John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Deuteronomy 9:1



INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 9



In this chapter the Israelites are assured of the ejection of the Canaanites, though so great and mighty, to make room for them, De 9:1, and they are cautioned not to attribute this to their own righteousness, but to the wickedness of the nations which deserved to be so treated, and to the faithfulness of God in performing his promise made to their fathers, De 9:4, and that it might appear that it could not be owing to their righteousness, it is affirmed and proved that they had been a rebellious and provoking people from their coming out of Egypt to that time, as was evident from their idolatry at Horeb; a particular account of which is given, and of the displeasure of the Lord at it, De 9:7, and of their murmurings, with which they provoked the Lord at other places, De 9:22, and the chapter is closed with an account of the prayer of Moses for them at Horeb, to avert the wrath of God from them for their making and worshipping the golden calf, De 9:25.



Ver. 1. Hear, O Israel,.... A pause being made after the delivery of the preceding discourse; or perhaps what follows might be delivered at another time, at some little distance; and which being of moment and importance to the glory of God, and that Israel might have a true notion of their duty, they are called upon to listen with attention to what was now about to be said:



thou art to pass over Jordan this day; not precisely that very day, but in a short time after this; for it was on the first day of the eleventh month that Moses began the repetition of the laws he was now going on with, De 1:3, and it was not until the tenth day of the first month of the next year that the people passed over Jordan, Jos 4:19 which was about two months after this:



to go in and possess nations greater and mightier than thyself; the seven nations named De 7:1 where the same characters are given of them:



cities great and fenced up to heaven; as they were said to be by the spies, De 1:28, and were no doubt both large and strongly fortified, and not to be easily taken by the Israelites, had not the Lord been with them, De 9:3.





Deuteronomy 9:2



Ver. 2. A people great and tall,.... Of a large bulky size, and of an high stature, so that the spies seemed to be as grasshoppers to them, Nu 13:33,



the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest; by report, having had an account of them by the spies, who described them as very large bodied men, and of a gigantic stature, the descendants of one Anak, a giant; and so the Targum of Jonathan,



"a people strong and high like the giants;''



from these Bene Anak, children of Anak, or Phene Anak, as the words might be pronounced, the initial letter of the first word being of the same sound, Bochart {z} thinks the country had its name of Phoenicia:



and of whom thou hast heard say, who can stand before the children, of Anak? or the children of the giants, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; which they had heard either from the spies who had suggested the same, Nu 13:31 or as a common proverb in the mouths of most people in those days.



{z} Canaan, l. 1. c. 1. col. 346.





Deuteronomy 9:3



Ver. 3. Understand therefore this day,.... Or be it known to you for your encouragement, and believe it:



that the Lord thy God [is] he which goeth over before thee as a consuming fire: did not only go before them over the river Jordan, in a pillar of cloud and fire, to guide and direct them, and was a wall of fire around them to protect and defend them, but as a consuming fire, before which there is no standing, to destroy their enemies; see De 4:24,



he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face; be they as great and as mighty, as large and as tall as they may, they will not be able to stand before the Lord, but will soon be made low, and be easily brought down to the earth by him, and to utter destruction; which would be done in a public and visible manner, so as that the hand of the Lord would be seen in it by the Israelites:



so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the Lord hath said unto thee; that is, the far greater part of them, and so many as to make room for the Israelites, and which was quickly done. The Jews commonly say {a}, that they were seven years in subduing the land; otherwise they were not to be driven out and destroyed at once, but by little and little: see De 7:22.



{a} Seder Olam Rabba, c. 11. p. 31, 32.





Deuteronomy 9:4



Ver. 4. Speak not thou in thine heart,.... Never once think within thyself, or give way to such a vain imagination, and please thyself with it:



after that the Lord thy God hath cast them out from before thee; to make way for the Israelites, and put them into the possession of their land; which is to be ascribed not to them, but to the Lord:



saying, for my righteousness the Lord hath brought me in to possess this land; such a thought as this was not to be secretly cherished in their hearts, and much less expressed with their lips; nothing being more foreign from truth than this, and yet a notion they were prone to entertain. They were always a people, more or less, from first to last, tainted with a conceit of their own righteousness, and goodness, which they laboured to establish, and were ready to attribute all the good things to it they enjoyed, and nothing is more natural to men, than to fancy they shall be brought to the heavenly Canaan by and for their own righteousness; which is contrary to the perfections of God, his purity, holiness, and justice, which can never admit of an imperfect righteousness in the room of a perfect one; to justify anyone thereby, is contrary to the Gospel scheme of salvation; which is not by works of righteousness men have done, but by the grace and mercy of God through Christ; it would make useless, null, and void, the righteousness of Christ, which only can justify men in the sight of God, give a title to heaven and happiness, and an abundant entrance into it; and would occasion boasting, not only in the present state, but even in heaven itself; whereas the scheme of salvation is so framed and fixed, that there may be no room for boasting, here or hereafter, see Ro 3:27,



but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord doth drive them out from before thee; namely, their idolatry, incest, and other notorious crimes; see Le 18:3, which sufficiently justifies God in all his dealings with these nations.





Deuteronomy 9:5



Ver. 5. Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart,.... Neither for their external righteousness before men, or their outward conformity to the law, nor for the inward sincerity of their hearts, and their upright intentions in doing good, in which they were defective:



dost thou go to possess their land; this is repeated, and enlarged on, and explained, that this notion might be entirely removed from them, and not entertained by them; similar to which is that of men, who fancy that their sincere obedience, though imperfect, will be accepted of God instead of a perfect one, on account of which they shall be justified and saved; but by the deeds of the law no flesh living can be justified in the sight of God, nor by any works of righteousness done by the best of men, and in the best manner they are capable of, will any be saved;



but for the wickedness of those nations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee; which is repeated, that it might be taken notice of as the true reason of the Lord's dealing with them in such severity; and which because it would be now doing, when the Israelites passed over Jordan, and went in to possess the land, it is expressed in the present tense, "doth drive", the work being not yet finished; sin was the cause of their ejection out of their land, and another thing was the reason of the Israelites possessing it, and not their righteousness next expressed:



and that he may perform the word which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; it was to fulfil his covenant, and make good his word of promise to their fathers, and not on account of any righteousness of theirs; and the salvation of the Lord's people in a spiritual sense, and their enjoyment of the heavenly Canaan, are owing to the gracious purposes and promises of God, and to his covenant engagements, as well as to the undertakings, obedience, and righteousness of his Son, and not to any righteousness of theirs.





Deuteronomy 9:6



Ver. 6. Understand therefore that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness,.... This is again repeated to impress it upon their minds, that it was not for any goodness of theirs, but as a gift of divine goodness to them, that they were put into the possession of the good land, which greatly exceeded any merits of theirs, and was entirely owing to the kindness of God to them, and not to any righteousness of theirs; and this he frequently inculcates, that they might have a thorough understanding of it. And so the doctrines of justification by the righteousness of Christ, and not man's, and of salvation by the grace of God, and not the works of men, are points of knowledge and understanding; and to lead men into an acquaintance with them is the general design of the Gospel; and he cannot be reckoned an understanding man, but ignorant of God and his righteousness, of the law and the spirituality of it, of Christ and the way of salvation by him, of the Spirit and of spiritual things, of the Gospel and its doctrines, nor can he be wise unto salvation, who expects to get to heaven by his own works of righteousness; and it might be added, that he is ignorant of himself, of his state and condition, of his sinfulness and vileness, and of the nature of his best works; as the Israelites in a good measure seemed to be, whose conviction is laboured in the following part of this chapter:



for thou art a stiffnecked people; refractory and unruly, like an heifer unaccustomed to the yoke, that draws back from it, and wriggles its neck out of it; so untoward and perverse were this people, and disobedient to the commands of God; wherefore there was no show of reason that they were put into the possession of Canaan for their righteousness; and to make it appear that they were such a people as here described, several instances are given.





Deuteronomy 9:7



Ver. 7. Remember, and forget not how thou provokedst the Lord thy God to wrath in the wilderness,.... Aben Ezra remarks that this was after they journeyed from Horeb; but before they came thither, even as soon as, they were in the wilderness, they provoked the Lord, as by their murmuring for water at Marah, when they had been but three days in the wilderness; and for bread in the wilderness of Sin, and for water again at Rephidim; all which were before they came to Horeb or Sinai, and which agrees with what follows:



from the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the Lord; though they had such a series of mercies, yet their life was a continued course of rebellion against the Lord: which is a sad character of them indeed, and given by one that thoroughly knew them, was an eyewitness of facts, and had a hearty respect for them too, and cannot be thought to exaggerate things; so that they were far from being righteous persons in themselves, nor was there any reason to conclude it was for their righteousness the land of Canaan was given them.





Deuteronomy 9:8



Ver. 8. Also in Horeb ye provoked the Lord to wrath,.... The word "also" shows that they had provoked him before, but this instance is given as a very notorious one; here they made the golden calf and worshipped it, while Moses was on the mount with God, receiving instructions from him for their good. Near to this place a rock had been smitten for them, from whence flowed water for the refreshment of them and their cattle; here the Lord appeared in the glory of his majesty to them, and from hence, for it is the same mount with Sinai, the law was given to them in such an awful and terrible manner; and yet none of these things were sufficient to restrain them from provoking the Lord to wrath by their sins:



so that the Lord was angry with you, to have destroyed you; so very angry with them, and so justly, that he proposed to Moses to destroy them, and make of him a great nation in their stead, Ex 32:10.





Deuteronomy 9:9



Ver. 9. When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone,.... The tables of the law, the same law which forbid idolatry, and which they had lately heard from the mouth of God himself: even



the tables of the covenant which the Lord made with you; which they had agreed unto, and solemnly promised they would observe and do, Ex 24:7,



then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights; and this long stay was one reason of their falling into idolatry, not knowing what was become of him, Ex 24:18.



I neither did eat bread nor drink water; all those forty days and nights, Ex 34:28.





Deuteronomy 9:10



Ver. 10. And the Lord delivered unto me two tables of stone, written with the finger of God,.... The letters were of his devising and forming, the writing was his, the engraving them on the stones was his own doing; and which was done to show its original, to stamp a divine authority on it, and to denote its duration; see Ex 31:18



and on them was written according to all the words which the Lord spake with you in the mount; the ten commands, exactly in the same order, and in the same words, without any variation, as they were delivered to them with an articulate voice in their hearing; but now were written in this manner, that they might be read by them, and remain with them, see

Ex 34:28



out the midst of the fire; in which the Lord was, and whence he spake:



in the day of the assembly; when all the people of Israel were gathered together at the foot of the mount; see Ex 19:17.





Deuteronomy 9:11



Ver. 11. And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights,.... The time of Moses's stay in the mount, when it was just up, and not before: that



the Lord gave me the two tables of stone, [even] the tables of the covenant, as in De 9:9. Aben Ezra observes, that this shows that the day the tables were given to Moses the calf was made.





Deuteronomy 9:12



Ver. 12. And the Lord said unto me,.... The omniscient God, who knew what was doing in the camp of Israel, though Moses did not, of which he informs him:



arise, get thee down quickly from hence; from the mount where he was; and the word "arise" does not suppose him to be sitting or lying along, neither of which postures would have been suitable, considering in whose presence he was; but is only expressive of urgency and haste of his departure; it is not used in Ex 32:7



for thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt, have corrupted themselves; their way, as the Targum of Jonathan; that is, by idolatry, than which nothing is more corrupting and defiling; the Lord calls them not his people, but the people of Moses, being highly displeased with them; and ascribes their coming out of Egypt to Moses the instrument, and not to himself, as if he repented of bringing them from thence:



they are quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them: it being but about six weeks ago, that the command forbidding idolatry, the sin they had fallen into, had been given them:



and they have made them a molten image; the image of a calf made of melted gold.





Deuteronomy 9:13



Ver. 13. Furthermore the Lord spake unto me, saying,.... After he had given him the two tables, and before his departure from the mount:



I have seen this people; took notice of them, their ways, and their works:



and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people; unwilling to submit to, and bear the yoke of my commandments; see Ex 32:9.





Deuteronomy 9:14



Ver. 14. Let me alone, that I may destroy them,.... Do not say one word to me on their behalf, or entreat me to spare them, and not destroy them:



and blot out their name from under heaven; that no such nation may be heard of, or known by the name of Israel:



and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they; of his family, whereby the Lord's promise to Abraham would not have been made void, but equally firm and sure, since this mightier and greater nation would have been of his seed; See Gill on "Ex 32:10".





Deuteronomy 9:15



Ver. 15. So I turned and came down from the mount,.... As the Lord commanded:



and the mount burned with fire; as it had for six weeks past, ever since the Lord's descent upon it; and so it continued, for the words may be rendered, "and the mount was burning" {b}; and yet this did not deter the Israelites from idolatry:



and the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands: one table in one hand, and the other in the other hand.



{b} reb "de monte ardente", V. L. Heb. "burning", Ainsworth.





Deuteronomy 9:16



Ver. 16. And I looked,.... When he was come down from the mount, and was nigh the camp:



and, behold, ye had sinned against the Lord your God; that plainly appeared by what they had done, and at which he was amazed; and therefore a behold is prefixed to it, it being such a gross sin, having so much impiety and ingratitude, and stupidity in it:



and made you a molten calf; that he saw with his eyes, and them dancing about it; see Ex 32:19



ye had turned aside quickly out of the way which the Lord had commanded you; see De 9:7.





Deuteronomy 9:17



Ver. 17. And I took the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands,.... In wrath and indignation at the sin they were guilty of:



and brake them before your eyes; as an emblem of their breach of them by transgressing them.





Deuteronomy 9:18



Ver. 18. And I fell down before the Lord,.... In prayer for Israel who had sinned; but this he did not immediately after he had broken the tables, but when he had first ground the calf to powder, strewed it on the water, and made the children of Israel drink it; and when he had chided Aaron, and ordered the sons of Levi to slay every man his brother:



as at the first forty days and forty mights; which is to be connected, I think, not with what goes before; for we read not that he fell down before the Lord, at the first time he was with him so long in the mount; but with what follows: "I did neither eat bread nor drink water"; as he neither ate nor drank the first forty days, so neither did he these second forty; see De 9:9



because of all your sins which ye sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger; for they were guilty of more sins than one; besides idolatry, they were guilty of unbelief, ingratitude, &c. which were notorious and flagrant, were done openly and publicly, in sight of his glory and majesty on the mount; all which must be very provoking to him, and on account of these Moses prayed and fasted.





Deuteronomy 9:19



Ver. 19. For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure wherewith the Lord was wroth against you,.... Which was exceeding vehement, as appeared by his words to Moses, forbidding to intercede for them, that he might consume them, and make of him a greater nation; wherefore he dreaded the issue of it, lest it should be



to destroy you; that that should be his full resolution and determination; however, he made use of means, and betook himself to fasting and prayer; so heartily affected was he to this people when his temptations lay another way:



but the Lord hearkened unto me at that time also; as he had at other times, when this people had sinned, and he entreated for them; in which he was a type of Christ, the Mediator and Advocate, whom the Father always hears.





Deuteronomy 9:20



Ver. 20. And the Lord was very angry with Aaron, to have destroyed him,.... For complying with the request of the people in making a calf for them, and for that miserable shift he made to excuse himself; which so provoked the Lord, that he threatened to destroy him, and he was in danger of being cut off, had it not been for the intercession of Moses:



and I prayed for Aaron also the same time: who either was included in the general prayer for the people, Ex 32:31 or a particular prayer was made for him, though not recorded, and which also succeeded.





Deuteronomy 9:21



Ver. 21. And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made,.... Which was the object of their sin, which lay in making and worshipping it; see Isa 31:7



and burnt it with fire, and stamped it; with his feet after it was burnt, to bring it into small pieces:



and ground it very small; or, as the Targum of Jonathan,



"ground it in a mortar well;''



the burnt and broken pieces:



even until it was as small as dust; being ground to powder, as in

Ex 32:20



and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount; and made the children of Israel to drink of it, as in the previously mentioned place; See Gill on "Ex 32:2"; all this was done before the prayer for Aaron and the people.





Deuteronomy 9:22



Ver. 22. And at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibrothhattaavah, ye provoked the Lord to wrath. These places are not mentioned in the strict order in which the provocations were made at them; for they provoked the Lord at Massah by murmuring for water, before they provoked him at Taberah, by complaining as it should seem of their journeying; for Massah was before they came to Sinai, and Taberah after they departed from thence; though some, as Aben Ezra observes, say that Taberah is Massah; but it could not be the Massah in Rephidim, for that was on one side of Mount Sinai, and Taberah on another; though different places might be so called from their tempting the Lord at them; rather Taberah and Kibrothhattaavah seem to be the same; where the people died with the flesh in their mouths they lusted after, and were buried; since no mention is made of their removal at that time from the one place to the other, nor of Taberah in the account of their journeys, only Kibrothhattaavah; see Ex 17:7.





Deuteronomy 9:23



Ver. 23. Likewise when the Lord sent you from Kadeshbarnea,.... From whence the spies were sent to search the land, though previous to it they had the following order to go up and possess it; see

Nu 32:8



saying, go up and possess the land which I have given you; this they were bid to do, before they desired the spies might be sent to search it first; and after they had returned and made their report, they were encouraged to go up and take possession of it:



then ye rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God; refusing to go up into it: and ye believed him not; that he would cast out and destroy the inhabitants of it, and put them into the possession of it; which they distrusted by reason of the gigantic stature of some that dwelt in it, and their fortified cities:



nor hearkened to his voice; whether commanding or encouraging.





Deuteronomy 9:24



Ver. 24. You have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you. Either from the time he first had and took knowledge of them and visited them, before his departure from Egypt to the land of Midian; (see Ex 2:11 compared with Ac 7:25); or from the time that he was sent to them to deliver them out of Egypt; see Ex 5:20 and especially from the time he brought them into the wilderness.





Deuteronomy 9:25



Ver. 25. Thus I fell down before the Lord forty days and forty nights, as I fell down at the first,.... Which Jarchi says are the selfsame said above, De 9:18, but doubled or repeated, because of the order of his prayer. The words "at the first" are not in the text; and, as before observed, we do not read that Moses fell down at the first forty days he was in the mount, unless it can be thought he did, Ex 32:11, wherefore this falling down seems to be as he fell down at the second forty days; and so this was a third forty days, according to the Jewish writers, and of which opinion were Dr. Lightfoot and others; See Gill on "Ex 34:28",



because the Lord had said he would destroy you; threatened them with destruction, and seemed as if it was his intention to destroy them; nay, even after Moses's first prayer, though he bid him go and lead the people on, yet he declared that he would visit their sin upon them, Ex 32:34.





Deuteronomy 9:26



Ver. 26. And I prayed therefore unto the Lord,.... What follows is a different prayer from that in Ex 32:31 and agrees better with that in De 9:11, delivered before he came down from the mount, yet could not be the same, because delivered at another forty days and nights:



and said, O Lord God, destroy not thy people, and thine inheritance: because they were his inheritance, a people whom he had chosen for his peculiar treasure; this is the first argument used, another follows:



which thou hast redeemed through thy greatness; redeemed out of the house of bondage, the land of Egypt, by his great power, as next explained:



which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand: inflicting plagues on the Egyptians, particularly destroying their firstborn, which made them the Israelites urge to depart.





Deuteronomy 9:27



Ver. 27. Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,.... The covenant he had made with them, the promises he had made to them of the multiplication of their seed, and of giving the land of Canaan to them; which is a third argument used with the Lord not to destroy them:



look not unto the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin; nor to the natural temper and disposition of the people, which was to be stubborn, obstinate, stiffnecked, and self-willed; nor to their wickedness, which appears in various instances; nor to that particular sin of idolatry they had now been guilty, of; tacitly owning that if God looked to these things, there was sufficient reason to destroy them.





Deuteronomy 9:28



Ver. 28. Lest the land whence thou broughtest us out say,.... The land of Egypt, the inhabitants of it;



because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land which he promised them; the land of Canaan, the inhabitants of it being so mighty, and their cities so strongly fortified. Here Moses expresses his concern for the glory of God, and the honour of his perfections, and makes that a fourth argument why he should not destroy them:



and because he hated them, he hath brought them out to slay them in the wilderness; out of Egypt, a plentiful country, into a wilderness where nothing was to be had; but his choice of them for his inheritance, his redemption of them out of bondage and misery, the care he took of them, and the provision he had made for them in the wilderness, clearly showed that they were not the objects of his hatred, but of his love.





Deuteronomy 9:29



Ver. 29. Yet they are thy people,.... Though they had sinned against him:



and thine inheritance; which he would not forsake and cast off; at least Moses hoped on this account he would not, and makes use thereof as an argument with him why he should not, and which he repeats, adding in effect what he had said before:



which thou broughtest out by thy mighty power and stretched out arm; even out of the land of Egypt; the doing of which was plainly the effect of his almighty power, and an evidence of it, considering the weakness of Israel and the strength of Egypt, and the manner in which the Lord brought about this surprising event.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Deuteronomy 10:1



INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 10



In this chapter an account is given of an order to Moses to hew two tables of stone, on which the Lord would write the words that were on the first, and to make an ark and put them into it, all which was accordingly done, De 10:1 and of some of the journeys of the children of Israel, De 10:6 and of the separation of the tribe of Levi to the service of the sanctuary, De 10:8 and of Moses's stay in the mount forty days and nights, and his success there, and the direction he had to lead on the people of Israel towards Canaan's land, De 10:10 and who by various arguments are exhorted to fear the Lord, and serve him, and keep his commands, De 10:12.



Ver. 1. At that time the Lord said unto me,.... On the fortieth day, mentioned in the preceding chapter, as Aben Ezra, or at the end of forty days, as Jarchi; not of the first forty, for then were given him the first two tables of stone, with the law written on them, which he broke when he came down; but at the end of the second forty days, as some think, when he had fallen before the Lord, and entreated him for the people, and, as a token of his reconciliation to them, gave the following order:



hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, &c. Of the same sort of stone, of the same size and form with those God gave him in the mount the first time he was there, and which he broke in his descent from thence; they were the work of God, but these were to be hewed by Moses: the order seems to be given between the request Moses made to see the glory of the Lord, and the proclamation made of it, see

Ex 34:1, and come up unto me into the mount; Mount Sinai; this was certainly the third time of his going up there, and where he continued forty days and nights; but whether he continued there so long the second time may be a matter of question, though he certainly did the third time; see Ex 32:30



and make thee an ark of wood; Jarchi thinks this was not the ark Bezaleel made, but made after, and is that which went out to battle; and some take it to be a temporary ark, made for the present purpose till that was finished; but Aben Ezra is of opinion it is the same that Bezaleel made: and it may be said to be made by Moses, because he was not only ordered to make it, but it was by his orders and the direction he gave to Bezaleel that it was made; and this seems the more probable, because there the tables remained, De 10:5.





Deuteronomy 10:2



Ver. 2. And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest,.... {a} Though they were hewn by Moses, the writing on them was the Lord's; and the very same laws, in the same words, without any alteration or variation, were written by him on these as on the former; partly to show the authenticity of them, that they were of God and not Moses, of a divine original and not human; and partly to show the invariableness of them, that no change had been made in them, though they had been broken by the people; of which Moses's breaking the tables was a representation;



and thou shall put them in the ark; which being a type of Christ may signify the fulfilment of the law by him, who is the end, the fulfilling end of the law for righteousness to every believer; and that as this was in his heart to fulfil it, so it is in his hand as a rule of faith and conversation to his people.



{a} See a Sermon of mine on this text, called, "The Law in the Hand of Christ."





Deuteronomy 10:3



Ver. 3. And I made an ark of shittim wood,.... That is, ordered it to be made, and it was made by Bezaleel, and that of shittim wood: so the ark that was put into the holy of holies was made of this wood; see

See Gill on "Ex 25:10",

See Gill on "Ex 37:1",



and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; two marble ones, as the Targum of Jonathan; that is, he ordered them to be hewed, and took care that they should be exactly made as the former were, of which he had perfect knowledge, having received them of the Lord, and brought them with him down the mount:



and went up into the mount, having the two tables in my hand; in order to have the words of the law, the ten commands, written on them, these being only hewn stones, without anything on them: they were very probably marble, of which great quantities were near at hand.





Deuteronomy 10:4



Ver. 4. And he wrote on the tables according to the first writing,.... The same laws, in the same letters:



the ten commandments which the Lord spake unto you in the mount; in Mount Sinai, on which he descended, and from whence he delivered the decalogue by word of mouth in an audible manner, that all the people could hear it:



out of the midst of the fire; in which he descended, and where he continued, and from whence he spake, so that it was indeed a fiery law;



in the day of the assembly; when all the people of Israel were assembled together at the bottom of the mount to hear it:



and the Lord gave them unto me; the two tables, when he had wrote upon them the ten commands.





Deuteronomy 10:5



Ver. 5. And I turned myself,.... From the Lord, out of whose hands he had received the tables:



and came down from the mount; with the two tables in his hand as before, one in one hand, and the other in the other hand:



and put the tables in the ark which I had made; or ordered to be made:



and there they be, as the Lord commanded me; there they were when Moses rehearsed what is contained in this book, on the plains of Moab, about thirty eight years after the putting them, into it; and there they continued to be when the ark was brought into Solomon's temple, 1Ki 8:9 and there they were as long as the ark was in being; which may denote the continuance of the law in the hands of Christ under the Gospel dispensation as a rule of walk and conversation to his people.





Deuteronomy 10:6



Ver. 6. And the children of Israel took their journey from Beeroth of the children of Jaakan,.... Not when or soon after they removed from Sinai; for if this place is the same with Benejaakan, as is generally supposed, they had a great many journeys, mansions, and stations before they came to it; see Nu 33:31 and besides, since Aaron, according to this account, died at their next station from hence, that was thirty eight years after their departure from Mount Sinai; and it is hard to say what should be the reason of making mention of these two or three journeys here; and whereas they are here said to journey front the place here mentioned



to Mosera; on the contrary in Nu 33:31 they are said to depart from Mosera, and pitch in Benejaakan; which is accounted for by their going backwards and forwards, and so both may be true. Aben Ezra is of opinion, that Beeroth Benejaakan, or the wells of the children of Jaakan, is not the same with Bene Jaakan, nor Mosera the same with Moseroth; but Beeroth is Kadesh, and Mosera is the name of the desert of Mount Hor; and it is certain that Moseroth was the twenty seventh station, and Mosera, or the desert of Mount Hor, where Aaron died, was the thirty fourth, and therefore must be distant; see Nu 33:30, which seems to agree with what follows:



there Aaron died, and there he was buried; it is certain that Aaron died on Mount Hor, Nu 20:23, or there died and was buried when in the desert of Mosera:



and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest's office in his stead; so that though the high priest died, the office continued, and the law of it remained in force, and the tribe of Levi was separated for the service of the sanctuary, as afterwards expressed.





Deuteronomy 10:7



Ver. 7. From thence they journeyed unto Gudgodah,.... Which Jarchi takes to be the same with Horhagidgad, and so do most; see

Nu 33:32, but Aben Ezra says it is not, but is a general name, including Zalmonah, Punon, and Oboth, places the Israelites came to after they removed from Mount Hor, where Aaron died; see

Nu 33:41



and from Gudgodah to Jotbath, a land of rivers of waters; which the above writer takes to be the same with Beer, the well, Nu 21:16 and by this description of it, it was a place where there was much water.





Deuteronomy 10:8



Ver. 8. At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi,.... Not at the time that Moses came down from the mount with the tables of the law, but some considerable time after, even after the tabernacle was erected; nor at the time that Aaron died, and Eleazar succeeded him, but many years before that; unless there was a fresh separation of them, or a renewal of it when Eleazar became high priest in his father's stead; and so that being mentioned is the reason of its being repeated here;



to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord; even that into which the law, sometimes called the covenant, was put, and therefore here called the ark of the covenant: when this was carried from place to place, as it was especially in the wilderness, it was the business of the Levites to bear it, particularly the Kohathites; Nu 3:31,



to stand before the Lord to minister unto him; that is, to his priests, in the tabernacle, and to keep and guard that:



and to bless in his name unto this day; not to bless the people, which was the work of the priest, but to sing praise in the name of the Lord, to give thanks unto him, and bless and praise him.





Deuteronomy 10:9



Ver. 9. Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren,.... In the division of the land of Canaan, because being separated to the service of the sanctuary, he had no leisure to plough and sow, as Jarchi observes:



the Lord is his inheritance, as the Lord thy God promised him; not in a spiritual sense, for so the Lord was an inheritance and portion of other Israelites; though these being taken off of worldly employments, and devoted to sanctuary service, might have more communion with God than others; but in a temporal sense, provision being made particularly by tithes, which were the Lord's, for their maintenance; and so the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan paraphrase the words;



"gifts which the Lord gave him are his inheritance;''



see Nu 18:20.





Deuteronomy 10:10



Ver. 10. And I stayed in the mount, according to the first time, forty days and forty nights,.... Which is to be connected with

De 10:6 and relates what passed before he came down from the mount with the two tables; as that he stayed there as long as he did when he received the first tables, and fasted also as long as he did then; see Ex 34:28



and the Lord hearkened unto me at that time also; to his prayer on the behalf of the people:



and the Lord would not destroy thee; though he had threatened it, and their sin had deserved it.





Deuteronomy 10:11



Ver. 11. And the Lord said unto me, arise, take thy journey before the people,.... Here Moses goes on with his relation of things at Mount Sinai, how that upon his supplication for the people, on account of the destruction they were threatened with for their idolatry, the Lord was graciously pleased not only to hear him and forgive the people, but ordered him to go before them, and lead them on towards the land of Canaan he had promised them, Ex 32:34,



that they may go in and possess the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give unto them; and which had it not been for their later murmurings and rebellions, they had been in the possession of it in a little time, especially after their departure from Sinai.





Deuteronomy 10:12



Ver. 12. And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee,.... For all these favours bestowed upon them, the forgiveness of their sins, and a fresh intimation of their possession of the land of Canaan, and the renewal of the promise of it made to their fathers:



but to fear the Lord thy God; to fear him with a filial fear, to fear him and his goodness, and him for his goodness sake, and particularly for his pardoning grace and mercy vouchsafed to them; see Ps 130:4,



to walk in all his ways; prescribed and directed to by him, every path of duty, whether moral, ceremonial, or judicial:



and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul; for that is the best service which springs from love, and love constrains unto, and which is hearty and sincere, as that is, and is performed in the best manner such are capable of.





Deuteronomy 10:13



Ver. 13. To keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes,.... Both the ten commands and all others:



which I command thee this day for thy good; promises of temporal good things, introduction into the land of Canaan, possession of it, and continuance in it, being made to obedience to them.





Deuteronomy 10:14



Ver. 14. Behold, the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, are the Lord's thy God,.... Made and possessed by him; the airy and starry heaven, the third heaven, which is the heaven of heavens, the seat of the divine Majesty, the habitation of angels and glorified saints:



the earth [also], with all that therein is; that is his property, and at his disposal, being made by him, and all that is upon it, or contained in it, even whatsoever is on or in the whole terraqueous globe; see Ps 115:15.





Deuteronomy 10:15



Ver. 15. Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them,.... Though the heavens and the earth, and all the inhabitants of them are the Lord's by creation, yet he had a special regard unto, and a peculiar complacency in, the fathers of the Israelites, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; from whence arose some particular expressions of love to them, signified by various acts of kindness done them, and promises made unto them:



and he chose their seed after them, even you above all the people, as [it is] this day; to be a special people to him, to enjoy civil and religious privileges greater than any other; and particularly to have his law given to them, his tabernacle and worship set up among them, which were at this time, and which gave them the preference to all other nations; see De 4:7.





Deuteronomy 10:16



Ver. 16. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart,.... Content not yourselves with, nor put your confidence in outward circumcision of the flesh, but be concerned for the circumcision of the heart; for removing from that whatever is disagreeable to the Lord, even all carnality, sensuality, hypocrisy, and superfluity of naughtiness, and for having that put there which is well pleasing in his sight; and which though it is the work of God, and he only can do it and has promised it, yet such an exhortation is made to bring men to a sense of their need of it, and of the importance of it, and to show how agreeable it is to the Lord, and so to stir them up to seek unto him for it; see De 30:6



and be no more stiffnecked; froward, obstinate, and disobedient, as they had been hitherto; De 9:6.





Deuteronomy 10:17



Ver. 17. For the Lord your God is God of gods,.... Of angels and civil magistrates, who are sometimes so called: these are his creatures, act for him and under him, and are accountable to him:



the Lord of lords; of the kings and princes of the earth, who have their crowns, sceptres, and kingdoms from him, and hold them of him, by and under whom they reign and decree judgment, and who are subject to his authority and control:



a great God; as the perfections of his nature, the works of his hands, the blessings of his providence and grace, and the extensiveness of his dominion in heaven, earth, and hell, show him to be:



a mighty and a terrible; mighty and powerful to help, protect, and defend his people; terrible to his and their enemies, even to the kings of the earth:



which regardeth not persons; but bestows his favours, whether in a way of providence or grace, according to his sovereign will and pleasure, without regard to the works and merits of men, their characters or circumstances:



nor taketh reward; or bribes, to avert threatened and deserved judgments; see Job 36:18.





Deuteronomy 10:18



Ver. 18. He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow,.... Who have none to help them, and whose patron and defender he is, and will do them justice himself, and take care that it is done them by others, or avenge their injuries, for he is a Father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widow, in his holy habitation; Ps 68:5



and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment; one that is in a foreign country, at a distance from his native land, and destitute of friends; such God in his providence takes care of, and expresses his love and kindness to, by giving them the necessaries of life, food, and raiment.





Deuteronomy 10:19



Ver. 19. Love ye therefore the stranger,.... Because the Lord loves him; and another reason follows, particularly binding on the Israelites:



for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt; and therefore should sympathize with such, and show them compassion, relieve them in distress, and afford them whatever they want, and is in the power of their hands to communicate to them; remembering their own condition in Egypt, and how welcome such a treatment would have been to them then, as well as the kind and careful providence of God towards them at that time.





Deuteronomy 10:20



Ver. 20. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God,.... Which includes the whole worship of him, external and internal:



him shalt thou serve; heartily and sincerely, according to his revealed will, and him only:



and to him shall thou cleave; and not turn aside to follow other gods, and worship them:



and swear by his name; and his only, whenever it is necessary to take an oath, which should not be done rashly or on trivial accounts; and never by any creature, but by the living God; see De 6:13.





Deuteronomy 10:21



Ver. 21. He is thy praise,.... The object and matter of it, who deserves the praises of all his creatures, because of his perfections, works, and blessings of goodness; for all mercies temporal and spiritual come from him, and therefore he is greatly to be praised for them: praise is his due, and it is comely in his people to give it to him; see Jer 17:14



and he is thy God which hath done for thee these great and terrible things which thine eyes have seen; which were done upon the Egyptians for their sakes, both in the land of Egypt and at the Red sea; and also what he had done for them in the wilderness, to Sihon and Og, kings of the Amorites, Ps 106:22.





Deuteronomy 10:22



Ver. 22. Thy fathers went down into Egypt with seventy persons,.... That is, in all; for there were not seventy besides Jacob and the patriarchs his sons, but with them; see Ge 46:26 and now the Lord thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude; as he promised they should be, Ge 15:5.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Deuteronomy 11:1



INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 11



In this chapter, the exhortation to love the Lord, and keep his commands, is repeated and urged again and again from various considerations; as not only from the chastisement of Pharaoh and the wicked Egyptians, but of such Israelites who offended the Lord, and transgressed his law, De 12:1, from the goodness and excellency of the land they were going to inherit, De 11:8, from the blessing of rain that would come upon it, and be productive of all good things for man and beast, in case of obedience, and a restraint of it in case of disobedience, De 11:12, from the continuance of them and their offspring in the land, should they be careful to observe the commands themselves, and teach them their children, De 11:18, and from the extensiveness of their conquests and dominions, De 11:22 and from the different issue and effects of their conduct and behaviour, a blessing upon them if obedient, but a curse if disobedient, De 11:26 and the chapter is concluded with an exhortation to pronounce the blessing on Mount Gerizim, and the curse on Mount Ebal; the situation of which places is described when they should come into the land of Canaan, of which they are assured, De 11:29.



Ver. 1. Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God,.... Because he is so great and glorious in himself, and because he had done such great and good things for them, the Israelites, particularly in the multiplication of them, the last thing mentioned:



and keep his charge; whatsoever the Lord had charged them to observe, even what follow:



and his statutes and his judgments, and his commandments, alway; all his laws, ceremonial, judicial, and moral; and that constantly and continually, all the days of their lives.





Deuteronomy 11:2



Ver. 2. And know you this day,.... Take notice of, and diligently attend unto, what is now about to be delivered:



for I speak not unto your children which have not known, and which have not seen, the chastisement of the Lord your God; who have no knowledge and experience of the chastisement of the Lord on themselves, or on their foes or friends; and with whom the argument drawn from it could not come with that force, and make that impression, as it might be thought it would, being used with them who had perfect knowledge of it. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan render it doctrine, which, being children, they were not instructed so perfectly in as they were who were adult persons, to whom Moses directs his discourse:



his greatness, his mighty hand, and stretched out arm: the exceeding greatness of his power, displayed in the following instances.





Deuteronomy 11:3



Ver. 3. And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt,.... The miraculous works done there, the ten plagues inflicted on the Egyptians for refusing to let Israel go:



unto Pharaoh king, of Egypt, and unto all his land; for those plagues not only affected him and his court, and his metropolis, but all parts of the land, the inhabitants of it everywhere.





Deuteronomy 11:4



Ver. 4. And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots,.... At the Red sea, when they pursued Israel in order to bring them back or destroy them, after they had let them go, which army was very numerous; see Ex 14:7



how he made the water of the Red sea to overflow them; "or to flow over their faces" {b},



as they pursued after you; so that they could not see their way, nor steer their course after them; and not only so, but were covered with the waters of the sea, drowned in them, and sunk to the bottom of them: and how the Lord hath destroyed them unto this day; either continued to destroy them yet more and more by one means or another; or else the destruction made by the several plagues upon them, and particularly that of their army at the Red sea, which was the strength and glory of the nation, was so general and extensive, that they never recovered it to that day; and so were in no capacity of coming out against them, and attacking them, and doing them any hurt, all the forty years they had been in the wilderness; of which no doubt they had knowledge, and of their condition and circumstances there.



{b} Mhynp le-Pyuh "fecit inundare super facics eorum", Pagninus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.





Deuteronomy 11:5



Ver. 5. And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came unto this place. Meaning not so much the good things he did for them in divers places, as the chastisements and corrections he had exercised them with for their murmurings, rebellions, idolatry, and uncleanness, as at Taberah, Kibrothhattaavah, on the coast of Edom, and plains of Moab; by fire, by sword, by plagues, and fiery serpents; the instances both before and after being of this sort.





Deuteronomy 11:6



Ver. 6. And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben,.... When they with Korah and his company quarrelled with Moses and Aaron about the priesthood, Nu 16:1, how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up; the history of which see in

Nu 16:30



and their households and their tents; not their houses and their tents, as the Septuagint and some other versions; for though the word signifies houses, and is often used for them, yet here it must signify families, their wives, and children; since they had no houses, but dwelt in tents, all which were swallowed up with them:



and all the substance that was in their possession; gold, silver, cattle, household goods, and whatever they were possessed of:



or was at their feet {c}; or which followed them, their living creatures; or was for them, as Aben Ezra interprets it; for, their use, service, and necessity: and this was done



in the midst of all Israel; openly and publicly, they beholding it, as follows; and therefore should be rendered, "before all Israel" {d}; and, besides, the tents of Dathan and Abiram, Reubenites, were not in the midst of Israel.



{c} Mhylgrb rva "quae erat in pedibus eorum", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus. {d} brqb "coram omni Israele", Noldius, p. 212. No. 975.





Deuteronomy 11:7



Ver. 7. But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord which he did;] Even all before related, with many others; and therefore the instruction they should learn from thence should be as follows.





Deuteronomy 11:8



Ver. 8. Therefore shall you keep all the commandments which I command you this day,.... For the reasons before suggested, as well as for what follow:



that ye may be strong; healthful in body, and courageous in mind, for sin tends to weaken both; whereas observance of the commands of God contributes to the health and strength of the body, and the rigour of the mind; both which were necessary to the present expedition they were going upon:



and go in and possess the land whither ye go to possess it; the land of Canaan, they were marching towards in order to possess it; and nothing would more inspire them with courage, and cause them to enter it manfully without fear of their enemies, than obedience to the commands of God; whose presence being promised them on that account, they might expect it, and so had nothing to fear from the inhabitants of the land.





Deuteronomy 11:9



Ver. 9. And that ye may prolong your days in the land,.... Not only enter it, and take possession of it, but continue in it long, which depended upon their obedience to the laws of God:



which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed; had promised with an oath, so that they might be assured of the enjoyment of it, though they could not be of their continuance in it, unless they obeyed the divine commands:



a land that floweth with milk and honey; abounds with all good things, whose fruits are fat as milk, and sweet as honey; so the Targum of Jonathan.





Deuteronomy 11:10



Ver. 10. For the land whither thou goest in to possess it,.... The land of Canaan they were about to take possession of:



[is] not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out; either the whole land of Egypt, or that part of it, Rameses, in which Israel dwelt, and which was the best of it, as Jarchi observes, and yet Canaan exceeded that; though the design of this passage is not so much to set forth the superior excellency and fertility of the land of Canaan to that of Egypt, which was certainly a very fruitful country; see

Ge 13:10 but to observe some things in which they differed, whereby they both became fruitful, and in which Canaan had the advantage:



where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs; as a gardener when he has sowed his seed, or planted his plants, waters them that they may grow, by carrying his water pot from bed to bed, which requires much labour and toil. In Egypt rain seldom fell, especially in some places it was very rare, though that there was none at all is a vulgar mistake; See Gill on "Zec 14:18" {e}. To supply the want of it the river Nile overflowed once a year, which not only moistened the earth, but left mud or slime upon it, which made it fruitful; but this was not sufficient, for what through the river not overflowing enough sometimes, and so as to reach some places, and through the heat of the sun hardening the earth again, it was found necessary to cut canals from it, and by water from thence to water it, as a gardener waters his seed and plants; and it is to this watering that respect is here had, not to the overflowing of the Nile, for that was before the seed was sown; but to the watering of it out of the canals, which was done after it was sown; the former was without any trouble of theirs, the latter with much labour; the manner in which it is done is expressed by the phrase "with thy foot", which the Targum explains "by thyself", by their own labour and industry. Jarchi is more particular; "the land of Egypt had need to "have water brought from the Nile with thy foot; he seems to have understood the phrase to signify carrying water on foot from the Nile to the place where it was wanted; but the custom still in use in Egypt, when they water their fields, plantations, or gardens, will give us a clear understanding of this phrase; as a late traveller informs us {f}, the water is drawn out of the river (Nile) by instruments, and lodged in capacious cisterns; when plants require to be refreshed, they strike out the plugs that are fixed in the bottoms of the cisterns, and then the water gushing out, is conducted from one rill to another by the gardener, who is always ready as occasion requires to stop and divert the torrent by turning the earth against it "with his foot", and opening at the same time with his mattock a new trench to receive it: and to the same purpose another learned person {g} has observed, that at other times (than the flowing of the Nile) they are obliged to have recourse to art, and to raise the water out of the river and some deep pits by the help of machines, which water is afterwards directed in its course by channels cut in the ground, which convey the water to those places where it is wanted; and when one part of the ground is sufficiently watered, they then stop that channel, by thrusting some earth into the entrance of it "with their foot", and then also "with their foot" open a passage into the next channel, and so on: and Philo the Jew {h} speaks of a machine with which they used to water fields, and was worked with the feet by going up the several steps within, which gave motion to it.



{e} See also Vansleb's Relation of a Voyage to Egypt, p. 213. who speaks of large rains in Egypt. {f} Shaw's Travels, p. 408. {g} Clayton's Chronology of the Hebrew Bible, p. 478. {h} De Confusione Ling p. 325.





Deuteronomy 11:11



Ver. 11. But the land whither ye go to possess it is a land of hills and valleys,.... And so could not be watered by the overflow of a river, and by canals cut out of it, and in the manner Egypt was; which was for the most part a plain and flat country, but not so Canaan, in which were many hills and mountains, as those about Jerusalem, Carmel, Tabor, Lebanon, and others; and plains and valleys, as the valley of Jezreel, &c. and which made it more delightful and pleasant for prospects; see De 8:7 and drinketh water of the rain of heaven; by which it was watered, refreshed, and made fruitful; not by means of men, but by the Lord himself, and so with much more ease to men, and without the toil and labour they were obliged to in Egypt, as well as it was both more healthful and pleasant; for the damps that arose from the overflow of the Nile were sometimes prejudicial to health; and during the season of its overflow, which was in the summer, they were obliged to keep in their houses, and could not walk abroad for weeks together; to which inconveniences the land of Canaan was not subject; but then, as its fertility depended on rain from heaven, the Israelites would be under the greater obligation to observe the commands of God, who could give and withhold it at his pleasure, and as they conducted themselves; which seems to be the general drift of this passage.





Deuteronomy 11:12



Ver. 12. A land which the Lord thy God careth for,.... In a very particular and special manner; otherwise he has a general care of the whole world, and all the parts of it; for as the earth is his, and the fulness thereof, his providential care reaches everywhere; but as this spot was what he had chosen for his own residence, and the place of his worship, and for an habitation for his peculiar people; he exercised a more peculiar care over it, to make it fruitful, commodious, and pleasant; or which "he seeketh" {i}; that is, the good of it, and to make it convenient, useful, and delightful to his people; yea, which he sought for and desired for his own habitation, Ps 132:13,



the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year; his eyes of providence, to give the former and the latter rain, and that there be seedtime and harvest in their seasons, and that the fruits of it be produced at their proper time; some at the beginning, others at the end of the year, and others in the intervening months, and all wisely suited to the good of the inhabitants of it.



{i} vrd "quaerit", Pagninus; "quaerens", Montanus.





Deuteronomy 11:13



Ver. 13. And it shall come to pass, if you shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day,.... In the name, and by the authority of the Lord, the only lawgiver:



to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart, and with all your soul; see De 10:12. Jarchi interprets this of prayer; but it is not to be restrained to that only, but includes the whole service of God, in all the parts of it, performed from a principle of love to him, and in sincerity and truth.





Deuteronomy 11:14



Ver. 14. That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season,.... Such a quantity of it as the land required, a sufficiency of it to make it fruitful, and that in proper time:



the first rain and the latter rain; the former rain in Marchesvan, the latter rain in Nisan, as the Targum of Jonathan; the first fell about our October, which was at or quickly after seedtime, to water the seed that it might take root, and grow and spring up; and the latter fell about March, a little before harvest, to ripen the corn, and swell and plump the ears of it, and make them yield more and better;

See Gill on "Joe 2:23",



that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil; which were the principal things the land afforded for the sustenance of men; bread corn, the stay and staff of human life, and which strengthens man's heart, and makes him fit for labour; wine, which is his drink, and makes the heart of man glad and cheerful; and oil, which in these countries was used instead of butter, and was fattening, and made the face to shine, Ps 104:15. The ingathering of these fruits were at different times; the barley harvest first, the wheat harvest next, and after that the vintage, and the gathering of the olives; and by means of rain in due season they were favoured with each of these.





Deuteronomy 11:15



Ver. 15. And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle,.... By giving plentiful showers of rain at proper times, to cause it to spring up and grow, that so there might be food for the cattle of every sort, greater or lesser; see Ps 104:13,



that thou mayest eat and be full; which refers to the preceding verse as well as to this; and the sense is, that the Israelites might eat of and enjoy the fruits of the earth to satiety; namely, their corn, wine, and oil; and that their cattle might have grass enough to supply them with.





Deuteronomy 11:16



Ver. 16. Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived,.... By observing the influence of the heavens upon the fruitfulness of the earth, and so be drawn to the worship of the host of them, the sun, moon, and stars; or by the examples of nations round about them; and by the plausible arguments they may make use of, taken from the traditions of ancestors, from antiquity, and the consent of nations, and the great numbers of worshippers, and the like:



and ye turn aside; from the true God, and the worship of him; or from the law, as Jarchi, which directs to the worship of one God, and forbids idolatry, or the worshipping of images:



and serve other gods, and worship them; other gods than the one only living and true God; gods that made not the heavens and the earth, and which cannot give rain, nor any blessing and mercy of life, nor help and deliver their worshippers when in distress.





Deuteronomy 11:17



Ver. 17. And then the Lord's wrath be kindled against you,.... For their idolatry, nothing being more provoking to him than that, it being contrary to his nature and being, as well as to his will, and to his honour and glory:



and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain; the treasures and storehouses of it there, or the windows of it, the clouds, which when opened let it down, but when shut withhold it; the key of rain is one of the keys which the Jews say {k} the Lord keeps in his own hand, and with it he opens and no man shuts, and shuts and no man opens; see

De 28:12



and that the land yield not her fruit; which is unavoidably the case when rain is withheld:



and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you; for if the land does not yield its fruits sufficient to support the inhabitants of it, they must in course perish.



{k} Targum Jon. in Deut. xxviii. 12.





Deuteronomy 11:18



Ver. 18-20. Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart, and in your soul,.... Treasure up the laws of God delivered to them in their minds, retain them in their memories, and cherish a cordial affection for them; which would be an antidote against apostasy, idolatry, and other sins, Ps 119:11



and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes; of this and the two following verses,

See Gill on "De 6:7",

See Gill on "De 6:8",

See Gill on "De 6:9".





Deuteronomy 11:19



Ver. 19. See Gill on "De 11:18".





Deuteronomy 11:20



Ver. 20. See Gill on "De 11:18".





Deuteronomy 11:21



Ver. 21. That your days may be multiplied,.... Long life being a very desirable blessing, and which is promised to those that obey and keep the law; see De 30:19



and the days of your children; which are dear to parents, and the continuance of whose lives, next to their own, is most desirable, yea, as desirable as their own; and especially it is desirable that they might have a posterity descending from them, to enjoy for ever their estates and possessions; as it was to the people of Israel, that they might have a seed always to dwell



in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them; the land of Canaan, so often spoken of as the promise, oath, and gift of God:



as the days of heaven upon the earth; that is, as long as the heavens and the earth shall be, and the one shall be over the other, as they will be to the end of time.





Deuteronomy 11:22



Ver. 22. For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you to do them,.... Observe and take notice of them, even all of them, and so as not merely to have a theory or notional knowledge of them, but to put them in practice:



to love the Lord your God; and show it by obeying his commands, and which is the end of the commandment, and the principle from which all obedience should flow:



to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him; see De 10:12.





Deuteronomy 11:23



Ver. 23. Then will the Lord drive out all those nations from before you,.... By little and little, even all the seven nations which then inhabited the land of Canaan; and this he would do to make room for them, that they might inherit the land; see De 7:1



and ye shall possess greater nations, and mightier than yourselves; countries whose inhabitants were more in number, and greater in strength, than they; and therefore the conquest of them was not to be ascribed to themselves, but to the Lord; this is often observed; see De 7:1.





Deuteronomy 11:24



Ver. 24. Every place wherein the soles of your feet shall tread,.... Meaning in the land of Canaan; though the Jews vainly apply this to every land, and country, and place therein, where any of them come; pleasing themselves with this foolish fancy, that all shall be theirs that the foot of any of them have trod upon, or they have dwelt in; but that it respects only the land of Canaan appears by the following description of it and its boundaries:



from the wilderness; the wilderness of Paran, which lay to the south of it, where Kadesh was, from whence the spies were sent, and was the southern border of it:



and Lebanon; which was a range of mountains to the north of it; and was the northern border of the land:



from the river, the river Euphrates; which was the eastern border of it, when it was carried to its utmost extent, as in the days of Solomon, 1Ki 4:21



even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be: the Mediterranean sea, which was the western border of the land of Canaan, or "the hinder sea", and so it is called Zec 14:8, it lay at the back of them; for if a man stands with his face to the east, the south will be on his right hand, and the north on his left, and the west will be behind him, or at the back of him.





Deuteronomy 11:25



Ver. 25. There shall be no man able to stand before you,.... Meaning not a single man, such an one as Og, or any of the sons of Anak, the giants; because it could never be thought, imagined, or feared, that one man only should be able to stand against 600,000 fighting men, but any people or nation, though greater and mightier than they:



for the Lord your God shall lay the fear of you, and the dread of you, upon all the land that ye shall tread upon: that is, upon all the land of Canaan, and the inhabitants of it; who should hear what wonderful things had been done for them in Egypt, and at the Red sea, and in the wilderness; and what they had done to Sihon and Og, and to their countries, and which accordingly was fulfilled, Jos 2:9



as he hath said unto you; had promised them, De 2:25 and which was prophesied of in the prophetic song at the Red sea; see Ex 15:14.





Deuteronomy 11:26



Ver. 26. Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse,.... Meaning the law of God, and the statutes, judgments, and commandments of it; which, if obeyed, blessings would be bestowed upon them; but if disobeyed, they would be liable to the curses of it, as the following words explain it; see De 30:15 everyone of the Israelites were called upon to see and consider this matter, it being an interesting one to them all.





Deuteronomy 11:27



Ver. 27. A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God,.... That is, a blessing should come upon them, even all temporal blessings they stood in need of; they should be blessed in body and estate, in their families, and in their flocks, in town and country; see De 28:1,



which I command you this day; afresh repeated to them, and enjoined them the observation of it in the name of the Lord.





Deuteronomy 11:28



Ver. 28. And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God,.... Accursed in body and estate, in basket and store; in their families, flocks, and herds; within doors and without; in city, and country; going out, or coming in; in this world, and that to come, if divine goodness prevent not; see De 28:15



but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day; which the law he gave them, and repeated to them, directed them to walk in:



to go after other gods, which ye have not known; to serve and worship the gods of other nations, strange gods, which neither they nor their fathers knew anything of, or ever received any good thing from; and which indeed are no gods, and nothing in the world, as an idol is.





Deuteronomy 11:29



Ver. 29. And it shall come to pass, when the Lord thy God hath bought thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it,.... Which is often observed, as being near at hand; and when and where many things were to be done, which could not be done in the place and circumstances they now were, particularly what follows:



that thou shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim, and the curse upon Mount Ebal; that is, pronounce the one on one mountain, and the other on the other mountain, or at least towards them, or over against them. The Targum of Jonathan is



"ye shall set six tribes on Mount Gerizim, and six tribes on Mount Ebal; (#De 27:12,13) blessing they shall turn their faces against Mount Gerizim, and cursing they shall turn their faces against Mount Ebal;''



with which agrees the account given in the Misnah;



"six tribes went to the top of Mount Gerizim, and six to the top of Mount Ebal; and the priests and the Levites, and the ark, stood below in the middle; the priests surrounded the ark, and the Levites the priests, and all Israel were on this and on that side of the ark, as in Jos 8:33 then they turned their faces against Gerizim, they opened with the blessing, blessed is he that maketh not any graven or molten image, and both answered "Amen"; then they turned their faces against Mount Ebal, and opened with the curse, De 27:15 and both answered Amen {s};''



see the performance of this command in Jos 8:33.



{s} Sotah, c. 7. sect. 5.





Deuteronomy 11:30



Ver. 30. Are they not on the other side Jordan,.... Opposite to that where Moses now was in the plains of Moab, even in Samaria; so in the Misnah {t} it is said,



"as soon as Israel passed over Jordan, they came to Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, which are in Samaria;''



but those mountains were not near Jordan nor Jericho, to which the people of Israel came first, but sixty miles from thence; though they were, as Moses says, on the other side from the place they now were:



by the way wherewith the sun goeth down; or, as the Targum of Jonathan,



"after the way of the sun setting;''



following that, or taking their direction from thence, signifying that they lay to the west of Jordan:



in the land of the Canaanites; of that particular tribe or nation which were eminently called Canaanites, for these dwelt by the sea by the coast of Jordan, Nu 13:29 or as further described,



that dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal; in the plain open champaign country opposite to Gilgal; not that Gilgal Joshua encamped at before he came to Jericho, which in Moses's time was not known by that name, but another, as Dr. Lightfoot {u} observes, and he thinks Galilee is meant:



beside the plains of Moreh; near to Shechem, Ge 12:6 and that Gerizim, one of these mountains, was not far from Shechem, is evident from Jud 9:6 and so in the Misnah {w} it is said, that these mountains were on the side of Shechem, which is in the plains of Moreh, as in De 11:30 as the plains of Moreh here denote Shechem, so there: Benjamin of Tudela says {x} there is a valley between them, in which lies Shechem; and in his time there were on Mount Gerizim fountains and orchards, but Mount Ebal was dry like stones and rocks. The Targum of Jonathan here, instead of Moreh, reads Mamre; see

Ge 13:18.



{t} Sotah, c. 7. sect. 5. {u} Chorograph. Cent. c. 48. {w} Sotah, c. 7. sect. 5. {x} Itinerarium, p. 38, 40.





Deuteronomy 11:31



Ver. 31. For ye shall pass over Jordan, to go in to possess the land Which the Lord your God giveth you,.... They were now near it, and by this they are assured they should pass over it, in order to take possession of the land God had given them, and which gift of his was a sufficient title to it:



and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein: should not only take possession of it, but make their abode in it; they are assured hereby of continuance in it, on condition they obeyed the laws of God, as follows.





Deuteronomy 11:32



Ver. 32. And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments,.... Take notice of them, and heed unto them, so as to practise them:



which I set before you this day; repeated in order to them, on the observance of which depended their continuance in the land of Canaan; and therefore this is so often repeated and urged.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Deuteronomy 12:1



INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 12



In this chapter orders are given to destroy all altars, pillars, groves, and images, made for the worship of idols in the land of Canaan, De 12:1 and to bring all sacrifices and holy things unto the place which the Lord should choose for his habitation, and not do as they then did, not being come to their rest, De 12:4, flesh for their common food might be killed and eaten in their own houses, provided they did not eat the blood, but poured it out upon the earth, De 12:15, tithes, vows, and freewill offerings, were to be eaten in the holy place, De 12:17 and burnt offerings to be offered on the altar of the Lord and the blood of them to be poured out upon the altar, De 12:26, all which they were carefully to observe, De 12:29, and they are cautioned against idolatry, and inquiring after the manner of it, as practised by the old inhabitants of the land, and introducing their customs into the service of God, De 12:30.



Ver. 1. These are the statutes and judgments which ye shall observe to do,.... Which are recorded in this and the following chapters; here a new discourse begins, and which perhaps was delivered at another time, and respects things that were to be observed:



in the land which the Lord God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it; the land of Canaan, often described by this circumlocution, to put them in mind that it was promised to their fathers by their covenant God, was his gift to them, and which they would quickly be in the possession of; and therefore when in it should be careful to observe the statutes and judgments of God constantly:



[even] all the days that ye live upon the earth; or land, the land of Canaan; for though there were some laws binding upon them, live where they would, there were others peculiar to the land of Canaan, which they were to observe as long as they and their posterity lived there; see 1Ki 8:40.





Deuteronomy 12:2



Ver. 2. Ye shall utterly destroy all the places wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods,.... The temples erected for the worship of them by the Canaanites, of which there were many, as appears by the various names of places given them from the temples in them, as Bethshemesh, Bethbaalmeon, Bethpeor, and others:



upon the high mountains and upon the hills: which they chose to worship on, being nearer the heavens, and which they thought most acceptable to their gods; and some of them had their names from hence, as Baalpeor, in like manner as Jupiter Olympius was called by the Greeks; see Jer 2:20,



and under every green tree; which being shady and solitary, and pleasant to the sight, they fancied their gods delighted in, and this notion prevailed among other nations; and there is scarcely any deity but what had some tree or another devoted to it; as the oak to Jupiter, the laurel to Apollo, the ivy to Bacchus, the olive to Minerva, the myrtle to Venus, &c. see Jer 2:20.





Deuteronomy 12:3



Ver. 3. And you shall overthrow their altars,.... Which were of stone, as Jarchi observes; whereas the altar ordered to be made by the Lord, before the altar of burnt offering in the tabernacle was made, was of earth, Ex 20:24 these were to be demolished, lest the Israelites should be tempted to make use of them; and besides, the Lord would not have any remains of idolatry in the land where his tabernacle and worship were, as being abominable to him:



and break down their pillars; or statues erected to the honour of their idols; according to Jarchi it was a single stone hewed out at first for the basis of a statue {y}; perhaps such as were called Baetulia, in imitation of the stone Jacob set up for a pillar at Bethel, Ge 28:18



and burn their groves with fire; which were planted about their temples, and under which also their idols were placed, and where they privately committed the most abominable lewdness under the notion of religion. The Targum of Jonathan renders the word "abominations", meaning idols; and so Jarchi interprets it by a tree that is worshipped; See Gill on "De 7:5"



and you shall hew down the graven images of their gods; which were made of wood:



and destroy the names of them out of the place; by never making any mention of them in common discourse, and by changing the names of places called from them; and especially by destroying all the relics of them, and whatever appertained to them, which might lead to the mention of them; see Ho 2:17.



{y} Misn. Avodah Zarah, c. 3. sect. 7.





Deuteronomy 12:4



Ver. 4. Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God. Not sacrifice to him on hills and mountains, and under green trees; though the Jews commonly refer this to the destruction of the names of God, and of any thing appertaining to the temple; that though the temples and the altars of the Heathens were to be overthrown, yet not a stone was to be taken from the house of God, or that belonged to it, nor any of his names to be blotted out; so the Targum of Jonathan and Maimonides {z}, who also observes {a}, that whoever removes a stone by way of destruction from the altar, or from the temple, or from the court, is to be beaten; so he that burns the holy wood.



{z} Yesode Hattorah, c. 6. sect. 7, 9. {a} Ibid. sect. 8.





Deuteronomy 12:5



Ver. 5. But unto the place which the Lord your God,.... The Targum of Jonathan is, that the Word of the Lord your God:



shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there; to place his tabernacle, set up his worship, take up his residence, and cause the Shechinah, or his divine Majesty, to dwell there, as the next clause explains it; out of what tribe it should be chosen, and where it should be, is not said. Maimomides {b} gives three reasons for it; he says there are three great mysteries why the place is not clearly, but obscurely mentioned;



1) lest the Gentiles should seize upon it, and make war for the sake of it, supposing this place to be the end of the law; 2) lest they in whose hands the place then was should by all means waste and destroy it; 3) which is the chief, lest every tribe should desire to have it in its own lot and jurisdiction; and so strifes might arise among them on account of it, as happened to the priesthood:



[even] unto his habitation shall ye seek; the temple at Jerusalem is meant, where the Lord took up his dwelling, and whither men were to come and seek unto him by prayer and supplication for whatsoever they needed, and to inquire of him in matters doubtful, and they wanted counsel in:



and thither thou shall come: with sacrifices of every sort, where they were to be slain and offered to the Lord, and become acceptable to him, as is more largely declared in the following part of this chapter.



{b} Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 45. p. 475.





Deuteronomy 12:6



Ver. 6. And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings,.... For the daily sacrifice, and upon any other account whatsoever; this was before ordered to be brought to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and now to the place where that should be fixed, Le 17:8



and your sacrifices: all other distinct from burnt offerings, as sin offerings, trespass offerings, and peace offerings, especially the latter. Jarchi interprets them of peace offerings of debt, such as a man was obliged to bring; but as the distance of some persons from Jerusalem was very great, and it was troublesome and expensive, they might, according to the Jewish writers, bring them the next grand festival, when all the males were obliged to appear there; so says Maimonides {c}, all offerings of a man, whether by obligation (such as he was bound to bring) or freewill offerings, he must bring at the first feast that comes; and another of their writers observes {d}, that if only one feast has passed, and he has not brought his vow, he transgresses an affirmative precept, De 12:6 the first feast on which thou comest thither, thou must needs bring it; and if three have passed, he transgresses a negative precept, De 23:21



and your tithes; tithes of beasts, and the second tithes, according to Jarchi:



and heave offerings of your hand; these according to the same writer were the firstfruits, and so it is rendered in the Septuagint version; and thus Maimonides {e} says, the firstfruits are called Trumot, or heave offerings; see Ex 22:29



and your vows and your freewill offerings; which were a type of peace offerings, Le 7:16



and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks; which were sanctified and devoted to the Lord, Ex 13:2.



{c} Praefat. ad Yad Chazakah. {d} Bartenora in Misn. Roshhashanah, c. 1. sect. 1. & in Misn. Ediot, c. 7. sect. 6. {e} In Misn. Meilah, c. 4. sect. 2.





Deuteronomy 12:7



Ver. 7. And there ye shall eat before the Lord your God,.... The priests and the Levites, what was their portion, so Aben Ezra; but the people also are included, and by what follows seem chiefly designed, who were to eat their part of the sacrifices, particularly of the tithes and peace offerings, in the holy place that should be chosen and appointed; see De 14:22



and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto; in all the labours of their hands, and what they got thereby, which they were cheerfully to enjoy, and express their thankfulness for it in this way; see Ec 5:18



ye and your households; their wives, sons, daughters, men and maid servants; yea, with them Levites, strangers, fatherless, and widows, were to partake of some of their freewill offerings, De 16:10



wherein the Lord thy God hath blessed thee; and these offerings were eucharistical, and by way of thanksgiving for the blessing of God upon their labours, for it is that which maketh rich, Pr 10:22.





Deuteronomy 12:8



Ver. 8. Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here,.... In the wilderness, where they had no abiding, but were continually removing from place to place, and could not always observe punctually and precisely the exact order and time of their sacrifices and other things, nor offer them at any certain place, and many were doubtless neglected by them; see Am 5:25



every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes; that did he, brought the above things when and where he pleased; not that there was no regard had to the laws and rules given, as if there was no priest in Israel; but they were not so exactly in all circumstances conformed to as they would be obliged to when they came into the land of Canaan, and had a certain place to bring their offerings to; so some in Aben Ezra observe, that one would give the firstling, another not, because it depended on the land, or was what they were obliged to only when they came into the land of Canaan; see Ex 13:11 but he thinks the sense is, that they did not all fear God, and so did not do their duty.





Deuteronomy 12:9



Ver. 9. For ye are not yet come to the rest,.... The land of Canaan, which was typical of the rest which remains for the people of God in heaven; for though they now enter into a spiritual rest in Christ, they are not yet come to their eternal rest; they are in a world of trouble, through sin, Satan, and wicked men; but they shall come to it, as Israel did to Canaan; for God has promised and prepared it, and it remains for them; Christ prayed for it, is also gone to prepare it, and the Spirit is the seal and earnest of it, and works up the saints, and makes them meet for it:



and to the inheritance which the Lord your God giveth you; and the land of Canaan being an inheritance, and the gift of God, was also a type of the heavenly inheritance; which saints are now born unto, and have both a right unto, and meetness for, through the righteousness of Christ, and grace of God; but as yet are not entered on it, but that is reserved for them in heaven, and they are preserved and kept for that; and ere long shall inherit it, as the free gift of God their Father to them, and which is peculiar to them as children. Jarchi and Ben Melech by the "rest" understand Shiloh, and by the inheritance Jerusalem; so in the Misnah {f}; see 1Ch 23:25 the Targum of Jonathan is,



"ye are not come to the house of the sanctuary, which is the house of rest, and to the inheritance of the land.''



{f} Zebachim, c. 14. sect. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. & Bartenora in ib.





Deuteronomy 12:10



Ver. 10. But when ye go over Jordan,.... Which lay between the place where they now were, and the land of Canaan, and which they would quickly go over:



and dwell in the land which the Lord your God giveth you to inherit; the land of Canaan, and which shows that that is meant by the inheritance: and when



he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about: which was done when the land was subdued, and divided among the tribes of Israel, Jos 22:4 and which confirms the sense of Canaan being the rest; though this was more completely fulfilled in the days of David, when he and Israel had rest from all their enemies round about, 2Sa 7:1 and who brought the ark of the Lord to Jerusalem; and into whose heart the Lord put it to prepare to build a temple at Jerusalem for him, and which was erected and finished in the days of his son Solomon:



so that ye dwell in safety; from their enemies, as they more especially did in the reigns of David and Solomon; which seems plainly to describe the time when the place not named should appear to be chosen by the Lord to put his name in, as follows.





Deuteronomy 12:11



Ver. 11. Then there shall be a place,.... Fixed and settled, and will be known to be the place:



which the Lord your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there: where he himself would dwell, and where his name would be called, and he would be worshipped:



thither shall ye bring all that I command you, your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offerings of your hands; of which See Gill on "De 12:6"



and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the Lord; or, "the choice of your vows" {g}; which, as Jarchi observes, was brought of their choicest things, as they ought to be; see Mal 1:14.



{g} Mkyrdn rxbm eklekton twn dwrwn umwn, Sept. "optima votorum vestrorum", Fagius.





Deuteronomy 12:12



Ver. 12. And ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God,.... In the place chosen and fixed, where a temple would be built for him, and he would take up his residence; eating with joy and gladness that part of the offerings which belonged to them, keeping as it were a feast before the Lord, in token of gratitude for what they had received from him:



ye and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants; which explains what is meant by their household, De 12:7 wives are not mentioned, because it could not be thought they would eat and rejoice, or keep such a feast, without them, and therefore needless to name them:



and the Levite that is within your gates; such also were to partake of this entertainment, who were useful in instructing their families in the knowledge of divine things, and serviceable to them on many accounts in the worship of God:



forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you; in the division of the land, and so having nothing to manure and cultivate, was destitute of the fruits of the earth, and could make no improvement and increase of his substance, as they could.





Deuteronomy 12:13



Ver. 13. Take heed to thyself, that thou offer not thy burnt offerings,.... And so any other, this is put for all the rest:



in every place that thou seest; which might take with their fancy, seem pleasant, and so a proper and suitable place to sacrifice in, as on high places, and under green trees; but they were not to indulge their own fancies and imaginations, or follow the customs of others, but keep to the rules prescribed them by the Lord, and to the place fixed by him for his worship.





Deuteronomy 12:14



Ver. 14. But in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes,.... Which tribe is not named, nor what place in that tribe;

See Gill on "De 12:5",



there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings; on the altar of burnt offering there placed:



and there shalt thou do all that I command thee; respecting sanctuary service, and particularly those things observed in De 12:6.





Deuteronomy 12:15



Ver. 15. Notwithstanding, thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates,.... They might kill such cattle that were allowed for food, and eat the flesh of them in theie own cities and houses in which they dwelt; they were not obliged to bring these to the place God should choose, and kill them there, as they had been wont to bring them to the tabernacle while in the wilderness:



whatsoever thy soul lusteth after; whatever they had a mind to, or their appetite craved, and were desirous of, provided it was not any thing forbidden, but was allowed to be eaten:



according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee; which it was in the power of their hands to procure for themselves; they might live according to their abilities, and keep a table answerable to what God had blessed them with; from which they were so far from being restrained, that it was rather commendable in them so to do, provided they did not indulge to luxury and intemperance:



the clean and the unclean may eat thereof; that is, such in their families who laboured under any ceremonial uncleanness by the touch of a dead body, or by reason of issues and menstrues; these, as well as those who were free from anything of this kind, might eat of common food in their houses, though they might not eat of the holy things; see Le 7:20



as of the roebuck, and as of the hart; that is, as those were clean creatures, and allowed for food, De 14:5 so they might eat of oxen or sheep, or lambs or rams, and goats, though they were creatures used in sacrifice.





Deuteronomy 12:16



Ver. 16. Only ye shall not eat the blood,.... All manner of blood being forbidden, of fowl or of beasts, whether slain for sacrifice or for common food:



ye shall pour it out upon the earth as water; which cannot be gathered up again for use, but is swallowed up in the earth.





Deuteronomy 12:17



Ver. 17. Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil,.... This cannot be understood of the tithe given to the Levites, or of that which the Levites out of theirs gave to the priests, for that was only eaten by them; but of the tithe which every three years they were to lay up within their gates, and which they were to eat with their families and others; but the other two years they were to carry it to the place the Lord chose, or turn it into money, and when they came thither purchase with it what they pleased, and eat it, they and their household, and others with them, before the Lord; see De 14:22,



the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flocks; these also the firstborn males belonged to the Lord, and so to the priests, and could not be eaten by the people any where; and must be understood either of the next firstlings, which were the people's, or of the female firstlings, which they might devote to the Lord, and so not allowed to eat at home, but in the chosen place:



nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offerings; which were species of peace offerings, and so to be eaten not in their own cities, but in the place appointed:



or heave offerings of thine hand; the firstfruits; see De 26:1 these were such they were not bound to bring, but brought them freely.





Deuteronomy 12:18



Ver. 18. But thou must eat them before the Lord thy God, in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose,.... Which may be said to be eaten before him, being eaten in the place where his sanctuary stood, in which he dwelt:



thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates; who were all to come with him to this place; See Gill on "De 12:12"



and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God in all that thou puttest thine hand unto; cheerfully make and keep this feast in the manner directed to, rejoicing with his family and his friends, with the Levites and with the poor, expressing his thankfulness to God for his blessing on his labour.





Deuteronomy 12:19



Ver. 19. Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite,.... By withholding from him the tithes appointed for his maintenance; or rather by neglecting to take him with him in order to partake of the feast or entertainment before spoken of:



as long as thou livest upon the earth; so that it was not one time only, but always; whenever he ate these holy things before the Lord, as long as he lived, he was to be careful he had the Levite with him, for a reason given, De 12:12.





Deuteronomy 12:20



Ver. 20. When the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee,.... Brought them into the land of Canaan, where they should have large and good pastures for the feeding of their cattle, which they had not in the wilderness, and so a greater increase of them:



and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh; which they were shorts of, or ate but little of in the wilderness, lest their herds and their flocks should be consumed; but now having room to feed them, and an increase of them, they would give themselves a greater liberty of eating flesh:



because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; would have a craving appetite unto it, having so long ate none, or very little:



thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after; of any sort that is clean, and allowed to be eaten, and as much of it as is craved, only intemperance must be guarded against.





Deuteronomy 12:21



Ver. 21. If the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to put his name be too far from thee,.... Or rather "for" {h}, or "seeing" the place will be too far from thee; for it is allowed before that they might kill and eat flesh for common food in their gates, De 12:15



then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock; of thy oxen and of thy sheep, creatures used in sacrifice; but this was no bar to the use of them for common food also:



which the Lord hath given thee, as I have commanded thee; De 12:15



and thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after; flesh of any sort, lawful to be eaten.



{h} yk "cum", Pagninus, Montanus.





Deuteronomy 12:22



Ver. 22. Even as the roebuck and the hart is eaten,.... Which were not only clean creatures, as before observed, but were commonly and frequently eaten, there being plenty of them in those parts:



so thou shalt eat them; their oxen and calves, their sheep and lambs, their goats and their kids:



the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike; no difference being to be made on that account, with respect to common food;

See Gill on "De 12:15" which all alike might partake of, notwithstanding any ceremonial uncleanness that any might be attended with.





Deuteronomy 12:23



Ver. 23. Only be sure that thou eat not the blood,.... This is repeated again, that they might be careful to observe the law concerning that:



for the blood is the life: which is the reason given for the prohibition of it, See Gill on "Le 17:11",



and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh: by which it seems that the meaning of the law was, that the blood might not be eaten in or with the flesh, but to be let out of it, or the fish not to be eaten raw, but dressed; for there were various laws about eating of blood, which are differently expressed.





Deuteronomy 12:24



Ver. 24. Thou shalt not eat it,.... Neither with the flesh, nor separately:



thou shall pour it upon the earth as water; as the blood of sacrifices was poured upon the altar, the blood of common flesh was to be poured upon the earth, signifying it was not to be used, and no account to be made of it; See Gill on "De 12:16"





Deuteronomy 12:25



Ver. 25. Thou shall not eat it, that it may be well with thee, and with thy children after thee,.... That they and their posterity might be spared, and continue long, and enjoy much prosperity; for those that eat blood, contrary to this command of God, it is threatened that he would set his face against them, and they should be cut off, Le 7:27,



when thou shall do that which is right in the sight of the Lord; not only observe this command, but all others.





Deuteronomy 12:26



Ver. 26. Only thy holy things which thou hast,.... Which the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan interpret of the tithe of their holy things, and Aben Ezra of their burnt offerings and peace offerings; they seem to include all in De 12:17



and thy vows thou shalt take, and go unto the place which the Lord shall choose; so often referred to, but not named; see De 12:5.





Deuteronomy 12:27



Ver. 27. And thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the Lord thy God,.... And on that only, even the altar of burnt offering:



and the blood of thy sacrifices; one as well as another, not only of the burnt offerings, but of the sin offerings, trespass offerings, and peace offerings:



shall be poured out upon the altar of the Lord thy God: either sprinkled on it, or poured out at the bottom of it; see Le 1:1,



and thou shalt eat the flesh; that is, of the peace offerings, for of them only might the people eat, and that only before the Lord.





Deuteronomy 12:28



Ver. 28. Observe and hear all these words which I command thee,.... Respecting the demolition of all monuments of idolatry, and bringing all holy things to the place the Lord should choose to dwell in; and eating common flesh in their own houses, only to be careful not to eat blood:



that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever; for, as has been often observed, their continuance in the land of Canaan, and enjoyment of all good things in it, depended upon their obedience to the commands of God; see Isa 1:19



when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord thy God; which is to do all his commandments; for these are what are good and right in his sight, and it is for the good of men to do them.





Deuteronomy 12:29



Ver. 29. When the Lord thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee,.... The seven nations of the land of Canaan, De 7:1,



whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; or to inherit them, and thou dost inherit them, by dwelling in their land.





Deuteronomy 12:30



Ver. 30. Take heed to thyself, that thou be not snared by following them,.... Their examples and customs, and so be drawn into the same idolatrous practices; see Ps 106:35, after that they be destroyed from before thee; for their idolatries and other sins:



and that thou inquire not after their gods; what they were, their names, forms, and figures:



saying, how did these nations serve their gods? what was the manner of worship they gave them? what rites, customs, and ceremonies did they use in their adoration of them?



even so will I do likewise; or however, if this was not determined on when the inquiries were made, there was danger that this would be the result of them, and therefore the caution is given.





Deuteronomy 12:31



Ver. 31. Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God,.... Not serve and worship him after the manner of the Gentiles, nor introduce their rites and customs into his service, used by them in the worship of their gods:



for every abomination which he hateth have they done unto their gods; as murder, adultery, &c. which God has expressed his aversion to, and indignation at; one instance of the former sort is given here:



for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods; not only men have they sacrificed to them, but such near relations; and not only caused them to pass through the fire, but burnt them in it; so the Carthaginians are said to do, who learned this inhuman practice from the Phoenicians; they were a colony of the inhabitants of this land of Canaan. Of the Phoenicians Porphyry says {i}, that in great calamities, as war or pestilence, they sacrificed to Saturn some one of those that were dearest to them, appointed by suffrage. The Phoenician history, adds he, is full of such sacrifices, which Sanchoniatho wrote in the Phoenician language; and Curtius says {k}, this custom of sacrificing a fine boy to Saturn was received by the Carthaginians from their founders (the Tyrians and Phoenicians), and which they continued even to the destruction of their city.



{i} De Abstinentia, l. 2. sect. 56. {k} Hist. l. 4. c. 3.





Deuteronomy 12:32



Ver. 32. What thing soever I command you, observe to do it,.... In the manner it is commanded and directed to; the laws of God, both as to matter and manner, were to be obeyed just as they were delivered: thou shall not add thereto, nor diminish from it; neither add any customs and rites of the Heathens to them, nor neglect anything enjoined on them, see Pr 30:6.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Deuteronomy 13:1



INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 13



In this chapter the Israelites are taught how to discern a false prophet, shun and punish him, De 13:1, what to do with enticers to idolatry, not only not to consent to them, but, without favour and affection to them, endeavour to bring them to just punishment, and be the first that should inflict it on them, De 13:6 and how to behave towards a city drawn into idolatry, as to inquire the truth of it; then make war against it; destroy all in it, men, women, children, and cattle; and burn the spoil of it, and suffer not anything at all belonging to it to cleave unto them, De 13:12.



Ver. 1. If there arise among you a prophet,.... A false prophet, a lying prophet, as the Targum of Jonathan; one that pretends to be a true prophet, and to be sent of God, and to come from him with a message from him, a new revelation or doctrine, or in his name, to foretell things to come; the former is chiefly meant. Such prophets did arise in Israel before the time of Christ, and have since arose under the Christian name; see 2Pe 2:1,



or a dreamer of dreams; the same with the prophet, only to be distinguished by the different manner of their having the mind and will of God revealed to them, pretended to; either by vision or by dream, which were the two usual ways in which the Lord spake to the true prophets, Nu 12:6 so that the prophet is one who pretended he had a vision from the Lord, and the dreamer one that had a dream from him, or something revealed to him in a dream; and dreams are sometimes used for false doctrines, vain, deceitful, and illusory; see Jer 23:25. The Targum of Jonathan calls him



"a dreamer of a dream of pride:''



such persons are generally prompted by the pride of their own hearts to take such a method to make themselves famous and respected among men; and usually bring such doctrines with them which are agreeable to the pride and vanity of human nature:



and giving thee a sign or a wonder; for the confirmation of his mission and doctrine; such as Moses wrought before the children of Israel and before Pharaoh. Signs are expressions or representations of things to come to pass; wonders, such as either do, or seem to exceed the common course of nature, or be contrary to it.





Deuteronomy 13:2



Ver. 2. And the sign and wonder come to pass whereof he spake unto thee,.... The sign he promised to give, or the miracle he proposed to do, to show the reality of his mission, and the truth of his doctrine, which is performed, or seemingly performed, by legerdemain, by magic art, or by the help of the devil; which the Lord sometimes suffered for the trial of the faith and obedience of his people, and for the hardening of others in their unbelief, and which issues in their destruction; see 2Th 2:9,



saying, let us go after other gods (which thou hast not known), and let us serve them; other gods besides the one living and true God, the Creator of all things; strange gods, the idols of the people, as the Targum of Jonathan; such as they had never heard of, nor had any knowledge of, nor any benefit from, as they had of the Lord their God. Now the doctrines of these, and of their worship, are what the false prophet or dreamer is supposed to come with, and inculcate into the minds of the people; and for the confirmation of which, and in order to draw them into the reception of them, and act according to them, he proposed to give a sign or wonder.





Deuteronomy 13:3



Ver. 3. Thou shall not hearken to the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams,.... Even though he does give the sign, and work the wonder; for it might be reasonably concluded there must be fallacy in him, and that neither he nor his miraculous sign could come from God, who would never send a person to enable him to do signs and wonders, to persuade men to believe and act contrary to a former declaration of his mind and will; to break a plain law of his, as in De 5:7, this would be to contradict and deny himself; whatever therefore is contrary to a known law or established doctrine, either of law or Gospel, let it come from whom it will, or pretend to be confirmed by miracles, is not to be received; see Ga 1:8,



for the Lord your God proveth you, whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul; for should they be prevailed upon by such a prophet to hearken to his doctrine, and embrace it, and act according to it, it would be a plain case that they did not cordially love the Lord, since they could so easily, and by such pretences, be drawn aside from the true worship of him, and serve other gods; on the other hand, it would be a proof of their sincere affection for God, and of their close and strict attachment to him, that notwithstanding such specious pretences made, and such miracles wrought, yet abode by him and his worship, and could not be wrought upon to forsake him and follow other gods and serve them; see 1Co 11:19.





Deuteronomy 13:4



Ver. 4. Ye shall walk after the Lord your God,.... As he has directed, according to the laws and rules which he has given, both with respect to their moral and civil conduct, and their religious worship of him; and so the Targum of Jonathan,



"ye shall walk after the worship of the Lord your God:''



and fear him, and keep his commandments; fear to offend him, and so keep his commandments; or keep his commandments from or through fear; not a servile but a filial one, a reverential affection for him; this is the whole duty of man, Ec 12:13,



and obey his voice; in his word, or by his prophets and ministers: it may very well be understood of the voice of Christ, the Angel that went before them, whose voice they were continually to hearken to and obey, Ex 23:21



and you shall serve him, and cleave unto him; it may respect all religious worship, both private and public; the Targum of Jonathan restrains it to prayer, but it not only includes that, but all other acts of piety and devotion, and which are to be constantly performed and not departed from; for so to do is to cleave to the Lord as a man to his wife, or a woman to her husband, in which conjugal relation God and his people Israel were, he was an husband unto them, and to do otherwise is to go a whoring from him after other gods.





Deuteronomy 13:5



Ver. 5. And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death,.... Which death, according to the Targum of Jonathan, was to be killed with the sword:



because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God; or "spoken revolt against the Lord" {l}, high treason against him, delivering out doctrine that tends to cause his subjects to rebel against him, and revolt from him; and therefore he is justly deserving of death, to draw off a people from him he had been so good and kind unto; so that to apostasy would be added the sin of ingratitude:



which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage; and so was not only their Lord by creation whom they ought to serve, but by redemption, which laid them under double obligation to serve him:



to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in; not by external force, but by the power of persuasion, by enticing words and arguments:



so shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee; the evil man, by putting him to death, and the evil of idolatry, by not listening to the words of the false prophet.



{l} hro "apostasiam", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "defectionem", Tigurine version.





Deuteronomy 13:6



Ver. 6. If thy brother, the son of thy mother,.... A brother by mother's side, which is generally supposed to be the nearest relation, at least most out of question, so more liable to be regarded as being beloved:



or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom; most dearly beloved by him, as indeed each of these relations are by a man, there being none nearer or dearer to him:



or thy friend, which [is] as thine own soul; as dear to him as himself, and so strictly united in friendship, as if one soul dwelt in two bodies; such close friends were Jonathan and David, 1Sa 18:1. Some Jewish writers think the father is not mentioned, because of the reverence of him, with which all later dealings with him obliged to would seem inconsistent; but the reverence of God is to be preferred to the reverence of parents; and besides, if such near relations that are here mentioned, than which there are none nearer, are not to be spared if guilty of the sin after warned against, then not a father, who is in the same transgression:



entice thee secretly; when alone with him, which might be judged the most proper time to work upon him, there being none to oppose the enticer, or to assist the enticed; so Satan took the opportunity of Eve being alone when he attacked her with his temptation, and the same method is taken by his children:



saying, let me go and serve other gods which thou hast not known, thou nor thy fathers; not even their immediate ancestors, and so the calf was not of these gods; nor their more remote ancestors, as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were no idolaters; nor even Terah, though he was one, yet the gods of the Canaanites and of the neighbouring nations, which seem to be here meant, at least principally, were such that he knew not. This circumstance may seem to carry in it an argument rather why they should not than why they should serve such gods; wherefore the words of the enticer seem to be only these,



let us go and serve other gods, and what follows are the words of the Lord, descriptive of those gods, and so a dissuasive from serving them.





Deuteronomy 13:7



Ver. 7. Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you,.... As of the Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, and Phoenicians:



nigh unto thee; as the above were, being on the borders of their land: the Targum of Jonathan interprets this of the idols of the seven nations, that is, of the land of Canaan: or



far off from thee; as the Babylonians, Persians, and others:



from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; which includes all the idols in the world, worshipped by whatsoever nation, and which were forbidden; and which shows the universality of idolatry in those times, and that that is an insufficient argument in its favour. Jarchi interprets this of the sun and moon, and the host of heaven, who go from one end of the world to the other; and this seems to have been the first and most common idolatry of the Gentile world, and which were worshipped in the several deities they set up.





Deuteronomy 13:8



Ver. 8. Thou shall not consent unto him,.... To commit the idolatry enticed unto, or join with him in it:



nor hearken to him; not so much as patiently to hear him, but at once express an abhorrence of and indignation at what he recommends:



neither shall thine eye pity him; pitied he might be for his ignorance, stupidity, and wickedness, and on account of the miserable estate and condition he was in, and of those dreadful consequences which would follow upon it, if not converted from it; but no mercy was to be shown him on account of nearness of relation:



neither shall thou spare; to reprove him sharply and to expose him to public vengeance:



neither shall thou conceal him; neither him nor his sin, but make both public, acquaint others with it, and endeavour to bring him before the civil magistrate to be examined, tried, and judged; so far should they be from hiding his offence from others, or excusing and extenuating it, or from harbouring his person privately when sought for upon information.





Deuteronomy 13:9



Ver. 9. But thou shalt surely kill him,.... Not privately and secretly, when and where he entices, nor the enticed himself by his own authority, but after being examined, judged, and condemned by the civil magistrate; and none might judge a false prophet but the sanhedrim at Jerusalem, the sanhedrim of seventy one {m}; see Lu 13:33, but the difficulty is how such an one could be convicted, since the affair was transacted secretly, De 13:6 and there were none present to be witnesses, none but the enticer and the enticed; so that either the enticer must be brought to a confession of his guilt, or the testimony of the enticed alone must be taken. The Jewish doctors say {n}, that they laid in wait for the enticer, which they never did for any other person, and the method they took was this; the enticed brought two persons, and put them behind a hedge, so that they might see the enticer, and hear his words, and he not see them; and he said to the enticer, say what thou hast said to me privately; which said, the enticed answered to him, how shall we leave our God which is in heaven, and go and serve wood and stone? if he returned (from his evil) hereby, or was silent, he was free; but if he said unto him, so we are obliged, and thus it is comely for us; they that stood afar off, behind the hedge (or in a dark room), brought him to the sanhedrim, and stoned him, that is, after examination, trial, judgment, and condemnation:



thine hand shall be first upon him, to put him to death; he was to throw the first stone at him, partly to show his indignation against the sin he had enticed him to, and that it had not at all affected him so as to incline him unto it; and partly to show that he had bore a true testimony, of which a suspicion might have been created in the minds of some, had he been backward to the execution of him:



and afterwards the hand of all the people; who then could proceed with more certainty and satisfaction: this shows that the person enticed had not a right to kill the enticer, without a judicial process, and the order of the civil magistrate.



{m} Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 1. sect. 7. {n} Ibid. c. 7. sect. 10. Maimon. Obede Cochabim, c. 5. sect. 3.





Deuteronomy 13:10



Ver. 10. And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die,.... It was not sufficient to answer the end of the law to cast a few stones at him, but he was to be stoned to death:



because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God; to compel by force of argument, or the dint of persuasion, to relinquish the profession of the true God, faith in him, and the worship of him:



which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; which aggravated the sin of the enticer, and would have made the sin of the enticed the more heinous had he fallen into it.





Deuteronomy 13:11



Ver. 11. And all Israel shall hear, and fear,.... Shall hear of the death the enticer was put unto, and shall fear to act such a part he did, and be upon their guard against any such person, and be cautious that they are not drawn into sin by him:



and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you; either to entice unto idolatry or commit it; which is a piece of wickedness against the first table of the law, and a very heinous one, and exceeding offensive and provoking to God, being so directly against his being, perfections, and glory.





Deuteronomy 13:12



Ver. 12. If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities,.... A report concerning them, anyone of them:



which the Lord thy God had given thee to dwell there; which he had not only given them, but had put them into the possession of, and it was become their dwelling place, or was inhabited by Israelites; otherwise they were already given unto them, but did not inherit and inhabit them, and it might be possible that there might be some city or cities, at least for a time, which, though given them, were not inhabited by them, but by the Canaanites, and such cities this law did not concern: saying; as follows.





Deuteronomy 13:13



Ver. 13. Certain men, the children of Belial,.... Which signify either persons without a yoke, who have thrown off the yoke of God's law, and will not submit to it, or unprofitable ones, as wicked men be, both to God, themselves, and others:



are gone out from among you; not locally, but with respect to their religious sentiments and practices, having separated themselves from the people of God, and from the service of the sanctuary, the true worship of God, and a profession of it, and given into the worship of idols:



and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city; withdrawn them by the force of persuasion from the worship of the true God, and drawn them into idolatry:



saying, let us go and serve other gods; unite as one man in the worship of the gods of the Gentiles:



which ye have not known; this was not said by the children of Belial, but is added by the Lord by way of explanation, showing what gods they were that these men advised them to serve, and confirms the observation made on De 13:6.





Deuteronomy 13:14



Ver. 14. Then shalt thou inquire, make search, and ask diligently,.... That is, of the witnesses, as the Targum of Jonathan; and this is a case that is only taken into consideration and judged of by the great sanhedrim, or that of seventy one, at Jerusalem {o}; and the method they took was this, when it fell under their cognizance: the great sanhedrim send and inquire and search till they know clearly that the whole city, or the greater part of it, are thrust away, and are turned to idolatry; after that they send two disciples of the wise men to admonish them and bring them back; if they return and repent, it is well, but if they continue in their folly, the sanhedrim order all Israel to go up against them to war, and they besiege them, and set themselves in battle array against them, until the city be broken up; and when it is broken up, immediately they set up many courts of judicature, and they judge them; and against whomsoever two witnesses come that he served idols, after they have admonished him they separate him; if all the worshippers be the fewest, they stone them, and the rest of the city are delivered; if they are found the greater number, they bring them to the great sanhedrim, and finish their judgment there, and they slay all those that have served with the sword:



and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain; that such wicked men have risen and have prevailed upon the inhabitants of the city where they live, to leave the worship of the true God, and go into idolatry, when there is full proof of this, and it is past all question that



such abomination is wrought among you; as idolatry is, which is an abomination to God, and ought to be so to all mankind, and especially to a people that profess his name.



{o} Maimon. Obede Cochabim, c. 4. sect. 3. 6.





Deuteronomy 13:15



Ver. 15. Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword,.... This could not be the work of a single person, nor of the whole sanhedrim, but was what the whole nation was to join in, according to the above note:



destroying it utterly; pulling down the houses, and demolishing its walls and fortifications, or burning it, as afterwards explained:



and all that is therein; men, women, and children:



and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword; this severity was used to show the Lord's indignation against the sin of idolatry, and to deter persons from it, both individuals and bodies of men.





Deuteronomy 13:16



Ver. 16. And thou shall gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof,.... All the wealth and substance of the inhabitants, their household goods, shop goods, merchandise, utensils in trade and business, and everything that can be named. The Jews say {p}, if there is no street, they make one (or a marketplace); if that is without it, they bring them into the midst of it:



and shall burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit; be it what it may, or let it be whose property it will; and all this shall be done for the Lord thy God; as by his appointment and command, and in obedience to him, so for his honour and glory, and the vindication of his righteous law;



and it shall be an heap for ever, it shall not be built again; but lie a waste as Jericho, though not an entire waste; for according to the Jewish writers, though it might not be built as it was before, it might be made into gardens and orchards {q}.



{p} Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 11. sect. 6. {q} lbid. Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.





Deuteronomy 13:17



Ver. 17. And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand,.... That is, they might not take anything whatever to their own use; for all being devoted to destruction, was cursed, and brought a curse upon the man that should make it his own property, as Achan did, when Jericho was destroyed:



that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his anger; stirred up by the idolatry of the city:



and show thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee; who, seeing wrath gone forth, might dread the consequences, lest it should spread itself further:



and multiply thee, as he hath sworn to thy fathers; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; this is observed to encourage them to execute his orders punctually in the destruction of the idolatrous city; since God could and would multiply them, as he had promised their fathers, with an oath, so that they should not be the fewer by such an instance of his severity.





Deuteronomy 13:18



Ver. 18. When thou shalt hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God,.... Not only in this case, but in all others:



to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day: the repetition of which he made unto them, and enjoined the observance of them in the name of the Lord:



to do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord thy God; which they would do, if they kept the commandments of the Lord, which are holy, just, and good, and must be right in his sight because commanded by him.

 

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