Deuteronomy 2:8

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8 `And we pass by from our brethren, sons of Esau, who are dwelling in Seir, by the way of the plain, by Elath, and by Ezion-Gaber; and we turn, and pass over the way of the wilderness of Moab;


Commentary on this verse  

By Alexander Payne

Verse 8. And after the mind has passed from under the influence of the apparent love of good and charity, which is in the natural mind from motives which are not spiritual, and from the influence of the doctrines and maxims belonging thereto which are really worldly [N.B.—Elath and Ezion-gaber were places by the Red Sea where Solomon had a navy of ships. (See 1 Kings 9:26.)], a new state is reached in the soul, and it is brought into the defect of good and truth, such as exists with those who are in mere external worship, by which the genuine good of worship is adulterated. [Note.—The genuine good of worship is the sincere love of the Lord (that is, of His character as revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ) above all things and the earnest desire to carry out His will in every thought and action of life. When worship is made to consist in anything else as its chief characteristic, such as in ceremonial or in doctrinals, or when external worship is the result of other motives, as from custom, habit, or for the sake of respectability, it is adulterated with evil.]