Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 26:16
This day the LORD thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments: thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
16. This day ] Obviously the same as that emphasised, both in the Introd. Addresses Deu 4:8, Deu 5:1, Deu 8:1; Deu 8:11; Deu 8:18, Deu 10:13, Deu 11:2; Deu 11:8; Deu 11:26; Deu 11:32, and in the Code Deu 15:5; Deu 15:15, Deu 19:9 (cp. Deu 12:8), as the day when the laws, revealed to Moses in oreb were by him published to the people in Moab in the valley over against Beth-peor (Deu 3:29).
the Lord thy God is commanding thee ] This is His part in the contract now to be formulated.
statutes and judgements ] See on Deu 12:1.
keep and do them ] See Deu 4:6, Deu 7:12, etc.; cp. observe to do, Deu 5:1, Deu 8:1, Deu 12:1; Deu 12:32, etc. This is Israel’s part in the contract.
with all, etc.] Deu 6:5 f., Deu 10:12, cp. Deu 11:18.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
16 19. Concluding Exhortation
The proclamation of these laws and the consequent duty of Israel to keep them (Deu 26:16) constitute a contract between Jehovah and Israel, by which He declares Himself their God, who shall exalt them above other nations, and they declare themselves His people, proper and holy to Him and obliged to obey His laws (Deu 26:17-19). In D’s style and the Sg. address (LXX curiously diverges into the Pl. in the last clause of Deu 26:16). But the argument has been deranged (so all recent commentators; see esp. Cullen, p. 93) either by later additions inappropriately distributed through a misunderstanding of the legal form used, or through the fusion of different conclusions to the Code. See notes below. It is unnecessary to suppose that the passage originally followed Deu 27:9 f. or 28.
Though the term covenant is not used, the law-giving is regarded as such, as it is implicitly in Deu 27:9 f. and explicitly in Deu 29:1 (Deut 28:69). This idea is also implicit in the Code, and is stated explicitly in Deu 8:18, Deu 17:3. So far then, there is no reason for doubting the original character of the passage.
This is so far an answer to Steuern. who assigns the passage to a later deuteronomist. Wellh. indeed takes this day as that of the Covenant at oreb, and infers that chs. 12 26 were originally understood as delivered there. On the other hand Berth, finds it probable that we have here the formula under which Josiah bound Israel to observe the Law (2Ki 23:3, cp. Jer 11:2 ff.). For neither of these hypotheses is there any real evidence; and this day is ostensibly the same as that frequently mentioned in the Code and the Introd. Addresses (see on Deu 26:16).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
A brief and earnest exhortation by way of conclusion to the second and longest discourse of the book.
Deu 26:17
Thou hast avouched – literally, made to say: so also in the next verse. The sense is: Thou hast given occasion to the Lord to say that He is thy God, i. e. by promising that He shall be so. Compare Exo 24:7; Jos 24:14-25,
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
This day the Lord thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments,…. These are the words of Moses, as Aben Ezra rightly observes, and refer not only to the laws last mentioned, but to all others which he had repeated, or the Lord by him had ordered to be observed, recorded in this book: and though it is very probable Moses had been several days repeating former laws, and acquainting them with new ones; yet this being the last day, in which the whole account was finished, they are said to be commanded that day, and though commanded that day were to be observed and done every day; for, as Jarchi says, every day was to be considered and reckoned as new, as if on that day they were commanded them:
thou shall therefore keep and do them with all thy heart, and with all thy soul; cordially, readily, willingly, sincerely, constantly, and to the utmost of their abilities.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
At the close of his discourse, Moses sums up the whole in the earnest admonition that Israel would give the Lord its God occasion to fulfil the promised glorification of His people, by keeping His commandments with all their heart and soul.
Deu 26:16-17 On this day the Lord commanded Israel to keep these laws and rights with all the heart and all the soul (cf. Deu 6:5; Deu 10:12.). There are two important points contained in this (Deu 26:17.). The acceptance of the laws laid before them on the part of the Israelites involved a practical declaration that the nation would accept Jehovah as its God, and walk in His way (Deu 26:17); and the giving of the law on the part of the Lord was a practical confirmation of His promise that Israel should be His people of possession, which He would glorify above all nations (Deu 26:18, Deu 26:19). “ Thou hast let the Lord say to-day to be thy God,” i.e., hast given Him occasion to say to thee that He will be thy God, manifest Himself to thee as thy God. “ And to walk in His ways, and to keep His laws,” etc., for “and that thou wouldst walk in His ways, and keep His laws.” The acceptance of Jehovah as its God involved eo ipso a willingness to walk in His ways.
Deu 26:18-19 At the same time, Jehovah had caused the people to be told that they were His treasured people of possession, as He had said in Exo 19:5-6; and that if they kept all His commandments, He would set them highest above all nations whom He had created, “for praise, and for a name, and for glory,” i.e., make them an object of praise, and renown, and glorification of God, the Lord and Creator of Israel, among all nations (vid., Jer 33:9 and Jer 13:11; Jer 3:19-20). “ And that it should become a holy people unto the Lord,” as He had already said in Exo 19:6. The sanctification of Israel was the design and end of its divine election, and would be accomplished in the glory to which the people of God were to be exalted (see the commentary on Exo 19:5-6). The Hiphil , which is only found here, has no other meaning than this, “to cause a person to say,” or “ give him occasion to say;” and this is perfectly appropriate here, whereas the other meaning suggested, “to exalt,” has no tenable support either in the paraphrastic rendering of these verses in the ancient versions, or in the Hithpael in Psa 94:4, and moreover is altogether unsuitable in Deu 26:17.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Israel Reminded of the Covenant. | B. C. 1451. |
16 This day the LORD thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments: thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul. 17 Thou hast avouched the LORD this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice: 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; 19 And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the LORD thy God, as he hath spoken.
Two things Moses here urges to enforce all these precepts:– 1. That they were the commands of God, v. 16. They were not the dictates of his own wisdom, nor were they enacted by any authority of his own, but infinite wisdom framed them, and the power of the King of kings made them binding to them: “The Lord thy God commands thee, therefore thou art bound in duty and gratitude to obey him, and it is at thy peril if thou disobey. They are his laws, therefore thou shalt do them, for to that end were they given thee: do them and not dispute them, do them and not draw back from them; do them not carelessly and hypocritically, but with thy heart and soul, thy whole heart and thy whole soul.” 2. That their covenant with God obliged them to keep these commands. He insists not only upon God’s sovereignty over them, but his propriety in them, and the relation wherein they stood to him. The covenant is mutual, and it binds to obedience both ways. (1.) That we may perform our part of the covenant, and answer the intentions of that (v. 17): “Thou hast avouched and solemnly owned and confessed the Lord Jehovah to be thy God, thy Prince and Ruler. As he is so by an incontestable right, so he is by thy own consent.” They did this implicitly by their attendance on his word, had done it expressly (Exod. xxiv.), and were now to do it again before they parted, ch. xxix. 1. Now this obliges us, in fidelity to our word, as well as in duty to our Sovereign, to keep his statutes and his commandments. We really forswear ourselves, and perfidiously violate the most sacred engagements, if, when we have taken the Lord to be our God, we do not make conscience of obeying his commands. (2.) That God’s part of the covenant also may be made good, and the intentions of that answered (Deu 26:18; Deu 26:19): The Lord has avouched, not only taken, but publicly owned thee to be his segullah, his peculiar people, as he has promised thee, that is, according to the true intent and meaning of the promise. Now their obedience was not only the condition of this favour, and of the continuance of it (if they were not obedient, God would disown them, and cast them off), but it was also the principal design of this favour. “He has avouched thee on purpose that thou shouldest keep his commandments, that thou mightest have both the best directions and the best encouragements in religion.” Thus we are elected to obedience (1 Pet. i. 2), chosen that we should be holy (Eph. i. 4), purified, a peculiar people, that we might not only do good works, but be zealous in them, Tit. ii. 14. Two things God is here said to design in avouching them to be his peculiar people (v. 19), to make them high, and, in order to that, to make them holy; for holiness is true honour, and the only way to everlasting honour. [1.] To make them high above all nations. The greatest honour we are capable of in this world is to be taken into covenant with God, and to live in his service. They should be, First, High in praise; for God would accept them, which is true praise, Rom. ii. 29. Their friends would admire them, Zep 3:19; Zep 3:20. Secondly, High in name, which, some think, denotes the continuance and perpetuity of that praise, a name that shall not be cut off. Thirdly, High in honour, that is, in all the advantages of wealth and power, which would make them great above their neighbours. See Jer. xiii. 11. [2.] That they might be a holy people, separated for God, devoted to him, and employed continually in his service. This God aimed at in taking them to be his people; so that, if they did not keep his commandments, they received all this grace in vain.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 16-19:
This is the conclusion of Moses’ address. It is a solemn plea to Israel that they keep Jehovah’s laws, statutes, commandments, ways, judgments. It is a reminder that they had entered into covenant with God to do this, Exo 19:8; Exo 24:3; Exo 24:7.
“Avouched,” amar, “say,” also translated “answer (98 times), promise, declare, determine,” implying a public response.
When Israel publicly promised to obey Jehovah, He then publicly promised that Israel would be His own personal people.
The Law Covenant was conditional. Its blessings were contingent upon Israel’s obedience. Their blessing and exaltation would come from God’s own hand as they obeyed Him.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
16. This day the Lord thy God. He again reminds them that God is the author of the Law, in order that His majesty should the more impress them; and not only so, but that, since the Law was specially delivered to them, its observation was the more enjoined upon them. Hence he exhorts them earnestly to apply their hearts to those things which God had enjoined them to keep, because men grow careless in their duties, unless they are often stirred up. For, undoubtedly, God indirectly rebukes the people’s indifference, by so often calling them to obedience. By the words “with all thy soul” is meant serious apprehension, and carefulness, as well as sincerity, free from all disguise and deceit. For nothing is more displeasing to God than hypocrisy, because He seeth the heart. If any object that it was vain to demand of them what no mortal can perform, viz., to keep the Law with all their heart, I reply, that all the heart is opposed to a double or divided heart, and is equivalent to entire, or altogether without deceit, although (as we shall hereafter see) it is not absurd to propose to believers an object, at which they are to aim, although they may not attain to it as long as the weakness of the flesh hinders them.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(4) CONCLUDING EXHORTATION TO CAREY OUT COMMITMENTS TO GOD AND HIS LAW (Deu. 26:16-19)
16 This day Jehovah thy God commandeth thee to do these statutes and ordinances; thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thy heart, and with all thy soul. 17 Thou hast avouched Jehovah this day to be thy God, and that thou wouldest walk in his ways, and keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his ordinances, and hearken unto his voice; 18 and Jehovah hath avouched thee this day to be a people for his own possession, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments; 19 and to make thee high above all nations that he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honor; and that thou mayest be a holy people unto Jehovah thy God, as he hath spoken.
THOUGHT QUESTIONS 26:1619
462.
What distinction (if any) is there between heart and soul as here used?
463.
What is the meaning of the term avouched?
464.
When we keep our promises Jehovah is ready to keep His promises. What are they?
AMPLIFIED TRANSLATION 26:1619
16 This day the Lord your God has commanded you to do these statutes and ordinances; therefore you shall keep and do them with all your [mind and] heart and with all your being.
17 You have (openly) declared the Lord this day to be your God, [pledging] to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, and His commandments, and His precepts, and to hearken to His voice.
18 And the Lord has declared this day that you are His peculiar people, as He promised you, and you are to keep His commandments;
19 And He will make you have above all nations which He has made, in praise and in fame and in honor, and that you shall be a holy people to the Lord your God, as He has spoken.
COMMENT 26:1619
In Deu. 26:17 we have what Israel avouched (Heb. amar, Literally, be bright, make visible or known; hence to declare, as when a covenant is being made), and in Deu. 26:18-19, what God avouched. In these verses, the Israelite does not enumerate, one by one, the laws he will keephe simply affirms openly that whatever Gods will is concerning the matters mentioned, he will keep them.
AND TO MAKE THEE HIGH ABOVE ALL NATIONS etc. (note Deu. 26:19 a), which the Torah renders and that He will set you, in fame and renown and glory, high above all the nations that He had made . . . while the margin of the A.S.V. reads, for a praise, and for a name, and for an honor . . .
However read, the meaning is apparentobedient Israel would be greatly blessed.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
Deu. 26:16-19. CLOSE OF THE EXHORTATION.
(16) This day the Lord thy God hath commanded thee.These words are not to be taken as part of the service described in the previous verses, but as the words of Moses in bringing his exhortation to a close. Rashi says, Every day these commandments shall be new before thine eyes, as though on that very day thou hadst received them.
Thou shalt therefore keep and do them.It is a beautiful thought that the form of this command (as of many others) makes it prophetic of its own fulfilment. It is the voice from heaven blessing thee, says Rashi. (See also Deu. 30:6; Deu. 30:8.)
(17, 18) Thou hast avouched . . . and the Lord hath avouched.The Hebrew word is simply the ordinary word for to say. Thou hast said, and He hath said. There is no distinctive word for to promise in Hebrew. To say is sufficient. Hath He said, and shall He not do it? Let your yea be yea, and your nay nay, like His. But Rashi says there is no exact parallel to this use of the verb in the Old Testament, except, perhaps, in Psa. 94:4, where it means, they boast themselves. Let Israel boast in God, and God will boast Himself of them, as His peculiar people.
(19) And to make thee high.Literally, most high; Heb., Elyn, a well-known name of God. Here, and in Deu. 28:1, it is (prophetically and in the Divine purpose) applied to Israel. Thou shalt put my Name upon the children of Israel was the law of blessing for the priests (Num. 6:27).
In praise, and in name, and in honour.Perhaps, rather, to be a praise, and to be a name, and to be an honour, and to become a people of holiness to Jehovah. There is an allusion to this in Jer. 33:9, And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise, and an honour before all the nations of the earth; and in Isa. 62:6-7, Ye that make mention of the name of the Lord, keep not silence, and give Him no rest, till He establish, and till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
But if, as some would have us believe, the Book of Deuteronomy draws these things from the prophets, rather than the prophets from Moses, how is it that there is not the faintest allusion in Deuteronomy to Jerusalem, which in the days of the prophets had become the centre of all these hopes?
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16. The Lord hath commanded thee, etc. Moses concludes this discourse with an earnest admonition to the people. Deu 26:16-19.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
VII THE COVENANT CEREMONY ( Deu 26:16 to Deu 27:26 ).
The covenant having been fully outlined and declared, and the tribute having been offered, the covenant ceremony can now be prepared for.
Moses’ Final Summing Up .
Moses now closes his speech with a final exhortation. It had begun in Deuteronomy 5 with the reproclamation of the initial covenant, to be followed with detailed regulations, in a similar way to Exo 20:1 to Exo 23:33. But as we have seen this had been made by the writer into a larger covenant form commencing at Deu 1:1. It will now be followed by the solemn recording of the covenant in the presence of witnesses (Deu 27:2-8) and then the blessings and cursings (Deu 27:11 to Deu 28:68), closing with the colophon in Deu 29:1 which was the end of the initial covenant record.
Analysis
a This day Yahweh your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances. You shall therefore keep and do them with all your heart, and with all your soul’ (Deu 26:16).
b You have avouched Yahweh this day to be your God, and that you would walk in His ways, and keep His statutes, and His commandments, and His ordinances, and listen to His voice (Deu 26:17).
b And Yahweh has avouched you this day to be a people for his own possession, as He has promised you, and that you should keep all His commandments, and to make you high above all nations that He has made, ‘in praise, and in name, and in honour’ (Deu 26:18-19 a).
b And that you may be a holy people to Yahweh your God, as He has spoken (Deu 26:19 b).
Note that in ‘a’ the command is to be wholehearted in obeying the covenant, and in the parallel this will man that they are a holy people to Yahweh their God, as He has said that they will be. In ‘b’ the people have avouched Yahweh to be their God and in the parallel Yahweh has avouched that they will be His people. Both include their keeping of His commandments.
Deu 26:16
‘ This day Yahweh your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances. You shall therefore keep and do them with all your heart, and with all your soul.’
On this solemn day all these commands, ‘the statutes and ordinances’, had been given to them through him by Yahweh. This phrase covered all aspects of Yahweh’s requirements. They were to keep them in their hearts and minds, and do them with all their heart and soul. This was to be their commitment to Yahweh, so that they may be revealed as His true people. But this had to include the Law that lay behind his speech in order for it to make sense.
Compare Deu 5:1 and Deu 12:1, the first of which introduces the proclamation of the covenant, and the second the commencement of the detailed regulations. This is the covenant within the covenant. But the final purpose of the covenant was an obedient people.
When we think of salvation as simply a means by which God gets us to Heaven we are like Israel when it saw the covenant as making them supreme. We are like children to whom the present glitter is everything. But as with His covenant, the purpose of His salvation is more than that. It is that we might be a holy people, walking in the Lord, whether on earth or in Heaven. That should be our delight, that we shall be like Him (1Jn 3:2), that we should walk as children of light. To get to Heaven yes, but to get there as a holy people.
Deu 26:17
‘ You have avouched Yahweh this day to be your God, and that you would walk in his ways, and keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his ordinances, and listen to his voice,’
Here the covenant oaths are being exchanged, following the pattern of treaties between great overlords and their subject people. Each make their avowal to the other in threefold terms. He points out that by their presence and response they had this day avouched for themselves that Yahweh was their God, and that they would walk in His ways.
“Walking” is a common description of doing God’s will and pleasure (Deu 5:33; Deu 8:6; Deu 10:12; Deu 11:22; Deu 13:4; Deu 19:9; Gen 5:24; Gen 6:9; Gen 17:1; Gen 24:40; Gen 48:15; Exo 18:20; Lev 18:4; Lev 26:3). It is the opposite of ‘walking contrary to Him’ (Lev 26:21-28). They had declared that they would ‘keep His statutes and His commandments and His ordinances’ (compare here Deu 5:27; Exo 24:3-8). They had declared that they would listen when He spoke.
Deu 26:18-19
‘ And Yahweh has avouched you this day to be a people for his own possession, as he has promised you, and that you should keep all his commandments, and to make you high above all nations that he has made, ‘in praise, and in name, and in honour’, and that you may be a holy people to Yahweh your God, as he has spoken.’
And Yahweh in His turn has avouched them as His true people, as His own treasured possession (compare Deu 7:6; Deu 14:2; Deu 28:9-10; Exo 19:5-6), as a holy people, totally set apart to Him, just as He had promised. He had further avouched them as those who must keep all His commandments. Here we have the picture of the true people of God, first chosen and made precious, and then in response required to walk in obedience.
The result will be that He will raise them high above all nations that He has made, ‘high in praise and name and honour’ (compare Jer 13:11; Jer 33:9, where it was the direct result of His saving work). But this was so that they would be revealed as a holy people to Yahweh their God in accordance with His words, truly set apart for Him, and revealing His essential holiness in their lives. We all want the praise, the name and the honour. What is often not so attractive is being a people who deserve it when it requires something from us.
They would ever delight in the fact that Yahweh had chosen them. They would rejoice at the thought of being raised high above all. What they found more difficult, and in the end refused, was to respond by walking in His ways and doing only His will. In other words for many of them their belief was external. It was about their own importance. It was not a living belief in the living God which had responded to Him in order to please Him and do His will. The result would be that they would lose it all. For trust and obedience are two side of the one response and must go together.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Keeping the Covenant
v. 16. This day the Lord, thy God, hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments; thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart and with all thy soul, v. 17. Thou hast avouched, v. 18. and the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be His peculiar people, v. 19. and to make thee high above all nations which he hath made,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
I would have the Reader attend to the expressions in these verses, with an eye to the original covenant of grace, and he will then enter into a proper apprehension of them. That original covenant was, that in the seed of Abraham, should all the nations of the earth be blessed. “He saith not (saith the apostle Paid) and to seeds, as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is CHRIST.” Gal 3:16 . When GOD, therefore, is here said to avouch himself to be the LORD GOD of Israel, it is that in CHRIST, GOD promiseth to bless his people, and to accept them in him. And his people avouch GOD to be their GOD in CHRIST; depending upon the fulfillment of all his promised covenanted mercies in him. Those expressions of making Israel high, in name, in honour, and in praise; and an holy people above all nations, are all very striking characters of the Israel of GOD. And who is, or ought to be, so holy, so high, so honourable, in their birth, their state; their life, their conversation, as those who have fellowship with the FATHER, and with his Son JESUS CHRIST? Who so peculiar as those, whom the LORD GOD of heaven and earth hath made his Segullah, that is, his chosen ones, his peculiar people. Reader! may it be your happiness and mine, to do as Israel did, avouch GOD to be our GOD, and may he avouch us to be his people.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Deu 26:16-19
16This day the LORD your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul. 17You have today declared the LORD to be your God, and that you would walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments and His ordinances, and listen to His voice. 18The LORD has today declared you to be His people, a treasured possession, as He promised you, and that you should keep all His commandments; 19and that He will set you high above all nations which He has made, for praise, fame, and honor; and that you shall be a consecrated people to the LORD your God, as He has spoken.
Deu 26:16 This is a summary conclusion and commitment (i.e., ratification) to the specific laws of chapters 12-26. This covenant affirmation was to be repeated by each new generation, individually.
these statutes and ordinances See Special Topic: Terms for God’s Revelation .
be careful to do them Obedience is crucial!
with all your heart and with all your soul Obedience alone was inadequate. It must flow from a desire to honor, love, and serve YHWH (cf. Deu 4:29; Deu 6:5; Deu 10:12).
Deu 26:17
NASBdeclared
NKJVproclaimed
NRSV, NJBobtained
TEVacknowledged
This is a rare Hebrew term (BDB 55, KB 65) in the Hiphil stem, used only here in Deu 26:17 and in Deu 26:18. The worshiper declared his obedience and allegiance to YHWH and YHWH declared back to the worshiper his election and call to be His unique people (i.e., covenant).
Deu 26:18
NASBa treasured possession
NKJVHis special people
NRSVHis treasured people
TEV, NJBhis own people
This is also a rare Hebrew term (BDB 688, cf. Exo 19:5; Deu 7:6; Deu 14:2; Psa 135:4).
Because the liturgy of this chapter does not specifically mention the Mt. Sinai/Horeb event, then some modern scholars reject the historicity of the event. However, the rare use of this term, both in Exo 19:5 and Deuteronomy (cf. Deu 7:6; Deu 14:2; and here) suggests that by its very usage it is an allusion to the event!
This creed also does not mention creation. Is it then to also be rejected as a historical event?
Deu 26:19 He will set you high above all nations This is repeated in Deu 28:1; Deu 28:13, but note the tragedy of Jer 13:11; Jer 7:23-26! The NIDOTTE, vol. 1, p. 1035, also sees this verse as Israel’s obligation to reflect YHWH’s praiseworthiness to the world! Therefore, this is a Great Commission verse! Israel had a missionary task (e.g., Jer 3:17; Jer 4:2; Jer 12:14-17; Jer 16:19; Jer 33:9)! See Special Topic: YHWH’s Eternal Redemptive Plan !
a consecrated people This is literally holy (BDB 872), which means set apart for God’s use.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought provoking, not definitive.
1. How are the first fruits related to the tithe? How many tithes were there?
2. Why is Deu 26:5 so important?
3. Explain the historical background of Deu 26:14 ff.
4. Why and how are the Jews chosen?
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
statutes and judgments. See note on Deu 4:1.
soul. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
This day: Deu 4:1-6, Deu 6:1, Deu 11:1, Deu 11:8, Deu 12:1, Deu 12:32, Mat 28:20
keep: Deu 6:5, Deu 6:17, Deu 8:2, Deu 13:3, Deu 13:4, Joh 14:15, Joh 14:21-24, 1Jo 5:2, 1Jo 5:3
Reciprocal: Deu 27:1 – Keep all Deu 27:9 – this day Jos 10:40 – as the Lord Psa 119:80 – sound
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Deu 26:16-19. Concluding exhortations to obedience based upon the covenant (Deu 4:13*) between Yahweh and Israel, with its mutual obligations.
Deu 26:17 f. avouched: Heb. caused to say, each of the contracting parties causing the other to acknowledge the obligations entered into; a strong anthropomorphism when applied to Yahweh.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
26:16 This day the LORD thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments: thou shalt therefore keep and do them with {n} all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
(n) With a good and simple conscience.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
2. Summary exhortation 26:16-19
"The presentation of the commandments and the statutes and ordinances that will guide Israel’s life in the land is over now. Deu 26:16 serves as a concluding bracket around chapters 5-26, matching Moses’ introduction to the whole in Deu 5:1 as well as his introduction to the section setting forth the statutes and ordinances in Deu 12:1 . . ." [Note: Miller, p. 184.]
"If we regard the long section Deu 5:1 to Deu 26:15 as containing the heart of the covenant law, both in terms of the general principles and of the specific stipulations (even allowing that in the present setting the material is ’law preached’ rather than ’codified law’), we may regard this small pericope as in the nature of an oath of allegiance (cf. Deu 29:10-15; Exo 24:7). In form, the pericope looks like a contract in which the two parties bind themselves by means of a solemn declaration. Moses acts as a covenant mediator between Israel, who declares that she will be Yahweh’s people, and Yahweh, who declares that He will be Israel’s God (cf. Exo 6:7; Jer 31:33; Eze 36:28). In fact the wording of the pericope makes it clear that both declarations refer to the obligations which must be fulfilled by Israel alone. Yahweh has no obligations to keep, but in grace He has blessings to bestow." [Note: Thompson, p. 258.]
"It is not difficult to see in this utterance the Lord’s missionary goal for Israel in a nutshell." [Note: Daniel I. Block, "The Privilege of Calling: The Mosaic Paradigm for Missions (Deuteronomy 26:16-19)," Bibliotheca Sacra 162:648 (October-December 2005):388.]
Obedience to the revealed will of God will result in maximum blessing for God’s people. Moses proceeded to develop this idea further in chapters 27-28. This, then, concludes Moses’ second address to the Israelites.