โMemento dierum antiquorum, cogita generationes singulas : interroga patrem tuum, et annuntiabit tibi : majores tuos, et dicent tibi.โ
โRemember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee. many: Heb. generation and generationโ
โRemember the days of old; consider the years long past. Ask your father, and he will tell you, your elders, and they will inform you.โ
โRemember the days of old. Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you.โ
โRemember the days of old, Consider the years of many generations: Ask thy father, and he will show thee; Thine elders, and they will tell thee.โ
Moses, having in general represented God to them as their great benefactor, whom they were bound in gratitude to observe and obey, in these verses gives particular instances of God's kindness to them and concern for them. 1. Some instances were ancient, and for proof of them he appeals to the records (v. 7): Remember the days of old; that is, "Keep in remembrance the history of those days, and of the wonderful providences of God concerning the old world, and concerning your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; you will find a constant series of mercies attending them, and how long since things were working towards that which has now come to pass." Note, The authentic histories of ancient times are of singular use, and especially the history of the church in its infancy, both the Old-Testament and the New-Testament church. 2. Others were more modern, and for proof of them he appeals to their fathers and elders that were now alive and with them. Parents must diligently teach their children, not only the word of God, his laws (ch. 6 7), and the meaning of his ordinances (Exod 12 26, 27), but his works also, and the methods of his providence. See Ps 78 3, 4, 6, 7. And children should desire the knowledge of those things which will be of use to engage them to their duty and to direct them in it.
Verses 7-14 Moses gives particular instances of God's kindness and concern for them. The eagle's care for her young is a beautiful emblem of Christ's love, who came between Divine justice and our guilty souls, and bare our sins in his own body on the tree. And by the preached gospel, and the influences of the Holy Spirit, He stirs up and prevails upon sinners to leave Satan's bondage. ( deuteronomy 32:13-14 ) their spiritual enemies, sin, Satan, and the world, in and through Christ. Also of their safety and triumph in him; of their happy frames of soul, when they are above the world, and the things of it. This will be the blessed case of spiritual Israel in every sense in the latter day.