Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 12:10
But [when] ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the LORD your God giveth you to inherit, and [when] he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety;
But when ye go over Jordan,…. Which lay between the place where they now were, and the land of Canaan, and which they would quickly go over:
and dwell in the land which the Lord your God giveth you to inherit; the land of Canaan, and which shows that that is meant by the inheritance: and when
he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about: which was done when the land was subdued, and divided among the tribes of Israel, Jos 22:4 and which confirms the sense of Canaan being the rest; though this was more completely fulfilled in the days of David, when he and Israel had rest from all their enemies round about, 2Sa 7:1 and who brought the ark of the Lord to Jerusalem; and into whose heart the Lord put it to prepare to build a temple at Jerusalem for him, and which was erected and finished in the days of his son Solomon:
so that ye dwell in safety; from their enemies, as they more especially did in the reigns of David and Solomon; which seems plainly to describe the time when the place not named should appear to be chosen by the Lord to put his name in, as follows.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
10. But when ye go over Jordan. This verse confirms what I have before said, that the Jews were constrained to a certain rule as soon as they should have reached the promised land; and yet that the place in which the Ark was perpetually to rest, would not be immediately manifested to them; for what is declared at the end of the verse, that God would give them rest round about, so that they should dwell in safety, was not in fact perfectly exhibited before the time of David. Still God would have them, as soon as they were in enjoyment of the land, come together even from their remotest boundaries to the sanctuary. He omits certain kinds of offerings of which he had lately spoken, and puts, instead of “vows, ” (109) “the choice vows,” which some translate “very choice vows,” or “the chief things in your vows.” I do not reject this; but the other sense is more simple, that all the vows were comprised which every one had made of his own free judgment and choice. Soon afterwards he more fully expresses his meaning, when he prohibits them from offering sacrifices of their own accord in any places that might please them; for, “to see a place, ” here, is equivalent to being carried away by the sight, so as to connect religion and holiness with elegance and beauty.
(109) A.V. , Your choice vows; margin, the choice of your vows. Ainsworth in loco, “i.e., the best, or fairest, as the Chaldee translateth.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(10) When he giveth you rest.Rashi observes, This was not until the days of David. He cite 2Sa. 7:1 : It came to pass when the king sat in his house, and the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
10, 11. There shall be a place When they shall be in peaceful possession of the land these irregularities are to cease. The sacrifices are to be offered and the feast kept in the manner enjoined.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
When They Dwell In The Land Of Their Inheritance They Must Worship At the Place Which Yahweh Their God Chooses ( Deu 12:10-12 ).
Deu 12:10-11
‘ But when you go over the Jordan, and dwell in the land which Yahweh your God causes you to inherit, and he gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety, then it shall come about that to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, to there shall you bring all that I command you: your burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave-offering (or ‘contribution offering’) of your hand, and all your choice vows which you vow to Yahweh.’
But once they have crossed over Jordan into the land, and they are finally settled, and have rest from all their enemies round about (seen as fulfilled in Jos 23:1, still many years hence), so that they dwell in safety, and a safe place has been set up for the Tabernacle, a permanent place in the place where Yahweh their God has chosen to cause His name to dwell there ( Jer 7:12 ; 2Sa 7:13; compare Psa 74:7), then they shall come with their offerings and gifts and tithes and make their vows. Then the statutes and ordinances must be followed precisely. And then their lives must be in tune with His requirements.
This certainly does not mean that during this intermediate period no one brought offerings and gifts to the Tabernacle. The point is rather that not all would be able to, as they would be involved in fighting or defending the places that they had won. It was only when full safety and rest had been achieved that they would therefore be finally fully bound by all the covenant requirements.
Note that strictly speaking it was not the setting up of the Tabernacle in its ‘place’ that was to be delayed until then, but the carrying out of the full ritual and ordinances, especially as they related to the people. Yahweh set His ‘place’ in the land from the very beginning, even though it moved around. But once they were settled in the land and at peace they would be free to worship Him fully in accordance with His requirements.
Deu 12:12
‘ And you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God, you, and your sons, and your daughters, and your men-servants, and your maid-servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, forasmuch as he has no portion nor inheritance with you.’
And having come into rest it was at this place that all Israel were to rejoice before Yahweh. They would have received the rest and security that He had promised them and their fathers (compare Deu 12:9). The promises would finally have been fulfilled. All would take part in the rejoicing. The idea of ‘rejoicing’ in this way included the partaking of ritual meals in fellowship before Yahweh. At Sinai that had been for the favoured, here it was for all (Exo 24:11). This included their menservants and their maidservants, and the Levites who sojourned among them and were spread out over the whole of Israel. This description ‘within your gates’, (that is living among them) is never used specifically of ‘the levitical priests’ (the priests the Levites), only of ‘the Levites’. (See Deu 12:18; Deu 14:27; Deu 16:11; Deu 16:14; Deu 18:6; Deu 26:12). While they mainly dwelt in their own cities, some moved about in the cities and towns of Israel, and some bought residences there.
The Levites were seemingly guides as to the Law (Deu 33:10; 2Ch 17:8-9; 2Ch 30:22; 2Ch 35:3) and presumably supervisors of the tithes, for dealing with one tenth of all produce and births of domestic animals would require close assistance and supervision, and the Levites had been given responsibility to account for one tenth of that tenth to the priests (Num 18:26-28). This confirms that they were appointed to look after the collection of the tithes, for they could not do this if they did not supervise them. They had no inheritance (no specific allocation of land to each individual) in the land, because Yahweh (Jos 13:33) and the tithes (Num 18:26) and the priesthood (Jos 18:7) and the offerings by fire (’ishshah, or possibly ‘gifts’, compare Ugaritic ’usn) were their inheritance (Jos 13:14). They were therefore looked to with great reverence by the godly, and even by such as Micah (Jdg 17:13 – but it should be noted that Micah had been ready to appoint his son as a priest. What he did finally do did not mean that Levites were authorised to be priests, simply that he saw them as a large step up from his son because of their special status).
“You shall rejoice before Yahweh your God.” Compare Deu 12:7. This phrase is applied in Lev 23:40 to the celebration of the feast of Tabernacles, and was to be the distinctive feature of all the sacrificial meals held by the people at the sanctuary, as is repeatedly affirmed (Deu 14:26; Deu 16:11; Deu 16:14; Deu 26:11; Deu 27:7). Coming to Yahweh, once their sins were forgiven, was normally a matter for rejoicing, for then they celebrated all that Yahweh had given them in their harvests, and they would have special rejoicing because they had rest and security in their land. This aspect of rejoicing is one of the special emphases of Deuteronomy, coming from the fact that it is not a solemn announcing of the Law but a speech to the people describing among other things their worship. As with the use of ‘the place’, so with the response of joyful worship, the idea is concentrated on the response of the ordinary people (‘you and your households – verse 7) in overall worship rather than representing the limitation to sanctuary and ordinances. While the latter were certainly assumed, He did not want the people to see their involvement as just to be in a ritual which could become empty. All were to be involved in joyous worship, and joyous eating before Yahweh in the very place chosen by Yahweh, and this included men and women, menservants and maidservants, and resident aliens, and was to be in ‘the place’ in which the sanctuary was set up.
How great then should be our rejoicing who come to a better Tabernacle, the heavenly Tabernacle, through our Lord Jesus Christ (Heb 9:11-12; Heb 10:19-25), to gather with Him at the throne of God, the throne of grace.
The picture here in Deuteronomy goes beyond what turned out to be the actuality. It is a picture of the final goal achieved, it is of the kingly rule of God established and total blessing. It is looking to the time when all are at rest, all are secure, and all look to the One Who dwells among them in His chosen place. In the final analysis it could only be achieved in eternity. For similar idyllic pictures see Isa 4:5-6; Isa 11:1-9; Eze 37:23-28).
It found partial fulfilment after the initial conquest, it found partial fulfilment in the time of David, it has found partial fulfilment in a spiritual sense in the true church of Christ under His rule, but its final fulfilment awaits the everlasting kingdom.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
“Handfuls of Purpose”
For All Gleaners
“… when he giveth you rest front all your enemies round about…. Then there shall be a place.” Deu 12:10-11
There are temporary rests on the road of life. The battle is sometimes suspended, and we know not when it may be resumed. Some spiritual use is to be made even of temporary cessations of difficulty. The religious use which was to be made in ancient times of periods of rest expressed itself in the building of altars and the offering of sacrifices. Ancient life seemed to be divided between war and worship. In reality that distribution would seem to be continued throughout all time. The Christian is either in the field of battle or in the house of prayer. Even rest is not to be spent slothfully, but is to be enjoyed with a religious purpose as well as to be inspired by religious thankfulness. When Jesus Christ offered his disciples rest, it was only for a limited time. His words were, “Come ye into a desert place, and rest a while,” not rest a long time, and certainly not rest for the remainder of your days, but rest a while take a breath, stand still for a moment, and then resume with energy the pursuits of life. The holiday is only to make the subsequent labour more energetic and hopeful. We are not to use rest as a confection which would give us distaste for labour. Nor are we to use rest as a kind of opiate which would disable the very powers it affects to renew. Even rest may be a form of labour, or, at least, it may be so enjoyed as to give the soul promise of renewed endeavour to redeem human life and bless the human lot, now so full of sadness, and now so enfeebled by weariness. It is but cowardice for men to run away from labour that they may enjoy inglorious ease. When merchant-men succeed in laying by sufficient to maintain themselves in comfort, they should be planning some new sphere of activity, so that they may better serve their day and generation when they are released from the wear and tear of the drudgery of life. No man is to say to his soul, Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry; he is rather to say, I have no further care about the body; now shall my soul have full swing in the highest and best activity. This is the true preparation before the Sabbath the Sabbath of heaven.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
Deu 12:10 But [when] ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the LORD your God giveth you to inherit, and [when] he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety;
Ver. 10. So that ye dwell in safety. ] Having peace both external and internal, of country and of conscience. a
a Regionis et religionis,
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
But when: Deu 3:27, Deu 4:22, Deu 9:1, Deu 11:31, Jos 3:17, Jos 4:1, Jos 4:12
ye dwell: Deu 33:12, Deu 33:28, Lev 25:18, Lev 25:19, 1Sa 7:12, 1Ki 4:25, Psa 4:8, Pro 1:33, Jer 23:6, Jer 32:37, Jer 33:11, Eze 28:26, Eze 34:25, Eze 34:28, Eze 38:8
Reciprocal: Lev 14:34 – which I Deu 17:14 – When thou Deu 30:20 – thou mayest 1Ki 8:56 – hath given rest 1Ch 22:18 – and hath Act 9:31 – the churches
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
12:10 But [when] ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the LORD your God giveth you to inherit, and [when] he giveth you {g} rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety;
(g) It was not enough to conquer unless God maintained them in rest under his protection.