M² n 1,2. Command of Yehovah's.
o 3-11. Land. Conquest.
o 12-17. Land. Division {Manasseh, 12-15. Reuben, 16,17}.
n 18-29. Commands of Moses.
3: So the Lord (Yehovah) our God (Elohim) delivered into our hands Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we smote him until none was left to him remaining.
4: And we took all his cities at that time, there was not a city which we took not from them, threescore cities (they can all be seen, and counted today. See Dr. Porter's Giant Cities of Bashan), all the region (Heb. "cord",put by Fig., for the region marked out by it) of Argob (=stony. Cp. 1 Kings 4:13. Ps.136:18-22), the kingdom of Og in Bashan.
5: All these cities (v.4) were fenced with high walls, gates, and bars; beside unwalled towns a great many.
6: And we utterly destroyed them, as we did to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying (cp. 7:2. Heb. haran=devoted to destruction) the men, women, and children, of every city.
7: But all the cattle, and the spoil of the cities (for the laws regulating this see Num. 31), we took for a prey to ourselves.
8: And we took at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites the land that was on this side Jordan (=across, a neutral term, see 1:1), from the river of Arnon unto mount Hermon (=high mountain);
9: {Which (notice these topographical parentheses, vv.9,11,14. Cp. 2:20-23,29) Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion (=Yehovah has prevailed, i.e. sheeted with snow, also breastplate); and the Amorites call it Shenir (=to be pointed; peak; also coat of mail);}
10: All the cities of the plain, and all Gilead(=rocky region, the rough country), and all Bashan, unto Salchah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.
11: {For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants (Heb. "Rephaim", descendants of one Rapha, a branch of the offspring of the Nephilim, see Gen.6:3); behold, his bedstead (=bed or couch, but not the usual word which is mishkåb. It is ‘eres, and is exactly the same measurement, as the tomb of Marduk in Babylon. The mythological significance of "eres [Bab. irsu] is nuptual bed, or funeral couch. Probably = tomb) was a bedstead of iron (probably basalt); is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? (was the capital of Ammon, where the temple of Milchom was: and where Og's tomb would natually be) nine cubits (apox. 15 3/4 feet) was the length thereof, and four cubits (7 feet) the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man (a common cubit is equal to a man's forearm).}
12: And this land, which we possessed at that time (cp. Num.32:33; 21:24. Josh.12:1-6; 13:8-12, 15-32), from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, and half mount Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites.
13: And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the kingdom of Og, gave I to the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants.
14: {Jair the son of Manasseh took all the country of Argob unto the coasts of Geshuri and Maachathi; and called them after his own name, Bashan-havoth-jair (=the villages [or cluster of villages] of Jair in Bashan. Heb. Harvoth = towns, used only of Jair's. Cp. Nu.32:41. Josh.13:30. Judg.10:4. 1 Kings 4:13. 1 Chron.2:23), unto this day } (=unto the time of writting. Here the time mentioned is from Num. 21 to 11th month of the 40th year [Deut.1:3]).
15: And I gave Gilead unto Machir.
16: And to the Reubenites and to the Gadites I gave from Gilead even unto the river Arnon half the valley, and the border even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon;
17: The plain also, and Jordan, and the coast thereof, from Chinnereth (afterward called Gennesaret, Cp. Num.34:11. Josh.19:35. So called from its shape, kinnôr = a harp) even unto the sea of the plain (Heb. ‘Aråbåh, see 1:1), even the salt sea, under Ashdoth-pisgah eastward (=ravines of the cleft, the soring of the peak).
n p 18-20. Manasseh and Rueben to go over. q 21,22. Charge to Joshua. p 23-27. Moses not to go over. q 28,29. Charge to Joshua.
18: And I commanded you at that time (see Num.32:20-24), saying, ‘The Lord (Yehovah) your (Elohim) has given you this land to possess it: you all shall pass over armed before your brethren the sons of Israel, all that are meet for the war (Heb.= sons of valor = valiant men, emphasis on valiant. Cp. 2 Sam.2:7. 1 Kings 1:52).
19: But your wives, and your little ones, and your cattle, {for I know that you all have much cattle,} shall abide in your cities which I have given you;
20: Until the Lord (Yehovah) has given rest to your brethren, as well as to you, and until they also possess the land which the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) has given them beyond Jordan: and then shall you all return every man unto his possession (cp. Josh.22:4), which I have given you.’
21: And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, ‘Your eyes have seen all that the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) has done unto these two kings: so shall the Lord (Yehovah) do unto all the kingdoms to which place you pass.
22: You all shall not fear them (cp. 1:29,30. Ex.14:13,14): for the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) He shall fight for you.’
23: And I besought the Lord (Yehovah) at that time, saying,
24: ‘O Lord God (Adonai Yehovah) (this prayer not mentioned elsewhere), You have begun to show your servant Your greatness, and Your mighty hand (Fig., put for works wrought by the hand): for what El is there in heaven or in earth (God as the omnipotent One), that can do according to Your works, and according to Your might?
25: I pray You, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan (cp. Ps.106:24. Num.13:27), that goodly mountain, and Lebanon.’
26: But the Lord (Yehovah) was wroth with me for your sakes (see Num.20:12), and would not hear me: and Yehovah said to me, ‘Let it suffice you; speak no more to Me of this matter.
27: Get you up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up your eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward (the points of the compass here are seaward, darkness-ward, Teman-ward, and sunrise-ward.Teman-ward, i.e. south of Edom, first used for south in Ex.26:18. See Num.27:12), and behold it with your eyes: for you shall not go over this Jordan(cp. Num.27:13. Will he lead us over another Jordan in the end times? will he be one of the 2 witnesses that are slain by anti-Christ in the streets of Jerusalem?).
28: But charge Joshua (cp. Num.27:18,19), and encourage him, and strengthen him: for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you shall see.’
29: So we abode in the valley over against Beth-peor (=house [or temple] of the cleft, where Baal was worshiped [Num.23:28; 25:3. Deut.4:3]. Here Moss was buried [Deut.34:6]. It was a Moabite holy place [Num.25:18; 31:16. Josh.22:17]. Alloted to Rueben [Josh.13:20]).
a N 4:1-8. Statutes announced. O r 4:9-20. Warnings against idolatry. s 4:21,22. Moses (Death announced). O r 4:23-40. Warnings against idolatry. s 4:41-43. Moses (Cities of refuge severed). N 4:44–5:33. Statutes recited.
N t 1-. Statutes: Hearken. u -1. Object. v 2. Injunction. w 3,4. Motive (from experience). t 5-. Statutes: Behold. u -5. Object. v 6-. Injunction. w -6-8. Motive (from privilege).
that you all may live, and go in and possess the land which Yehovah Elohim of your fathers gives you.
2: You all shall not add to the word which I command you (cp. 12:32. Prov.30:5,6. Jer.23:28; 26:2. Ezek.2:5,7. Rev.22:18,19), neither shall you all diminish anything from it, that you all may keep the commandments of Yehovah your Elohim which I command you.
3: Your eyes have seen what the Lord (Yehovah) did because of Baal-peor (see 3:29 and Num.25:1-5,9. Ps.106:28. Hos.9:10. 1 Cor.10:8): for all the men that followed Baal-peor, Yehovah your Elohim has exterminated (Heb. shmadh) them from among you.
4: But all of you that did cleave to the the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) are alive every one of you this day.
5: Behold, I have taught you ordinances and duties and punishments, even as the Lord (Yehovah) my God (Elohim) commanded me,
that you all should do so in the land to which place you all go to possess it.
6: Keep therefore and do them;
for this is your wisdom and your understanding (=discernment) in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these ordinances, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning People.’
7: For what nation is there so great, who has Elohim (=God) so near to help them (cp. Ps.32:9; 34:18; 119:151; 145:18. Neh.13:4), as the Lord (Yehovah) our God (Elohim) is in all things that we call upon Him for?
8: And what nation is there so great, that has ordinances and duties and punishments so righteous as all this law (see Ex.18:16 [Laws before Sinai], and cp. 2 Sam.7:23), which I set before you this day?
r x 9-13. Law at Horeb. No smilitude. y 14. Intention–Command. x 15-19. Law at Horeb. No similitude. y 20. Intention–Act.
9: Only take heed to yourself (note the 3 occ. in this chapter vv.9,15,23), and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart (= mind) all the days of your life: but teach them your sons, and your sons' sons;
10: Specially (or "Remember") the day that you stood before the the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) in Horeb () (occ. 3 times before Deut., namely Ex.3:1; 17:6; 33:6. Sinai is the general word, but occ. only once in Deut.33:2), when the Lord (Yehovah) said to me, ‘Gather Me the People together, and I will make them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me (= revere or love) all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.’
11: And you all came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness (see Ex.20:21, and cp. Heb. ‘åråphel. 2 Sam.22:10. 1 Kings 8:12. Ps.97:2).
12: And the Lord (Yehovah) spoke to you out of the midst of the fire: you all heard the voice of the words, but saw (Fig. Zeugma, i.e. by which one verb "saw" is used with two objects and suits only the first. A second verb "heard" must be supplied: cp. Ex.3:16. 2 Kings 11:12. 1 Tim.4:3.It is for the purpose of calling attention to the emphasis thus put on the verb "saw"; an idol being that which is seen) no similitude (=appearance of form, or likeness); only you all heard a voice.
13: And He declared to you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and He wrote them upon two tables of stone (see Ex.17:14 [The Book of the Law]; only here and 10:4 in Deut. ).
14: And the Lord (Yehovah) commanded me at that time (emphasis on "me" to call attention to the mediation of Moses) to teach you ordinances and duties and punishments, that you all might do them in the land to which place you all go over to possess it.
15: Take you all therefore good heed unto yourselves; for you all saw no manner of similitude of form on the day that Yehovah spoke to you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:
16: Lest you all corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image (= a sculpture, Heb. pesel. Ex.20:4), the likeness of any figure (Heb. semel only here, 2 Chron.33:7,15 and Ezek.8:3,5), the form of male or female (Heb. tablinith = model),
17: The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flies in the air,
18: The likeness of any thing that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth:
19: And lest you lift up your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven (sun, moon, stars. This sin foreknown. 2 Kings 17:18; 23:4. cp. Amos 5:26 with Acts 7:42,43. And the times of this day that we live in), should be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) has divided to all nations under the whole heaven.
20: But the Lord (Yehovah) has taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace (cp. Gen.15:17. Ex.3:2. 1 Kings 8:51-53. Jer.11:4), even out of Egypt, to be to Him a People of inheritance (cp. Ex.19:5. Deut.9:29; 32:9), as you all are this day.
21: Furthermore the Lord (Yehovah) was angry with me for your sakes (cp. 1:37; 3:2), and swore that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) gives you for an inheritance:
22: But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but you all shall go over, and possess that good land.
r a 23-25. Sin. b 26-28. Threatening–Dispersion. a 29,30. Repentance. b 31-40. Promise. Reason.
23: Take heed to yourselves, lest you all forget the covenant of Yehovah your Elohim, which He made with you, and make you a sculpture, or the form of any thing, which the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) has forbidden you (Heb. zivvah, a Homonym = to command, and to forbid. Here = forbid, also in Judg.13:14, where it is wrongly rendered "command").
24: {For the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) is a consuming fire (cp. Ex.24:17. Heb.12:29), even a jealous GOD (El).
25: When you shall beget sons, and your son's sons, and you all shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of Yehovah your Elohim, to provoke Him to anger:
26: I call (Fig. Deisis, or Adjuration. An expression of feeling by oath or assertation. Cp. 31:28) the heaven and the earth (always plural and with the Heb. paricle ‘eth, exept Gen.2:1. See 1:1. One of the 13 occ. of the Heb. expressions noted in the Massorah.) to witness against you this day (a solemn idiom, used for great emphasis. Occ. 42 times [6 x 7] in this ook. It is this Old Testament idiom in Luke 23:43), that you all shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto you all go over Jordan to possess it; you all shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be exterminated.
27: And the Lord (Yehovah) shall scatter you among the nations (= disperse, Heb. pûz. See Gen.10:18' 11:4,9, not used in Lev.26:33, but is used in Jer.30:11, and frequently: also in Ezek. Cp. Deut.28:64, and Ezek.20:23), and you all shall be left few in number among the heathen, to which place Yehovah shall lead you.
28: And there you all shall serve gods (cp. Dan.5:23. Rev.9:20), the work of mankind's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
29: But if from that place you shall seek the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) (cp. Lev.26:40. Jer.29:13, &c.), you shalt find Him, if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
30: When you are in tribulation, and all these things are come upon you, even in the latter days (= the end of days), if you turn to the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), and shall be obedient to His voice;
31: {For the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) is a merciful God (= El);) He will not forsake you (first occ. of this promise. Repeated in 31:6 for the journey. Repeated to Joshua for conflict, Josh.1:5,6; to Solomon for work, 1 Chron.28:20; to us for daily provisions and comfort, Heb.13:5,6), neither destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them (no need for "rapture").
32: For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that the Lord (Elohim) created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there has been any such thing as this great thing is, or has been heard like it?
33: Did ever people hear the voice of the Lord (Elohim) (or, a god) speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live?
34: Or has the Lord (Elohim) assayed to go and take Him a nation from the midst of another nation (here we have the whole of Exodus, cp. Jer.32:21), by temptations (=trial, or provings), by signs, and by wonders, and by war (=fightings, cp. Ex.14:25), and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
35: To you it was showed, that you might know that Yehovah He is Elohim (cp. 1 Kings 18:39. Isa.45:21); there is none else beside Him.
36: Out of heaven He made you to hear His voice, that He might instruct you: and upon earth He showed you His great fire; and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire.
37: And because He loved your fathers (cp. 7:7; 9:5; 10:15), therefore He chose their seed after them, and brought you out in His sight with His mighty power out of Egypt;
38: To drive out nations from before you greater and mightier than you are, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day.
39: Know therefore this day, and consider it in your heart, that the Lord (Yehovah) He is God (hå ’Elohîm) (= The God) in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.
40: You shall keep therefore His statutes, and His commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days upon the earth, which the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) gives thee, for ever (= all the day, i.e. for all time).
41: Then (emphatic, marking the end of his first address) Moses (change to third person, not beacuse it is now editorial, but because the first direct address is ended.See 1:1) severed (=separated, cp. Ex. 21:13. Num.35:6-29) three cities on this side Jordan toward the sunrising;
42: That the slayer might flee to that place, which should kill his neighbour unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing to one of these cities he might live:
43: Namely, Bezer in the wilderness (Heb. = an inaccessible spot, gold ore), in the plain country, of the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead (=heights), of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan (=captive, circle), of the Manassites.
N c 4:44–5:4. The Law. General. d 5:5. Mediation of Moses. c 5:6-21. The Law. Particular. d 5:22-33. Meditation of Moses.
44: And this is the law which Moses set before the sons of Israel (i.e. which hereafter follows. The commencement of the new section according to the Structure):
45: These are the testimonies (Heb. ‘ûd, to say again ans again, hence, testifying's, affirmations, &c.), and the ordinances, and the duties and punishments, which Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt,
46: On this side Jordan, in the valley over against Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the sons of Israel smote (cp. Num.21:24.Deut.1:4), after they were come forth out of Egypt:
47: And they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan (cp.Num.21:33.Deut.3:3), two kings of the Amorites, which were on this side Jordan toward the sunrising;
48: From Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even unto mount Sion (written for Sirion, see Deut.3:9), which is Hermon,
49: And all the plain on this side Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.
6: ‘I am the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), Which brought you out of the land of Egypt (Heb. = a limit, hemmed in), from the house of bondage (Heb. servants, put for servitude).
7: You shall have none other gods before Me.
8: You shall not make you any sculpture, or any form of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:
9: You shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them: for I the the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) am a jealous GOD (El), visiting the perverseness of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me (notice the qualification, not every one),
10: And showing kindness to thousands of them that love Me and keep My commandments.
11: You shall not take the name of the the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) in vain: for the Lord (Yehovah) will not hold him guiltless that takes His name in vain.
12: Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, {according as the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) has commanded you}.
13: Six days you shall labour (this word is emphasized by the Heb. accent zarka, to show the 4th Commandment is twofold, and that one day's rest cannot be enjoyed without the 6 proceeding days of labor), and do all your work:
14: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord (Yehovah) your God: in it you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your ox, nor your ass, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger that is within your gates; that your manservant and you maidservant may rest as well as you.
15: {And remember (a parenthetical break in Moses' recital, in view of their shortly having servants of their own) that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) brought you out from that place through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the Lord (Yehovah) your God
(Elohim) commanded you to keep the sabbath day.}
16: Honour your father and your mother, as the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) has commanded you; that your days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with you, in the land which the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) gives you.
17: You shall not murder (i.e. criminal homicide).
18: Neither shall you commit adultery.
19: Neither shall you steal.
20: Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor.
21: Neither shall you desire your neighbor's wife, neither shall you covet your neighbor's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is your neighbor's.’
22: These words the Lord (Yehovah) spoke to all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and He added no more. And He wrote them in two tables of stone (see Ex.17:14), and delivered them to me.
23: And it came to pass, when yo all heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, {for the mountain did burn with fire,} that you all came near to me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;
24: And you all said, ‘Behold, the Lord (Yehovah) our God (Elohim) has showed us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that the Lord (Elohim) does talk with mankind, and he lives (no gender intended).
25: Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the Lord (Yehovah) our God (Elohim) any more, then we shall die.
26: For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living Elohim (both plurals, first occ. of the title, always in contrast with idols, latent or expressed. Cp. Acts 14:15. 1 Thes.1:9, &c.) speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?
27: Go you near, and hear all that the Lord (Yehovah) our God (Elohim) shall say: and speak you to us all that the Lord (Yehovah) our God (Elohim) shall speak to you; and we will hear it, and do it.’
28: And the Lord (Yehovah) heard the voice of your words, when you all spoke to me; and the Lord (Yehovah) said to me, ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken to you: they have well said all that they have spoken.
29: O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me (Fig. Œonismos, or Wishing. An expression of feeling by way of wishing or hoping for a thing), and keep all My commandments (i.e. this whole Law) always (= every day, or all the days), that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!
30: Go say to them, ‘Get you into your tents again.’
31: But as for you, stand you here by Me, and I will speak to you all the commandments, and the ordinances, and the duties and punishments, which you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it.’
32: You all shall observe to do therefore as the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) has commanded you: you all shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
33: You all shall walk in all the ways which the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) has commanded you, that you all may live, and that it may be well with you, and that you all may prolong your days in the land which you all shall possess.