John Calvin Commentary Deuteronomy 32:51

"because ye trespassed against me in the midst of the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah of Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel." — Deuteronomy 32:51 (ASV)

Because ye trespassed against me. We perceive from his punishment how necessary to Moses was such a token of favor.³⁰² For death in itself would not have been so bitter; but the cause, which is again stated, grievously wounded the mind of the holy man, because he saw himself excluded by God’s just vengeance from the common inheritance on account of his own guilt, which is more afflictive to the pious than a hundred, indeed, innumerable deaths. Hence those mournful complaints of David and Hezekiah, and others elsewhere, when their life is taken from them by an angry God:

The grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. (Isaiah 38:18; Psalms 6:5; Psalms 115:17).

Surely it was not so formidable a thing for them to die that they would not have calmly and cheerfully departed from the world when their time came; but what they deprecated was the awful judgment of God, the thought of which alarmed them. The same grief might have overwhelmed the mind of Moses, had it not been alleviated.

But since no one, however eminent, has been altogether exempt from temporal punishments, let us learn to bear them patiently.

God did not spare Moses; is it any wonder if our condition is no better than his?

Moreover, in the opinion of men, it was a trifling offense for which he was so severely chastised. For, carried away by indignation, he had been so irritated against the people that he attributed less power to God than was His due.

Now, those errors into which we fall through thoughtless impetuosity are more easily pardoned; but from this it is clear how precious God’s glory is to Him, since He does not allow it to be obscured with impunity, even by inadvertence.

At the same time, we are also taught that nothing is more irrational than to take it upon ourselves to judge sins and weigh them in our own balance, when God is their only legitimate assessor.

But, although He declares that Moses and Aaron revolted and were rebellious to His mouth,³⁰³ still, so that it would not be thought that they deliberately disbelieved God’s word, a kind of qualification is added—namely, that they did not sanctify God in the midst, or before the eyes, of the children of Israel. Therefore, it is plain that they were condemned only for the excessive violence of their passion, by which they did not uphold God’s glory before the people with sufficient energy.

As for the rest, it may be found in Numbers 20.

³⁰² “Que nous avons veu;” as we have seen. — Fr..

³⁰³Numbers 27:11. “Against my commandment.” — . “Against my commandment.” — A. V.