Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 5:3
The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, [even] us, who [are] all of us here alive this day.
3. not with our fathers ] Rather, forefathers, i.e. the Patriarchs ‘those great Grandfathers of thy Church 1 [119] with whom, however, D recognises a previous covenant, Deu 4:31, Deu 7:12, Deu 8:18. The immediate fathers of the generation had all passed away before the entry into Moab, according to Deu 2:14 f. Here it is said emphatically that those with whom the covenant at oreb had been made were still all us, all of us alive here this day. Dillmann meets the contradiction by taking Deu 2:14 f. as a later gloss. Others find in it a proof of the difference of authorship between the first discourses Deu 1:6 to Deu 4:49 and the present series; but this still leaves unsolved the difference within the former between Deu 1:30 and Deu 2:14 f. A more probable explanation is that the speaker is made to ignore the tradition of the death of those who had been adults at oreb (of which the author cannot well have been ignorant) for rhetorical purposes: (1) to emphasise the contrast between the Patriarchs and Israel after the Exodus; and (2) to emphasise the new responsibility which the oreb covenant had laid on the latter, in all its successive generations. What Dillmann on Deu 1:30 says of the previous discourse is true of this one (cp. Deu 11:2-7): ‘In the whole discourse Moses conceives the present generation as identical with the previous one.’
[119] Donne, The Litanie, vii.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The fathers are, as in Deu 4:37, the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. With them God did indeed make a covenant, but not the particular covenant now in question. The responsibilites of this later covenant, made at Sinai by the nation as a nation, attached in their day and generation to those whom Moses was addressing.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 3. The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers (only) but with us (also.)
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
With our fathers; either,
1. Not only with them, the word only being here understood, as it is Gen 32:28; 35:10; 1Sa 8:7; Jer 7:19; 31:34; Mat 9:13. Or,
2. Not at all with them. But then the word covenant is not here to be taken for the covenant of grace in general, for so it was made with their fathers, Exo 2:24, but for this particular and mixed dispensation of the covenant at Sinai, as appears both by the foregoing and following words.
All of us here alive this day: he saith not, that all who made that covenant at Sinai are now alive, for many of them were dead, but that this covenant was made with all that are now alive, which is most true, for it was made with the elder sort of them in their own persons, and with the rest in their parents, who did covenant for them; for this phrase,
with us, is put exclusively as to their fathers, but not as to their posterity, as is evident from the nature of the covenant, Act 2:39, and course of the story.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. The Lord made not this covenantwith our fathers, but with usThe meaning is, “not withour fathers” only, “but with us” also, assuming it tobe “a covenant” of grace. It may mean “not with ourfathers” at all, if the reference is to the peculiarestablishment of the covenant of Sinai; a law was not given to themas to us, nor was the covenant ratified in the same public manner andby the same solemn sanctions. Or, finally, the meaning may be “notwith our fathers” who died in the wilderness, in consequence oftheir rebellion, and to whom God did not give the rewards promisedonly to the faithful; but “with us,” who alone, strictlyspeaking, shall enjoy the benefits of this covenant by entering onthe possession of the promised land.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers,…. That is, not with them only, as Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Abendana remark; for certain it is that this covenant was made, or law was given, to the immediate fathers of this present generation of Israelites, whose carcasses had fallen in the wilderness; unless this is to be understood of their more remote ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with whom the covenant of grace was made, or afresh made manifest, especially with the former; when the law, the covenant here spoken of, was not delivered until four hundred and thirty years after, Ga 3:16,
but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day; many of them were then present at the giving of the law, and though under twenty years of age, could remember it, and the circumstances of it; and besides, they were the same people to whom it was given, though not consisting wholly of the same individuals.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(3) Not . . . with our fathers, but with us.That is, according to the usage of the Hebrew language in drawing contrasts, not only with our fathers (who actually heard it), but with us also, who were in the loins of our fathers, and for whom the covenant was intended no less than for them; and, in fact, every man who was above forty-two at the time of this discourse might actually remember the day at Sinai.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. Not with our fathers Not with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was the covenant of which Moses speaks made, but with their descendants who came up out of the land of bondage. A covenant had been made with their fathers, but this covenant was made at Sinai, and, though nearly forty years had passed, there were those among the hearers who could recall the scenes connected with its announcement.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ver. 3. The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers According to Houbigant, the word fathers here signifies, not their immediate predecessors, but their remote progenitors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were not the inheritors of the land of Canaan. Moses considers not the covenant itself, which God indeed made with the patriarchs, but the effect of that covenant; which effect pertained not to their fathers, but to them: as much as to say, he promised indeed to them the land of Canaan, as well as to us; but he gave them not such statutes and ordinances as he hath given to us this day. Others say, that the words may be interpreted, according to the Hebrew idiom, The Lord made this covenant, not with our fathers only, but with us; as Gen 32:28. Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; i.e. not only Jacob, but Israel; or, Israel, preferably to Jacob.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
It is a very interesting remark of Moses, in this verse, that the covenant here spoken of was not confined to the days of Abraham, or the Fathers; but that the law, to which Moses referred, was all subsequent to the covenant made, or rather revealed, to Abraham. A plain proof, as Paul in his comment upon it hath observed, that the proclamation of GOD’S covenant of grace, made known to Abraham concerning Redemption by the LORD JESUS, and which the rite of circumcision was appointed as a sign and seal of for the confirmation of the faith, could not be rendered void, or become conditional, by the law given on Horeb, which was four hundred and thirty years after. A delightful consideration to the believer, who would tremble at mount Sinai but for this, and now rejoices that he is come to Mount Zion. Heb 12:18-24 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
“Handfuls of Purpose”
For All Gleaners
“The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.” Deu 5:3
There is a general revelation intended for all men through all time. There is also a special revelation given to individuals, and limited by precise periods of duration. All moral revelation that is, revelation dealing with righteousness, truth, duty is universal and everlasting. Jesus Christ answered the lawyer who temptingly questioned him, “What is written in the law? how readest thou?” Whilst it is true that some portions of the Bible were written for individuals, and were limited by local circumstances, it is surprising how many of these apparently merely local texts assume a relation to our individual necessities. Wherever this is the case we have been mistaken in calling such passages local and limited. The heart often creates its own Scripture. When the true soul reads the Bible and sees in it an anticipation of his distresses and a remedy for his sufferings, he is entitled to believe that the passage was written for himself as if he had been the only individual in the world. We are not to go in quest of these passages as if with an intention to force them into new meanings, but when they open naturally to the touch of necessity and pain we are certainly entitled to accept their doctrine and their solace. It is beyond all doubt that every law bearing upon purity of spirit and goodness of conduct was written for the benefit of the whole race throughout every age of its development. This is at once the glory and the defence of the Bible. It abides through all time; the Word of the Lord endureth for ever. The Bible is a book addressed to humanity, and therefore it is at home in every land and in every language. It has been remarked upon as a notable and suggestive circumstance that no book is so available for purposes of translation into all tongues as is the Bible. Every man whose soul is hungry has, by virtue of his hunger, a right to this tree of life. Let every one beware, however, how he takes the consolations and omits the commandments. This would be a felonious use of the Scriptures. The Bible is not to be read as a compliment to our feelings, but as a stimulus to our whole nature, that the man of God may be thoroughly instructed and perfected in all holiness. Many men are particular about having the covenants confirmed who do not appear to be quite so particular about having the commandments obeyed.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
Deu 5:3 The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, [even] us, who [are] all of us here alive this day.
Ver. 3. With our fathers, ] i.e., With our fathers only. Or if it be understood of all the foregoing patriarchs, then it is to be expounded by Gal 3:17 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
our fathers = our fathers only.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Deu 29:10-15, Gen 17:7, Gen 17:21, Psa 105:8-10, Jer 32:38-40, Mat 13:17, Gal 3:17-21, Heb 8:8, Heb 8:9
Reciprocal: Exo 34:10 – I make Deu 11:7 – General Deu 26:17 – avouched Deu 29:12 – thou shouldest Deu 29:15 – also with him Jos 24:25 – made 2Ki 11:17 – made a covenant 2Ch 23:16 – made a covenant Est 9:27 – and upon their seed Jer 11:4 – I commanded Jer 31:32 – Not Jer 34:13 – I made Heb 12:19 – and the voice
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
TWO GENERATIONS
The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.
Deu 5:3
I. Gods Word is living, and always keeps pace with his people.Many seem to have a notion that the Bible is out of date, old-fashioned, behind the times, and that the present generation needs something more advanced. The Bible, instead of being behind the times, is always in advance of them, and so far in advance on some lines that some of its statements are not always comprehended until the event of which it speaks is fulfilled. Although the book of Deuteronomy was written nearly fifteen hundred years before Christ, some of the prophecies it contains are being fulfilled to-day before our very eyes, and the fulfilment of others is yet in the future.
It will be observed that Moses, in this review of the Law, first rehearses, in brief, the general principles of the Law as contained in the Ten Commandments; and throughout the rest of the section he is not only reviewing more at length, but he is also making comments on the Law.
II. Originally the covenant was made with the fathers, even as the New Covenant was with Jesus, our Covenant Head. But it was also entered into personally by these very men at Sinai. Theirs, therefore, was the personal and individual responsibility. And how intensely personal the act of entrance into the New Covenant! If ever two were alone together it is the Prodigal and his Father in the supreme moment of their reconciliation. Then each is all to the other. They are face to face, heart to heart. It is all I and Thou. And as it begins, so it continues. This personal element, this aloneness with God Himself, abides and intensifies as our religion grows truer and stronger. There is very much that is called religion short of this; but the true salvation-point is not reached.
Illustration
All Israel were summoned to hear the words of Moses, because no one was excepted from their range. And the end of hearing should always be learning, keeping, and doing (Jam 1:22-25).
Not with our fathers may mean not with the patriarchs, who had simply the covenant of circumcision; or it may mean that the covenant of Sinai was ratified not only with the generation which received it, but with all others represented in them.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Deu 5:3. The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers That is, with our remote progenitors, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but with us, their descendants: or if it be understood as spoken of their immediate parents, it means, according to the Hebrew idiom, Not with our fathers only, but with us also, as Gen 32:28, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; that is, not only Jacob, but Israel, or Israel preferably to Jacob. Moses might truly say, God made this covenant with them then present before him; for a great part of them, even all who were under twenty years of age, when God gave the law on mount Sinai, were at Horeb; and, as God foreknew that their parents would die in the wilderness for their unbelief and murmuring, and would have comparatively little profit from that covenant, he especially intended it for those who should enter Canaan, and who, with their posterity, should be governed and benefited by it from generation to generation.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
5:3 The LORD {a} made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, [even] us, who [are] all of us here alive this day.
(a) Some read, God made not this covenant, that is, in such ample forth and with such signs and wonders.