6: {And the sons of Israel took their journey from
Beeroth of the sons of Jaakan (= the well of the sons of Jaakan. Cp. Num.20:22-29; 33:31-38) to Mosera (Heb. = correction, bond): there Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son
ministered in the priest's office in his stead.
7: From that place they journeyed to Gudgodah (= an incision, conspicuous mountain, see Num.33:32); and from Gudgodah to Jotbath (= pleasantness, goodness), a land of rivers of waters.}
8: At that time the Lord (Yehovah) separated the tribe of Levi (cp. Num.3:5-12. #1 On account of loyalty. Ex.32:26, and Deut.33:8. #2 After revolt of Korah, &c. Num.16:17. #3 After the sin of the People with Moabites. Num.25:6-13. Ps.106:30. Mal.2:4,5; 3:3), to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord (Yehovah), to serve before Yehovah to minister to Him (put for all service and ministrations), and to bless in His name,
unto this day.
9: Wherefore Levi has no part nor inheritance with his
brethren; Yehovah is his inheritance, according as the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) promised him.
10: And I stayed in the mount (cp. Ex.34:28), according to the first time, forty days and forty nights; and Yehovah listened to me at that time also, and (some codices read "therefore") Yehovah would not destroy you (Heb. shåhath = inflictions of judgments).
11: And the Lord (Yehovah) said to me, ‘Arise, take your journey before the people (cp. Num.10:11), that they may go in and possess the
land, which I sware to their fathers to give to them.’
m³ d 10:12,13-. To revere and love Him. e f 10:-13. Intention: "for your good." g 10:14-19. Motives and reasons. d 10:20,21. To revere and praise Him. e g 10:22–11:8-. Motives and reason. f 11:-8-12. Intention: "that you all may be strong."
12: And now, Israel, what does the Lord (Yehovah) you God (Elohim) require of you (cp. Mic.6:8. Hos.12:6. Josh.22:5. 1 Sam.15:22), but to reverence the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), to walk in all His
ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) with all your heart (= mind) and with all your soul (In other words, He becomes A#1 in your life!),
13: To keep the commandments of the Lord (Yehovah), and His
ordinances (many of these He nailed to the cross), which I command you this day (see 4:26) for your good? (the health laws are still in effect to this very day! He created you. Do you think He knows what's good for you?)
g h k 14. Yehovah. Power unchallengeable. l 15. Yehovah. Love without cause. i 16. Reason. Circumcision of heart. h k 17. Yehovah. Power irresistible. l 18. Yehovah. Judgment impartial. i 19. Reason. Love to others required.
14: Behold, the heaven and the highest heavens is the Lord's (Yehovah's) your God (Elohim), the earth also (He loans it to us), with all that therein is (see Ex.20:1-6).
15: Only the Lord (Yehovah) had a delight in your fathers to love them, and He chose their seed after them, even you above all people (Heb. peoples), as it is this day.
16: Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart (here charged as a duty. In 30:6 promised as a future blessing. Cp. Lev.26:41. Jer.6:10. Acts 7:51. Circumcision mentioned after Ex.12:48 only in Josh.5:3-7 and Jer.9:25. Uncircumcision of Gentiles shows that circumcision was practiced. Cp. Isa.52:1. Jer.9:25,26. Ezek.31:18), and be no more stiffnecked.
17: For the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) He is God of gods (Elohê of elohim) (cp. Josh.22:22. Dan.2:47), and Lord of lords (Adonai of adonim), a great GOD (El), a mighty, and to be revered, which regards not persons, nor accepts a bribe (see 2 Chron.19:7. Acts 10:34. Rom.2:11. 1 Pet.1:17):
18: He does execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow (put for all the afflicted), and loves the stranger, in giving him food and clothing.
19: Love you all therefore the sojourner (cp. Lev.19:34): for you all were sojournersin the land of Egypt.
20: You shall reverence the the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim); Him shalt you serve, and to Him shall you cleave (cp. Josh.23:8. 2 Kings 17:36), and swear by His name.
21: He is your praise, and He is your God (Elohim), that has done for you these great and terrible things (cp. 2 Sam.7:23), which your eyes
have seen.
g m 10:22. Fulfillment of the promise to the fathers. n 11:1. Therefore, love and obey. m 11:2-7. Fulfillment of judgment to enemies. n 11:8-. Therefore, obey.
22: Your fathers went down into Egypt (cp. Gen.46:27. Ex.1:5) with threescore and ten souls (see Gen. 46:27. Acts 7:14); and now the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) has made you as the stars of heaven for multitude (cp. Gen.22:17; 26:4. Ex.32:13. 1 Chron.27:23. Neh.9:23).
2: And know you all this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), His greatness, and (note the "ands", vv.2,3 ) His mighty hand, and his stretched out arm,
3: And His miracles, and His acts (cp. Ps.103:7, as distinguished from His "ways" shown only to Moses), which He did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and to all his land;
4: And what He did to the army of Egypt, to their horses, and to their chariots; how He made the water of the Red sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the Lord (Yehovah) has caused them to perish unto this day (cp. Ex.14:28);
5: And what He did to you in the wilderness (cp. Ex.15. Num.32), until you all came into this place;
6: And what He did to Dathan and Abiram (cp. Num.16), the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel:
7: But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord (Yehovah) which He did.
8: Therefore shall you all keep all the commandments which I command you this day (see 6:1,25; 7:11),
that you all may be strong, and go in and possess the land, to which place you all are going over to possess it;
9: And that you all may prolong your days in the land (= on the ground), which the Lord (Yehovah) swore to your fathers to give to them and to their seed, a land that flows with milk and honey.
10: For the land, to which place you go in to possess it, it is not as the land of Egypt (rain very rare in Egypt. Cp. Zech.14:18), from which place you all came out, where you sowed your seed, and watered it with your foot (referring to the system of irrigation, by which the water was turned into channels by the foot), as a garden of herbs:
11: But the land, to which place you all are going to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinks continually water of the rain of heaven:
12: A land which the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) cares for: the eyes of the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.
13: And it shall come to pass, if you all shall listen diligently to My commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul,
14: That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain (= "early rain" falling in the middle of October to January, preparing ground for seeds. First occurrence of these rains) and the latter rain (falling in March and April, bringing on the harvest. Cp. Lev.26:3,4. Joel 2:23. Jer.5:24. Zech.10:1. James 5:7), that you may gather in your corn, and your wine (= new wine, Heb. tîrôsh), and your oil.
15: And I will send grass in your fields for your cattle, that you may eat and be full.
16: Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and you all turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;
17: And then the Lord's (Yehovah's) wrath be kindled against you, and He shut up the heaven (the power of the Creator thus manifested. Cp. 1 Kings 8:35. Jas.5:17), that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest you all perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord (Yehovah) gives you (= ground, Heb.’adåmåh).
18: Therefore shall you all lay up these My words in your heart and in your soul,
and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.
19: And you all shall teach them your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
20: And you shall write them upon the door posts of your house (see Ex.17:14), and upon your gates:
21: That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord (Yehovah) swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.
22: For if you all shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you this day (cp. the idiom of Luke 23:42), to do them, to love the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), to walk in all His ways, and to cleave to Him;
23: Then will Yehovah drive out all these nations from before you, and you all shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.
24: Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours (cp. Josh.1:3-5; 23:5. Ex.23:31): from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river (Heb. nåhår, a flood, not nahal, a wady. Some codices read "great river"), the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.
25: There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that you all shall tread upon, as He has said to you.
J o 26. This day. The blessing and the curse. p q 27. The blessing. r 28. The curse. s 29-. The place: "In the land." p q -29-. The blessing ((Gerizim). r -29. The curse (Ebal). s 30,31. The place: "In the land." o 3. This day. Statutes and judgments.26: Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;
27: The blessing, if you all obey the commandments of the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), which I command you this day:
28: And the curse, if you all will not obey the commandments of the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.
29: And it shall come to pass, when the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) has brought you in unto the land to which place you go to possess it,
that you shall put the blessing upon mount Gerizim (= rocky, cut up. North of Shechem. Cp. Josh.8:33,34 and see Deut.27:12),
and the curse upon mount Ebal (= stone, bald, bare montain [like the false rock Satan]. South of Shechem. Both mounts here named for the first time. Not mentioned after Judges).
30: Are they not on the other side of Jordan (these particulars connect this place with the rehearsing of the law to Abraham. Cp. Gen.12:6), by the way where the sun goes down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the plain (Heb. ‘aråbåh. Cp. 1:1) over against Gilgal (= a wheel, enclosure. Not the Gilgal near Jericho), near the plains of Moreh? (hence 30 miles from Gilgal of Josh.5:9. Cp. Gen.12:6,7; 35:4)
31: For you all shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) gives you, and you all shall possess it, and dwell therein.
32: And you all shall observe to do all the ordinances and duties and punishments which I set before you this day.
F R t 12:1. These are the statutes. u 12:2–14:29. Sacred places and meats. S¹ 15:1–16:17. Ecclesiastical laws (Sabbath &c.). T v 16:18–17:13. Laws. Civil. w 17:14-20. The KING. S² 18:1-8. Laws. Ecclesiastical (Levites &c.). T w 18:9-22. The PROPHET. v 19:1–25:19. Laws. Cival. S³ 26:1-15. Laws. Ecclesiastical (Firstfruits). R t 26:16-19. These statutes. u 27:1-10. Sacred places and worship.
u U¹ 12:2-32. Places. U² 13:1-18. Idolatry. U³ 14:1-29. Meats.
U¹ x 2,3. False gods. Destruction of places. y 4-28. Yehovah: "Not so." x 29,30. False gods. Destruction of worship. y 31,32. Yehovah: "Not so."
2: You all shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which you all shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree (= verdant, new, Fig. prosperous. Heb. z‘anan):
3: And you all shall overthrow their altars, and smash their pillars (these "menhirs" constantly dug up today), and burn their groves (= the ’ashêrah) with fire; and you all shall hew down the sculptures of their gods (as in 7:25), and destroy (= cause to perish) the names of them out of that place (cp. Ex.23:24; 34:13. Judg.2:2; 6:28. 2 Kings 10:19; 11:1. Ezek.6:3).
y a 4. Command. General (negative). b 5-14. Restrictions. c e 15. Exception. f 16. Prohibition of foods.d 17-19. Tenths.
c e 20-22. Exceptions. f 23-25. Prohibition on foods. b 26,27. Restrictions. a 28. Commands. General (positive).
4: You all shall not do so to the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim).
5: But unto the place which the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) shall choose out of all your tribes to put His name there (only in the Land could these laws be carried out. Cp. Ex.20:24), even unto His habitation shall you all seek, and to that place you shall come:
6: And to that place you all shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks:
7: And there you all shall eat before the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), and you all shall rejoice in all that you all put your hand unto (put for the whole works done by it), all you and your households, wherein the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) has blessed you.
8: You all shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.
9: For you all are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance (cp. Josh.23:1. Deut.25:19. 1 Kings 8:56), which the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) gives you.
10: But when you all go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) gives you to inherit, and when He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you all dwell in safety;
11: Then there shall be a place which the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) shall choose to cause His name to dwell there (the ark of the covenant would be the place until the temple was built); to that place shall you all bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which you all vow to the Lord (Yehovah):
12: And you all shall rejoice before the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) (cp. Lev.23:40), all you, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the Levite that is within your gates (put for the whole city); forasmuch as he has no part nor inheritance with you (cp. Num.10:8,9. Num.3:11-13).
13: Take heed to yourself that you offer not your burnt offerings in every place that you see:
14: But in the place which the Lord (Yehovah) shall choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.
15: Notwithstanding you may kill and eat flesh in all your cities, whatsoever your soul (yourself) lusts after, according to (notice this condition) the blessing of the Lord (Yahovah) your God (Elohim) which He has given you: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof (this regarding the persons, not the food), as of the roebuck, and as of the hart.
16: Only you all shall not eat the blood (putifies very quickly); you all shall pour it upon the earth as water.
17: You may not eat within your cities the tithe of your corn, or of your new wine, or of your oil, or the firstlings of your herds or of your flock, nor any of your vows which you vow, nor your freewill offerings, or heave offering of your hand:
18: But you must eat them before Yehovah your Elohim in the place which the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) shall choose, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite that is within your gates: and you shall rejoice before the the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) in all that you put your hands to.
19: Take heed to yourself that you forsake not the Levite as long as you live upon the earth (Heb. = all the days).
20: When the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) shall enlarge your border, according as He has promised you, and you shall say, ‘I will eat flesh, because thy soul (yourself) longs to eat flesh; you may eat flesh, whatsoever yourself longs for.
21: If the place which the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) has chosen to put His name there be too far from you, then you shall kill in sacrifice of your herd and of your flock (cp. 1 Sam.16:5 ["sacrifice"]), which the Lord (Yehovah) has given you, as I have commanded you, and you shall eat in your cities whatsoever yourself longs for.
22: Even as the roebuck and the hart is eaten, so you shall eat them: the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike.
23: Only be sure that you eat not the blood: for the blood is the life (Heb. "the blood it is the soul". Cp. Lev.17:11,14 and v.16 above); and you may not eat the life (= soul, Heb. nephesh) with the flesh.
24: You shall not eat it (repeated in v.25 for emphasis); you shall pour it upon the earth as water.
25: You shall not eat it; that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, when you shall do that which is right in the sight of Yehovah.
26: Only your holy (= set apart, seperate) things which you have, and your vows, you shall take, and go to the place which Yehovah shall choose:
27: And you shall prepare your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim): and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), and you shall eat the flesh.
28: Observe and hear all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you, and with yor children after you for ever, when you do that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim).
29: When the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) shall cut off the nations from before you, to which place you go to possess them, and you succeed them, and dwellest in their land;
30: Take heed to yourself that you be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before you; and that you inquire not after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.’
31: You shall not do so to the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim): for every abomination to the Lord (Yehovah), which He hates, have they done to their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.
32: What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: you shall not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
U² V¹ g¹ 1-. The instigator. False prophet. h¹ -1.2. Seduction. i¹ 3,4. Prohibition. k¹ 5-. Punishment. l¹ -5. Evil removed. V² g² 6-. Instigator. A brother. h² -6,7. Seduction. i² 8. Prohibition. k² 9,10. Punishment. l² 11. Evil removed. V³ g³ 12. Instigator. A city. h³ 13. Seduction. i³ 14. Inquiry. k³ 15,16. Destruction. l³ 17,18. Evil removed.
and gives you a sign or a wonder,
2: And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’, which you have not known, and let us serve them;
3: You shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) proves you (i.e. suffers you to be proved. Heb. idiom, which speaks of doing what one allows to be done), to know whether you all love the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) with all your heart and with all your soul.
4: You all shall walk after the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), and revere (or love) Him, and keep His commandments, and obey His voice, and you all shall serve Him, and cleave to Him.
5: And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because He has spoken to turn you away from the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage (= bondmen, see 5:6. 11 times in this Book. #11 = or denotes disorder: 13:5; 17:7,12; 19:13,19; 21:9,21; 22:21,22,24; 24:7), to thrust you out of the way which the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) commanded you to walk in.
So shall you put the wicked thing away from the midst of you (Heb. bå‘ar, to burn up in order to clear out).
6: If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or you friend, which is as your own soul, entice you secretly (both Hebrew words used here for the first time),
saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods’, which you have not known, you, nor your fathers;
7: Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, near to you, or far off from you, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;
8: You shall not consent to him, nor listen to him; neither shall your eye pity him, neither shall you spare, neither shall you conceal him:
9: But you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
10: And you shall stone him with stones, that he die; because he has sought to thrust you away from the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), which brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondmen.
11: And all Israel shall hear, and revere, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.
12: If you shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) has given you to dwell there, saying,
13: ‘Certain men, the sons of Belial (first occ. A word denoting all that is wicked and worthless; hopeless, as to character and destiny. Put by Fig. Metonomy, for the EvilOne as the instigator of all uncleanness and heathenism. Cp. 2 Cor.6:15. evil, naughty, ungodly, wicked), are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods’, which you all have not known;
14: Then shall you inquire, and make search, and ask diligently (= thoroughly. occ. only here and 17:4; 19:18); and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you;
15: You shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword (Heb. "mouth"), exterminating it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge (mouth) of the sword.
16: And you shall gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn down with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for Yehovah your Elohim: and it shall be an heap for ever (cp. Josh.8:28); it shall not be built again.
17: And there shall cleave nothing of the cursed thing to your hand: that Yehovah may turn from the fierceness of His anger, and shew you mercy, and have compassion upon you, and multiply you, according as He has sworn to your fathers;
18: When you shall listen to the voice of the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), to keep all His commandments which I command you this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim).