Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 12:5
But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, [even] unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:
To put his name there means to manifest to men His divine presence. The Targumists rightly refer to the Shechinah; but the expression comprehends all the various modes in which God vouchsafed to reveal Himself and His attributes to men.
The purpose of the command of the text is to secure the unity, and through unity the purity of the worship of God. That there should be one national center for the religion of the people was obviously essential to the great ends of the whole dispensation. Corruption began as soon as the precepts of the text were relaxed or neglected: Compare the case of Gideon, Jdg 8:27; of Micah, Judg. 18; of Jeroboam, 1Ki 12:26 ff.
The words the place which the Lord shall choose to put His Name there suggest Jerusalem and Solomons temple to our minds. But though spoken as they were by a prophet, and interpreted as they are by the Psalms (e. g. Psa 78:67-69), they have a proper application to the temple, yet they must not be referred exclusively to it. The text does not import that God would always from the first choose one and the same locality to put His Name there, but that there would always be a locality so chosen by Him; and that there the people must bring their sacrifices, and not offer them at their pleasure or convenience elsewhere. Neither does the text forbid the offering of sacrifices to God at other places than the one chosen by Him to put His Name there on proper occasions and by proper authority (compare Deu 27:5-6; Jdg 6:24; Jdg 13:16; 1Ki 3:4; 1Ki 18:31). The text simply prohibits sacrifices at any other locality than that which should be appointed or permitted by God for the purpose.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Deu 12:5-6
Unto His habitation shall ye seek.
The Gospel of the holy places
I. God was pleased to choose out certain places to stand in a special relation of holiness unto himself under the Old Testament. This holiness of places was two-fold, either transient and merely for the present time, or else more permanent.
1. The transient holiness of places was where the Lord gave visible appearances of Himself in His glorious majesty to the eyes of His servants; such places were holy during the time of such Divine appearances (Exo 3:5; Exo 19:11-25; Jos 5:15 2Pe 1:18).
2. There was also a more abiding holiness of places under the law.
(1) The land of Canaan (Zec 2:12).
(2) The cities of refuge.
(3) The tabernacle, the temple, the ark, and all the places where they came (2Ch 8:11).
(4) Jerusalem was very eminent as being the place of the temple, and ark, and all the public worship thereunto belonging (Psa 76:2; Psa 87:2).
II. What is the ground of this holiness of these places, and how are we to conceive of it?
1. The Lord is said to choose these places to set His name there, and therefore they are called His habitation.
(1) Here were the standing symbols and tokens of His presence.
(2) In these places were visible appearances of His glory upon special occasions (Exo 40:34; Num 12:5; 1Ki 8:10-11; Isa 6:1).
(3) These places had their typical significations of Christ and Gospel mysteries.
(4) These places were appointed by God to be parts, yea, principal parts, of His worship (Exo 20:24; Eze 20:40).
(5) They were, by Gods appointment, the seat of all the public church worship of those times.
2. Thither shalt thou seek, i.e. for answers and oracles from the holy places, and from the priest by Urim and Thummim (Exo 25:22; Num 7:8-9; Num 27:21).
3. Thither shalt thou come, i.e. at all the appointed festivals, three times a year (Exo 23:14; Exo 23:17), and whensoever they offered sacrifice (Deu 12:6).
Lessons:
1. The cessation of this holiness of places under the New Testament (Joh 4:21-23; Mat 18:22; 1Ti 2:8; Mal 1:11). Every place is now a Judaea, every house a Jerusalem, every congregation a Zion.
2. Learn to present your worship unto God by Jesus Christ, for He is the true Temple and Tabernacle (Heb 7:25; 1Pe 1:21; Joh 14:6; Col 3:17).
3. Remember that there is a church worship (Act 2:42; Act 20:7).
4. Labour everyone, that his soul may be a habitation for the Lord, a temple of the Holy Ghost. (S. Mather.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
To put his name there, i.e. to set up hiss worship there, or which he shall call by his name, as his house, or dwelling-place, &c., to wit, where the ark should be, the tabernacle, or temple; which was first Shiloh, Jos 18:1, next and especially Jerusalem.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. unto the place which the Lordyour God shall choose . . . to put his name there . . . thou shaltcomeThey were forbidden to worship either in the impuresuperstitious manner of the heathen, or in any of the placesfrequented by them. A particular place for the general rendezvous ofall the tribes would be chosen by God Himself; and the choice of onecommon place for the solemn rites of religion was an act of divinewisdom, for the security of the true religion. It was admirablycalculated to prevent the corruption which would otherwise have creptin from their frequenting groves and high hillsto preserveuniformity of worship and keep alive their faith in Him to whom alltheir sacrifices pointed. The place was successively Mizpeh, Shiloh,and especially Jerusalem. But in all the references made to it byMoses, the name is never mentioned. This studied silence wasmaintained partly lest the Canaanites within whose territories it laymight have concentrated their forces to frustrate all hopes ofobtaining it; partly lest the desire of possessing a place of suchimportance might have become a cause of strife or rivalry amongst theHebrew tribes, as about the appointment to the priesthood (Nu16:1-30).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But unto the place which the Lord your God,…. The Targum of Jonathan is, that the Word of the Lord your God:
shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there; to place his tabernacle, set up his worship, take up his residence, and cause the Shechinah, or his divine Majesty, to dwell there, as the next clause explains it; out of what tribe it should be chosen, and where it should be, is not said. Maimomides b gives three reasons for it; he says there are three great mysteries why the place is not clearly, but obscurely mentioned;
1) lest the Gentiles should seize upon it, and make war for the sake of it, supposing this place to be the end of the law; 2) lest they in whose hands the place then was should by all means waste and destroy it; 3) which is the chief, lest every tribe should desire to have it in its own lot and jurisdiction; and so strifes might arise among them on account of it, as happened to the priesthood:
[even] unto his habitation shall ye seek; the temple at Jerusalem is meant, where the Lord took up his dwelling, and whither men were to come and seek unto him by prayer and supplication for whatsoever they needed, and to inquire of him in matters doubtful, and they wanted counsel in:
and thither thou shall come: with sacrifices of every sort, where they were to be slain and offered to the Lord, and become acceptable to him, as is more largely declared in the following part of this chapter.
b Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 45. p. 475.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Where Sacrifices Must Be Offered; Ceremonial Observances; Cautions Against Idolatrous Rites. | B. C. 1451. |
5 But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come: 6 And thither ye 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 ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed thee. 8 Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes. 9 For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the LORD your God giveth you. 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; 11 Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye 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 ye vow unto the LORD: 12 And ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the Levite that is within your gates; forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you. 13 Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest: 14 But in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee. 15 Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart. 16 Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water. 17 Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offerings, or heave offering of thine hand: 18 But thou must eat them before the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God in all that thou puttest thine hands unto. 19 Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth. 20 When the LORD thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after. 21 If the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to put his name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the LORD hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after. 22 Even as the roebuck and the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat them: the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike. 23 Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh. 24 Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water. 25 Thou shalt not eat it; that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD. 26 Only thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou shalt take, and go unto the place which the LORD shall choose: 27 And thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the LORD thy God: and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the LORD thy God, and thou shalt eat the flesh. 28 Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God. 29 When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; 30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. 31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto 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: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
There is not any one particular precept (as I remember) in all the law of Moses so largely pressed and inculcated as this, by which they are all tied to bring their sacrifices to that one altar which was set up in the court of the tabernacle, and there to perform all the rituals of their religion; for, as to moral services, then, no doubt, as now, men might pray every where, as they did in their synagogues. The command to do this, and the prohibition of the contrary, are here repeated again and again, as we teach children: and yet we are sure that there is in scripture no vain repetition; but all this stress is laid upon it, 1. Because of the strange proneness there was in the hearts of the people to idolatry and superstition, and the danger of their being seduced by the many temptations which they would be surrounded with. 2. Because of the great use which the observance of this appointment would be of to them, both to prevent the introducing of corrupt customs into their worship and to preserve among them unity and brotherly love, that, meeting all in one place, they might continue both of one way and of one heart. 3. Because of the significancy of this appointment. They must keep to one place, in token of their belief of those two great truths, which we find together (1 Tim. ii. 5), That there is one God, and one Mediator between God and man. It not only served to keep up the notion of the unity of the Godhead, but was an intimation to them (though they could not stedfastly discern it) of the one only way of approach to God and communion with him, in and by the Messiah.
Let us now reduce this long charge to its proper heads.
I. It is here promised that when they were settled in Canaan, when they had rest from their enemies, and dwelt in safety, God would choose a certain place, which he would appoint to be the centre of their unity, to which they should bring all their offerings, Deu 12:10; Deu 12:11. Observe, 1. If they just be tied to one place, they should not be left in doubt concerning it, but should certainly know what place it was. Had Christ intended, under the gospel, to make any one place such a seat of power as Rome pretends to be, we should not have been left so destitute of instruction as we are concerning the appointed place. 2. God does not leave it to them to choose the place, lest the tribes should have quarrelled about it, each striving, for their secular advantage, to have it among them; but he reserves the choice to himself, as he does the designation of the Redeemer and the institution of holy ordinances. 3. He does not appoint the place now, as he had appointed mounts Gerizim and Ebal, for the pronouncing of the blessings and curses (ch. xi. 29), but reserves the doing of it till hereafter, that hereby they might be made to expect further directions from heaven, and a divine conduct, after Moses should be removed. The place which God would choose is said to be the place where he would put his name, that is, which he would have to be called his, where his honour should dwell, where he would manifest himself to his people, and make himself known, as men do by their names, and where he would receive addresses, by which his name is both praised and called upon. It was to be his habitation, where, as King of Israel, he would keep court, and be found by all those that reverently sought him. The ark was the token of God’s presence, and where that was put there God put his name, and that was his habitation. It contained the tables of the law; for none must expect to receive favours from God’s hand but those that are willing to receive the law from his mouth. The place which God first chose for the ark to reside in was Shiloh; and, after that place had sinned away its honours, we find the ark at Kirjath-jearim and other places; but at length, in David’s time, it was fixed at Jerusalem, and God said concerning Solomon’s temple, more expressly than ever he had said concerning any other place, This I have chosen for a house of sacrifice, 2 Chron. vii. 12. Compare 2 Chron. vi. 5. Now, under the gospel, we have no temple that sanctifies the gold, no altar that sanctifies the gift, but Christ only; and, as to the places of worship, the prophets foretold that in every place the spiritual incense should be offered, Mal. i. 11. And our Saviour has declared that those are accepted as true worshippers who worship God in sincerity and truth, without regard either to this mountain or Jerusalem, John iv. 23.
II. They are commanded to bring all their burnt-offerings and sacrifices to this place that God would choose (v. 6 and again v. 11): Thither shall you bring all that I command you; and (v. 14), There thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings; and (v. 27), The flesh and the blood must be offered upon the altar of the Lord thy God. And of their peace-offerings, here called their sacrifices, though they were to eat the flesh, yet the blood was to be poured out upon the altar. By this they were taught that sacrifices and offerings God did not desire, nor accept, for their own sake, nor for any intrinsic worth in them, as natural expressions of homage and adoration; but that they received their virtue purely from that altar on which they were offered, as it typified Christ; whereas prayers and praises, as much more necessary and valuable, were to be offered every day by the people of God wherever they were. A devout Israelite might honour God, and keep up communion with him, and obtain mercy from him, though he had not an opportunity, perhaps, for many months together, of bringing a sacrifice to his altar. But this signified the obligation we Christians are under to offer up all our spiritual sacrifices to God in the name of Jesus Christ, hoping for acceptance only upon the score of his mediation, 1 Pet. ii. 5.
III. They are commanded to feast upon their hallowed things before the Lord, with holy joy. They must not only bring to the altar the sacrifices which were to be offered to God, but hey must bring to the place of the altar all those things which they were appointed by the law to eat and drink, to the honour of God, in token of their communion with him, v. 6. Their, tithes, and heave-offerings of their hand, that is, their first-fruits, their vows, and free-will-offerings, and firstlings, all those things which were to be religiously made use of either by themselves or by the priests and Levites, must be brought to the place which God would choose; as all the revenues of the crown, from all parts of the kingdom, are brought into the exchequer. And (v. 7): There you shall eat before the Lord, and rejoice in all that you put your hands unto; and again (v. 12), You shall rejoice before the Lord, you, and your sons, and your daughters. Observe here, 1. That what we do in the service of God and to his glory redounds to our benefit, if it be not our own fault. Those that sacrifice to God are welcome to eat before him, and to feast upon their sacrifices: he sups with us, and we with him, Rev. iii. 20. If we glorify God, we edify ourselves, and cultivate our own minds, through the grace of God, by the increase of our knowledge and faith, the enlivening of devout affections, and the confirming of gracious habits and resolutions: thus is the soul nourished. 2. That work for God should be done with holy joy and cheerfulness. You shall eat and rejoice, v. 7, and again, v. 12 and v. 18. (1.) Now while they were before the Lord they must rejoice, v. 12. It is the will of God that we should serve him with gladness; none displeased him more than those that covered his altar with tears. Mal. ii. 13. See what a good Master we serve, who has made it our duty to sing at our work. Even the children and servants must rejoice with them before God, that the services of religion might be a pleasure to them, and not a task or drudgery. (2.) They must carry away with them the grateful relish of that delight which they found in communion with God; they must rejoice in all that they put their hands unto, v. 7. Some of the comfort which they must take with them into their common employments; and, being thus strengthened in soul, whatever they did they must do it heartily and cheerfully. And this holy pious joy in God and his goodness, with which we are to rejoice evermore, would be the best preservative against the sin and snare of vain and carnal mirth and a relief against the sorrows of the world.
IV. They are commanded to be kind to the Levites. Did they feast with joy? The Levites must feast with them, and rejoice with them, v. 12, and again, v. 18; and a general caution (v. 19), Take heed that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest. There were Levites that attended the altar as assistants to the priests, and these must not be forsaken, that is, the service they performed must be constantly adhered to; no other altar must be set up than that which God appointed; for that would be to forsake the Levites. But this seems to be spoken of the Levites that were dispersed in the country to instruct the people in the law of God, and to assist them in their devotions; for it is the Levite within their gates that they are here commanded to make much of. It is a great mercy to have Levites near us, within our gates, that we may ask the law at their mouth, and at our feasts to be a check upon us, to restrain excesses. And it is the duty of people to be kind to their ministers that give them good instructions and set them good examples. As long as we live we shall need their assistance, till we come to that world where ordinances will be superseded; and therefore as long as we live we must not forsake the Levites. The reason given (v. 12) is because the Levite has no part nor inheritance with you, so that he cannot grow rich by husbandry or trade; let him therefore share with you in the comfort of your riches. They must give the Levites their tithes and offerings, settled on them by the law, because they had no other maintenance.
V. They are allowed to eat common flesh, but not the flesh of their offerings, in their own houses, wherever they dwelt. What was any way devoted to God they must not eat at home, Deu 12:13; Deu 12:17. But what was not so devoted they might kill and eat of at their pleasure, v. 15. And this permission is again repeated, v. 20-22. It should seem that while they were in the wilderness they did not eat the flesh of any of those kinds of beasts that were used in sacrifice, but what was killed at the door of the tabernacle, and part of it presented to God as a peace-offering, Lev 17:3; Lev 17:4. But when they came to Canaan, where they must live at a great distance from the tabernacle, they might kill what they pleased for their own use of their flocks and herds, without bringing part to the altar. This allowance is very express, and repeated, lest Satan should take occasion from that law which forbade the eating of their sacrifices at their own houses to suggest to them, as he did to our first parents, hard thoughts of God, as if he grudged them: Thou mayest eat whatsoever thy soul lusteth after. There is a natural regular appetite, which it is lawful to gratify with temperance and sobriety, not taking too great a pleasure in the gratification, nor being uneasy if it be crossed. The unclean, who might not eat of the holy things, yet might eat of the same sort of flesh when it was only used as common food. The distinction between clean persons and unclean was sacred, and designed for the preserving of the honour of their holy feasts, and therefore must not be brought into their ordinary meals. This permission has a double restriction:– 1. They must eat according to the blessing which God had given them, v. 15. Note, It is not only our wisdom, but our duty, to live according to our estates, and not to spend above what we have. As it is unjust on the one hand to hoard what should be laid out, so it is much more unjust to lay out more than we have; for what is not our own must needs be another’s, who is thereby robbed and defrauded. And this, I say, is much more unjust, because it is easier afterwards to distribute what has been unduly spared, and so to make a sort of restitution for the wrong, than it is to repay to wife, and children, and creditors, what has been unduly spent. Between these two extremes let wisdom find the mean, and then let watchfulness and resolution keep it. 2. They must not eat blood (v. 16, and again, v. 23): Only be sure that thou eat not the blood (v. 24), Thou shalt not eat it; and (v. 25), Thou shalt not eat it, that it may go well with thee. When they could not bring the blood to the altar, to pour it out there before the Lord, as belonging to him, they must pour it out upon the earth, as not belonging to them, because it was the life, and therefore, as an acknowledgment, belonged to him who gives life, and, as an atonement, belonged to him to whom life is forfeited. Bishop Patrick thinks one reason why they were forbidden thus strictly the eating of blood was to prevent the superstitions of the old idolaters about the blood of their sacrifices, which they thought their demons delighted in, and by eating of which they imagined that they had communion with them.
VI. They are forbidden to keep up either their own corrupt usages in the wilderness or the corrupt usages of their predecessors in the land of Canaan.
1. They must not keep up those improper customs which they had got into in the wilderness, and which were connived at in consideration of the present unsettledness of their condition (Deu 12:8; Deu 12:9): You shall not do after all the things that we do here this day. Never was there a better governor than Moses, and one would think never a better opportunity of keeping up good order and discipline than now among the people of Israel, when they lay so closely encamped under the eye of their governor; and yet it seems there was much amiss and many irregularities had crept in among them. We must never expect to see any society perfectly pure and right, and as it should be till we come to the heavenly Canaan. They had sacrifices and religious worship, courts of justice and civil government, and, by the stoning of the man that gathered sticks on the sabbath day, it appears there was great strictness used in guarding the most weighty matters of the law; but being frequently upon the remove, and always at uncertainty, (1.) They could none of them observe the solemn feasts, and the rites of cleansing, with the exactness that the law required. And, (2.) Those among them that were disposed to do amiss had opportunity given them to do it unobserved by the frequent interruptions which their removals gave to the administration of justice. But (says Moses) when you come to Canaan, you shall not do as we do here. Note, When the people of God are in an unsettled condition, that may be tolerated and dispensed with which would by no means be allowed at another time. Cases of necessity are to be considered while the necessity continues; but that must not be done in Canaan which was done in the wilderness. While a house is in the building a great deal of dirt and rubbish are suffered to lie by it, which must all be taken away when the house is built. Moses was now about to lay down his life and government, and it was a comfort to him to foresee that Israel would be better in the next reign than they had been in his.
2. They must not worship the Lord by any of those rites or ceremonies which the notions of Canaan had made use of in the service of their gods, v. 29-32. They must not so much as enquire into the modes and forms of idolatrous worship. What good would it do to them to know those depths of Satan? Rev. ii. 24. It is best to be ignorant of that which there is danger of being infected by. They must not introduce the customs of idolaters, (1.) Because it would be absurd to make those their patterns whom God had made their slaves and captives, cut off, and destroyed from before them. The Canaanites had not flourished and prospered so much in the service of their gods as that the Israelites should be invited to take up their customs. Those are wretchedly besotted indeed who will walk in the way of sinners, after they have seen their end. (2.) Because some of their customs were most barbarous and inhuman, and such as trampled, not only upon the light and law of nature, but upon natural affection itself, as burning their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods (v. 31), the very mention of which is sufficient to make it odious, and possess us with a horror of it. (3.) Because their idolatrous customs were an abomination to the Lord, and the translating of them into his worship would make even that an abomination and an affront to him by which they should give him honour, and by which they hoped to obtain his favour. The case is bad indeed when the sacrifice itself has become an abomination, Prov. xv. 8. He therefore concludes (v. 32) with the same caution concerning the worship of God which he had before given concerning the word of God (ch. iv. 2): “You shall not add thereto any inventions of your own, under pretence of making the ordinance either more significant or more magnificent, nor diminish from it, under pretence of making it more easy and practicable, or of setting aside that which may be spared; but observe to do all that, and that only, which God has commanded.” We may then hope in our religious worship to obtain the divine acceptance when we observe the divine appointment. God will have his own work done in his own way.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
5 But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose. It is asked why God would have sacrifices offered to Him only on one altar? Besides the reason which I have lately advanced, it is not to be doubted but that He in this way had regard to believers, that He might cherish in them an agreement in the unity of the faith. This place, then, was like a standard to gather together the people, lest their religion should be torn by divisions, and lest any diversities should insinuate themselves. Moreover, God, by claiming His right and authority to choose the place, commends obedience, on which also the purity of worship depends. But, again, another question arises; because, before the time of David, the Ark had nowhere a fixed resting-place, but traveled about, as it were, to various lodgings, therefore, if the chosen place is understood to be Mount Zion, the people were free in the intermediate time to perform the sacrifices wherever they pleased. I reply, that the place was not, chosen until the Ark was placed in Zion; for not till then was fulfilled what is said in the Psalm,
“I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord; our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem,” (Psa 122:1😉
in which words the Prophet intimates that there was before no resting-place, because God had not yet pointed out the place in which He would be worshipped. Therefore it is expressly said, “out of all your tribes,” or “in one of your tribes,” whereby a special privilege is referred to, which was to be conferred on one of their tribes, to the exclusion of the others. And to this relates what is said in another Psalm,
“Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim, but chose the tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion which he loved: and he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth, which he hath established for ever.” (Psa 78:67)
To the same effect the faithful elsewhere congratulate themselves, after the Ark was deposited with David, “We will go into his tabernacles, we will worship at his footstool;” and, on the other hand, the Spirit declares,
“The Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it ” (Psa 132:13.)
Similar statements everywhere occur, confirming the opinion that the Ark never rested in its true home until it was deposited on Zion; and God, in my judgment, in order that He might keep the hope of His people in suspense, promised, although the Ark changed its place from time to time, that He had still determined on a perpetual abode in which it should rest. Yet it does not therefore follow that, up to that period, a free permission was given to the people to sacrifice wherever they would. For, wherever the sanctuary was, there was also a temporary choice of the place, until the legitimate resting-place was shewn them. Therefore God, chastising by Jeremiah the foolish confidence by which the Jews were puffed up, said,
“Go ye now unto my place, which was in Shiloh, and see what I did to it,” etc., (Jer 7:12😉
in which words he implies that Shiloh had been highly honored for a season, but had now been deprived of its honor, because the sacrifices had there been unworthily polluted.
Although, then, there is a special promise here concerning Zion, still there is no doubt but that God in the meantime confines the Jews to His sanctuary, lest any one should erect a private altar for himself, or build for himself other cities and other temples. The phrase is worthy of observation, “to put his name there;” and again, “his habitation.” The gross imaginations of men are thus obviated, lest the people should enclose God within walls, as they are wont to circumscribe His infinite essence, or to draw Him down from heaven, and to place Him beneath the elements of the world. But God’s name is said to inhabit a place, not in His own nature, but with reference to man; whilst, in deference to their ignorance, He sets before their eyes a visible symbol of His presence. Thus He is often said to “come down,” not as if He, who fills heaven and earth, actually moved, but because the familiar knowledge of Him brings Him near to men. But although He allows Himself to be invoked on earth, yet He would not have the minds of men rest there, but rather lifts them up on high as if by steps. Therefore, by Isaiah, He harshly chides them, because, although enwrapped in their sins, they still thought that He was under obligation to them because His temple was in their sight, (Isa 66:1,) whereas it is our business to approach Him by faith and with serious feelings when He extends His hand to us. The Ark of the Covenant indeed is often called “His face;” but, lest men should form any gross or earthly conceptions of Him, the sanctuary is also called “His footstool.”
The various kinds of oblations which are here enumerated will be hereafter more clearly explained. I will only briefly remind you that the burnt-offerings are included in the sacrifices, as a part is taken for the whole. The Hebrew word, which we have translated “the elevating of the hand,” is, תרומה, therumah, (104) to which another word, תנופה, thenuphah, is often added; but, although both are derived from the act of elevating, still they seem to differ, and those skilled in the language thus distinguish them, viz., that תרומה, therumah, is to be lifted up, and then brought down; and, תנופה, thanuphah, to be turned at the same time to the right and left, although others think it means to be turned round to the four quarters of the globe. There is a difference between vows and freewill-offerings; for although a vow is at first freely made, yet we may offer things which we have not vowed. I have already spoken of the firstlings.
(104) תרומה, the heaving or elevating; תנופה, the heaving or vibrating. C.’s translation of the first word is that of S.M. ; and his note on both is extracted from a note of S.M. on Exo 25:2, where תרומה occurs, and is rendered offering in the text of A.V. , but heave-offering in its margin. — W
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(5) But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes.The very form of the order proves its antiquity. No one who was acquainted with the removal of that place from Shiloh to Nob, from Nob to Gibeon, from Gibeon to Jerusalem, could have written with such utter unconsciousness of later history as these words imply. It is noticeable that in the reading of this precept in the times of our Lord, the Jews seem to have arrived at the came state of unconsciousness. They could not conseive of the presence or worship of Jehovah anywhere but at Jerusalem. (See on this topic St. Stephens speech in Acts 7, and the incidental proofs it contains of Gods presence with Israel in many places, in reply to the accusation made against Stephen of preaching the destruction of the one idolized seat of worship at Jerusalem.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. The place which the Lord shall choose It was a wise provision to have for the nation a common religious centre. During the wilderness wandering the divine Presence had been manifested in the pillar of cloud by day and in the pillar of fire by night. After the construction of the tabernacle, that was the place for the divine manifestation. On the conquest of the land, the sanctuary was at Shiloh, (Jos 18:1; comp. Jer 7:12,) where it remained during the whole time of the Judges. David set up the ark of the covenant on Zion in Jerusalem, which he had selected as the capital of his kingdom, and there he built an altar for sacrifice. 2Sa 6:17; 1Ch 16:1. It was announced to David that he should build an altar on the threshingfloor of Araunah, and this was to be the site of the temple. 2Sa 24:18. “I have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice.” 2Ch 7:12.
To put his name there That is, to make his presence known.
Even unto his habitation The place where the sanctuary of Jehovah was established was considered his dwellingplace.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
They Must Establish Their Worship At The Place Where He Chooses To Set His Name ( Deu 12:5-9 ).
Deu 12:5-7
‘ But to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, even to his habitation, shall you choose to seek, and to there you shall come, and to there you shall bring your whole burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and the heave-offering of your hand (literally ‘what is lifted up in the hand’), and your vows, and your freewill-offerings, and the firstlings of your herd and of your flock, and there you shall eat before Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice in all that you put your hand to, you and your households, in which Yahweh your God has blessed you.’
So rather they were to come to the place which Yahweh ‘chose to put His name there’. All that is basic to Israel was seen as occurring through Yahweh’s choice. And that choice was not just arbitrary. It was the positive act of Yahweh. The idea behind the word is of God’s positive action by which He works on behalf of His people, but which is His doing because it cannot be left to man. In choosing He is exercising His sovereign will and acting for their good. And when they worship Him it must be where He chooses to reveal Himself and to be present. He is not subject to their choices.
Thus they were on their part to choose to worship Him in one place only, ‘the place that He will choose’, the place where He has determined to be present among them and no other, the place where He will put His name. Their choice must be subject to His choice. So their public worship must always be in ‘the place’ which Yahweh their God ‘chooses out of all their tribes to set His name there’, which while His name was set there would become a sacred ‘place’ in a similar way to the patriarchal ‘places’ (Gen 12:6; Gen 13:4; Gen 22:3; Gen 22:14; Gen 28:16-17; Gen 32:2; Gen 32:30; Gen 35:7; Gen 35:14). The setting of His name there reveals His genuine but invisible presence.
The ‘setting of His name there’ may refer to the placing there of the Ark of the covenant of Yahweh, for the Ark was ‘called by His Name’. Thus in 2Sa 6:2 we read of ‘the Ark of God whose name is called by the name of Yahweh of hosts Who dwells between the cherubim’. But if this is so it is because as His throne it declares His invisible presence described in terms of His name. His presence was indicated by His name. Thus it could be said of the angel that He would send before them that ‘My name is in him’ (Exo 23:21), meaning that Yahweh would go forward in His angel. It signifies that it was where He was to be seen as present. Compare Exo 20:24, where ‘recording His name’ indicates some special manifestation of His presence. ‘The place which He chose’ would thus be His habitation, His dwellingplace, in the place where in His sovereignty He chose it to be, and to that alone should they choose to seek (compare Deu 12:14).
And in the end the name that was set there was the name whose full significance was revealed to Moses. When Yahweh sent Moses to Israel in order to deliver them He did it by revealing Himself as the ‘I am’ (ehyeh), or more strictly the ‘I will be’, the One Who will be whatever He wants to be, the One Who is always there and present among them (Exo 3:14). So among them, dwelling in the place that He has chosen, will be the powerful Fulfiller of His own will. And because they are a part of that will they can be confident of His continual support and protection.
“The place which Yahweh your God shall choose.” This idea is repeated again and again by Moses in one way or another throughout Deuteronomy, demonstrating the importance of the idea (Deuteronomy 12 six times; Deu 14:23; Deu 14:25; Deu 15:20; Deuteronomy 16 six times; Deu 17:8; Deu 17:10; Deu 18:6; Deu 23:16; Deu 26:2-3). Repetition in different ways in speeches is a way of fixing ideas in the memory. Each time the phrase comes up the listener responds. Yahweh is there because He has chosen to be among them, and in the place which He chose, not the place that they chose. Such repetition was also common in ancient literature which was designed to be read out. The hearer loved to be able to think along with the narrative. There was after all for Israel nothing more important than the place that God would choose for His dwellingplace. But its importance lay in the fact that He had chosen it so as to be among them. More important than the place was that Yahweh Himself chose it (compare Deu 17:15 where the choosing was more important than the king. See also Deu 18:5) There He would be among them as Lord and Protector by His own will. For us the place where God has chosen to reveal Himself is in Jesus Christ. He is our sanctuary to which we belong when we become His, built up on Him (Eph 2:19-22).
Note the contrast between Deu 12:3, ‘you shall destroy their name out of that place’, with ‘the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there’. His name was to replace their name in the land at the place that He chose, not in the places where they were worshipped. Their name (the idea of their presence there and their reputation) was to be destroyed from each ‘place’ where they were, the sacred places to which people went. They were to be no longer worshipped there or remembered. The sacred places must be desacralised. But His name, His very recognised presence in all that He is, was to be established in the one place that He chose, the place where He wanted His people to come, but which was in His own purview. There they would worship Him, there they would recognise His presence, there they would acknowledge His right to His own will, and there they would remember Him, invisible though He was. Even though they could not see Him His name, and therefore His very self, was there, as evidenced by the Ark.
In entering a new land where many gods were worshipped and where there were many sacred places, such a move was in fact the only way to prevent syncretism. God wanted to ensure that none of the sacred places were connected with Him. He would choose His own sacred place, then there would be no ambivalence in their minds. This may be why Moses does not actually mention Shechem. He did not want it thought that this was taking place at ‘the ancient Sanctuary of Shechem’.
“To the place which Yahweh your God shall choose .” Choice was central to what Yahweh was as Lord over all. As the Sovereign God He had chosen the people (Deu 7:6-7; Deu 14:2; Deu 4:37; Deu 10:15); He had chosen Aaron and his sons (Deu 18:5; Deu 21:5); He had chosen the land (Gen 12:1-3); He would choose any king that they might have in the future (Deu 17:15). Now He chose the place where He would dwell, as He would later choose the place where the temple described by Ezekiel would descend on a high mountain well away from Jerusalem (Ezekiel 40-48). This last confirms once for all that the place of His choosing was not tied to Jerusalem.
They were well aware that Yahweh had chosen ‘places’ for the patriarchs in which they might worship and honour Him in one place after another (Gen 22:2-3; Gen 22:14; Gen 32:30; Gen 35:13-15) but not all at the same time. And it was in similar ‘places’ that Yahweh would record His name (Exo 20:24). Thus while the word maqom could simply mean any place, it was also one connected with sacred ‘places’, and was a fit one to use because it denoted the site, not just the sanctuary itself. The people as a whole were always more familiar with the site around the Tabernacle than the Tabernacle itself which many only saw at a distance. The whole site was holy, and guarded by the Levites (Num 1:53), and was where the people as a whole came to worship Him, in the place where He had set His name.
“The place which Yahweh your God shall choose” was never to be seen as a monotonous repetition, or a cryptic puzzle. Rather it was a glorious reality, and an important distinction. It represented Yahweh’s right to choose, and will to choose, and as chosen by Yahweh it was a sacred place while He was there, as had been the place of the burning bush (Exo 3:4-5) and as had been Mount Sinai (Exo 19:11-14), which He had also chosen. For now Yahweh had chosen to come and live among His chosen people as One settled in the land, and at any time it would be at one place that He chose at that time, His chosen place set in the chosen land. To limit it to one earthly city, however much it came to be revered, is to miss what lies at the heart of the idea, that Yahweh would be there because He chose to be so, and though history might to some extent affect the place, there would always be a place where He chose to be where men could seek Him. And it would never be at one of the places that men or gods had chosen. It would be the place of His covenant. The future was secure as long as the covenant was maintained. For although all was under His sovereign control, it was required that the people respond to His covenant with them, and to each thing that He had chosen, in obedience, at the place which He chose.
It is interesting that He speaks constantly of ‘the place’ and not of ‘the sanctuary’ or of ‘the dwellingplace’ (Tabernacle). While the ‘dwellingplace’ (Tabernacle) would be the focal point to which they would look and where the priesthood would operate, it was ‘the place’ where it was, its wider site, which was most familiar to the people, the site where they stood when they worshipped. This section of Deuteronomy is very much centred on worship, and being suitable for it. The point was that there would be only one sacred ‘place’ for them to come to. It was the one and only place ‘chosen out of all their tribes’. Compare for the latter phrase Deu 18:5 where we have ‘has chosen him out of all your tribes’ where the reference was to the one and only Priest (Deu 18:5). This too then is one, the one and only place. It was there that they must stand to have open dealings with God. They all knew what would be at that place, for the Tabernacle as Yahweh’s dwellingplace had been in their midst for almost forty years. At present it moved from place to place on a short term basis, and yet it was always at the place that God had chosen, for His pillar of cloud indicated where it was to be. One day, however, there would be one sacred place where it would be sited more permanently, and that would then be where they were to come. God would have settled among them ‘permanently’, although not tied to one place, only to ‘the place that He shall choose’ at any time.
Moses was not here speaking to the theologians, or the priests, or even the Levites, he was speaking to the ordinary people. He was not so much giving revelatory teaching (although he was doing that) as much as wanting them to understand and respond to the One Who had chosen them. He was reaching out to their hearts. So the theological words were put to one side and he wanted them to face up to the plain and simple reality. Many would after all rarely enter ‘the sanctuary’ itself. Others would bear that responsibility for them. But all would come to ‘the place’ where it was at some time or another. Had he said sanctuary or Tabernacle they would have been filled with awe but they would not have seen it as personal. Only the chosen could enter the inner sanctuary, and space in the courtyard was limited. But here the offer was of ‘the place’, and that was open to all, men, women and children. Later writers would not have put that on Moses’ lips. Rather the opposite. They had tunnel vision. It was only a Moses, confident in what the people knew, who could speak like this.
It may also be, as some have suggested, that ‘the place’ (maqom) was spoken of in order to connect it with ‘the land’ in which they would dwell, which was the wider ‘place’ (Gen 13:14). Yahweh had constantly sought out a place (maqom) for them (Deu 1:33), and He had brought them to this place (Deu 1:31; Deu 9:7; Deu 11:5), and every ‘place’ that the soul of their foot trod on in the land would be theirs (Deu 11:24). They would have their place, chosen for them by Him (Exo 23:20), so also would He choose, within their place, a place for Himself. All was chosen by Him. They were there at His behest. He was there by His own will as Lord over all. Moses also almost certainly had in mind (see above) that when Abraham himself came to Canaan he set up an altar in ‘the place of Shechem’ (Deu 12:6), and returned to ‘the place of the altar which he had made there at the first’ in Bethel (Deu 13:4). It was in ‘the place of which Yahweh had told him’ that he prepared to offer Isaac (Gen 22:3), a ‘place’ which became known as Yahweh yireh, ‘in the Mount of Yahweh it will be provided’ (Gen 22:14 – any connection with Jerusalem is totally speculative). And Jacob could say, ‘Yahweh is in this place, and I knew it not — how awesome is this place’ (Gen 28:16-17) of Bethel, the place where Yahweh revealed Himself to him. Compare also Gen 35:7; Gen 35:14. The word ‘place’ thus had a firm and sacred connection with the original entry into the land, the sacred sites of the patriarchs and with treasured experiences of Yahweh. The court of the tabernacle was also a holy ‘place’ (Lev 6:16; Lev 6:25 and often).
And to that sacred ‘place’ that He had chosen they were to come, and there they were to offer their whole burnt offerings, their sacrifices, their tithes, the heave-offering from their hand, their vows, their freewill offerings, and the firstlings of their herd and of their flock. And there they were to feast before Yahweh and rejoice in all that they put their hand to which Yahweh had blessed, and this included their households with them. And there they would eat before Him.
Note here how the emphasis is on what the people bring. The priests would have their part in it (not emphasised in Deuteronomy) but it was basically the gifts of the people that Yahweh was interested in, and their participation in them before Him.
Eating before Yahweh was an important aspect of worship in which all could participate, and that would not be in the Tabernacle, not even in its courtyard, except for the favoured few (compare Exo 24:11). It would be at ‘the place’ surrounding the tabernacle, a large area around the Tabernacle. That would be ‘the place’ to which they would come. Provision was there to be made for this feasting out of the overabundance of tithes, that which was specifically set apart to Yahweh, which would be available as a result of the coming prosperity of the land. They would eat of Yahweh’s fare, of the tithes, food set apart as His, which was previously mainly for the consumption of the priests and Levites. As well as the tithes the priests would also eat of the heave offerings and the people of their peace offerings. Both would eat of the firstlings (see Deu 12:17). All was Yahweh’s. (Nothing of the whole burnt offerings was eaten).
As we have seen ‘the place’ is in contrast to the many ‘places’ which were Canaanite sanctuaries. It does not necessarily indicate that in future there will only ever be one permanent place on one single site which could not be changed, which excluded all others (e.g. Shiloh or Jerusalem). The Hebrew definite article is not always too specific. It regularly simply means ‘the one I am talking about’. Thus He might decide to choose one place after another in which to record His name. This is certainly the suggestion in Exo 20:24, ‘in every place where I record my name I will come to you and I will bless you’. Yahweh did not see Himself as bound to one permanent place for ever. But He would only be there at one place at a time, and it was always to be at the place that He chose (in Ezekiel 40 it was on a high mountain well away from Jerusalem). No place should be set up that He had not chosen. Note also 1Ki 8:16, ‘Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that my name might be therein; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.’ Yahweh was emphasising that He had not had in mind the choosing of one city in which to establish a permanent sanctuary. His only permanent choice was of the Davidic house from which Christ would come. Indeed when such a seemingly permanent sanctuary was built at Jerusalem He would have to destroy it again and again until He had finished with it for ever, just as He had had to destroy the seemingly permanent sanctuary at Shiloh when it had become corrupted.
Some have therefore considered that Yahweh was to choose a place in each of the twelve tribes. But there is no real evidence for this later, and it is contrary to His clear purpose. When two further places over and above the one place were chosen by Jeroboam he was for ever condemned for it (1Ki 12:28-33). He was condemned by the ‘man of God’ because of the altar he had set up, not specifically because of the images (1Ki 13:4).
All this would make sense to them because they would recognise that Moses was emphasising the centrality of the one Central Sanctuary, the Tabernacle (dwellingplace) of Yahweh, which must be established in ‘the place’ which He chose, whether the one place or many places in succession, but none at the same time. And they would personally come to that ‘place’, even though not all would enter the courtyard of the Tabernacle. It was not for them to choose where to worship Him, in the way that the Canaanites did, so that they proliferated worship sites and made Him a local god. It was a matter for Him solely to decide. He would determine the site where the tabernacle would be established at any time, which would then become sacred while it was there and honoured by Him (as Sinai became sacred once He chose to reveal Himself there). By this His oneness and His sovereignty were stressed, and His welcome to ‘the place’ where it was.
Thus where the Tabernacle, with the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh, was set up was always to be the decision of Yahweh (determined initially by where the pillar of cloud and fire stopped, and later possibly by Urim and Thummim). Once in the land and at rest the place was to be semi-permanent. Initially it was probably near Shechem (Deu 27:1-8), as with Abraham on his first entry into the land. ‘Into the land of Canaan they came, and Abram passed through the land to the “place” of Shechem’ where he built an altar (Gen 12:6). So all Israel on its arrival in the land would pass through the land to the place of Shechem (chapter 27). But it soon became Shiloh where it remained for over a hundred years (Jos 18:1; Jos 18:8-10; Jos 19:51; Jos 21:2; Jos 22:9; Jos 22:12; Jdg 18:31 ; 1Sa 1:3; 1Sa 1:9 ; 1Sa 1:24; 1Sa 2:14; 1Sa 3:21 ; 1Sa 4:3-4; 1Sa 4:12; Psa 78:60; Jer 7:12; Jer 7:14; Jer 26:6; Jer 26:9). That is how later writers saw it. Psa 78:60 speaks of ‘the Tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent that He placed among men’, while Jer 7:12 speaks of it in the words of Yahweh as ‘My place which was in Shiloh where I set My name at the first’. So it was in Shiloh that Yahweh set His name, and had Israel remained faithful perhaps it would have stayed there ‘for ever’. After the destruction of Shiloh when Yahweh forsook it (Psa 78:60) it would much later become Jerusalem (1Ki 11:13), but only in the time of Solomon, and only because Yahweh had forsaken Shiloh. While David placed the Ark in a tent in Jerusalem, the place for the Tabernacle at that time was seemingly Hebron and then Gibeon (2Ch 1:3 – see introduction for further details of this). And in the ideal period it would be on a high mountain away from Jerusalem (Ezekiel 40-48), in an unidentified holy place. It was to be at the place that He chose.
Note also in this verse the easy way in which Moses mentions a whole host of ordinances through which they may express their worship which he expects the people to recognise immediately, demonstrating that he expects them to already have a knowledge of the contents of the Law. He is not here bringing a new Law before them but expounding an old one. These ordinances are sevenfold and as such therefore represented in themselves all offerings. The first two are offerings and sacrifices, covering offerings and sacrifices generally; the second two, tithes (Num 18:24-28; Lev 27:30-33) and heave (or ‘contribution’) offerings (Exo 29:27-28; Lev 7:14; Lev 7:32; Num 18:8; Num 18:19), which represent what is set aside for Yahweh, mainly for the sustenance of the priests and Levites, but which once they are abundant they will share with the people in sacred meals (see later where the tithes, although still set aside for Yahweh, are also usable for general worship at the sanctuary and for the poor); the third two are peace offerings, both votive and freewill (Lev 7:16; Lev 22:21; Lev 23:38; Num 15:3; Num 29:39), of which part would go to the priests and the remainder would be eaten by the offerer and his household and friends; the final one is the firstlings of their domestic animals which were especially devoted to Yahweh as a result of the deliverance at the Passover. They were holy to Yahweh and were at the disposal of the priests (Exo 13:2; Exo 13:12; Num 18:15; Num 18:17).
Note On The Use of The Term ‘The Place’ (maqom).
For using this term Moses had a number of reasons;
1) It was in contrast to ‘the places’ where the gods were worshipped (Deu 12:2-3). In our view this was probably a technical term for such places (prior to the term ‘high place’) applied also to the ‘place’ of Yahweh. See 2.
2) It was a reminder of, and connection with, the sacred ‘places’ at which the Patriarchs had worshipped. They had moved from place to place, but at each place they had a ‘place’ (maqom) for Yahweh where they built an altar to Him or worshipped Him. See Gen 12:6; Gen 13:4; Gen 22:3; Gen 22:14; Gen 28:16-17; Gen 32:2; Gen 32:30; Gen 35:7; Gen 35:13-15; Exo 3:5). Israel were now following in their footsteps.
3). It can be compared with Exo 15:17, where the songwriter says, “You shall bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance, the place, O Yahweh which You have made for You to dwell in, the Sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established.” Here Sanctuary (miqdash) and Place (macon) are in parallel, although it should be noted that the latter term is a different one from maqom, although similar, and is only ever used of God’s ‘place’ where He dwells (Psa 33:14; Psa 89:14 etc.) apart from in Psa 104:5 where it refers to the foundations of the earth. An interesting example of its use is Ezr 2:68 ‘they came to the house of Yahweh which is in Jerusalem, offered willingly for the house of God to set it up in its place (macon)’. Here the site of the house of God is its ‘place’ (macon), which may assist in understanding the use of ‘place’ (maqom) here in Deuteronomy as the site in which the Sanctuary was set up.
4) We can hardly doubt that Moses in his mystical encounters with Yahweh (Exo 33:11) would bring up the question as to whether when they were in the land he should arrange for the building of a temple to Yahweh (it would be more than incredible if the idea had not dawned on him). That would have been gently rebuffed by Yahweh (see 2Sa 7:6-7). All He wanted was a simple place where He could dwell among His people, one that was not so imposing that it made Him seem afar off, while being such that it protected His holiness. One that reminded them that He was not permanently connected with the earth. These ideas may well have implanted itself in Moses’ mind.
5) It connected Yahweh’s ‘place’ with the places which the Israelites themselves would step on and conquer, in His land (Deu 1:33; Deu 11:24). His place was in the centre of their place.
6) It probably spoke of a larger area than just the Tabernacle and its courtyard. It spoke of the whole ‘place’ where the multitude of Israelites would amass around the Tabernacle, including among them at times all their households and many resident aliens. The Israelites were already aware of this difference within the camp. The space around the Tabernacle in which they gathered whenever the call went out differed from the court of the Tabernacle, and as a whole they were more familiar with it. It was guarded by the Levites. While not having the holiness of the Sanctuary it was still holy. Thus a space always had to be reserved around the Ark when it moved (Jos 3:4).
7) The word maqom could also be used within the Sanctuary itself where reference is constantly made to ‘a holy place’.
8) Isaiah spoke of ‘the place (maqom) of the name of Yahweh of Hosts’ to which gifts would be brought for Yahweh. By that time it had become Mount Zion (Isa 18:7).
9). But the glory of the use here of ‘place’ is that it does not limit it to any specific earthly site, except at a particular time when he chose to be there. We too come to the ‘place’ that He has chosen as we approach His heavenly throne, and the Tabernacle in the heavens (Heb 8:2). Jesus entered, not a holy place on earth, but the holy place in heaven (Deu 9:24) to appear before the face of God for us.
Alternatively, if we do not see ‘the place’ as indicating a special place, but rather as deliberately vague terminology, we would argue that it was used so as to take the emphasis away from the place itself and put it on His choice and the One Who chose it, honouring not the place but Yahweh.
Deu 12:8-9
‘ You shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatever is right in his own eyes, for you are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which Yahweh your God gives you,’
Having described what they are to do in the future he now confirms that it must be in accordance with all the instruction that has previously been given them. Deuteronomy constantly emphasises such previous instruction. Moses accepted that at the present time the ordinances were not being fulfilled exactly as required. The contrast with this verse is the setting up of the Central Sanctuary and its worship as prescribed. ‘Every man doing what is right in his own eyes’ signifies men making their own personal judgments, not necessarily just a free for all. We must not assume that all of the people of God chose to sin when they ‘did what was right in their own eyes’. It simply means that each did what he thought was right, that the Law was not strictly followed. In the difficult conditions of the wilderness, and even here in the plains of Moab, breaches of the strict requirements would be necessary due to unavoidable circumstances, judgments would have to be made on them, and these were seemingly acceptable where carried out from a sincere heart. God was not unreasonable. Being on the march sometimes interfered with their ability to fulfil the Law exactly. For example there would be difficulty in offering the daily offerings, lighting and trimming the lamps and so on. But it was not to be so once the Tabernacle was in a settled place. Then they were to be careful to fulfil all His instruction.
There may, however, also be a reference to various forms of disobedience, with Moses being aware of how often they broke Yahweh’s statutes and ordinances. For that is certainly one inference of the phrase in Jdg 17:6; Jdg 21:25; compare Pro 16:2; Pro 21:2. And he has previously referred to ‘all that you put your hand to’ (Deu 12:7). For a period this was being tolerated. But the expectancy was that when they entered into the rest and inheritance which Yahweh was to give them such spasmodic disobedience would definitely cease. Then they must more perfectly come under His rule.
How like many of us they were. We too think that we can stretch God’s commandments to suit ourselves, and for a time we too get away with it. But we should beware. We should remember those who died in the wilderness did so because they were disobedient. We too may ‘die in the wilderness’.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Ver. 5-7. But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose We meet with no clear or exact determination of the place; but only such general expressions as this, which the Lord your God shall choose: which, Maimonides supposes, was intended for these three reasons. 1. Lest the Gentiles might endeavour to seize on the place, or at any time enter into a war upon account of it, when they imagined that the taking of it would put a final period to the law. 2. Lest the people, in whose hand it was at the delivery of these precepts, should use their utmost endeavours to demolish and lay it waste. And, 3. Lest each of the tribes should be desirous of having it within the compass of their lot; and so it might occasion discontent and disagreement among them, as it happened in the priesthood. More Nev. part 3: ch. 45. However, in opposition to these customs of the heathens, and to preserve the Israelites from idolatry, the stated public worship of the one true God was to be fixed to one certain place, where God would put his name; i.e. make it the peculiar seat of his divine presence: on account of which Jerusalem was afterwards called the city of Jehovah, Psa 1:6; Psa 87:3. To this place they were to bring their burnt-offerings;and their sacrifices, ver. 6 whereby are meant peace-offerings, which were always annexed to burnt-offerings; that so the owners, when they offered to God, might also feast upon the sacrifices, ver. 27. And their tithes; what the Jews call the second tithe, which was to be set aside after that of the Levites was paid. See ver. 17 and ch. Deu 14:22. And the heave-offerings of their hands; i.e. according to the LXX and Vulgate, the first-fruits of the earth, which are called the heave-offerings of their hand, because they were heaved, or lifted up, in token of their being consecrated to God. See Num 18:11-12. We may consider these precepts to be addressed to the priests, as well as to the people; and so understand the words in their utmost latitude: that whatever holy things were eaten by the priests, or people, they were to be eaten at the place of the peculiar Divine Presence, ver. 7 before the Lord their God; i.e. not in the tabernacle, or temple, where only the priests might eat the most holy things; Num 18:10 but in the court of the tabernacle, or in some place adjacent to the sanctuary. And ye shall rejoice in all that you put your hand unto; i.e. you and your family shall rejoice together, at these feasts, in the goodness of God, who has blessed the labour of your hands; for this phrase, all that you put your hand unto, signifies all your possessions, and all the labours of your hand whatsoever. See ch. Deu 15:10 Deu 23:20 Deu 28:8; Deu 28:20. Upon this passage we observe, 1. That the command to worship and sacrifice only at the place which the Lord shall choose was eminently calculated to prevent idolatry; not only as it hindered the Israelites from carrying their sacrifices to the idolatrous altars, but as it rendered more certain the law which enjoined the destruction of the monuments of idolatry. For these, and many other reasons of the same kind, see Spencer de Leg. Heb. vol. 1: p. 142. 2. We observe, that had the Jews been bound, as often as there was occasion, to bring their offerings to one certain place, suppose Jerusalem, however distant it might be from them, this would have been an insupportable expence to devout people. Therefore their doctors understand the precept, that they were bound to offer such sacrifices as were either for offences committed, or mercies received, &c. at the next national fear at furthest. See Lightfoot, de Templi Minist. 3. We observe, that it was an ancient and general custom, even before the law of Moses, for the people to feast upon part of the sacrifices of peace-offerings, as appears from Exo 18:12; Exo 34:15. By the law of Moses, the laity were not to keep there sacred feasts in the tabernacle or temple, but in some place near it; but the heathens feasted on the sacrifices of peace-offerings in the very temples of their idols: to which practice the apostle alludes, 1Co 8:10. If any man see thee, who hast knowledge, sit at meat in the idol’s temple, &c. By this rite they owned themselves idolaters, and to have communion with false gods: and, on the other hand, by eating their sacrifices before Jehovah at his sanctuary, and no where else, they declared they had communion with him, and not with idols; for there could be no need of their eating there, but only to signify their adherence to, and to secure them in, the religion of the true God, by feasting in his presence, and thereby owning themselves to belong to him. This is very often repeated in the present book; as ver. 18 of this chapter, ch. Deu 14:23; Deu 14:26; Deu 15:20 and especially Deu 27:6-7. See Cudworth’s discourse on the Lord’s Supper, and Elmenhorstius’s notes upon Minutius Felix, p. 108. We observe, 4 from Bishop Warburton, (Julian, p. 4.) that when God communicated himself to the Israelites, as the Maker and Governor of the universe, it pleased him to adopt them as his peculiar people, under the idea of their tutelary Deity; and, the better to secure the great end of their separation, assumed likewise the title and office of their king, or civil governor. Hence their religion came under the idea of a law, and their law was in the strictest sense religion. From this account of the Hebrew government one natural consequence ariseth, that the principal rites of their religion and law were to be performed and celebrated in some determined place. This, the object and subject of their ceremonial seemed equally to require; for their idea of a tutelary God and king implied a local residence: and a national act, created by the relations arising from them, required a fixed and certain place for its celebration; and both together seemed to mark out the capital of the country for that purpose. This consequent practice, which the nature and reason of things so evidently point out, these institutes of the Hebrew constitution order and enjoin. During the early and unsettled times of the Jewish state, the sacrifices prescribed by their ritual were directed to be offered up before the door of an ambulatory tabernacle; but when they had gained the establishment decreed for them, and a magnificent temple was erected for religious worship, then all the sacrifices were to be offered at Jerusalem only. Now, sacrifices constituting the substance of their national worship, their religion could not be said to subsist longer than the continuance of that celebration: but sacrifices could be performed only in one appointed temple; so that when this was finally destroyed, the institution itself became abolished.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Was not this precept of being expressly particular to have but one spot to serve GOD in, intended to show the unity of the GODHEAD in the Trinity of the persons; and at the same time to indicate that there is but one way to GOD in the righteousness of the Saviour? Joh 14:6 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Deu 12:5 But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, [even] unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:
Ver. 5. And thither shalt thou come. ] In token of a holy communion with God.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the place. Only in the Land could these laws be carried out. See the Structure above. Compare Exo 20:24.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
But unto: Deu 12:11, Deu 16:2, Deu 26:2, Jos 9:27, Jos 18:1, 1Ki 8:16, 1Ki 8:20, 1Ki 8:29, 1Ki 14:21, 1Ch 22:1, 2Ch 7:12, Psa 78:68, Psa 87:2, Psa 87:3, Joh 4:20-22, Heb 12:22, Rev 14:1
habitation: Exo 15:2, Exo 25:22, Num 7:89, 1Ki 8:27, Psa 132:13, Psa 132:14, Isa 66:1, Isa 66:2, Act 7:48-50, Eph 2:20-22, Col 2:9
Reciprocal: Exo 20:24 – in all places Exo 23:17 – General Exo 23:19 – first of the Lev 1:3 – at the Lev 5:15 – in the Lev 17:3 – that killeth an Lev 17:4 – bringeth Lev 27:30 – General Deu 12:14 – General Deu 12:21 – to put Deu 14:23 – eat before Deu 14:24 – which Deu 15:19 – thou shalt do Deu 15:20 – General Deu 16:5 – sacrifice Deu 17:8 – get thee up Deu 18:6 – unto the place Deu 31:11 – in the place Jos 22:11 – heard Jos 22:19 – wherein Jos 22:27 – that we Jdg 8:27 – Ophrah 1Sa 1:3 – to worship 1Sa 1:4 – offered 1Sa 1:24 – she took 1Sa 2:29 – habitation 1Ki 9:3 – to put 1Ki 11:13 – for Jerusalem’s 1Ki 12:27 – go up 2Ki 17:36 – him shall ye fear 2Ki 21:4 – In Jerusalem 1Ch 22:7 – unto the name 2Ch 2:1 – for the name 2Ch 2:6 – save only 2Ch 6:5 – my name 2Ch 11:16 – to sacrifice 2Ch 12:13 – to put Ezr 3:2 – as it is written Ezr 6:3 – the place Ezr 6:12 – caused Ezr 7:17 – offer them Neh 1:9 – the place Psa 68:16 – the hill Psa 74:7 – dwelling Psa 122:4 – Whither Son 4:6 – the mountain Isa 33:20 – the city Jer 7:12 – where Luk 2:41 – went
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Deu 12:5. To put his name there That is, to set up his worship there, and which he shall call by his name, as his house, or his dwelling-place; namely, where the ark should be, the tabernacle, or temple: which was first Shiloh, and then Jerusalem. There is not one precept in all the law of Moses so largely inculcated as this, to bring all their sacrifices to that one altar. And how significant was this appointment! They must keep to one place, in token of their belief, that there is one God, and one Mediator between God and man. It not only served to keep up the notion of the unity of the Godhead, but the one only way of approach to God, and communion with him in and by his Son.