Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 27:8

And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly.

8. the stones ] Not the stones of the altar (6 f.), with which Jos 8:30 f. has confused them.

this law ] Heb. Torah as in Deu 27:3.

very plainly ] Expressed in Heb. by two infinitives used adverbially. On that one of them which is rendered plainly, ba’er, see on Deu 1:5. The other, meaning thoroughly or exceedingly, occurs in Deu 9:21.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

So as to be easily read by all.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

And thou shall write upon the stones all the words of this law,…. Not upon the stones of the altar, but upon the first stones brought to Mount Ebal, and set up there before, and on which the words were inscribed before the altar was erected; though according to the Misnah u the altar was built of these stones, and on that the law written; for it is said,

“they shall bring the stones (#De 27:2,4) and build the altar, and plaster it with plaster, and write upon it all the words of the law:”

with which Josephus agrees, who says w,

“that when Moses was about to die, he ordered the blessings and the curses to be written on the altar, on both sides of it:”

could this be made clearly to appear, it would be easy to observe the accomplishment of it in Christ, who was made under the law, became subject to it, had it written on his heart, obeyed the precepts and bore the penalty of it, and had all the curses of it laid on him, and thereby redeemed his people from them. However, be it on which it may that the words of the law were written, they were written

very plainly; so that they might be easily read; in seventy languages, according to the Jewish writers; which they say was done, that whoever would learn the law might learn it, and so the Gentiles had no excuse x; for it is a prevailing notion with them, that there were so many nations and languages. The law being written on stones denotes the duration of it, which continued not only during the times of the Old Testament dispensation, and to the times of John, and had its fulfilment in Christ, but still continues; for though Christ has redeemed his people from the curse and condemnation of it, yet it is in his hands as a rule of direction to them as to their walk and conversation: nor is it made void by any doctrine of the Gospel, and nothing more strongly enforces obedience to it than the Gospel. The moral law is immutable, invariable, and eternal in its nature, and in the matter of it. This may also point at the hardness of men’s hearts, their non-subjection to the law, and disobedience of it; and these stones being covered with plaster may be an emblem of formalists and hypocrites, who are like whited walls and sepulchres, Mt 23:27, have a form of the law in their heads, but not in their hearts; are Jews outwardly, but not inwardly, Ro 2:28; externally righteous before men, as if they were strict observers of the law, but internally very wicked; and have hard, blind, and impenitent hearts, under the cover of the law, and a profession of strict regard to it; and this being done on the same mount where the curses were pronounced, shows that they were on account of the breach of this law.

u Sotah, c. 7. sect. 5. w Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 4. c. 8. sect. 44.) x Sotah, ib. & Bartenora in ib. Targum Jon. & Jerus. & Jarchi in loc.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(8) Thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this lawi.e., the ten commandments. All else in the Law of Moses is but an application of the Decalogue to a particular people under particular circumstances. (See Notes on Joshua 3, Jos. 8:32, for more upon the relation of the ten commandments to the conquest of Canaan.)

Very plainly.See on Deu. 1:5. Rashi says, In seventy (.e., in all) languages. There is also an idea in the Talmud that when spoken from Sinai, the Law was spoken (or heard) in all languages at the same time. It is a strange refraction of the truth indicated at Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was given. Men spake in every tongue the wonderful works of God. The foundation of Jerusalem has effects exactly opposite to the foundation of Babylon (Genesis 11).

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

8. Write this law very plainly The requirement to write the words of the law upon the stones is repeated and emphasized.

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

The repeated charges and cautions given, imply the vast importance of the thing itself. Deu 30:11-15 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Deu 27:8 And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly.

Ver. 8. All the words of this law very plainly. ] Therefore it could not be all Deuteronomy, much less all Moses’s books, as some have thought; for what stones could suffice for such a work? Unless they could write as close, – but how then could it be very plainly? – as he did who set forth the whole history of our Saviour’s passion very lively, both things, and acts, and persons, on the nails of his own hands, as Maeiolus reporteth. a

a In Canicular. Colloq.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)