Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 26:18

And the LORD hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that [thou] shouldest keep all his commandments;

18. and Jehovah hath caused thee to say this day that thou wilt be unto him a peculiar people and wilt keep all his commandments ] Elsewhere in D the singular relation of Israel to Jehovah is stated as His promise and act, Deu 7:6, q.v., Deu 14:2; cp. Deu 27:9, Deu 29:13 (12). Here is the converse, the people’s engagement to be such, as in 2Ki 11:17. Israel becomes His peculiar people by keeping all His commandments; that is the main thing! The phrase, as he hath said to thee, though unnecessary, is not the ‘senseless addition,’ which Steuern, alleges.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Verse 18. And the Lord hath avouched] Publicly declared, by the blessings he pours down upon them, that he has taken them to be his peculiar people. Thus the covenant is made and ratified between God and his followers.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Hath owned thee for such before all the world by eminent and glorious communications and manifestations of his power and grace and favour in time and for thee, by a solemn entering into covenant with thee, and giving peculiar laws, promises, and privileges to thee above all mankind. That thou shouldest keep all his commandments; which is here mentioned as an act of Gods, because though this be mans duty, yet it is the work of Gods grace, that he will vouchsafe to give us such commands, that he doth require and will accept of our obedience to them, and that we have any power or will to obey them, Eze 36:26,27.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

And the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people,…. Affirmed and declared them to be his special people, above all people on the face of the earth, and that they were looked upon and considered by him as his jewels, his peculiar treasure:

as he hath promised thee; on condition of their obedience to him, as he did in Ex 19:5;

and that [thou] shouldest keep all his commandments; at the same time declared this as his will, that they should observe all his precepts, to which they were laid under obligation by the special favour and peculiar privileges he bestowed upon them, De 7:6. The Targums interpret both these verses of the people of Israel choosing and making the Lord their King, and of his being made King over them; and so it respects their peculiar form of civil government, being a theocracy. The Lord’s people in Christ are a peculiar people; they are distinct from all people, and are peculiarly regarded by him; they are the objects of his peculiar love, and receive peculiar favours from him; and whom having chosen and redeemed, he calls by his special grace, and witnesses their special relation to him by his Spirit; which grace obliges and excites them to a cheerful obedience to his commands.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

18. And the Lord hath avouched thee this day And Jehovah hath promised you this day that you shall be his peculiar people.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments