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
And among the cities H5892 which ye shall give H5414 unto the Levites H3881 there shall be six H8337 cities H5892 for refuge, H4733 which ye shall appoint H5414 for the manslayer, H7523 that he may flee H5127 thither: and to them ye shall add H5414 forty H705 and two H8147 cities. H5892
Then ye shall appoint H7136 you cities H5892 to be cities H5892 of refuge H4733 for you; that the slayer H7523 may flee H5127 thither, which killeth H5221 any person H5315 at unawares. H7684 And they shall be unto you cities H5892 for refuge H4733 from the avenger; H1350 that the manslayer H7523 die H4191 not, until he stand H5975 before H6440 the congregation H5712 in judgment. H4941
These six H8337 cities H5892 shall be a refuge, H4733 both for the children H1121 of Israel, H3478 and for the stranger, H1616 and for the sojourner H8453 among H8432 them: that every one that killeth H5221 any person H5315 unawares H7684 may flee H5127 thither. And if he smite H5221 him with an instrument H3627 of iron, H1270 so that he die, H4191 he is a murderer: H7523 the murderer H7523 shall surely H4191 be put to death. H4191 And if he smite H5221 him with throwing H3027 a stone, H68 wherewith he may die, H4191 and he die, H4191 he is a murderer: H7523 the murderer H7523 shall surely H4191 be put to death. H4191 Or if he smite H5221 him with an hand H3027 weapon H3627 of wood, H6086 wherewith he may die, H4191 and he die, H4191 he is a murderer: H7523 the murderer H7523 shall surely H4191 be put to death. H4191 The revenger H1350 of blood H1818 himself shall slay H4191 the murderer: H7523 when he meeteth H6293 him, he H1931 shall slay H4191 him. But if he thrust H1920 him of hatred, H8135 or hurl H7993 at him by laying of wait, H6660 that he die; H4191 Or in enmity H342 smite H5221 him with his hand, H3027 that he die: H4191 he that smote H5221 him shall surely H4191 be put to death; H4191 for he is a murderer: H7523 the revenger H1350 of blood H1818 shall slay H4191 the murderer, H7523 when he meeteth H6293 him. But if he thrust H1920 him suddenly H6621 without H3808 enmity, H342 or have cast H7993 upon him any thing H3627 without laying of wait, H6660 Or with any stone, H68 wherewith a man may die, H4191 seeing H7200 him not, H3808 and cast H5307 it upon him, that he die, H4191 and was not his enemy, H341 neither sought H1245 his harm: H7451 Then the congregation H5712 shall judge H8199 between the slayer H5221 and the revenger H1350 of blood H1818 according to these judgments: H4941 And the congregation H5712 shall deliver H5337 the slayer H7523 out of the hand H3027 of the revenger H1350 of blood, H1818 and the congregation H5712 shall restore H7725 him to the city H5892 of his refuge, H4733 whither he was fled: H5127 and he shall abide H3427 in it unto the death H4194 of the high H1419 priest, H3548 which was anointed H4886 with the holy H6944 oil. H8081 But if the slayer H7523 shall at any time H3318 come H3318 without the border H1366 of the city H5892 of his refuge, H4733 whither he was fled; H5127 And the revenger H1350 of blood H1818 find H4672 him without H2351 the borders H1366 of the city H5892 of his refuge, H4733 and the revenger H1350 of blood H1818 kill H7523 the slayer; H7523 he shall not be guilty of blood: H1818 Because he should have remained H3427 in the city H5892 of his refuge H4733 until the death H4194 of the high H1419 priest: H3548 but after H310 the death H4194 of the high H1419 priest H3548 the slayer H7523 shall return H7725 into the land H776 of his possession. H272
When the LORD H3068 thy God H430 hath cut off H3772 the nations, H1471 whose land H776 the LORD H3068 thy God H430 giveth H5414 thee, and thou succeedest H3423 them, and dwellest H3427 in their cities, H5892 and in their houses; H1004 Thou shalt separate H914 three H7969 cities H5892 for thee in the midst H8432 of thy land, H776 which the LORD H3068 thy God H430 giveth H5414 thee to possess H3423 it. Thou shalt prepare H3559 thee a way, H1870 and divide the coasts H1366 of thy land, H776 which the LORD H3068 thy God H430 giveth thee to inherit, H5157 into three parts, H8027 that every slayer H7523 may flee H5127 thither. And this is the case H1697 of the slayer, H7523 which shall flee H5127 thither, that he may live: H2425 Whoso killeth H5221 his neighbour H7453 ignorantly, H1097 H1847 whom he hated H8130 not in time H8543 past; H8032 As when a man goeth H935 into the wood H3293 with his neighbour H7453 to hew H2404 wood, H6086 and his hand H3027 fetcheth a stroke H5080 with the axe H1631 to cut down H3772 the tree, H6086 and the head H1270 slippeth H5394 from the helve, H6086 and lighteth H4672 upon his neighbour, H7453 that he die; H4191 he shall flee H5127 unto one H259 of those cities, H5892 and live: H2425 Lest the avenger H1350 of the blood H1818 pursue H7291 the slayer, H310 H7523 while H3588 his heart H3824 is hot, H3179 and overtake H5381 him, because the way H1870 is long, H7235 and slay H5221 him; H5315 whereas he was not worthy H4941 of death, H4194 inasmuch as H3588 he hated H8130 him not in time H8543 past. H8032 Wherefore I command H6680 thee, saying, H559 Thou shalt separate H914 three H7969 cities H5892 for thee. And if the LORD H3068 thy God H430 enlarge H7337 thy coast, H1366 as he hath sworn H7650 unto thy fathers, H1 and give H5414 thee all the land H776 which he promised H1696 to give H5414 unto thy fathers; H1 If thou shalt keep H8104 all these commandments H4687 to do H6213 them, which I command H6680 thee this day, H3117 to love H157 the LORD H3068 thy God, H430 and to walk H3212 ever H3117 in his ways; H1870 then shalt thou add H3254 three H7969 cities H5892 more for thee, beside these three: H7969 That innocent H5355 blood H1818 be not shed H8210 in H7130 thy land, H776 which the LORD H3068 thy God H430 giveth H5414 thee for an inheritance, H5159 and so blood H1818 be upon thee.
That G2443 by G1223 two G1417 immutable G276 things, G4229 in G1722 which G3739 it was impossible G102 for God G2316 to lie, G5574 we might have G2192 a strong G2478 consolation, G3874 who G3588 have fled for refuge G2703 to lay hold G2902 upon the hope G1680 set before us: G4295
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.