Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 12:4
Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God.
i. e., The idolaters set up their altars and images on any high hill, and under every green tree at their pleasure, but ye shall not do so; the Lord Himself shall determine the spot for your worship, and there only shall ye seek Him. The religion of the Canaanites was human; its modes of worship were of mans devising. It fixed its holy places on the hills in the vain thought of being nearer heaven, or in deep groves where the silence and gloom might overawe the worshipper. But such superstitious appliances were not worthy of the true religion. God had revealed Himself to people in it, and manifested among them His immediate presence and power. He would Himself assign the sanctuary and the ritual of His own service.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
i.e. Not worship him in several places, mountains, groves, &c., which sense is evident from the following opposition.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God. Not sacrifice to him on hills and mountains, and under green trees; though the Jews commonly refer this to the destruction of the names of God, and of any thing appertaining to the temple; that though the temples and the altars of the Heathens were to be overthrown, yet not a stone was to be taken from the house of God, or that belonged to it, nor any of his names to be blotted out; so the Targum of Jonathan and Maimonides z, who also observes a, that whoever removes a stone by way of destruction from the altar, or from the temple, or from the court, is to be beaten; so he that burns the holy wood.
z Yesode Hattorah, c. 6. sect. 7, 9. a Ibid. sect. 8.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Verses 4-7:
The pagan idolaters sacrificed unto their false gods at whatever place seemed convenient or desirable to them. Thus must not be so with Israel. In this text, God promises to designate a certain place where He would meet with Israel and to which they must bring their sacrifices, tithes, and offerings. He had not made that designation at the time of this text. Eventually this place was to be Jerusalem
God has appointed a place to receive His worship today: the tithes and offerings and sacrifices of His people. That place is His house, His church, 1Ti 3:15; Eph 3:21; 1Co 9:13-14.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
4 Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God. The principal distinction, as far as regards the external exercises of devotion, is here laid down between the legitimate worship of God, and all the fictitious rites which the Gentiles have invented; viz., that God would have but one sanctuary and one altar, which might be a symbol of the difference between Himself and all idols; and thus that true religion should have no affinity to superstitions. To this refers the prohibition, that the Israelites should not conduct themselves towards God as the Gentiles did towards their idols; but that a barrier should be raised, which would separate (103) them from the whole world. The whole external profession of God’s worship is fitly annexed to the Second Commandment, because upon that it depends, and has no other object than its due observation. But when I begin to speak of the tabernacle, the priesthood, and the sacrifices, I am entering on a deep and vast ocean, in which many interpreters, whilst indulging their curiosity, have pursued a wild and wandering course. Admonished, therefore, by their example, I will take in my sails, and only touch upon a few points which tend to edification in the faith. But my readers must now be requested, not only to pardon me for abstaining from subtle speculations, but also themselves willingly to keep within the bounds of simplicity. Many have itching ears; and in our natural vanity, most men are more delighted by foolish allegories, than by solid erudition. But let those who shall desire to profit in God’s school, learn to restrain this perverse desire of knowing more than is good for them, although it may tickle their minds. Now let us consider the words of Moses.
(103) Fr. “ l’Eglise.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(4) Ye shall not do soi.e. shall not serve Him upon the high mountains, and hills, and under every green tree, after the manner of the nations.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God You are not to follow the example of these nations and select places for worship. You must conform to Jehovah’s requirements, and worship in the place he appoints.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
They Must Be Obedient to His Covenant and Destroy All That Is Related To Idolatry ( Deu 12:1-4 ).
Deu 12:1
‘ These are the statutes and the ordinances which you (ye) shall observe to do in the land which Yahweh, the God of your (thy) fathers, has given you (thee) to possess it, all the days that you (ye) live on the earth.’
(Note the combination of ‘ye’ and ‘thee, thy’ in the one virtually indivisible sentence. The ‘ye’ stresses their plurality, the ‘thee’ their oneness as a nation which has been given the land and with a special emphasis on each individual’s need to respond to Yahweh. This will be followed by ‘ye’ in Deu 12:2-12, and ‘thou’ in Deu 12:13-31, with the exception of Deu 12:16 where in MT ‘none of ye’ is required. Deu 12:32 reverts to ‘ye’. The subtle distinctions continue).
Here Moses introduces the whole section. It continues on from the previous chapter. He had closed off chapter 11 with ‘you (ye) shall observe to do all the statutes and ordinances which I set before you this day’, now he says, ‘these are the statutes and ordinances which you (ye) shall observe to do –’. In pursuance of what had gone before he will now outline the statutes and ordinances, the written regulations and the judgments based on them, which they must ‘observe to do’ in the land which Yahweh, the God of their fathers has given them. Here we again have the main basis of their entry. It is Yahweh’s land. He is giving it to them for the sake of their fathers. They must therefore hear His voice and walk in His ways by their obedience to His statutes and ordinances. Thus will it be theirs (and their children’s) as long as they remain on the earth. Conditional on obedience, possession will be permanent, but it is conditional on obedience. They are entering under the kingly rule of Yahweh in His land, from which all that is evil will be spued out.
For us it is the Kingly Rule of God that is at stake. If we would be permanently under His kingly rule, we must obey Him, for that is what being ‘in His kingdom’ is all about. In fact whenever we read the words ‘the land’ we can for our part read ‘the kingly rule of God’, for that is what the land represented.
Destruction of All Canaanite Sanctuaries And The Setting Up Of The One Sanctuary ( Deu 12:2-14 ).
Deu 12:2-3
‘ You shall surely destroy (‘destroying you shall destroy’) all the places in which the nations that you will dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains, and on the hills, and under every green tree, and you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their Asherim with fire, and you shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and you shall destroy their name out of that place.’
Possession of the land for Yahweh was to be ensured by their total destruction from the land of all traces of the false and depraved religion of the Canaanites. All areas must have their idolatry removed and be put under Yahweh’s control. They must destroy all ‘the places’ (meqomoth – plural of maqom). This is probably a technical term for holy places which later became replaced by ‘high places’ (bamoth ) to distinguish them from Yahweh’s ‘holy place’. There they served their gods, whether on the high mountains (a favourite place for idolatrous worship for they were seen as abodes of the gods), on the hills (ditto), or under every green tree (certain living trees were seen in themselves to possess a kind of divinity and as promoting fertility. This included green trees with thick foliage (Eze 6:13; Eze 20:28), like the vigorous oak which attains a great age (Isa 1:29; Isa 57:5), and the poplar or terebinth, which continues green even in the heat of summer (Hos 4:13)). The threefold description expressed completeness, covering all abodes of the gods.
The altars built up in such places were to be broken down, their pillars (stones set up to represent the divine for worship) were to be smashed to pieces, their Asherah-images burned with fire (these were images or poles made of wood, set up next to the altars and the pillars, evidence for which has been found in many places), their graven images to be cut down, and the very name of the gods was to be destroyed from each of those places. ‘Destroying the name of their gods’ indicated that the places were not to be seen as having any remnants of ‘holiness’ or association with these gods left. Each ‘place’ was to be emptied of significance so that they would become ‘common’ places, not revered by men. It is noteworthy that no instruction is given that they should be ‘defiled’. That idea comes later (2Ki 23:8; 2Ki 23:10; 2Ki 23:13). Here the gods were to be removed as nonentities and had not been worshipped by Israel.
The ‘pillars’ (matstseboth) that were to be condemned were those set up that men might worship before them, examples of which have been discovered in a number of Canaanite cities, especially at Hazor. Jacob in contrast set up memorial pillars to Yahweh (Gen 28:18; Gen 31:13; Gen 31:45; although gratitude could be expressed at them by pouring a libation over them – Gen 35:14) and Isaiah spoke of a similar memorial pillar being set up on the borders of Egypt when Egypt had begun to seek Yahweh (Isa 19:19), both of which were acceptable. We can compare with this the memorial altar in Jos 22:26-27 on the border of Transjordan. Memorial pillars were common (Gen 31:45-54; Gen 35:20; Exo 24:4; Jos 4:1-9; Jos 24:26-27; 2Sa 18:18). But men were not to worship before them.
For us the gods to be rejected may be different ones. Our ‘gods’ are anything that comes between us and God. Let us but find something that hinders our worship of Him and our joyful service for Him and that is our false god that must be destroyed. Beware especially of covetousness, says Paul, for that is idolatry of the worst kind (Col 3:5). Those who come under the Kingly Rule of God must avoid all covetousness.
Deu 12:4
‘ You shall not do so to Yahweh your God.’
It was to be very different with the worship of Yahweh. That is not how they were to worship Him, at hundreds of different ‘places’ spread throughout the land wherever they desired. He could only be officially worshipped in one ‘place’.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Ver. 4. Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God That is, “Ye shall not adore him upon mountains, upon hills, and under every green tree; but you shall serve him publicly in one place which he shall choose.” That this is the sense, appears from the following verse. Notwithstanding this prohibition, the sacred history shews us how prone the Israelites were to choose mountains and groves for the places of their worship, and therein to set up images, after the example of their heathen neighbours. 2Ki 17:10-11. Eze 20:28. Hos 4:13.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Nothing can be truly reared to GOD’S honor but what hath GOD’S glory in view. Sweet was that precept given with this view. An altar to GOD must he of GOD. If man lifts anything of his own upon it he hath polluted it. Exo 20:24 ; Joh 4:24 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Deu 12:4 Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God.
Ver. 4. Ye shall not do so. ] As wicked Ahaz did, 2Ch 28:24 by the advice and help of Uriah, that turn-coat, 2Ki 16:10-12 who had once passed for a faithful witness, Isa 7:2 but afterwards proved a factor for the devil.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Deu 12:30, Deu 12:31, Deu 16:21, Deu 16:22, Deu 20:18, Lev 20:23
Reciprocal: Lev 18:3 – and after Jos 22:15 – General 1Ki 14:15 – beyond the river 2Ki 17:12 – Ye shall not Psa 78:58 – their high
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
12:4 Ye shall {c} not do so unto the LORD your God.
(c) You shall not serve the Lord with superstitions.