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
And the sight H4758 of the glory H3519 of the LORD H3068 was like devouring H398 fire H784 on the top H7218 of the mount H2022 in the eyes H5869 of the children H1121 of Israel. H3478 And Moses H4872 went H935 into the midst H8432 of the cloud, H6051 and gat him up H5927 into the mount: H2022 and Moses H4872 was in the mount H2022 forty H705 days H3117 and forty H705 nights. H3915
And Moses H4872 called H7121 all Israel, H3478 and said H559 unto them, Hear, H8085 O Israel, H3478 the statutes H2706 and judgments H4941 which I speak H1696 in your ears H241 this day, H3117 that ye may learn H3925 them, and keep, H8104 and do H6213 them. The LORD H3068 our God H430 made H3772 a covenant H1285 with us in Horeb. H2722 The LORD H3068 made H3772 not this covenant H1285 with our fathers, H1 but with us, H587 even us, who are all of us H428 here alive H2416 this day. H3117 The LORD H3068 talked H1696 with you face H6440 to face H6440 in the mount H2022 out of the midst H8432 of the fire, H784 (I stood H5975 between the LORD H3068 and you at that time, H6256 to shew H5046 you the word H1697 of the LORD: H3068 for ye were afraid H3372 by reason H6440 of the fire, H784 and went not up H5927 into the mount;) H2022 saying, H559 I am the LORD H3068 thy God, H430 which brought thee out H3318 of the land H776 of Egypt, H4714 from the house H1004 of bondage. H5650 Thou shalt have none other H312 gods H430 before H6440 me. Thou shalt not make H6213 thee any graven image, H6459 or any likeness H8544 of any thing that is in heaven H8064 above, H4605 or that is in the earth H776 beneath, or that is in the waters H4325 beneath the earth: H776 Thou shalt not bow down H7812 thyself unto them, nor serve H5647 them: for I the LORD H3068 thy God H430 am a jealous H7067 God, H410 visiting H6485 the iniquity H5771 of the fathers H1 upon the children H1121 unto the third H8029 and fourth H7256 generation of them that hate H8130 me, And shewing H6213 mercy H2617 unto thousands H505 of them that love H157 me and keep H8104 my commandments. H4687 Thou shalt not take H5375 the name H8034 of the LORD H3068 thy God H430 in vain: H7723 for the LORD H3068 will not hold him guiltless H5352 that taketh H5375 his name H8034 in vain. H7723 Keep H8104 the sabbath H7676 day H3117 to sanctify H6942 it, as the LORD H3068 thy God H430 hath commanded H6680 thee. Six H8337 days H3117 thou shalt labour, H5647 and do H6213 all thy work: H4399 But the seventh H7637 day H3117 is the sabbath H7676 of the LORD H3068 thy God: H430 in it thou shalt not do H6213 any work, H4399 thou, nor thy son, H1121 nor thy daughter, H1323 nor thy manservant, H5650 nor thy maidservant, H519 nor thine ox, H7794 nor thine ass, H2543 nor any of thy cattle, H929 nor thy stranger H1616 that is within thy gates; H8179 that thy manservant H5650 and thy maidservant H519 may rest H5117 as well as thou. And remember H2142 that thou wast a servant H5650 in the land H776 of Egypt, H4714 and that the LORD H3068 thy God H430 brought H3318 thee out thence through a mighty H2389 hand H3027 and by a stretched out H5186 arm: H2220 therefore the LORD H3068 thy God H430 commanded H6680 thee to keep H6213 the sabbath H7676 day. H3117 Honour H3513 thy father H1 and thy mother, H517 as the LORD H3068 thy God H430 hath commanded H6680 thee; that thy days H3117 may be prolonged, H748 and that it may go well H3190 with thee, in the land H127 which the LORD H3068 thy God H430 giveth H5414 thee. Thou shalt not kill. H7523 Neither shalt thou commit adultery. H5003 Neither shalt thou steal. H1589 Neither shalt thou bear H6030 false H7723 witness H5707 against thy neighbour. H7453 Neither shalt thou desire H2530 thy neighbour's H7453 wife, H802 neither shalt thou covet H183 thy neighbour's H7453 house, H1004 his field, H7704 or his manservant, H5650 or his maidservant, H519 his ox, H7794 or his ass, H2543 or any thing that is thy neighbour's. H7453
When I was gone up H5927 into the mount H2022 to receive H3947 the tables H3871 of stone, H68 even the tables H3871 of the covenant H1285 which the LORD H3068 made H3772 with you, then I abode H3427 in the mount H2022 forty H705 days H3117 and forty H705 nights, H3915 I neither did eat H398 bread H3899 nor drink H8354 water: H4325 And the LORD H3068 delivered H5414 unto me two H8147 tables H3871 of stone H68 written H3789 with the finger H676 of God; H430 and on them was written according to all the words, H1697 which the LORD H3068 spake H1696 with you in the mount H2022 out of the midst H8432 of the fire H784 in the day H3117 of the assembly. H6951 And it came to pass at the end H7093 of forty H705 days H3117 and forty H705 nights, H3915 that the LORD H3068 gave H5414 me the two H8147 tables H3871 of stone, H68 even the tables H3871 of the covenant. H1285
At that time H6256 the LORD H3068 said H559 unto me, Hew H6458 thee two H8147 tables H3871 of stone H68 like unto the first, H7223 and come up H5927 unto me into the mount, H2022 and make H6213 thee an ark H727 of wood. H6086 And I will write H3789 on the tables H3871 the words H1697 that were in the first H7223 tables H3871 which thou brakest, H7665 and thou shalt put H7760 them in the ark. H727 And I made H6213 an ark H727 of shittim H7848 wood, H6086 and hewed H6458 two H8147 tables H3871 of stone H68 like unto the first, H7223 and went up H5927 into the mount, H2022 having the two H8147 tables H3871 in mine hand. H3027 And he wrote H3789 on the tables, H3871 according to the first H7223 writing, H4385 the ten H6235 commandments, H1697 which the LORD H3068 spake H1696 unto you in the mount H2022 out of the midst H8432 of the fire H784 in the day H3117 of the assembly: H6951 and the LORD H3068 gave H5414 them unto me. And I turned H6437 myself and came down H3381 from the mount, H2022 and put H7760 the tables H3871 in the ark H727 which I had made; H6213 and there they be, as the LORD H3068 commanded H6680 me.
For G1063 when G5259 Moses G3475 had spoken G2980 every G3956 precept G1785 to all G3956 the people G2992 according G2596 to the law, G3551 he took G2983 the blood G129 of calves G3448 and G2532 of goats, G5131 with G3326 water, G5204 and G2532 scarlet G2847 wool, G2053 and G2532 hyssop, G5301 and sprinkled G4472 both G5037 the book, G975 G846 and G2532 all G3956 the people, G2992 Saying, G3004 This G5124 is the blood G129 of the testament G1242 which G3739 God G2316 hath enjoined G1781 unto G4314 you. G5209
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.