Ver. 1. Ye are the children of the Lord.] Ye should therefore do nothing unworthy of such a Father. Antigonus being invited to a place where a notable harlot was to be present, asked counsel of Menedemus what he should do? He bade him only remember that he was a king’s son, and do accordingly. Ye shall not cut. [See Trapp on “Le 19:28”] Plut.
Ver. 2. For thou art.] [See Trapp on “De 7:6”] And the Lord hath chosen thee.] Hence all thy holiness. The maids were first purified, before Ahasuerus chose one; but here it is otherwise. (Ephesians 5:25,26)
Ver. 3. Thou shalt not eat any abominable.] [See Trapp on “Le 11:1”] &c. This law taught them to abstain from communion with wicked men, in whom are found the malignities and evil properties of all other creatures. (Acts 10:13,17,20,28) They feed hard on sin, the devil’s excrement; as the Tartars eat the carrion, carcasses of horses, camels, asses, cats, dogs, yea, when they stink and are full of maggots, and hold them as dainty as we do venison.
Ver. 5. The hart and the roebuck.] These were dainties fit for a king. (1 Kings 4:23) Rice and mutton is the cheer wherewith the great Turk entertaineth foreign ambassadors, and that so plainly and sparingly dressed, as if they would give check to our gormandise and excess. And the wild ox.] Pliny saith, that there are wild creatures answerable to all that are tame: like as others say there is no living creature on earth, but there are fishes of the same sort found in the sea, and those all harmless. Plin., lib. viii. cap. 53.
Ver. 6. That parteth the hoof.] [See Trapp on “Le 11:3”]
Ver. 21. Thou shalt not seethe,] [See Trapp on “Ex 23:19”]
Ver. 22. Thou shalt truly tithe.] He seems to mean that second tithe, wherewith they were to feast before the Lord, and not the tithe given to the Levites. (Numbers 18:24)
Ver. 23. That thou mayest learn,] A man cannot converse with God, but he shall learn something. Semper a te doctior redeo, said he to his friend. Moses came from the mount with his face shining. Compare Ecclesiastes 8:1.
Ver. 29. That the Lord thy God, &c.] Not getting, but giving, is the way to thrive in the world.