29 O that there were such H2088 an H4310 heart H3824 in them, H5414 that they would fear H3372 me, and keep H8104 all my commandments H4687 always, H3117 that it might be well H3190 with them, and with their children H1121 for ever! H5769
And they come H935 unto thee as the people H5971 cometh, H3996 and they sit H3427 before H6440 thee as my people, H5971 and they hear H8085 thy words, H1697 but they will not do H6213 them: for with their mouth H6310 they shew H6213 much love, H5690 but their heart H3820 goeth H1980 after H310 their covetousness. H1215 And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely H5690 song H7892 of one that hath a pleasant H3303 voice, H6963 and can play well H2895 on an instrument: H5059 for they hear H8085 thy words, H1697 but they do H6213 them not.
That saith, H559 I will build H1129 me a wide H4060 house H1004 and large H7304 chambers, H5944 and cutteth him out H7167 windows; H2474 and it is cieled H5603 with cedar, H730 and painted H4886 with vermilion. H8350 Shalt thou reign, H4427 because thou closest H8474 thyself in cedar? H730 did not thy father H1 eat H398 and drink, H8354 and do H6213 judgment H4941 and justice, H6666 and then it was well H2896 with him?
ALEPH. Blessed H835 are the undefiled H8549 in the way, H1870 who walk H1980 in the law H8451 of the LORD. H3068 Blessed H835 are they that keep H5341 his testimonies, H5713 and that seek H1875 him with the whole heart. H3820 They also do H6466 no iniquity: H5766 they walk H1980 in his ways. H1870 Thou hast commanded H6680 us to keep H8104 thy precepts H6490 diligently. H3966 O that H305 my ways H1870 were directed H3559 to keep H8104 thy statutes! H2706
Oh H3863 that my people H5971 had hearkened H8085 unto me, and Israel H3478 had walked H1980 in my ways! H1870 I should soon H4592 have subdued H3665 their enemies, H341 and turned H7725 my hand H3027 against their adversaries. H6862 The haters H8130 of the LORD H3068 should have submitted H3584 themselves unto him: but their time H6256 should have endured for ever. H5769
O that H3863 they were wise, H2449 that they understood H7919 this, that they would consider H995 their latter end! H319 How should one H259 chase H7291 a thousand, H505 and two H8147 put ten H7233 thousand H505 to flight, H5127 except H3808 their Rock H6697 had sold H4376 them, H3588 and the LORD H3068 had shut them up? H5462
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Deuteronomy 5
Commentary on Deuteronomy 5 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 5
De 5:1-29. A Commemoration of the Covenant in Horeb.
1. Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments—Whether this rehearsal of the law was made in a solemn assembly, or as some think at a general meeting of the elders as representatives of the people, is of little moment; it was addressed either directly or indirectly to the Hebrew people as principles of their peculiar constitution as a nation; and hence, as has been well observed, "the Jewish law has no obligation upon Christians, unless so much of it as given or commanded by Jesus Christ; for whatever in this law is conformable to the laws of nature, obliges us, not as given by Moses, but by virtue of an antecedent law common to all rational beings" [Bishop Wilson].
3. The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us—The meaning is, "not with our fathers" only, "but with us" also, assuming it to be "a covenant" of grace. It may mean "not with our fathers" at all, if the reference is to the peculiar establishment of the covenant of Sinai; a law was not given to them as to us, nor was the covenant ratified in the same public manner and by the same solemn sanctions. Or, finally, the meaning may be "not with our fathers" who died in the wilderness, in consequence of their rebellion, and to whom God did not give the rewards promised only to the faithful; but "with us," who alone, strictly speaking, shall enjoy the benefits of this covenant by entering on the possession of the promised land.
4. The Lord talked with you face to face in the mount—not in a visible and corporeal form, of which there was no trace (De 4:12, 15), but freely, familiarly, and in such a manner that no doubt could be entertained of His presence.
5. I stood between the Lord and you at that time—as the messenger and interpreter of thy heavenly King, bringing near two objects formerly removed from each other at a vast distance, namely, God and the people (Ga 3:19). In this character Moses was a type of Christ, who is the only mediator between God and men (1Ti 2:5), the Mediator of a better covenant (Heb 8:6; 9:15; 12:24).
to show you the word of the Lord—not the ten commandments—for they were proclaimed directly by the Divine Speaker Himself, but the statutes and judgments which are repeated in the subsequent portion of this book.
6-20. I am the Lord thy God—The word "Lord" is expressive of authority or dominion; and God, who by natural claim as well as by covenant relation was entitled to exercise supremacy over His people Israel, had a sovereign right to establish laws for their government. [See on Ex 20:2.] The commandments which follow are, with a few slight verbal alterations, the same as formerly recorded (Ex 20:1-17), and in some of them there is a distinct reference to that promulgation.
12. Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee—that is, keep it in mind as a sacred institution of former enactment and perpetual obligation. [See on Ex 20:8].
14. that thy man-servant and thy maid-servant may rest as well as thou—This is a different reason for the observance of the Sabbath from what is assigned in Ex 20:8-11, where that day is stated to be an appointed memorial of the creation. But the addition of another motive for the observance does not imply any necessary contrariety to the other; and it has been thought probable that, the commemorative design of the institution being well known, the other reason was specially mentioned on this repetition of the law, to secure the privilege of sabbatic rest to servants, of which, in some Hebrew families, they had been deprived. In this view, the allusion to the period of Egyptian bondage (De 5:15), when they themselves were not permitted to observe the Sabbath either as a day of rest or of public devotion, was peculiarly seasonable and significant, well fitted to come home to their business and bosoms.
16. that it may go well with thee—This clause is not in Exodus, but admitted into Eph 6:3.
21. Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife, … house, his field—An alteration is here made in the words (see Ex 20:17), but it is so slight ("wife" being put in the first clause and "house" in the second) that it would not have been worth while noticing it, except that the interchange proves, contrary to the opinion of some eminent critics, that these two objects are included in one and the same commandment.
22. he added no more—(Ex 20:1). The pre-eminence of these ten commandments was shown in God's announcing them directly: other laws and institutions were communicated to the people through the instrumentality of Moses.
23-28. And … ye came near unto me—(See on Ex 20:19).
29. Oh, that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me—God can bestow such a heart, and has promised to give it, wherever it is asked (Jer 32:40). But the wish which is here expressed on the part of God for the piety and steadfast obedience of the Israelites did not relate to them as individuals, so much as a nation, whose religious character and progress would have a mighty influence on the world at large.