b O 6:1-3. Conditions of blessing. P e 6:4,5. "Hear, O Israel." f 6:6. "These words" (heart). g i 6:7. "You shall teach." k 6:8. "You shall bind." h 6:9. "You shall write." Q¹ l¹ 6:10–7:26. Warnings. m¹ 8:1-9. Command to remember. Q² l² 8:10-20. Warnings. m² 9:1-. Command to hear. Q³ l³ 9:-1–10:11. Warnings. m³ 10:12–11:12. Command to obey. P e 11:13-17. "You all shall hear." f 11:18-. "These My words" (heart). g k 11:-18. "Bind them." i 11:19. "You all shall teach them." h 11:20,21. "You shall write them." O 11:22-25. Conditions of blessings.
1452 B.C.
4: Hear, O Israel (in the Heb. text this word [shåm‘a] has the last letter majuscular [i.e. larger than the others] and also the last letter of the last word [’echåd], to emphasis "the first and great commandment" [Matt.22:38. Mark 12:29,30]. These two letters taken together make ‘ed = "a witness", because God is a witness and looks on the heart [1 Sam.16:7]. In Heb. shem‘å yisrael yehôvå elhêynü yehôvå echåd = "Her, O Israel, Yehovah the Self and ever existing One, our Elohim is one Yehovah"): the Lord (Yehovah) our God (Elohim) is one Yehovah (Heb. ’ehåd = a compound unity [Latin unus] = one made up of others: Gen.1:5, one of seven; 2:11, one of four; 2:21, one of 24; 2:24, one made up of two; 3:22, one of the Trinity; 49:16, one of twelve; Num.13:23, one of a cluster. So Ps.34:20 &c. It i not yåhîd, which is [Latin] unicus, unique–a single, or only one, occurs 12 times; Gen.22:2,12,16. Judg.11:34. Ps.22:20; 25:16; 35:17; 68:6. Prov.4:3. Jer.6:26. Amos 8:10. Zech.12:10. Hebrew of all other words for "one" is ’echåd):
5: And you shall love the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) with all your heart (the Law founded on love), and with all your soul, and with all your might.
6: And these words, which I command you this day (see 4:26), shall be in your heart:
7: And you shall teach them diligently to your children (Heb. "sharpen" or "whet" = rub them in by repetition), and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.
8: And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hands (still practiced today by orthodox Jews), and they shall be as frontlets (Greek phylacteries = guards or watch-posts) between your eyes.
9: And you shall write (see Ex.17:4) them upon the door-posts of your house, and on your gates (Heb. mezûzåh. Used today, for cases containing the Phylactery).
l¹ n¹ o¹ 6:10,11. Hypothesis. Possession. p¹ 6:12-18-. Warning. Forgetfulness. q¹ 6:-18,19. Reason: "that." n² o² 6:20. Hypothesis. Inquiry of son. p² 6:21-23-. Direction as to answer. q² 6:-23-25. Reason: "that." n³ o³ 7:1,2-. Hypothesis. Possession. p³ 7:-2-5. Injunction. Destroy. q³ 7:6-11. Reason: "For." n4 o4 7:12-. Hypothesis. Obedience. p4 7:-12-15. Blessing: "that." q4 7:16. Injunction. Not to spare. n5 o5 7:17. Hypothesis. Inability. p5 7:18-21-. Injunction. Not to fear. q5 7:-21-26. Reason: "for."
10: And it shall be, when the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) shall have brought you into the land which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob (note inclusion of all 3 patriarchs, see 1:8), to give you great and goodly cities, which you did not build,
11: And houses full of all good things, which you filled not, and wells digged, which you digged not, vineyards and olive trees, which you planted not; when you shall have eaten and be full;
12: Then beware lest you forget the Lord (Yehovah), which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
13: (should read: “the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), Him shall you reverence, and Him shall you serve, and by His name shall you swear.”) You shall reverence the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), and serve Him, and shall swear by His name.
14: You all shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;
15: {For the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) is a jealous GOD (El) among you} lest the anger of the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) be kindled against you, and exterminate you from off the face of the earth (Heb.’ådåmåh, ground, cultivated land).
16: You all shall not try the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) (by questioning Yehovah's presence. This was the point i Matt.4:7. Quoted by the Lord to Satan, and changed to sing. by adaptation.), according as you all tried Him in Massah (cp. Ex.17:2-7).
17: You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), and His testimonies, and His ordinances, which He has commanded you.
18: And you shall do that which is right and good in the sight of the Lord (Yehovah):
that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land which the Lord (Yehovah) swore to your fathers,
19: To cast out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord (Yehovah) has spoken.
20: And when your son asks you in time to come (Heb. "tomorrow", definite date put for indefinite), saying, ‘What mean the testimonies, and the ordinances, and the duties an punishments, which the Lord (Yehovah) our God (Elohim) has commanded you?’
21: Then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt; and the Lord (Yehovah) brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand:
22: And the Lord (Yehovah) showed signs and wonders, great and sore (Heb. r‘a = inflicted evil, not moral. Cp. Jer.18:11. Amos3:6, and see note on Isa.45:7), upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes:
23: And He brought us out from that place,
that He might bring us in, to give us the land which He swore to our fathers.
24: And the Lord (Yehovah) commanded us to do all these ordinances, to revere (or love) the Lord (Yehovah) our God (Elohim), for our good always (= for all time, Heb. all the days), that He might preserve us alive, as it is at this day.
25: And it shall be our righteousness (this is superseded by Rom.10:4,5. Gal.3:12. That true then: this true now. No discrepancy if the Dispensations are rightly divided according to 2 Tim.2:15), if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord (Yehovah) our God (Elohim), as He has commanded us.’
thou shall smite them, and utterly destroy them (= devote them to destruction. Heb. håram.Cp. Ex.23:24; 34:12-17, and see v.12); you shall make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy to them:
3: Neither shall you make marriages with them; your daughter you shalt not give to his son, nor his daughter shall you take to your son.
4: For they will turn away your son from following Me (the very words of Yehovah introduced), that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of Yehovah be kindled against you, and cut you off suddenly.
5: But (=But rather, or truely) thus shall you all deal with them; you all shall break down their altars (Heb. nåthaz), and break into fragments their images (Heb. shåbab), and cut down their groves (= idols, e.g. ashteroth), and burn their sculptures with fire.
6: For you are set apart (see Ex.3:5) people unto the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim): The Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) has chosen you (this is the word emphasized by the Heb. accent [paseh], "you has Yehovah chosen". This is the basis of all else that is here stated. It does not mean superior, it means chosen to do a special job.) to be a special people to Himself (=peculiar, see Ex.19:5, or "His people as a treasure". Cp. 26:18. 1 Pet.2:9), above all Peoples that are upon the face of the earth (=ground).
7: The Lord (Yehovah) did not set His affection upon you (Heb. håsak, a love which joins one to what is loved = to set one's love upon), nor choose you, because you all were more in number than any people; for you all were the fewest of all people:
8: But because the Lord (Yehovah) loved you (Heb. ’åhab, love i its highest sense, love tat delights in its object), and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn to your fathers, has Yehovah brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen (cp. 5:6, and Ex.20:2), from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
9: Know therefore that the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), He is God (Elohim), the faithful GOD (’El) (= the great and mighty God), Which keeps covenant and mercy (= lovingkindness, or grace) with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations;
10: And repays them that hate Him to their face, to destroy them (= cause them to perish, Heb. ’abad): and He will not be slack to him that hates Him, He will repay him to his face.
11: You shall therefore keep the commandments, and the ordinances, and the duties and punishments, which I command you this day, to do them.
12: Wherefore (or that is why) it shall come to pass, if you all listen to these duties and punishments, and keep, and do them,
that Yehovah your Elohim shall keep to you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers:
13: And He will love you, and bless you, and multiply you: He will also bless the fruit of your womb, and the fruit of your land, your corn, and your new wine (Heb. tîrôsh), and your oil, the increase of your kine (Heb. sheger, only here, 28:4,18,51, and Ex.13:2 ["comes off"] in the sense of multiplying by generation), and the flocks of your sheep (only here, and Deut.28:4,18,51. These 3 word are peculiar to Deut.), in the land which He swore to your fathers to give you.
14: You shall be blessed above all Peoples: there shall not be male or female barren among you (cp. Ex.23:26), or among your cattle.
15: And the Lord (Yehovah) will take away from you all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you know, upon you; but will lay them upon all them that hate you.
16: And you shall consume all the people which the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) shall deliver you (this commandment never fully obeyed. Even today. Cp. Ezra 9:1, and see Ex.23:24,32; 34:12-17); your eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shall you serve their gods; for that will be a snare to you.
17: If you shall say in your heart (= mind), ‘These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?’
18: You shall not be afraid of them: but shall well remember what the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) did to Pharaoh, and to all Egypt;
19: The great temptations which your eyes saw (= trials, as manifested in Yehovah's wonderful works), and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) brought you out: so shall the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) do to all the people of whom you are afraid.
20: Moreover the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) will send the hornet among them (a fierce kind of wasp. May be taken literally of by Fig. Metonymy [of cause], for the terror caused by it. Cp. Ex.23:27, and Deut.2:25. Or, by Fig. Metonymy [of Adjunct], for Egypt; the hornet being the royal symbol. Occ. 3 times. Ex.23:28 and Deut.7:20, prophecy, and once fulfillment, Josh.24:12), until they that are left, and hide themselves from you, be destroyed (=caused to perish).
21: You shall not be affrighted at them:
for the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) is among you, a mighty GOD (El) and to be feared (or revered).
22: And the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) will put out those nations before you (Heb. "before your face") by little and little (referring to all the nations of Canaan. Ex.23:29,30. Cp. 9:3, "quickly", which refers to Israel and the "sons of Anak" [9:2]): you may not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon you.
23: But the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) shall deliver them to you, and shall discomfort them (Heb. Hûm, to put in consternation) with a mighty discomfiture, until they be exterminated (Heb. shåmad).
24: And He shall deliver their kings into your hand, and you shall destroy their name from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before you, until you have exterminated them.
25: The graven images of their gods shall you all burn with fire: you shall not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto you, lest you be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim).
26: Neither shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be a cursed thing like it (Heb. a thing devoted to destruction,cp. 13:17. Josh.6:18. Isa.34:5; 43:28. Mal.4:6. Heb. hêrem. Cp. other words in vv.23,24): but you shall utterly detest it, and you shall utterly abhor it; for it is a thing devoted to destruction.
m¹ r 1. Command (particular). s 2-5. Motives. Preservation. r 6. Command. s 7-9. Motives. Provision.
2: And you shall remember all the way which the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) led you these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you, and to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments (cp. 6:25 = the whole Law regarded as one great command), or no.
3: And He humbled you, and suffered you to hunger, and fed you with manna (see Ex.16:31), which you knew not, neither did your fathers know; that He might make you know that mankind does not live by eating bread only (put for all kinds of food), but by keeping every word (or obeying) that proceeds out of the mouth of Yehovah does man live (this verse quoted by Christ. Matt.9:4. Luke 4:4).
4: Your clothing waxed not old upon you, neither did your foot swell, these forty years.
5: You shall also consider in your heart, that, according as a man chastens his son (= corrects, applicable to instruction as well as chastisement. 2 Sam.7:14. Ps.89:32. Prov.3:12 and Heb.12:5,6), so Yehovah your Elohim corrects you.
6: Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), to walk in His ways, and to fear Him.
l² t¹ 10. Hypothesis: "When you have eaten." u¹ 11. Warning. Forgetfulness. t² 12,13. Hypothesis: "When you have eaten." u² 14-16. Warning. Forgetfulness. t³ 17. Hypothesis: "If you say." u³ 18. Warning. Memory. t4 19-. Hypothesis: "If you forget." u4 -19-20. Warning. Destruction.
10: When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) for the good land which He has given you.
11: Beware that you forget not (note the emphasis put on this by the Structure, as in the whole Book) the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), in not keeping His commandments, and His duties and punishments, and His ordinances, which I command you this day:
12: Lest when you have eaten and are full, and have built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;
13: And when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied;
14: Then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;
15: Who led you through that great and terrible wilderness (= desert, cp. 1:9), wherein were fiery serpents (Heb. nachash), and scorpions, and drought (Heb. zimm’ôn, only here and Ps.107:33, and Isa.35:7), where there was no water; Who brought you forth water out of the rock of flint (cp. Ps.114:8);
16: Who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers knew not, that He might humble you, and that He might prove you, to do you good at your latter end;
17: And you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth’ (Heb. = strength, put for the wealth it procures).
18: But you shall remember the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim): for it is He that gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
19: And it shall be, if you do at all forget the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them,
I testify against you this day that you all shall surely perish.
20: As the nations which the Lord (Yehovah) destroys before your face, so shall you all perish; because you all would not be obedient to the voice of the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim).
l³ v¹ 9:1-6. Prospective. v² 9:7–10:11. Retrospective.
v¹ w 1,2. Possession given by Yehovah. x 3-. "Understand therefore." y z¹ -3. Yehovah going before. a 4-. Warning (negative). z² -4. Yehovah driving out. a 5-. Warning (negative). z³ -5. Yehovah driving out. x 6-. "Understand therefore." w -6. Possession given by Yehovah.
You are to pass over Jordan this day (i.e. it is declared this day, &c. Fig. Metonymy [of Subject] where the action is put for the declaration concernig it. Punctuate thus: "Hear, O Israel this day" &c. See 4:26), to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than yourself (put for countries inhabited by them), cities great and fenced up to heaven,
2: A people great and tall, the sons of the Anakims (the descendants of Anak; the progeny of the second irruption of fallen angels. See Gen.6:4, and cp. Josh.11:22), whom you know, and of whom you have heard say, ‘Who can stand before the sons of Anak!’
3: Understand therefore this day,
that the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) is He which goes over before you; as a consuming fire (see Heb. 12:29) He shall destroy them (Heb. shåmad, exterminate), and He shall bring them down before your face: so shall you drive them out, and destroy (Heb. åbad, cause to perish) them quickly (see 7:22), according as Yehovah has said to you (see Ex.23:29,30. Moab subdued [Judg.3:30]; Midian subdued [Judg.8:28]; Ammon subdued [Judg.11:33]; Philstines subdued [1 Sam.7:13].Cp. Neh.9:24).
4: Do not speak in your heart, after that the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) has cast them out from before you, saying, ‘For my righteousness the Lord (Yehovah) has brought me in to possess this land:’
but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord (Yehovah) does drive them out from before you.
5: Not for your righteousness (cp. Titus 3:5. Rom.11:6. 2 Tim.1:9), or for the uprightness of your heart, do you go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) does drive them out from before you, and that He may perform the word which the Lord (Yehovah) swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (all 3 mentioned in connection with the oath).
6: Understand therefore,
that the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) gives you not this good land to possess it for your righteousness; for you are a stiffnecked People.
v² b¹ 9:7,8. People. Provocation. c¹ 9:9-11. Moses. Ascent of Mount. b² 9:12-14. People. Provocation. c² 9:15. Moses. Descent. Tables carried. b³ 9:16. People. Provocation. c³ 9:17. Moses. Tables broken. b4 9:18,19-. People. Provocation. c4 9:-19-21. Moses. Intercession. b5 9:22-24. People. Provocation. c5 9:25–10:5.Moses. Intercession and second Tables. b6 10:6-11. People. Journeying.7: Remember, and forget not, how you provoked the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that you did depart out of the land of Egypt, until you all came to this place, you all have been rebellious against the Lord (Yehovah).
9: When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the Lord (Yehovah) made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights (the number of probation. See Ex.24:18; 34:28), I neither did eat bread nor drink water:
10: And the Lord (Yehovah) delivered to me two tables of stone written with the finger of God (Elohim) (see Ex.17:14); and on them was written according to all the words, which the Lord (Yehovah) spoke with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.
11: And it came to pass at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the Lord (Yehovah) gave me the two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant.
12: And the Lord (Yehovah) said to me (see 2:9, and cp. Ex.32:7,8), ‘Arise, get you down quickly from this place; for your People which you hast brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves; they are quickly turned aside out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten image.’
13: Furthermore the Lord (Yehovah) spoke to me, saying, ‘I have seen this People, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked People:
14: Let Me alone (cp. Ps.46:10, where it is rendered "Be still"), that I may exterminate them, and blot out their name from under heaven: and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’
15: So I turned and came down from the mount (cp. Ex.32:15), and the mount burned with fire: and the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands.
16: And I looked, and, behold, you all had sinned against the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), and had made you a molten calf: you all had turned aside quickly out of the way which the Lord (Yehovah) had commanded you.
17: And I took the two tables (cp. Ex.32:19), and cast them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes.
18: And I fell down before the Lord (Yehovah), as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which you all sinned, in doing the wicked thing in the sight of the Lord (Yehovah) (i.e. idolatry), to provoke Him to anger.
19: For I was alarmed of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith the Lord (Yehovah) was wroth against you to exterminate you.
But the Lord (Yehovah) listened to me at that time also.
20: And Yehovah was very angry with Aaron to have exterminated him: and I prayed for Aaron also the same time.
21: And I took your sin, the calf which you all had made, and burnt it (down) with fire, and stamped it, and ground it very small, even until it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount (cp. Ex.32:20, which is here explained).
22: {And (note the Parenthesis of vv.22-24) at Taberah (= burning, cp. Num.11:1-3), and at Massah (= temptation, cp. Ex.17:7), and at Kibroth-hattaavah (= the graves of lust, cp. Num.11:34), you all provoked the Lord (Yehovah) to wrath.
23: Likewise when the Lord (Yehovah) sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, ‘Go up and possess the land which I have given you;’ then you all rebelled against the commandment of the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), and you all believed Him not, nor listened to His voice.
24: You all have been rebellious against the Lord (Yehovah) from the day that I knew you.}
25: Thus I fell down before the Lord (Yehovah) forty days and forty nights, as I fell down at the first; because the Lord (Yehovah) had said He would exterminate you.
26: I prayed therefore to the Lord (Yehovah), and said, ‘O Lord GOD (Adonai Yehovah) (God's ownership emphasized by this title), do not exterminate Your People and Your inheritance, which You have redeemed through Your greatness, which You have brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
27: Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; look not to the stubbornness of this people (= obduracy, or obstinacy), nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin:
28: Lest the land from which place You brought us out say, ‘Because the Lord (Yehovah) was not able to bring them into the land which He promised them, and because He hated them, He has brought them out to slay them in the wilderness.
29: Yet they are Your People and your inheritance, which You brought out by Your mighty power and by Your stretched out arm.