---
title: "Clarke"
description: "Verse Deuteronomy 11:1. Thou shalt love the Lord — Because without this there could be no obedience to the Divine testimonies, and no happiness in the sou"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/deuteronomy/11"
---

Verse [Deuteronomy 11:1](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/11/1). ***Thou shalt love the Lord*** — Because without this there could be no obedience to the Divine testimonies, and no happiness in the soul for the *heart* that is destitute of the *love of God*, is empty of all good, and consequently miserable. [Deuteronomy 10:12](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/10/12); [Deuteronomy 10:12](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/10/12).

Verse [Deuteronomy 11:6](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/11/6). ***What he did unto Dathan, &c.*** — See the notes on [Numbers 16:24-33](../../../kjv/numbers/16/24-33).

Verse [Deuteronomy 11:8](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/11/8). ***Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments*** — Because God can execute such terrible judgments, and because he has given such proofs of his power and justice; and because, in similar provocations, he may be expected to act in a similar way; therefore keep his charge, that he may keep you unto everlasting life.

Verse [Deuteronomy 11:10](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/11/10). ***Wateredst*****it*****with thy foot*** — Rain scarcely ever falls in Egypt, and God supplies the lack of it by the inundations of the Nile. In order to water the grounds where the inundations do not extend, water is collected in ponds, and directed in streamlets to different parts of the field where irrigation is necessary. It is no unusual thing in the East to see a man, with a small mattock, making a little trench for the water to run by, and as he opens the passage, the water following, he uses his foot to raise up the mould against the side of this little channel, to prevent the water from being shed unnecessarily before it reaches the place of its destination. Thus he may be said to water the ground with his foot. See several useful observations on this subject in Mr. *Harmer*, vol. i., pp. 23-26, and vol. iii., p. 141. "For *watering land* an instrument called *janta* is often used in the north of Bengal: It consists of a *wooden trough*, about fifteen feet long, six inches wide, and ten inches deep, which is placed on a horizontal beam lying on bamboos fixed in the bank of a pond or river in the form of a gallows. One end of the trough rests upon the bank, where a *gutter* is prepared to carry off the water, and the other is dipped into the water by a man standing on a stage near that end, and plunging it in with his *foot*. A long bamboo, with a large weight of earth at the farther end of it, is fastened to that end of the *janta* near the river, and passing over the gallows, poises up the *janta* full of water, and causes it to empty itself into the gutter." This, Mr. Ward supposes, illustrates this passage. See *Hindoo Customs*, c., vol. iii., p. 104. But after all, the expression, *wateredst it with thy* *foot*, may mean no more than doing it by labour for, as in the land of Egypt there is scarcely any rain, the watering of gardens, c., must have been all artificial. But in Judea it was different, as there they had their proper seasons of rain. The compound word ברגל *beregel, with, under*, or *by the foot*, is used to signify any thing under the power, authority, &c., of a person and this very meaning it has in the sixth verse, *all the substance that was in* *their possession*, is, literally, all the substance that was *under* *their feet*, ברגליהם beragleyhem, that is, in their *power*, *possession*, or what they had acquired by their *labour*.

Verse [Deuteronomy 11:14](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/11/14). ***The rain - in his due season, the first rain and the**********latter rain*** — By the *first* or *former rain* we are to understand that which fell in Judea about November, when they sowed their seed, and this served to moisten and prepare the ground for the vegetation of the seed. The *latter rain* fell about April, when the corn was well grown up, and served to fill the ears, and render them plump and perfect. Rain rarely fell in Judea at any other seasons than these. If the *former rain* were withheld, or not sent in due season, there could be no vegetation: if the *latter rain* were withheld, or not sent in its due season, there could be no full corn in the ear, and consequently no harvest. Of what consequence then was it that they should have their rain in *due season*! God, by promising this provided they were obedient, and threatening to withhold it should they be disobedient, shows that it is not a *general providence* that directs these things, but that the very rain of heaven falls by *particular direction*, and the showers are often regulated by an *especial* providence.

Verse [Deuteronomy 11:18](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/11/18). ***Therefore shall ye lay up these my words*** — See [Deuteronomy 6:4-8](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/6/4-8), and [Exodus 13:9](../../../kjv/exodus/13/9); [Exodus 13:9](../../../kjv/exodus/13/9).

Verse [Deuteronomy 11:24](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/11/24). ***From the river*** — Euphrates, which was on the *east*, to *the uttermost sea*- the Mediterranean, which lay *westward* of the promised land. This promise, notwithstanding the many provocations of the Israelites, was fulfilled in the time of Solomon, for "he reigned over all the kings from the river (Euphrates) even unto the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt." See [2 Chronicles 9:26](../../../kjv/2-chronicles/9/26), and the note, [Numbers 34:12](../../../kjv/numbers/34/12); [Numbers 34:12](../../../kjv/numbers/34/12).

Verse [Deuteronomy 11:26](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/11/26). ***Behold, I set before you - a blessing and a curse*** — If God had not put it *in the power* of this people either to *obey or* *disobey*; if they had not had a *free will*, over which they had complete authority, to use it either in the way of *willing* or *nilling*; could God, with any propriety, have given such precepts as these, sanctioned with such promises and threatenings? If they were not *free agents*, they could not be *punished* for *disobedience*, nor could they, in any sense of the word, have been *rewardable* for *obedience*. A STONE is not *rewardable* because, in obedience to the laws of *gravitation*, it *always tends to the* *centre*; nor is it punishable be cause, in being removed from that centre, in its tending or falling towards it again it takes away the life of a man.
That God has given man a *free, self - determining* WILL, which cannot be *forced* by any power but that which is omnipotent, and which God himself *never will force*, is declared in the most formal manner through the whole of the sacred writings. No *argument* can affect this, while the Bible is considered as a Divine revelation; no *sophistry* can explain away its evidence, as long as the *accountableness* of man for his conduct is admitted, and as long as the eternal bounds of *moral good* and *evil* remain, and the *essential distinctions* between *vice* and *virtue* exist. If ye *will* obey, (for God is ever ready to assist,) ye shall live; if ye *will* disobey and refuse that help, ye shall die. So hath *Jehovah* spoken, and man cannot reverse it.

Verse [Deuteronomy 11:29](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/11/29). ***Thou shalt put the blessing upon Mount Gerizim, and**********the curse upon Mount Ebal.*** — The etymology of these names may be supposed to cast some light on this institution. גרזים *gerizzim*, from גרז *garaz*, to *cut, cut off, cut down; hence* גרזים gerizzim, the *cutters down, fellers*, and *reapers* or *harvest-men*, this mountain being supposed to have its name from its great *fertility*, or the abundance of the crops it yielded, which is a possible case. Of עיבל *ebal* or *eybal* the root is not found in Hebrew; but in Arabic [Arabic] *abala* signifies *rough*, *rugged, curled, c.* and [Arabic] *abalo*, from the same root, signifies *white stones*, and a *mountain* in which such stones are found; [Arabic] *alabalo, the mount of white stones*. See *Giggeius* and *Golius*. And as it is supposed that the mountain had this name because of its *barrenness*, on this metaphorical interpretation the sense of the passage would appear to be the following: God will so superintend the land, and have it continually under the eye of his watchful providence, that no change can happen in it but according to his Divine counsel, so that its *fertility* shall ever be the consequence of the *faithful obedience* of its inhabitants, and a proof of the *blessing of God* upon it; on the contrary, its *barrenness* shall be a proof that the people have *departed from* *their God*, and that his curse has in consequence fallen upon the land. See the manner of placing these blessings and curses, [Deuteronomy 27:12](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/27/12), c. That Gerizim is very *fruitful*, and that Ebal *is* very *barren*, is the united testimony of all who have travelled in those parts. See Ludolf, Reland, Rab, Benjamin, and Mr. Maundrell. Sychem lies in the valley between these two mountains.
THAT the land of Judea was *naturally* very fertile, can scarcely be supposed by any who considers the accounts given of it by travellers with the exception of a few districts, the whole land is dry, stony, and barren, and particularly all the southern parts of Judea, and all the environs of Jerusalem, most of which are represented as absolutely incapable of cultivation. How then could it ever support its vast number of inhabitants? By the especial providence of God. While God kept that people under his continual protection, their land was a paradise; they lent to all nations and borrowed from none. What has it been since? A demi-solitude, because that especial blessing no longer descends upon it. No land, says Calmet, was more fertile while under the benediction of God; none more barren when under his curse. Its present state is a proof of the declaration of Moses, [Deuteronomy 28:23](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/28/23): "The *heaven* over their head is *brass*; the *earth* under their feet, *iron*." The land itself, in its present state is an ample proof of the authenticity of the Pentateuch. Should facts of this kind be lost sight of by any who read the sacred writings?

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