1 Now therefore hearken, H8085 O Israel, H3478 unto the statutes H2706 and unto the judgments, H4941 which I teach H3925 you, for to do H6213 them, that ye may live, H2421 and go in H935 and possess H3423 the land H776 which the LORD H3068 God H430 of your fathers H1 giveth H5414 you.
2 Ye shall not add H3254 unto the word H1697 which I command H6680 you, neither shall ye diminish H1639 ought from it, that ye may keep H8104 the commandments H4687 of the LORD H3068 your God H430 which I command H6680 you.
3 Your eyes H5869 have seen H7200 what the LORD H3068 did H6213 because of Baalpeor: H1187 for all the men H376 that followed H310 H1980 Baalpeor, H1187 the LORD H3068 thy God H430 hath destroyed H8045 them from among H7130 you.
4 But ye that did cleave H1695 unto the LORD H3068 your God H430 are alive H2416 every one of you this day. H3117
5 Behold, H7200 I have taught H3925 you statutes H2706 and judgments, H4941 even as H834 the LORD H3068 my God H430 commanded H6680 me, that ye should do H6213 so in H7130 the land H776 whither ye go H935 to possess H3423 it.
6 Keep H8104 therefore and do H6213 them; for this is your wisdom H2451 and your understanding H998 in the sight H5869 of the nations, H5971 which shall hear H8085 all these statutes, H2706 and say, H559 Surely this great H1419 nation H1471 is a wise H2450 and understanding H995 people. H5971
7 For what nation H1471 is there so great, H1419 who hath God H430 so nigh H7138 unto them, as the LORD H3068 our God H430 is in all things that we call H7121 upon him for?
8 And what nation H1471 is there so great, H1419 that hath statutes H2706 and judgments H4941 so righteous H6662 as all this law, H8451 which I set H5414 before H6440 you this day? H3117
9 Only take heed H8104 to thyself, and keep H8104 thy soul H5315 diligently, H3966 lest thou forget H7911 the things H1697 which thine eyes H5869 have seen, H7200 and lest they depart H5493 from thy heart H3824 all the days H3117 of thy life: H2416 but teach H3045 them thy sons, H1121 and thy sons' H1121 sons; H1121
10 Specially the day H3117 that thou stoodest H5975 before H6440 the LORD H3068 thy God H430 in Horeb, H2722 when the LORD H3068 said H559 unto me, Gather H6950 me the people H5971 together, H6950 and I will make them hear H8085 my words, H1697 that they may learn H3925 to fear H3372 me all the days H3117 that they shall live H2416 upon the earth, H127 and that they may teach H3925 their children. H1121
11 And ye came near H7126 and stood H5975 under the mountain; H2022 and the mountain H2022 burned H1197 with fire H784 unto the midst H3820 of heaven, H8064 with darkness, H6205 clouds, H6051 and thick darkness. H2822
12 And the LORD H3068 spake H1696 unto you out of the midst H8432 of the fire: H784 ye heard H8085 the voice H6963 of the words, H1697 but saw H7200 no similitude; H8544 only H2108 ye heard a voice. H6963
13 And he declared H5046 unto you his covenant, H1285 which he commanded H6680 you to perform, H6213 even ten H6235 commandments; H1697 and he wrote H3789 them upon two H8147 tables H3871 of stone. H68
14 And the LORD H3068 commanded H6680 me at that time H6256 to teach H3925 you statutes H2706 and judgments, H4941 that ye might do H6213 them in the land H776 whither ye go over H5674 to possess H3423 it.
15 Take ye therefore good H3966 heed H8104 unto yourselves; H5315 for ye saw H7200 no manner of similitude H8544 on the day H3117 that the LORD H3068 spake H1696 unto you in Horeb H2722 out of the midst H8432 of the fire: H784
16 Lest ye corrupt H7843 yourselves, and make H6213 you a graven image, H6459 the similitude H8544 of any figure, H5566 the likeness H8403 of male H2145 or female, H5347
17 The likeness H8403 of any beast H929 that is on the earth, H776 the likeness H8403 of any winged H3671 fowl H6833 that flieth H5774 in the air, H8064
18 The likeness H8403 of any thing that creepeth H7430 on the ground, H127 the likeness H8403 of any fish H1710 that is in the waters H4325 beneath H8478 the earth: H776
19 And lest thou lift up H5375 thine eyes H5869 unto heaven, H8064 and when thou seest H7200 the sun, H8121 and the moon, H3394 and the stars, H3556 even all the host H6635 of heaven, H8064 shouldest be driven H5080 to worship H7812 them, and serve H5647 them, which the LORD H3068 thy God H430 hath divided H2505 unto all nations H5971 under the whole heaven. H8064
20 But the LORD H3068 hath taken H3947 you, and brought you forth H3318 out of the iron H1270 furnace, H3564 even out of Egypt, H4714 to be unto him a people H5971 of inheritance, H5159 as ye are this day. H3117
21 Furthermore the LORD H3068 was angry H599 with me for your sakes, H1697 and sware H7650 that I should not go over H5674 Jordan, H3383 and that I should not go H935 in unto that good H2896 land, H776 which the LORD H3068 thy God H430 giveth H5414 thee for an inheritance: H5159
22 But I must die H4191 in this land, H776 I must not go over H5674 Jordan: H3383 but ye shall go over, H5674 and possess H3423 that good H2896 land. H776
23 Take heed H8104 unto yourselves, lest ye forget H7911 the covenant H1285 of the LORD H3068 your God, H430 which he made H3772 with you, and make H6213 you a graven image, H6459 or the likeness H8544 of any H3605 thing, which the LORD H3068 thy God H430 hath forbidden H6680 thee.
24 For the LORD H3068 thy God H430 is a consuming H398 fire, H784 even a jealous H7067 God. H410
25 When thou shalt beget H3205 children, H1121 and children's H1121 children, H1121 and ye shall have remained long H3462 in the land, H776 and shall corrupt H7843 yourselves, and make H6213 a graven image, H6459 or the likeness H8544 of any thing, and shall do H6213 evil H7451 in the sight H5869 of the LORD H3068 thy God, H430 to provoke him to anger: H3707
26 I call H5749 heaven H8064 and earth H776 to witness H5749 against you this day, H3117 that ye shall soon H4118 utterly H6 perish H6 from off the land H776 whereunto ye go over H5674 Jordan H3383 to possess H3423 it; ye shall not prolong H748 your days H3117 upon it, but shall utterly H8045 be destroyed. H8045
27 And the LORD H3068 shall scatter H6327 you among the nations, H5971 and ye shall be left H7604 few H4962 in number H4557 among the heathen, H1471 whither the LORD H3068 shall lead H5090 you.
28 And there ye shall serve H5647 gods, H430 the work H4639 of men's H120 hands, H3027 wood H6086 and stone, H68 which neither see, H7200 nor hear, H8085 nor eat, H398 nor smell. H7306
29 But if from thence thou shalt seek H1245 the LORD H3068 thy God, H430 thou shalt find H4672 him, if thou seek H1875 him with all thy heart H3824 and with all thy soul. H5315
30 When thou art in tribulation, H6862 and all these things H1697 are come H4672 upon thee, even in the latter H319 days, H3117 if thou turn H7725 to the LORD H3068 thy God, H430 and shalt be obedient H8085 unto his voice; H6963
31 (For the LORD H3068 thy God H430 is a merciful H7349 God;) H410 he will not forsake H7503 thee, neither destroy H7843 thee, nor forget H7911 the covenant H1285 of thy fathers H1 which he sware H7650 unto them.
32 For ask H7592 now of the days H3117 that are past, H7223 which were H1961 before H6440 thee, since the day H3117 that God H430 created H1254 man H120 upon the earth, H776 and ask from the one side H7097 of heaven H8064 unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great H1419 thing H1697 is, or hath been heard H8085 like it?
33 Did ever people H5971 hear H8085 the voice H6963 of God H430 speaking out H1696 of the midst H8432 of the fire, H784 as thou hast heard, H8085 and live? H2421
34 Or hath God H430 assayed H5254 to go H935 and take H3947 him a nation H1471 from the midst H7130 of another nation, H1471 by temptations, H4531 by signs, H226 and by wonders, H4159 and by war, H4421 and by a mighty H2389 hand, H3027 and by a stretched out H5186 arm, H2220 and by great H1419 terrors, H4172 according to all that the LORD H3068 your God H430 did H6213 for you in Egypt H4714 before your eyes? H5869
35 Unto thee it was shewed, H7200 that thou mightest know H3045 that the LORD H3068 he is God; H430 there is none else H5750 beside him. H905
36 Out of heaven H8064 he made thee to hear H8085 his voice, H6963 that he might instruct H3256 thee: and upon earth H776 he shewed H7200 thee his great H1419 fire; H784 and thou heardest H8085 his words H1697 out of the midst H8432 of the fire. H784
37 And because he loved H157 thy fathers, H1 therefore he chose H977 their seed H2233 after H310 them, and brought thee out H3318 in his sight H6440 with his mighty H1419 power H3581 out of Egypt; H4714
38 To drive out H3423 nations H1471 from before H6440 thee greater H1419 and mightier H6099 than thou art, to bring H935 thee in, to give H5414 thee their land H776 for an inheritance, H5159 as it is this day. H3117
39 Know H3045 therefore this day, H3117 and consider H7725 it in thine heart, H3824 that the LORD H3068 he is God H430 in heaven H8064 above, H4605 and upon the earth H776 beneath: there is none else.
40 Thou shalt keep H8104 therefore his statutes, H2706 and his commandments, H4687 which I command H6680 thee this day, H3117 that it may go well H3190 with thee, and with thy children H1121 after H310 thee, and that thou mayest prolong H748 thy days H3117 upon the earth, H127 which the LORD H3068 thy God H430 giveth H5414 thee, for ever.
41 Then Moses H4872 severed H914 three H7969 cities H5892 on this side H5676 Jordan H3383 toward the sunrising; H8121 H4217
42 That the slayer H7523 might flee H5127 thither, which should kill H7523 his neighbour H7453 unawares, H1097 H1847 and hated H8130 him not in times H8543 past; H8032 and that fleeing H5127 unto one H259 of these H411 cities H5892 he might live: H2425
43 Namely, Bezer H1221 in the wilderness, H4057 in the plain H4334 country, H776 of the Reubenites; H7206 and Ramoth H7216 in Gilead, H1568 of the Gadites; H1425 and Golan H1474 in Bashan, H1316 of the Manassites. H4520
44 And this is the law H8451 which Moses H4872 set H7760 before H6440 the children H1121 of Israel: H3478
45 These are the testimonies, H5713 and the statutes, H2706 and the judgments, H4941 which Moses H4872 spake H1696 unto the children H1121 of Israel, H3478 after they came forth H3318 out of Egypt, H4714
46 On this side H5676 Jordan, H3383 in the valley H1516 over against H4136 Bethpeor, H1047 in the land H776 of Sihon H5511 king H4428 of the Amorites, H567 who dwelt H3427 at Heshbon, H2809 whom Moses H4872 and the children H1121 of Israel H3478 smote, H5221 after they were come forth H3318 out of Egypt: H4714
47 And they possessed H3423 his land, H776 and the land H776 of Og H5747 king H4428 of Bashan, H1316 two H8147 kings H4428 of the Amorites, H567 which were on this side H5676 Jordan H3383 toward the sunrising; H4217 H8121
48 From Aroer, H6177 which is by the bank H8193 of the river H5158 Arnon, H769 even unto mount H2022 Sion, H7865 which is Hermon, H2768
49 And all the plain H6160 on this side H5676 Jordan H3383 eastward, H4217 even unto the sea H3220 of the plain, H6160 under the springs H794 of Pisgah. H6449
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Deuteronomy 4
Commentary on Deuteronomy 4 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 4
De 4:1-13. An Exhortation to Obedience.
1. hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you—By statutes were meant all ordinances respecting religion and the rites of divine worship; and by judgments, all enactments relative to civil matters. The two embraced the whole law of God.
2. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you—by the introduction of any heathen superstition or forms of worship different from those which I have appointed (De 12:32; Nu 15:39; Mt 15:9).
neither shall ye diminish aught from it—by the neglect or omission of any of the observances, however trivial or irksome, which I have prescribed. The character and provisions of the ancient dispensation were adapted with divine wisdom to the instruction of that infant state of the church. But it was only a temporary economy; and although God here authorizes Moses to command that all its institutions should be honored with unfailing observance, this did not prevent Him from commissioning other prophets to alter or abrogate them when the end of that dispensation was attained.
3, 4. Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal-peor … the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you—It appears that the pestilence and the sword of justice overtook only the guilty in that affair (Nu 25:1-9) while the rest of the people were spared. The allusion to that recent and appalling judgment was seasonably made as a powerful dissuasive against idolatry, and the fact mentioned was calculated to make a deep impression on people who knew and felt the truth of it.
5, 6. this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes—Moses predicted that the faithful observance of the laws given them would raise their national character for intelligence and wisdom. In point of fact it did do so; for although the heathen world generally ridiculed the Hebrews for what they considered a foolish and absurd exclusiveness, some of the most eminent philosophers expressed the highest admiration of the fundamental principle in the Jewish religion—the unity of God; and their legislators borrowed some laws from the constitution of the Hebrews.
7-9. what nation is there so great—Here he represents their privileges and their duty in such significant and comprehensive terms, as were peculiarly calculated to arrest their attention and engage their interest. The former, their national advantages, are described (De 4:7, 8), and they were twofold: 1. God's readiness to hear and aid them at all times; and 2. the excellence of that religion in which they were instructed, set forth in the "statutes and judgments so righteous" which the law of Moses contained. Their duty corresponding to these pre-eminent advantages as a people, was also twofold: 1. their own faithful obedience to that law; and 2. their obligation to imbue the minds of the young and rising generation with similar sentiments of reverence and respect for it.
10. the day that thou stoodest before the Lord … in Horeb—The delivery of the law from Sinai was an era never to be forgotten in the history of Israel. Some of those whom Moses was addressing had been present, though very young; while the rest were federally represented by their parents, who in their name and for their interest entered into the national covenant.
12. ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude—Although articulate sounds were heard emanating from the mount, no form or representation of the Divine Being who spoke was seen to indicate His nature or properties according to the notions of the heathen.
De 4:14-40. A Particular Dissuasive against Idolatry.
15. Take … good heed … for ye saw no manner of similitude—The extreme proneness of the Israelites to idolatry, from their position in the midst of surrounding nations already abandoned to its seductions, accounts for their attention being repeatedly drawn to the fact that God did not appear on Sinai in any visible form; and an earnest caution, founded on that remarkable circumstance, is given to beware, not only of making representations of false gods, but also any fancied representation of the true God.
16-19. Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image—The things are here specified of which God prohibited any image or representation to be made for the purposes of worship; and, from the variety of details entered into, an idea may be formed of the extensive prevalence of idolatry in that age. In whatever way idolatry originated, whether from an intention to worship the true God through those things which seemed to afford the strongest evidences of His power, or whether a divine principle was supposed to reside in the things themselves, there was scarcely an element or object of nature but was deified. This was particularly the case with the Canaanites and Egyptians, against whose superstitious practices the caution, no doubt, was chiefly directed. The former worshipped Baal and Astarte, the latter Osiris and Isis, under the figure of a male and a female. It was in Egypt that animal-worship most prevailed, for the natives of that country deified among beasts the ox, the heifer, the sheep, and the goat, the dog, the cat, and the ape; among birds, the ibis, the hawk, and the crane; among reptiles, the crocodile, the frog, and the beetle; among fishes, all the fish of the Nile; some of these, as Osiris and Isis, were worshipped over all Egypt, the others only in particular provinces. In addition they embraced the Zabian superstition, the adoration of the Egyptians, in common with that of many other people, extending to the whole starry host. The very circumstantial details here given of the Canaanitish and Egyptian idolatry were owing to the past and prospective familiarity of the Israelites with it in all these forms.
20. But the Lord hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace—that is, furnace for smelting iron. A furnace of this kind is round, sometimes thirty feet deep, and requiring the highest intensity of heat. Such is the tremendous image chosen to represent the bondage and affliction of the Israelites [Rosenmuller].
to be unto him a people of inheritance—His peculiar possession from age to age; and therefore for you to abandon His worship for that of idols, especially the gross and debasing system of idolatry that prevails among the Egyptians, would be the greatest folly—the blackest ingratitude.
26. I call heaven and earth to witness against you—This solemn form of adjuration has been common in special circumstances among all people. It is used here figuratively, or as in other parts of Scripture where inanimate objects are called up as witnesses (De 32:1; Isa 1:2).
28. there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands—The compulsory measures of their tyrannical conquerors would force them into idolatry, so that their choice would become their punishment.
30. in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God—either towards the destined close of their captivities, when they evinced a returning spirit of repentance and faith, or in the age of Messiah, which is commonly called "the latter days," and when the scattered tribes of Israel shall be converted to the Gospel of Christ. The occurrence of this auspicious event will be the most illustrious proof of the truth of the promise made in De 4:31.
41-43. Then Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan—(See on Jos 20:7).
44-49. this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel—This is a preface to the rehearsal of the law, which, with the addition of various explanatory circumstances, the following chapters contain.
46. Beth-peor—that is, "house" or "temple of Peor." It is probable that a temple of this Moabite idol stood in full view of the Hebrew camp, while Moses was urging the exclusive claims of God to their worship, and this allusion would be very significant if it were the temple where so many of the Israelites had grievously offended.
49. The springs of Pisgah—more frequently, Ashdoth-pisgah (De 3:17; Jos 12:3; 13:20), the roots or foot of the mountains east of the Jordan.