, and a church was built in it. Therefore, Moses rightly established a sacred place along with the priestly tribe. This is what the blessing itself predicts. For he says: “the beloved of the Lord trusts to dwell,” but he also shows the reason for the hope: “and the Lord overshadows him all his days, and in the midst of his shoulders he rests” (ibid.), because, being near the divine church, this tribe always enjoyed Divine care. And this “in the midst of the night” Moses said about God, who, having commanded the creation of a church for Himself in Jerusalem, manifested His presence in it. After these tribes, he blesses Joseph and pronounces a blessing to the two tribes together: “from the blessing of the Lord is his land, from the beauties of the heavens and the dew, and from the depths of the springs below, and during the fruits of solar revolutions, and from the descent of menstruation, and from the top of the mountains of the beginning, and from the top of the eternal hills” (Deut. 33:13–15). He asks for the blessings bestowed from the sky and the fruits brought by the earth, which irrigate the rains, nourish the dews, and bring the sun to maturity through the rotations of the annual times and months; these fruits are brought not only by the earthly plains, but also by the mountains. And to confirm the blessing, he remembers God who appeared in the bush. He says that Joseph received the right of birthright, and therefore his tribe received two lots and from one became two tribes, because the firstborn receive a double portion. And depicting the power of these tribes, he likens them to a unicorn and a youth (Deut. 33:17), and Ephraim is presented to Manasseh, in accordance with the blessing of the forefather. And to Zebulun and Issachar, the first, as inhabiting a coastal country, and the second, as living next door to him, he promises victory in battles, and Divine help, and benefits delivered by the sea. For he says: “tongues will consume; and they will call tamo and devour the sacrifice of righteousness; for the wealth of the sea will reward them, and the purchase of the tongue of those who live by the sea” (Deut. 33:19) - because those living near the sea enjoy not only their own fruits, but also the benefits brought everywhere. Gad is compared by Moses to a lion (Deut. 33:20), because the patriarch Jacob also said this: “Gad, temptation will tempt him; he will tempt him at his feet” (Gen. 49:19). Dan was called “the skimn that came from Bashan” (Deut. 33:22), because his descendants, having made an unexpected attack on the city of Laissa, took it, killed the inhabitants, and turned the city into their own settlement. He proclaims abundance from the land and from the sea to Naphtali, because his tribe also lived near the sea, having Galilee to the south. Both the prophet and the evangelist said this: “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and the rest of the sea dwellers, the tongue of Galilee, the people who sat in darkness saw a great light” (Isa. 9:1–2; Matt. 4:15–16). And Symmachus translated the words “satisfaction of those who are agreeable” (Deut. 33:23) “satisfaction with good will,” which has the same meaning, because what is pleasing is acceptable. Moses also asks Asher for the fruitfulness of the land and abundance from the sea, for what is said “will dip his foot in oil; his boots will be iron and brass” (Deut. 33:24–25) means an abundance of blessings. Question 46: Why didn't Moses bless Simeon? The reason for blessing Reuben was his brotherly love, for for this Moses released him from his oath. And Levi received a blessing for the great Moses. And the tribe that allows others to take an oath, even more so has allowed its own oath. But Simeon had no excuse to receive the blessing. I think that he was the main culprit of the malice against Joseph; and the proof of this is that this amazing man ordered the release of all the other brothers, and he alone was taken, tied up and imprisoned. However, Simeon also took part in the blessing, because Moses gave the blessing not only to each tribe in particular, but also to the whole people. He says: “And Israel will dwell in one trust in the land of Jacob, in the land of wine and wheat; and the sky is cloudy with dew” (Deut. 33:28). He added many other things to the general blessing. And after the blessings, the Lord God showed the prophet the whole earth, but forbade him to enter there. This typifies what was said by our Savior: “many prophets and righteous women desired to see what you see, and did not see, and to hear what you heard, and did not hear” (Matthew 13:17). According to other readings: ού φοβήσετε; according to the Slavic translation: don’t cut yourself. In the Slavic translation, this verse reads: “Let no harlot come from the daughters of Israel, and let no fornicator come from the sons of Israel.” In some editions of the LXX translation, the same verse reads the words: ούκ εσται τελεσφόρος από Not translated in the Slavic text, probably for the reason that the words τελεσφόρος and τελεσκόμενος beyond the meaning given to them by the bl. Theodorite in the present interpretation also have another meaning, namely: taxed and paying tax - and therefore can be taken as equivalent to the words πόρνη and πορνεύων; as a result of this, the second part of this 17th verse, not translated into Slavic, can be recognized as another translation of the first part of the same verse, read in the Slavic translation. The Hebrew original of this passage shows that Moses here means not just a fornicator and a harlot, but a young man and a virgin who sacrifice their innocence in honor of some false deity. This understanding of the Hebrew text explains the reason for the double translation of the same words, and also confirms the interpretation given to the words by Bl. Theodorite. Instead of τοίς ώδε οΰσι (here beings) bl. Theodoret reads τοίς όδεύουσι. The last words of this verse are read in the Slavic translation as follows: and may all the sons of God be strengthened in Him. You might be interested in: