Deuteronomy 26:11

Deu_26:11

Thou shalt rejoice in every good thing.

Rejoice in every good thing

It is our duty to give unstinted welcome to every visit of enjoyment with which we may be favoured. We frequently allow streams of refreshment or exhilaration to run past us without dipping into or tasting them; we blunderingly overlook many a cup of soothing and pleasing that is offered to us as we go trudging by. We are slow to discover and seize our golden chances, and hardly know how to make the most of them. At times we are afraid, it would seem, pausing now and then to squeeze a drop or two of severe or melancholy reflection into the goblet, as if there might be sin in having it too rich and sweet. The angel descending to solace us in our Gethsemane with a brief pleasant thrill, with a brief glimpse and gust of pleasure, flashes by under the sombre, wailing olives in vain, is allowed to vanish unharboured and un-utilised.

I. Never turn, in your bitterness of spirit, from any ministry of temporal enjoyment that may intervene; never be so wedded to your woes, so shut up and sunk down in them, that you cannot issue forth to accept such ministry. For, remember, we want to be made joyful for our education quite as much as we need to be tried and troubled. To laugh, to luxuriate, to ripple and glow with delight, at times is just as essential for us as it is at times to weep and suffer.

II. At times some of us may have had the feeling that there is so much misery in the world that it is hardly right to ignore and forget it for a moment in rejoicing. But let us reflect that, since God is our Father and we His children, we are justified in losing sight of trouble for a time when He gives us a joy to taste. Being only a child, however, I must feel about His world, and share in His travail concerning it; I need not be afraid at intervals to cast the entire load upon Him and let Him carry it alone. Souls must turn aside at times to bask in what sunshine they can find, and be mellowed, and warmed, and raised with it, in order to be of service in the darkness and to help to soften and relieve. (S. A. Tipple.)

Rejoice with a rejoicing universe

Rejoice with the morning stars, and let your adoring spirit march to the music of hymning spheres. Rejoice with the jocund spring in its gush of hope, and its dancing glory, with its swinging insect clouds and its suffusion of multitudinous song; and rejoice with golden autumn, as he rustles his grateful sheaves, and clasps his purple hands, as he breathes his story of fruition, his anthem of promises fulfilled; as he breathes it softly in the morning stillness of ripened fields, or flings it in AEolian sweeps from lavish orchards and from branches tossing bounty into mellow winds. Rejoice with infancy, as it guesses its wondering way into more and more existence, and laughs and carols as the field of pleasant life enlarges on it, and new secrets of delight flow in through fresh and open senses. Rejoice with the second youth of the heaven-born soul, as the revelations of a second birth pour in upon it, and the glories of a new world amaze it. Rejoice with the joyful believer when he sings, O Lord! I will praise Thee; though Thou wast angry with me, Thine anger is turned away, and Thou comfortedst me. Behold, God is my salvation. Rejoice with him whose incredulous ecstasy has alighted on the great Gospel secret, whoso eye is beaming as none can beam save that which for the first time beholds the Lamb; whose awe-struck countenance and uplifted hands are evidently exclaiming, This is my beloved, and this is my friend. Rejoice with saints and angels, as they rejoice in a sight like this. Rejoice with Immanuel, whose soul now sees of its travail. Rejoice with the ever blessed Three, and with a heaven whose work is joy. Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous; and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart. (J. Hamilton.)

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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

26:11 In Israelite society, foreigners (literally sojourners) were resident aliens; see also study note on 10:18.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Signifying that God giveth us not goods for ourselves only, but for their uses also which are committed to our charge.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

thou shalt rejoice--feasting with friends and the Levites, who were invited on such occasions to share in the cheerful festivities that followed oblations (Deu 12:7; Deu 16:10-15).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 11. Thou shalt rejoice] God intends that his followers shall be happy; that they shall eat their bread with gladness and singleness of heart, praising him. Those who eat their meat grudgingly, under the pretence of their unworthiness, &c., profane God's bounties and shall have no thanks for their voluntary humility.

Thou, and the Levite, and the stranger] They were to take care to share God's bounties among all those who were dependent on them. The Levite has no inheritance, let him rejoice with thee. The stranger has no home, let him feel thee to be his friend and his father.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. and thou shalt rejoice, etc.] See Deu_12:6 f., 11 f., 17 f., Deu_16:11; Deu_16:14. It is not said that the worshippers shall eat the reshîth, for that has already been given to the Deity. See introd. note.

and unto thine house, thou] With Luc. read thou and thine house.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing,.... In all the blessings of goodness and mercies of life, which God in his kind providence had favoured them with:

which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house; to them and their families, by which they were comfortably provided for:

thou and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you; by which it seems that not only a basket of firstfruits was brought and presented to the Lord, which is the perquisite of the priest, but there were others also brought, or bought with their money at Jerusalem, and a sort of a kept, which the Levite, and stranger or proselyte, of along with the owner; see Deu 12:11; though Jarchi understands it of the Levite and stranger being obliged to bring the firstfruits: the Levite, he says, is bound to the firstfruits of the plants in the midst of his cities, though he had no part in the division of the land; and the same writer says, the stranger brings the firstfruits, but does not proclaim, because he cannot say, "which he sware to our fathers", Deu 26:3; but it is said (f), if his mother was an Israelitess he might proclaim; yea, Maimonides (g) says, on account of what is said of Abraham, Gen 17:5; who is the father of the whole world; see Rom 4:10; because mention is made of rejoicing; hence it is concluded, as Jarchi says, that the proclamation of the firstfruits was only made in the time of joy, from Pentecost unto the feast that a man gathers in his increase, and his fruits, and his wine, and his oil; though from that feast and onward he may bring, but not proclaim; to the same purpose, says the Misnah (h), from Pentecost to the feast of tabernacles a man may bring the firstfruits, and proclaim; and even from the feast of tabernacles to the dedication of the temple, he may bring, but not proclaim; the reason given in Siphri (i) is, because proclamation is only to be performed in time of joy--and the joy of the year is finished at the end of the feast of tabernacles, as in Lev 23:40.

(f) Misn. Biccurim, c. 1. sect. 4. (g) Maimon. Hilchot Biccurim, c. 4. sect. 3. (h) Ut supra, (f)) sect. 6. (i) Apud Maimon. Hilchot Biccurim, c. 4. sect. 6.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Feast. The Jews could not yet be required with propriety to raise themselves to delights purely spiritual, chap. xii. 7. Strabo (x.) observes, that the Greeks and barbarians accompanied their sacrifices with feasting and music, which served to take off their thoughts from worldly concerns, and gave them a sort of foretaste of the divinity. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Thou shalt rejoice; i.e. either,

1. Thou shalt hereby be enabled to rejoice and take comfort in all thy enjoyments, when thou hast sanctified them by giving God his portion. Or,

2. Thou shalt feast (which is oft expressed by rejoicing) with the Levites and strangers upon the oblations which at these solemn times were offered; which exposition is confirmed by comparing Deu 16:10-11,14-15.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing, etc.; i.e. with these bounties of God"s providence make a feast for yourself and your household, and omit not to invite the Levite and the stranger to partake of it with you. As with the yearly tithe (Deu_14:23) and the firstlings, (Deu_15:20) so with this portion of the firstfruits, a festive meal was to consummate the service. According to the Law, the firstfruits were the perquisite of the priest (Deu_18:4; Num_18:12, etc.) but of these a portion was to be taken for this special service, and of that a feast was to be made.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thou shalt rejoice - Thou shalt hereby enabled to take comfort in all thy employments, when thou hast sanctified them by giving God his portion. It is the will of God, that we should be chearful not only in our attendance upon his holy ordinances, but in our enjoyment of the gifts of his providence. Whatever good thing God gives us, we should make the most comfortable use of it we can, still tracing the streams to the fountain of all consolation.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

ושמחת בכל הטוב AND THOU SHALT REJOICE IN EVERY GOOD THING — From this they (the Rabbis) derived the law that the recital on the occasion of bringing the first fruits is made only during the joyful period of the year — from Pentecost till the Feast of Tabernacles — when a man is gathering in his grain, his fruits, his wine and his oil; but from Tabernacles onwards until Chanucah if he brings these, he does not make the recital (Pesachim 36b).

אתה והלוי THOU AND THE LEVITE — the Levites are also bound to bring the first fruits to the priest if they planted anything in the fields attached to their cities.

והגר אשר בקרבך AND THE STRANGER THAT IS AMONG YOU — he, too, brings the first fruits to the priest but does not make the recital, for he cannot truly say, as is prescribed, “[I profess this day … that I have come into the land which the Lord sware] unto our fathers” (v. 3) since his fathers were not Israelites (cf. Sifrei Devarim 301:37; Mishnah Bikkurim 1:4; Talmud Yerushalmi Maaser Sheni 5:5).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.