Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 6:25
And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.
25. it shall be righteousness unto us ] The thought of the previous verse shows that righteousness here does not mean goodness, uprightness, but rather justification, vindication, the right to live, and by consequence their life itself. Cf. the post-exilic Isa 61:11, Isa 62:1-2, in which righteousness is parallel to renown, to salvation and to glory. (See the present writer’s Isaiah xl. lxvi. 217 ff.) Contrast Deu 25:13.
before Jehovah our God ] Cp. Deu 24:13, where this phrase ( thy God) follows immediately on righteousness unto thee. That may, as some suggest, have been the order here, too, but the transposition is not necessary. ‘To fulfil the commandment before Jehovah means so to fulfil it that He sees it, and that is a speaking feature of legal piety (Neh 5:19; Neh 13:14; Neh 13:22; Neh 13:31)’ (Bertholet).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 25. It shall be our righteousness] The evidence that we are under the influence of the fear and love of God. Moses does not say that this righteousness could be wrought without the influence of God’s mercy, nor does he say that they should purchase heaven by it: but, God required them to be conformed to his will in all things, that they might be holy in heart, and righteous in every part of their moral conduct.
1. ON a very important subject in this chapter, it may be necessary to make some farther observations.
A most injurious and destructive maxim has lately been advanced by a few individuals, which it is to be hoped is disowned by the class of Christians to which they belong, though the authors affect to be thought Christians, and rational ones, too; the sum of the maxim is this: “Children ought not to be taught religion for fear of having their minds biased to some particular creed, but they should be left to themselves till they are capable of making a choice, and choose to make one.” This maxim is in flat opposition to the command of God, and those who teach it show how little they are affected by the religion they profess. If they felt it to be good for any thing, they would certainly wish their children to possess it; but they do not teach religion to their children, because they feel it to be of no use to themselves. Now the Christian religion properly applied saves the soul, and fills the heart with love to God and man; for the love of God is shed abroad in the heart of a genuine believer, by the Holy Ghost given to him. These persons have no such love, because they have not the religion that inspires it; and the spurious religion which admits of the maxim above mentioned, is not the religion of God, and consequently better untaught than taught. But what can be said to those parents who, possessing a better faith, equally neglect the instruction of their children in the things of God! They are highly criminal; and if their children perish through neglect, which is very probable, what a dreadful account must they give in the great day! PARENTS! hear what the Lord saith unto you: Ye shall diligently teach your children that there is one Lord, Jehovah, Elohim; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost: and that they must love him with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their might. And as children are heedless, apt to forget, liable to be carried away by sensible things, repeat and re-repeat the instruction, and add line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, carefully studying time, place, and circumstances, that your labour be not in vain: show it in its amiableness, excite attention by exciting interest; show how good, how useful, how blessed, how ennobling, how glorious it is. Whet these things on their hearts till the keenest edge is raised on the strongest desire, till they can say, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth I desire besides thee!”
See Clarke on De 4:9, and “Ge 18:32“, and See Clarke on Ge 19:38 at the end.
2. Without offence to any, I hope, a few words more may be said on the nature of an oath, in addition to the note, See Clarke on De 6:13. The matter is important, and perhaps not well understood by many.
The making an appeal to the Supreme Being, and calling him to witness and record, constitutes the spirit and essence of an oath. It is no matter in what form this appeal is made, whether by putting the hand under the thigh, as among the patriarchs; by the water of the Ganges, as among the Hindoos; on a surat or chapter of the Koran, as among the Mohammedans; on a Hebrew Pentateuch, as among the Jews; on the form of the cross, as among the Roman Catholics; kissing the New Testament, as among Protestants in general; or holding up the hand, and making affirmation, as among the people called Quakers; still the oath is the same, for the appeal is made to God. On this ground (and this is the true ground), the holding up of the hand in a court of justice, is as perfect, as substantial, and as formal an oath, as kissing the New Testament. Why then so many objections against taking an oath in a court of justice by any one particular form, when the same thing is done in spirit, essence, and substance, when God is called to witness and record, though the form be different? When God says, Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and shalt swear by his name, he says, in effect, Thou shalt have no god besides me; thou shalt consider me the fountain of truth, the rewarder of righteousness, and the punisher of perfidy and wickedness. Swear by my name – bind thyself to me; take me for witness to all thy actions; and act in all things as having me continually before thine eyes, and knowing that for every act and word thou shalt give account to me in the day of judgment. Our Lord’s command, Swear not at all, can never relate to an oath in a civil cause, taken according to the definition above given: profane and common swearing, with all light, irreverent oaths and imprecations, and all such oaths as are not required by the civil magistrate, in cases where the Lord is supposed to be witness, are certainly intended in our blessed Lord’s prohibition. See Clarke on De 4:26.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Heb. righteousness shall be to us. and pronounced by God to be truly righteous and holy persons, if we sincerely obey him, otherwise we shall be declared to be unrighteous and ungodly persons, and all our profession of religion will appear to be in hypocrisy. Or, mercy shall be to us, or with us. For as the Hebrew word rendered righteousness is very oft put for mercy, as Psa 24:5; 36:10; 51:14; Pro 10:2; 11:4; Dan 9:16, &c.; so this sense seems best to agree both with the Scripture use of this phrase, in which righteousness, seldom or never, to my remembrance, but grace or mercy frequently, is said to be to us or with us, as 2Sa 15:20; Psa 89:24; Pro 14:22; Gal 6:16; 2Jo 1:3; and with the foregoing verse and argument, God, saith he, Deu 6:24, commanded these things for our good, that he might preserve us alive, as it is this day. And, saith he in this verse, this is not all; for as he hath done us good, so he will go on to do us more and more good, and Gods mercy shall be to us, or with us, in the remainder of our lives, and for ever,
if we observe, & c.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And it shall be our righteousness,…. Or a mercy, benefit, and blessing to us; or this shall be reckoned our righteousness, and that by which we shall be justified:
if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us; in order to have such a justifying righteousness, a man must keep all the commandments of God, not one excepted; and that perfectly, without the least breach of them in thought, word, or deed; and that before the Lord, in his sight, not as it may appear to a man himself, or to others, but as it appears to God, who sees the heart, and weighs all actions; and a man must keep them in the manner the Lord has commanded, even with all his heart, soul, and strength, as in De 6:5 and this is not possible for a sinful man to do; and therefore righteousness cannot be by the law. Only Christ could thus keep all the commandments of God, and his obedience is our righteousness; and he only is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes, and to him we must seek for it.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“ And righteousness will be to us, if we observe to do: ” i.e., our righteousness will consist in the observance of the law; we shall be regarded and treated by God as righteous, if we are diligent in the observance of the law. “ Before Jehovah ” refers primarily, no doubt, to the expression, “to do all these commandments;” but, as we may see from Deu 24:13, this does not prevent the further reference to the “ righteousness” also. This righteousness before Jehovah, it is true, is not really the gospel “righteousness of faith;” but there is no opposition between the two, as the righteousness mentioned here is not founded upon the outward (pharisaic) righteousness of works, but upon an earnest striving after the fulfilment of the law, to love God with all the heart; and this love is altogether impossible without living faith.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(25) And it shall be our righteousness.In one Targum, It shall be merit to us, or more fully, in the other, It shall be merit laid up for us against the world to come. In the LXX., It shall be alms to us. This conjunction of ideas will help to explain why in Mat. 6:1 alms and righteousness occur as alternative readings. We have alms in the Authorised Version, righteousness in the Revised Version. To this day the Jews call alms tsdkah, righteousness.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
25. It shall be our righteousness “Righteousness will be to us” is the literal rendering. If we keep the commands of God we shall be deemed righteous, is undoubtedly the meaning of the expression. “This righteousness before Jehovah is not indeed the gospel righteousness of faith; but there is no opposition between the two, as that which is here spoken of is not founded on the outward righteousness of works, but upon an earnest striving after the fulfilment of the law to love God with all the heart; and this love is impossible without living faith.” Keil.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Ver. 25. It shall be our righteousness Houbigant renders this, for a just reward shall not be wanting to us, if, &c. that is, says he, the promised reward mentioned in the foregoing verse. The word zedek is often so used, as well as the Chaldee uzekutha, which the Latin interpreter well renders praemium, reward: the LXX and Vulgate render it, and it shall be mercy, or, he will be merciful to us, if, &c. Our version, however, may well be justified.
REFLECTIONS.Repeated warnings are needful. 1. He charges them in no exigence to distrust God’s power or love; assuring them, that diligent obedience would be crowned with infallible success against all their enemies. Whilst we trust God, and follow on in the way of duty, his promise secures our safety and happiness. 2. They, must seize every opportunity to instruct their children, that their religion, and the deep remembrance of God’s dealings with them, may be transmitted to their latest posterity. Hearing so often the law read and taught, and seeing so many rites and ceremonies performed, their children would be naturally inquisitive into the meaning of them; then they must seize the good opportunity to inform them of their former deplorable estate in Egypt, the great deliverances wrought for them, and the favours bestowed on them in these institutions, in the perfect observance of which they might attain righteousness and life. Note; (1.) It should be highly pleasing to parents to hear their children’s inquiries about the things of God. It is their duty to inform them, even when they are averse from instruction; and how much more so, when teachable and desirous to learn. (2.) Righteousness and life eternal are inseparable: not indeed to be obtained by a sinner through obedience to the law, but by him who is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
REFLECTIONS
BLESSED GOD! may it be my happiness to be distinguished from all carnal and ungodly persons, and to carry about with me, wherever I go, all the distinguishing features of character which should mark thy people. I rejoice, gracious GOD, in the recollection of the unity of the divine essence, and while I pray for continual grace to live a life of faith in the constant enjoyment of communion and fellowship with all the Persons of the GODHEAD, may it be my joy and comfort, the conviction of this first and most glorious truth, the LORD our GOD is one LORD!
Oh! that all who in the present hour are tempted to question, whether the LORD JEHOVAH existeth in a plurality of persons or not, would read those numberless passages, where the word LORD which is singular and means the one glorious JEHOVAH is joined with the word GOD in the plural: as if forever to silence the blasphemy of infidels and to strengthen and confirm the faith of believers. And oh! that all the seed of Abraham according to the flesh would consult their own scriptures on this glorious truth, that when they discover the sacred name of, Jacob’s GOD joined with words that are plural, they might no longer doubt whether a plurality of persons exist in Him who is the glorious GOD of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! Hasten thou great deliverer, and arise out of Zion to turn away ungodliness from Jacob.
LORD! I beseech thee give me grace, that the vital religion of my adored Redeemer, may be with me a family religion, a personal religion, A religion manifested to all the world. May it be my glory, and delight, to let everyone know whose I am, and whom I love, and desire to serve in the gospel of GOD’S dear SON. Yes! thou blessed Redeemer, be thou my portion, my joy, my happiness, my delight; and be thou my LORD my righteousness, that I may speak of it every day, and all the day, and wear thy holy and dear name as a seal upon mine heart, and upon mine arm; and as frontlets between mine eyes. And do thou, dearest LORD, own me for thine, both now and when thou comest to make up thy jewels.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
our righteousness. This is superseded by Rom 10:4, Rom 10:5. Gal 1:3, Gal 1:12. That true then: this true now. No discrepancy if the Dispensations are rightly divided according to 2Ti 2:15.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Deu 24:13, Lev 18:5, Psa 106:30, Psa 106:31, Psa 119:6, Pro 12:28, Eze 20:11, Luk 10:28, Luk 10:29, Rom 10:3, Rom 10:5, Rom 10:6, Gal 3:12, Jam 2:10
Reciprocal: Gen 2:9 – tree of knowledge Exo 34:11 – Observe Deu 5:32 – observe
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Deu 6:25. It shall be our righteousness Hebrew, Righteousness shall be to us. We shall be owned, and pronounced by God to be righteous and holy persons, if we sincerely obey him; otherwise we shall be declared to be unrighteous and ungodly. Or, mercy shall be to us, or with us. For as the Hebrew word rendered righteousness is very often put for mercy, (as Psa 24:5; Psa 36:10; Psa 51:14; Pro 10:2; Pro 11:4; Dan 9:16,) so this sense seems best to agree both with the Scripture use of this phrase, (in which righteousness seldom or never, but grace or mercy frequently, is said to be to us, or with us,) and with the foregoing verse and argument. God, saith he, (Deu 6:24,) commanded these things for our good, that he might preserve us alive, as it is this day. And, adds he in this verse, this is not all; for as he hath done us good, so he will go on to do us more and more good, and Gods mercy shall be to us, or with us, in the remainder of our lives, and for ever, if we observe these commandments. Our sincere obedience, says Henry, (including in the term, repentance, faith, and love, with all other graces,) shall be accepted through a Mediator, to denominate us, as Noah was, righteous before God, Gen 7:1; Luk 1:6; and 1Jn 3:7. The Chaldee reads it, There shall be a reward to us if we observe to do these commandments.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
6:25 And it shall be our {l} righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.
(l) Because no one can fully obey the law, we must turn to Christ to be justified by faith.