10<\/strong>. the day<\/em> ] Governed by lest thou forget<\/em> in Deu 4:9<\/em><\/span>; or an acc. of time.<\/p>\n thou stoodest before thy God<\/em> ] So Sam., the nation being still regarded as an individual; LXX ye stood<\/em>.<\/p>\n Assemble me the people<\/em> ] See below on Deu 4:22<\/span>.<\/p>\n may learn to fear<\/em> ] The frequent commands to fear<\/em>, or learn to fear<\/em>, God, Deu 5:29<\/span>, Deu 6:24<\/span>, Deu 8:6<\/span>, Deu 10:12<\/span>, Deu 14:23<\/span>, Deu 17:19<\/span>, Deu 28:58<\/span>, Deu 31:13<\/span>, associate that temper with hearing, reading<\/em>, or doing<\/em> God’s law, or walking in His ways<\/em>. It is thus no inarticulate, brutish awe before the unknown, which we call superstition, but the vigilant, scrupulous temper of a servant to whom his lord’s will has been fully declared cp. Lat. ‘religio’ and our general use of ‘religious’ and ‘religiously’ an earnest, anxious obedience; never a mere feeling, but the intelligent and loyal practice of a trust. See also on Deu 14:23<\/span>.<\/p>\n Some of them stood in Horeb in their own persons, though then they were but young; the rest stood then in the loins of their parents, in whom they may well be said to stand there, because they are said to have entered into covenant with God, because their parents did so in their name and for their use. <\/P> <\/p>\n 10. the day that thou stoodestbefore the Lord . . . in Horeb<\/B>The delivery of the law fromSinai was an era never to be forgotten in the history of Israel. Someof those whom Moses was addressing had been present, though veryyoung; while the rest were federally represented by their parents,who in their name and for their interest entered into the nationalcovenant.<\/P><\/p>\n Specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord in Horeb<\/strong>,…. Above all things Moses would have them take care not to forget the day the law was given from Mount Sinai, which was so awful and solemn, when they saw the fire, the smoke, the lightning, and heard the thunder and the sound of the trumpet; all which were very shocking and terrifying: and though the men of this generation were but young then, being under twenty years of age, yet many of them were old enough to observe these things, and which one would think should never wear out of their minds:<\/p>\n when the Lord said unto me, gather me the people together<\/strong>; not the elders of the people only, but the whole body of the people, as he did, and brought them to the foot of Mount Sinai, Ex 19:17<\/span>,<\/p>\n and I will make them hear my words<\/strong>; the ten commands which were spoken by the Lord himself aloud, with an articulate voice, in the hearing of all the people; and was such a terrible voice of words, that they that heard it entreated it might be spoken to them no more, Heb 12:19<\/span><\/p>\n that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth<\/strong>; to reverence him the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy; to fear to offend him by breaking his laws, so holy, just, and good, and delivered in such an awful and solemn manner:<\/p>\n and that they may teach their children<\/strong>; the words they had heard, teach them obedience to them, and to be careful not to act contrary to them; since that would bring down judgments upon them, and deprive them of the favour they enjoyed, of which they had seen instances.<\/p>\n 10. The day (227) that thou stoodest. The word day might be taken in the accusative, as if in apposition. It is, at any rate, clear that he explains more fully what he had briefly alluded to before, for he summons the people as eye-witnesses, lest, perchance, they should object that they were not sure from whence Moses had derived what he professes to be enjoined him by God. For they were all well aware that he had undertaken nothing without the express command of God. Finally, he proves, from the end and object itself of the doctrine, that God was its author, since it tended to nothing else but that God should be purely served, and that His people might be obedient, than which nothing can be imagined more just and right. <\/p>\n (227) “In the day,” etc. — lat. <\/p>\n (10) The day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb.<\/strong>The Church of Israel dated from Sinai, as the Church of Christ does from Pentecost. It is noticeable that the giving of the Law appears to have taken place about fifty days after the Passover in Egypt. Jewish writers associate the Feast of Pentecost with the memory of the event. A similar association, and a contrast between the first and last Pentecost, appears to have been present to St. Pauls mind in 2 Corinthians 3<\/span>. The law given at Sinai is the ministration of death, and is contrasted with the ministration of the Spiritthe letter that killeth with the Spirit that giveth life. (Comp. also Gal. 4:24-26<\/span>, and Heb. 12:18-24<\/span>.) The word specially is not in the Hebrew of this verse.<\/p>\n The day . . . in Horeb<\/strong> is not only to be regarded as a special <\/em>subject of instruction; it is the root of the whole matter.<\/p>\n Gather me the people together.<\/strong>The Greek here is , <\/em>which might be paraphrased according to New Testament language, Form a Church of this people, The day of the assembly alluded to in this and other passages (as Deu. 10:4<\/span>) may be similarly paraphrased as the day of the Church. It seems to be the source of the expression used by St. Stephen, the Church in the wilderness (Act. 7:38<\/span>). Thus the analogy between Israels receiving the letter <\/em>of the law at Sinai, and the gift of the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem is still further brought out.<\/p>\n 10-12<\/strong>. <\/strong> The day that thou stoodest before the Lord <\/strong> Here should commence a new sentence. Our translators have incorrectly brought into the text the word specially<\/strong>. In the day when you stood in the presence of Jehovah your God in Horeb, <\/em> etc., then you drew near. <\/em> Moses in these verses reminds the people of the chief events connected with the giving of the law. <\/p>\n The mountain burned unto the midst of heaven <\/strong> To the heart of heaven. <\/em> “A rhetorical description of the awful majesty of the pillar of fire in which the glory of Jehovah appeared upon Sinai, intended to impress deeply upon the minds of the people the remembrance of this manifestation of God.” Keil.<\/p>\n They Are Ever To Remember The Great and Wondrous Experience of Horeb (Sinai) And Take Note Of His Statutes and Judgments ( Deu 4:10-14<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> ).<\/strong> <\/p>\n Moses now stressed the importance of the Sinai\/Horeb experience which they must ever stir to remembrance and keep before their eyes, so that they would remember Who and What God is. In the context of the covenant this was a reminder of the appearance of their Overlord to declare His rights over them, and of His greatness, which therefore made obedience to the covenant all the more important. <\/p>\n a <\/strong> Moses reminds them of the day when they stood before Yahweh in Horeb (Deu 4:10<\/span> a). <\/p>\n b <\/strong> When He had called them to assemble to His words so that they might fear Him all their days and teach their children (Deu 4:10<\/span> a). <\/p>\n c <\/strong> And they came near and stood below the mountain and it burned with heavenly fire, with darkness, cloud and thick darkness (Deu 4:11<\/span>). <\/p>\n c <\/strong> And the voice of Yahweh spoke from the midst of the fire and they heard His words but saw no form. There was only a voice (Deu 4:12<\/span>). <\/p>\n b <\/strong> And He declared to them His words which He commanded them to carry out, the ten words which were written on tables of stone (Deu 4:13<\/span>). <\/p>\n a <\/strong> And Yahweh commanded him in that day to teach them statutes and judgments so that they may do them in the land when they went over to possess it (Deu 4:14<\/span>). <\/p>\n Note that in ‘a’ he reminds them of ‘the day’ in which they stood before Yahweh in Horeb and in the parallel Yahweh commanded him ‘on that day’ to teach them His statutes and judgments. In ‘b’ He called them together to hear His words so that they might fear Him, and in the parallel He declares to them His words and commands them to carry them out. In ‘c’ they come to the mountain burning with fire but in darkness and cloud, and in the parallel they hear Him speak from the midst of the fire but they see no form, only hear a voice. <\/p>\n Deu 4:10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘<\/strong> The day that you stood before Yahweh your God in Horeb, when Yahweh said to me, “Assemble me the people, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.” ’ <\/p>\n For they must ever remember that unforgettable day when they stood before the Mount in Horeb and saw the dreadful flames that seemed to burn up the top of the mountain, and heard His voice like thunder speaking to them (Exo 19:18<\/span>; Exo 20:18<\/span>; Exo 24:17<\/span>). For Yahweh had called on him to assemble the people so that they might hear His words expressed in such a way that they would never forget them, and might learn to have a godly fear of Him all through their lives. That had been His purpose, but men’s hearts were so hard that with many it did not succeed. <\/p>\n To ‘stand before Yahweh’ was a great privilege. But their joy was that they could also stand before Yahweh by choice in the courtyard of the tabernacle when they brought their offerings for it was His earthly Dwellingplace (Deu 12:7<\/span>; Deu 31:11-13<\/span>), and when they gathered round the Tabernacle for worship, and although He would be hidden they would know that He was there in His Holy of Holies, even while He was riding the heavens and enthroned in the Heaven of Heavens (1Ki 8:27<\/span>). Compare Deu 19:17<\/span>. <\/p>\n “That they may teach their children.”<\/strong> This connects back to Deu 4:9<\/span>. While in sections the speech is a unit. <\/p>\n Deu 4:11<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘<\/strong> And you came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.’ <\/p>\n He reminds those who had been present that day of the awesomeness of it. They had fearfully approached the mountain, and had stood under it in awe, and they had been before Yahweh, and the mountain had burned with fire to the heart of heaven, with darkness, and cloud, and the intense blackness of night pervading it even during the day. See Exo 19:18<\/span>; Exo 20:21 ; 2Sa 22:10<\/span>; 1Ki 8:12<\/span>; Psa 18:9<\/span>; Psa 18:11<\/span>; Psa 97:2<\/span>. This heavenly fire that revealed Yahweh is a theme of this whole section of the speech. See Deu 4:15<\/span>; Deu 4:24<\/span>; Deu 4:33<\/span>; Deu 4:36<\/span>. As is not seeing His form (Deu 4:12<\/span>; Deu 4:15<\/span>). <\/p>\n We must try and picture the unforgettable scene. The multitude gathered below the mountain looking up in awe, the whole top of the mountain ablaze with fire, and yet the smoke and the cloud and the thick darkness, and the mighty voice that spoke from it with its terrible words. ‘Fire to the heart of heaven’ is a reminder that this was no earthly fire, it was fire from the centre of heaven itself, heavenly fire, glorious, dazzling, intense and unearthly. It spoke of His glory, His purity, his righteous judgment. And then the cloud and the darkness which spoke of His mystery, His unapproachableness (1Ti 6:16<\/span>), declaring a glory so intense that it must be hidden in order to be revealed. If we remember what God is like, we too will be more careful how we approach Him. Through Christ we are welcomed, but we should ever remember Who He is. <\/p>\n Deu 4:12<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘<\/strong> And Yahweh spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the voice of words, but you saw no form, only heard a voice.’ <\/p>\n He reminds them of how Yahweh spoke to them from the midst of the fire, but that while they heard His voice and His words they saw no form. They saw only the flaming fire, and the cloud and the darkness. There was no visible form. This should bring home the fact that Yahweh has no visible form. He is pure Spirit (Joh 4:24<\/span>). Thus any attempt to represent Him by any image is to demean and degrade Him and make Him like ourselves and our world (see Deu 4:15-16<\/span>). It is both misrepresentation and blasphemy. <\/p>\n God speaking from the midst of the fire is a theme prominent in Deuteronomy. Compare Deu 4:15<\/span>; Deu 4:33<\/span>; Deu 4:36<\/span>; Deu 5:22<\/span>; Deu 5:24<\/span>; Deu 5:26<\/span>; Deu 9:10<\/span>; Deu 10:4<\/span> where the same thought is emphasised. Moses clearly saw the voice at Mount Sinai as connected with the God of the burning bush where God ‘in a flame of fire’ (Exo 3:2<\/span>) spoke to him ‘out of the (burning) bush’ (Exo 3:4<\/span>) at the same Mountain of God (Exo 3:1<\/span>). <\/p>\n Deu 4:13<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘<\/strong> And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten words, and he wrote them on two tables of stone.’ <\/p>\n And there Yahweh had declared to them His covenant, that He was Yahweh their God, that He had mightily delivered them, and that He had given to them His ten words, all of which He had then written on two tables of stone. This was the covenant by which they were bound, and to which they must respond, and the principles declared were principles required to be observed by all men and women of all ages. That which was written on stone was seen as having special authority and special significance. It was permanent and for ever. <\/p>\n The two tables of stone may have been duplicates with the idea that one was a reminder to Yahweh, and the other a reminder to the people. Duplicate copies of treaties would regularly be made, one kept by the overlord and lodged in a sanctuary, and one passed over to the subject nation to be lodged in their main sanctuary. The tabernacle was both Yahweh’s dwellingplace and Israel’s sanctuary. Or they may have contained five words each, one containing those relating to honouring Yahweh and His authority, and the other containing those relating to man’s behaviour towards man. <\/p>\n Deu 4:14<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘<\/strong> And Yahweh commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that you might do them in the land to which you go over to possess it.’ <\/p>\n And Yahweh had not only given them the ten words, but He had commanded Moses to teach them His many statutes and ordinances which He would reveal to Moses for him to pass on. These can be found in Exodus 20<\/span> onwards, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy 5<\/span> onwards. In the words of Hosea, ‘I write for him my law in ten thousand precepts’ (Hos 8:12<\/span>). <\/p>\n It is inconceivable that a man with Moses background would not ensure that the revelations he received were written down. All important covenant matters were committed to writing in order to indicate their solemnity, and we are elsewhere given examples of where this happened (Deu 31:9<\/span>; Exo 17:14<\/span>; Exo 24:4<\/span>; Exo 34:27<\/span>; Num 33:1-2<\/span>). God’s words in Deu 17:14<\/span> would hardly be seen as applying only to that incident. They rather drew attention to the need to record in writing all such experiences of God’s provision and protection. It was giving Moses the basis on which he should conduct his future activity. All the references simply draw attention to Moses’ habit of ensuring the writing down of the revelation Yahweh revealed and the wondrous things that he did for Israel. They do not limit it to those occurrences. And he passed this responsibility also onto Joshua, whom we have good reason to believe did much of the actual writing. <\/p>\n Ver. <\/em><\/strong>10, 11, 12. <\/strong>Thou stoodest before the Lord thy God<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> See on ch. Deu 1:9<\/span>. Unto the midst of heaven, <\/em>ver. 11 is, in the Heb. in the heart of heaven, i.e.<\/em> in the air. <\/em>So Tyre is said to be in the heart of the sea, <\/em>Eze 28:2<\/span> and Jesus Christ in the heart of the earth, <\/em>Mat 12:40<\/span>. Two things are expressed in the 12th verse; the first, that God, who could have manifested himself under a human form, or any other sensible representation, in giving the law, chose not to do so. The second, that he pronounced the words of this law, in a manner distinct, articulate, and intelligible to the whole assembly; whence the Israelites might naturally draw these two consequences; first, that God would be extremely offended, if they presumed to represent him under any visible form, as the heathens represented their false gods; and, secondly, that they could have no reason to run after idols, under the pretext of receiving verbal answers and oracles from them, since the eternal, though invisible, had given them his commandments in a living voice, and as intelligibly as it was possible. Nothing could be more worthy of the wisdom of God than these precautions. The reader will find some judicious remarks upon the subject in Abernethy’s Sermons, serm. 4: <\/p>\n The part of Israel’s history, which Moses here referred to, hath been already commented upon. To that I refer: See Exo 19:18<\/span> . But, Reader, we never can sufficiently attend to this interesting part of Israel’s history, while connecting with it its typical object. Oh! how sweet, how very sweet is it, when at any time (considering how awful it would be in our poor nature, unconnected with JESUS, to stand before the LORD in Horeb, to answer the demands of GOD’S righteous law;) we call to mind our high privileges, in seeing our persons fully justified by the redemption in CHRIST JESUS. Oh! thou dear Redeemer! give me to sing now, however in broken and imperfect strains it may be, till I come to chant it, in louder sweeter notes with the church above; Worthy is the LAMB that was slain, to receive all glory, and honour, and thanksgiving, and praise; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed me to GOD by thy blood. Rev 5:9<\/span> .<\/p>\n Deu 4:10<\/span> [Specially] the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and [that] they may teach their children.<\/p>\n Ver. 10. Specially the day.<\/strong> ] A high favour, and most honourably mentioned. Neh 9:13 <\/p>\n Specially. Figure of speech Ellipsis. App-6. Might be supplied by the word “Remember”. <\/p>\n Horeb. Occurs three times before Deut. (viz. Exo 3:1; Exo 17:6; Exo 33:6). Sinai is the general word, but occurs only once in Deut. (Deu 33:2). <\/p>\n fear <\/p>\n (See Scofield “Psa 19:9”). <\/p>\n the day: Deu 5:2, Exo 19:9, Exo 19:16, Exo 20:18, Heb 12:18, Heb 12:19, Heb 12:25 <\/p>\n fear me: Deu 5:29, Exo 20:20, 1Sa 12:24, Ecc 12:13, Luk 1:50, Rev 19:5 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Gen 18:19 – command Exo 3:1 – Horeb Exo 13:8 – General Exo 19:17 – General Deu 6:2 – fear Deu 6:7 – And thou shalt Deu 9:10 – all the words Deu 11:19 – General Deu 29:1 – beside the Deu 29:10 – General Deu 31:12 – Gather Deu 31:19 – and teach it 2Sa 1:18 – teach Neh 9:13 – spakest Psa 78:6 – who Jer 7:23 – that it Mal 4:4 – in Heb 12:5 – ye have forgotten<\/p>\n [Especially] the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and [that] they may teach their … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 4:10”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5023\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"