And he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people [and] the tribes of Israel were gathered together.
Ver. 5. And he was king in Jeshurun.] A heroic king, reigning by virtue and justice only, not by force and violence: one that said not, εξεστι, but καηνκει; This I can do, but this is fit for me to do.
When the heads of the people, and the tribes.] Here was a government made up of king, lords, and commons. The best of governments, doubtless, so that the beam be kept right between sovereignty and subjection. The contention between prince and people, about command and obedience, ceased not till the Magna Charta, first obtained of King John, after of his son Henry III, though observed truly of neither, was in the maturity of a judicial prince, Edward I, freely ratified after fourscore years.