John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 7. But thou shall in any wise let the dam go, and take the young to thee , etc.] Or “in letting go, let go”, or “in sending, send away” f345 ; that is, willingly, certainly, entirely, frequently, always; so the Jewish canons f346 , “if anyone lets her go, and she returns, even four or five times, he is obliged to let her go, as it is said, “in letting go, let go”;” nay, Maimonides says f347 , even a thousand times; the canon proceeds, “if anyone says, lo, I take the dam and let go the young, he is obliged to let her go; if he takes the young, and returns them again to the nest, and after that returns the dam to them, he is free from letting her go;” that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days ; the Targum of Jonathan is, “that it may be well with thee in this world, and thou mayest prolong thy days in the world to come:” the same blessing that is promised to observers of the fifth command, which is one of the weightier matters of the law, is made to this; which the Jews say is but as the value of a farthing, or of little account in comparison of others; wherefore, as Fagius rightly observes f349 , God, in bestowing such rewards, has regard not to the works of men, but to his own grace and kindness; for what merit can there be in letting go or preserving the life of a little bird?
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 5-12 - God's providence extends itself to the smallest affairs, and his precepts do so, that even in them we may be in the fear of the Lord, a we are under his eye and care. Yet the tendency of these laws, whic seem little, is such, that being found among the things of God's law they are to be accounted great things. If we would prove ourselves to be God's people, we must have respect to his will and to his glory, an not to the vain fashions of the world. Even in putting on our garments as in eating or in drinking, all must be done with a serious regard to preserve our own and others' purity in heart and actions. Our ey should be single, our heart simple, and our behaviour all of a piece.
Original Hebrew שׁלח7971 תשׁלח7971 את853 האם517 ואת853 הבנים1121 תקח3947 לך למען4616 ייטב3190 לך והארכת748 ימים׃3117
