44<\/strong>. And this is the law<\/em> ] So too Sam.; LXX, Vg. and Pesh. omit and<\/em>. A slight symptom of the fact that this title once stood at the very beginning of an edition of D, the conjunction having been added when other matter was prefixed to it. On law, Trah<\/em>, see Deu 1:5<\/span>, Deu 31:1<\/span>, etc.<\/p>\n set before<\/em> ] Heb. sam liphne<\/em> instead of the synonymous nathan liphne<\/em> usual in D.<\/p>\n children of Israel<\/em> ] Heb. bne Yisra’el<\/em>. So E, Deu 10:6<\/span>; JE (?), Deu 31:19<\/span>; Deu 31:22<\/span> f.; P, Deu 1:3<\/span>, Deu 32:51<\/span>, Deu 34:8<\/span> f. and in titles here, Deu 4:45-46<\/span>, Deu 29:1<\/span> (Deut 28:69). In D the usual term is all Israel<\/em>. ( Bne Yisra’el<\/em> in Deu 3:18<\/span>, Deu 23:18<\/span> is no exception, for there and probably also in Deu 24:7<\/span> it means only sons<\/em>, i.e. males, of Israel.)<\/p>\n 44 49. Introduction (or Introductions) to the following Discourses and Laws (5 26)<\/p>\n The appearance of a fresh heading at this point between the two distinct sets of discourses Deu 1:6<\/span> to Deu 4:40<\/span> and Deuteronomy 5-11, which are further separated by the historical fragment, Deu 4:41-43<\/span> raises questions at the heart of the problem of the structure of the book of Deuteronomy. Does it signify that once the book began here and consisted only of the discourses 5 11 and the laws 12 26; Deu 1:6<\/span> to Deu 4:40<\/span> having been prefixed later? So Graf, Kue., Wellh., Knig, etc. Or is the appearance of the heading just here compatible with the theory that the whole of 1 26 is the work of one author? So Dillm. and Driver on the ground that a new title would not be unnatural where the actual exposition of the law at last begins (Deu 1:6<\/span> to Deu 4:40<\/span> having been mainly historical). Other alternatives arise from the structure of the heading. Like that in Deu 1:1-5<\/span> it is apparently composite. Deu 4:44-45<\/em><\/span> seem two independent titles; Deu 4:46-49<\/em><\/span> not only accumulate details after the manner of some other titles in the O.T. but contain a slight difference of style: in 47 D’s towards the sunrising<\/em>, but in 49 P’s shorter form of the same (see on Deu 4:41<\/em><\/span> and the notes below). Other non-deuteronomic phrases are set before<\/em> and children of Israel<\/em>, thrice (see below on Deu 4:44<\/em><\/span>); but both the contents, and with one exception the language, of 46 49 closely recall parts of chs. 2 and 3. Recently there has been a general disposition to break up the heading. Steuernagel supposes 44 and 45 to be respectively the titles of the two documents, in the Sg. and in the Pl. form of address, which he traces throughout chs. 5 ff.; Bertholet takes 44 as the transition from the first introductory address, 1 3, to the legislation proper, 12 26; and 45 49 as an introduction to ch. 5; Cullen takes 44 with 45 c<\/em>, 46 a<\/em> as the title to the original environment of the Law code or ‘Torah,’ but 45 ab<\/em>, 46 bc<\/em> as that of the first combined edition of the ‘Miwah’ and ‘Torah’ (see Introd. 1). The variety of these hypotheses alone shows their precariousness; and there is this further objection to finding in the double title, 44 and 45, headings to the original documents of D, viz. that even in these verses non-deuteronomic phrases occur. The whole<\/em> passage looks editorial: one piece (Dillmann) in the cumulative style beloved by later scribes rather than a growth from an original nucleus (Driver). Why then was it inserted just here? Dillm.’s and Driver’s answer, because at last with ch. 5 begins the actual exposition of the law, is hardly relevant; because in that case Deu 4:44<\/em><\/span> or Deu 4:45<\/em><\/span> would have contained some such verb as the expound<\/em> which we find in the title Deu 1:5<\/span>. Indeed, that title is more suitable here than where it stands, for it describes better the expository and hortatory character of 5 ff. than the prevailing historical style of Deu 1:6<\/span> to Deu 4:40<\/span>. On a review of the data and these arguments it seems to the present writer more possible, and even probable, that part of Deu 1:1-5<\/span> (and more particularly 5) originally formed the introduction to the combined discourses and laws, 5 26; that it was divorced from these by the prefixing to them of Deu 1:6<\/span> to Deu 4:40<\/span>; and that when the whole book 1 26 was thus constituted, it was found convenient for its practical use to supply a new heading to chs. 5 ff. (Deu 5:1<\/span> being too slight for the purpose), which should at once indicate that a new set of discourses begins here, and at the same time furnish a summary of the historical situation in which the discourses and legislation were delivered as described in chs. 2, 3. Such a suggestion is at least suitable to the salient features of Deu 4:45-49<\/span>: that the language is partly post-deuteronomic and that part of the substance is based on chs. 2, 3.<\/p>\n These verses would be more properly assigned to the next chapter. They are intended to serve as the announcement and introduction of the address now to be commenced. Deu 4:44<\/span> gives a kind of general title to the whole of the weighty address, including in fact the central part and substance of the book, which now follows in 22 chapters, divided into two groups:<\/P> (a) Deut. 511,<\/P> (b) Deut. 1226.<\/P> The address was delivered when they had already received the first-fruits of those promises Deu 4:46<\/span>, the full fruition of which was to be consequent on their fulfillment of that covenant now again about to be rehearsed to them in its leading features.<\/P> Deu 4:48<\/B><\/span><\/P> Sion must not be confounded with Zion (compare Psa 48:2<\/span>.).<\/P> <\/p>\n Which hath been generally intimated already, but is more particularly and punctually expressed in the following chapter, to which these words are a preface. <\/P> <\/p>\n 44-49. this is the law which Mosesset before the children of Israel<\/B>This is a preface to therehearsal of the law, which, with the addition of various explanatorycircumstances, the following chapters contain.<\/P><\/p>\n And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel.<\/strong> Not the law concerning the cities of refuge, but the law of the ten commands repeated in the following chapter; so Jarchi remarks,<\/p>\n “this which he should set in order after this section;”<\/p>\n as he does in the next chapter, where he repeats in order the ten precepts, and makes observations on the manner of the delivery of them, and urges obedience to them.<\/p>\n Announcement of the Discourse upon the Law. – First of all, in Deu 4:44<\/span>, we have the general notice in the form of a heading: “ This is the Thorah which Moses set before the children of Israel;<\/em> ” and then, in Deu 4:45<\/span>, Deu 4:46<\/span>, a fuller description of the Thorah<\/em> according to its leading features, “ testimonies, statutes, and rights<\/em> ” (see at Deu 4:1<\/span>), together with a notice of the place and time at which Moses delivered this address. “ On their coming out of Egypt<\/em>,” i.e., not “after they had come out,” but during the march, before they had reached the goal of their journeyings, viz., (Deu 4:46<\/span>) when they were still on the other side of the Jordan. “ In the valley<\/em>,” as in Deu 3:29<\/span>. “ In the land of Sihon<\/em>,” and therefore already upon ground which the Lord had given them for a possession. The importance of this possession as the first-fruit and pledge of the fulfilment of the further promises of God, led Moses to mention again, though briefly, the defeat of the two kings of the Amorites, together with the conquest of their land, just as he had done before in Deu 2:32-36<\/span> and 3:1-17. On Deu 4:48<\/span>, cf. Deu 3:9<\/span>, Deu 3:12-17<\/span>. Sion<\/em>, for Hermon (see at Deu 3:9<\/span>).<\/p>\n Verses 44-49:<\/strong><\/p>\n This text is a summary of chapters 2:24-3:37, q.v.<\/p>\n “Testimonies,” edah, “to give witness.” This term emphasizes the oral or spoken portion of God’s Law.<\/p>\n “Statutes” and “judgments,” see comments on verse 5.<\/p>\n Sion, another name for Hermon; not the same as mount Zion or mount Sion, the southwestern hill of Jerusalem, 2Sa 5:7<\/span>, et. al.<\/p>\n 44. And this is the Law. This last passage refers to the same thing, viz., that the Law was promulgated anew when the people had now reached the threshold of the promised land, in order that they might be more disposed to obedience, especially when the two tribes and a half had now, by the conquest of the Amorites, obtained a resting-place and a home; for this is the reason why their habitation is mentioned, because the taste of the favor already received ought to stir up their zeal to proceed more cheerfully. We shall elsewhere remark on the country and names of places. It is sufficient here to recollect, that the memory of the Law was renewed, after their inheritance without the promised land had been obtained by the sons of Reuben and Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, and when their assured possession was before the eyes of the rest. But Moses shews that, although he might explain the Law at fuller length, still nothing had been added to that summary which was originally promulgated; but he rather indicates, that whatever he had taught them during the forty years, had had no other object than that they might more faithfully and exactly keep the Law of God. <\/p>\n LESSON FIVE <\/strong>Deu. 4:44<\/span><\/strong> to <\/strong>Deu. 6:3<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n II. THE SECOND DISCOURSE<\/strong><\/p>\n The Law of God (Deu. 4:44<\/span> to Deu. 26:19<\/span>)<\/p>\n INTRODUCTION (Deu. 4:44-49<\/span>)<\/p>\n POSITION OF ISRAEL; SUMMARY OF CONQUESTS<\/p>\n 44 And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel: 45 these are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, when they came forth out of Egypt, 46 beyond the Jordan, in the valley over against Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, when they came forth out of Egypt. 47 And they took his land in possession, and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan toward the sunrising; 48 from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, even unto mount Sion (the same is Hermon), 49 and all the Arabah beyond the Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.<\/p>\n THOUGHT QUESTIONS 4:4449<\/p>\n 97.<\/p>\n What is the purpose of these verses?<\/p>\n 98.<\/p>\n Please notice that Deu. 4:44-45<\/span> introduce and 46 to 49 review. What is introduced? What is reviewed?<\/p>\n AMPLIFIED TRANSLATION 4:4449<\/p>\n 44 This is the law which Moses set before the Israelites; COMMENT 4:4449<\/p>\n IN THE VALLEY OVER AGAINST BETH-PEOR (Deu. 4:46<\/span>)See Deu. 1:1<\/span>; Deu. 1:5<\/span>; Deu. 3:29<\/span>, Literally, the name signifies house of Peori.e. Baal-Peor, The name is in memory of the Moabite god, in whose lascivious worship Israel was earlier involved. See notes under Deu. 3:12-17<\/span>.<\/p>\n ALL THE ARABAH (Deu. 4:49<\/span>)See Deu. 1:1<\/span>, notes. Here the section of that area is specified as beyond Jordan eastward . . .<\/p>\n SEA OF ARABAH (Deu. 4:49<\/span>)That is, the Dead or Salt Sea.<\/p>\n UNDER THE SLOPES OF PISGAH (Deu. 4:49<\/span>)Or Nebo, Cf. Deu. 34:1<\/span>. See notes under Deu. 3:17<\/span>; Deu. 3:27<\/span>.<\/p>\n Israels conquests over Og and Sihon, given here in summary form, are described more fully in Deu. 2:26<\/span> to Deu. 3:22<\/span>. You should review that section if you are not already familiar with it.<\/p>\n SECOND DISCOURSE.<\/strong><\/p>\n (44-49) These words form an introduction to the second discourse, which occupies the larger portion of the bookfrom Deu. 5:1<\/span> to the end of Deuteronomy 26<\/span>. There is no real break between. The present introduction differs from what we find in Deu. 1:1<\/span>. There is no intimation that this portion <\/em>of Deuteronomy was a repetition of what had been delivered between Sinai and Kadesh-barnea. What follows is said to have been spoken <\/em>in the land of Sihon and Og, after the conquest by Israel.<\/p>\n (46) On this side Jordan.<\/strong>Literally, on the other side. <\/em>The same expression in Deu. 4:47<\/span> is defined by the addition, toward the sun-rising.<\/p>\n The whole passage (Deu. 4:44-49<\/span>) may be editorial, <\/em>and added by Joshua in Canaan. But there is no necessity <\/em>for this view.<\/p>\n (48) Mount Sion.<\/strong>See Note on Deu. 3:9<\/span>.<\/p>\n Second Discourse, Deu 4:44<\/span> to Deu 16:19<\/span>. <\/p>\n INTRODUCTION.<\/p>\n 44<\/strong>. <\/strong> This is the law <\/strong> Thorah (law) is the word that brought to the mind of Israel the ten words spoken by Jehovah on Sinai, together with the legislation and comments of Moses.<\/p>\n Conclusion to Moses’ First Speech Deu 4:44-49<\/span><\/strong> serves as a conclusion to Moses’ first speech.<\/p>\n Deu 4:49<\/strong><\/span> And all the plain on this side Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.<\/p>\n Deu 4:49<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> “the sea of the plain” <\/strong> Comments – <\/em><\/strong> The “sea of the plain” mentioned in Deu 4:49<\/span> is the Sea of Arabah, which refers to the depression of the Jordan valley, extending from Mount Hermon to the Gulf of Akabah.<\/p>\n JPS<\/em>, “and all the Arabah beyond the Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the Arabah , under the slopes of Pisgah.”<\/p>\n Title introductory to the second discourse<\/strong><\/p>\n Deu 4:44-49<\/span><\/p>\n 44, 45And this is<\/em> the law which Moses set before the children of Israel: These are<\/em> the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spake unto the 46children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt, On this [that] side Jordan, in the valley over against Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, after [as they came]1<\/span> they were come forth out of Egypt: 47And they possessed his land, and the land of Og, king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, which were<\/em> on this [that] side Jordan, toward the sun-rising; 48From Aroer, which is<\/em> by the bank of the river Arnon, even unto Mount Sion, which is<\/em> Hermon, 49And all the plain on this [that] side Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs [slopes] of Pisgah.<\/p>\n EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL<\/strong><\/p>\n Since the second discourse constitutes peculiarly Deuteronomy, it is proper that it should be preceded by a general introductory title, analogous in its form to that in Deu 1:1-5<\/span>. As to its form the progress from the declaration<\/strong>, Deu 1:5<\/span>, to the setting it before the children of Israel<\/strong>, is worthy of notice. Deuteronomy is thus the renewed, and in a certain measure a second lawgiving. Then, in order to bring out fully that which corresponds to the title, he adds to the all-comprehensive designation law<\/strong>, Deu 4:44<\/span>, now (Deu 4:45<\/span>) testimonies<\/strong>, and indeed before statutes<\/strong>, and judgments<\/strong>, because these two sides of the law of God, in His revelation, in its demands, penalties, promises, are designed to testify to men in Israel His gracious, holy, righteous, good-will, Deu 6:17<\/span>; Deu 6:20<\/span>; Deu 31:26-27<\/span>. [Bib. Com.: Testimonies, statutes, and judgments, i.e.<\/em>, commandments considered first as manifestations or attestations of the will of God, next as duties of moral obligation, and thirdly as precepts securing the mutual rights of men.A. G.]. What was presupposed in the time announcement, Deu 1:3<\/span>, is here and in Deu 4:46<\/span>, expressly declared in the ; the auditory after the terminus a quo<\/em>, and at the same time according to the obligatory grounds or reasons, as in Exo 20:2<\/span>; Exo 19:1<\/span>. Comp. also upon Deu 1:1<\/span>; Deu 3:29<\/span>; Deu 1:4<\/span>. For Deu 4:47<\/span>, see Deu 2:33<\/span> sq.; Deu 3:1<\/span> sq. For Deu 4:48<\/span>, see Deu 2:36<\/span>; Deu 3:12<\/span>; Deu 3:8-9<\/span>. For Deu 4:49<\/span>, see Deu 3:17<\/span>. It is not strange that the geographical and historical elements which form the basis of the narrative should be presented again in this title, since these stand in the closest connection with the subjects of the discourse, which now first takes its right course.Baumgarten.<\/p>\n HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL<\/strong><\/p>\n Deu 4:44-45<\/span>. Calvin: Moses shows, with how many words also, that he has only explained to them the law in its integrity. Deu 4:46<\/span> sq. Calvin: The taste of grace received should lead us to press more eagerly forward. Deu 4:49<\/span>. Richter: Every look at Pisgah was for Moses a reminder of his approaching death (Deu 3:27<\/span>) therefore he hastens to arrange all things with and for Israel. The law Isaiah , 1) for a testimony, and thus it is doctrine; 2) for a support, and thus an ordinance for Church, State, family; 3) for justice, and thus a seal, as also a glass and restraint. If God makes demands upon man He has first given to him, and will give, so that he may have all fulness.<\/p>\n Footnotes:<\/strong><\/p>\n [1]<\/span>[Deu 4:46<\/span>. Lit., in their coming.A. G.].<\/p>\n The Man of GOD is particular in marking down the very spot, where he rehearsed and performed these things for Israel: because the place was truly memorable; for Israel now possessed, as it were, the earnest of the promised land. And there is somewhat striking also in the observation, that it was over against Beth-peor; that is, the idol temple of the GOD of the Moabites. And where so proper to show GOD’S people their mercies, as in the very face of the ungodly world? Oh! how ought the people of GOD to enumerate their mercies, and to mark down the several tokens of distinguishing grace, when they are in the very moment beholding that the LORD hath called them out from among the carnal, and manifested himself to them otherwise than he doth to the world. That is a precious Scripture of Paul’s to this purpose, 1Co 4:7<\/span> .<\/p>\n Deu 4:44 And this [is] the law which Moses set before the children of Israel:<\/p>\n Ver. 44. And this is the law.<\/strong> ] That is, This that followeth in the next chapter, whereunto these verses serve for a preface.<\/p>\n NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Deu 4:44-49<\/p>\n 44 Now this is the law which Moses set before the sons of Israel; 45these are the testimonies and the statutes and the ordinances which Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, when they came out from Egypt, 46across the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the sons of Israel defeated when they came out from Egypt. 47They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were across the Jordan to the east, 48from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of Arnon, even as far as Mount Sion (that is, Hermon), 49with all the Arabah across the Jordan to the east, even as far as the sea of the Arabah, at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah.<\/p>\n Deu 4:44-45 Law. . .testimonies. . .statutes. . .ordinances See Special Topic: Terms for God’s Revelation .<\/p>\n Deu 4:45 these are the testimonies These are the words the psalmist used to describe the Torah, or the Law of God. The word Torah means teachings of God. The Law was not given as a burden meant to break man. The oral traditions which grew up around the Law made it a great burden. The OT is nothing more than the loving, self-revelation of God in the midst of human ignorance. The OT Law points up the seriousness of sin, the frailty of mankind, and the need for a savior, but it was given in love (cf. Psa 19:7-9).<\/p>\n which Moses spoke to the sons of Israel when they came out from Egypt Moses is going over the Ten Commandments for the second time here. But the people who were hearing them this time were only children the first time they were given in Exodus 20 at Mt. Sinai. He is retelling it. Moses is doing for the children of Israel what he expects the father to do in his own home. Every generation has to tell the new generation about the will of God for their lives.<\/p>\n Deu 4:46-49 These verses are an historical summary of these two victories. The reason that God allowed two victories on the east side of Jordan is analogous to the concept of first fruits. The first fruits in Judaism are a little bit of the harvest to prove that God is faithful and that the whole harvest is going to come. The defeat of the two Amorite kings on the east side of the Jordan said to Israel, I love you. I promised to give you the land. You know that I mean it. Trust and obey me and I’ll give you the rest.<\/p>\n This is another brief summary statement of the experience of Israel at the end of the wilderness wandering period in Moab.<\/p>\n DISCUSSION QUESTIONS<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 1. Was OT faith basically a law to keep or a relationship with God?<\/p>\n 2. Why does the Bible stress parents teaching their own children about God?<\/p>\n 3. Why does God forbid man to make a physical representation of Him?<\/p>\n 4. How was Israel God’s special treasure? And why?<\/p>\n 5. List the two prerequisites for a healthy lasting society.<\/p>\n 6. List the three consequences for breaking the covenant.<\/p>\n 7. Does this passage teach monotheism or henotheism?<\/p>\n 8. Why did God choose Israel?<\/p>\n 9. What was the purpose of the eye for eye revenge?<\/p>\n 10. Did the sacrificial system adequately deal with man’s sin? Why or why not?<\/p>\n 11. How is Christ’s sacrifice superior?<\/p>\n this: i.e. which hereafter followeth. The commencement of the new section according to the Structure. <\/p>\n children = sons. <\/p>\n II. THE EXPOSITION OF THE LAW, EXHORTATIONS AND WARNINGS, BLESSING AND CURSE<\/p>\n 1. The Proclamation of the Decalogue<\/p>\n CHAPTERS 4:44-5:33<\/p>\n 1. The introductory words (Deu 4:44-49)<\/p>\n 2. The law proclaimed (Deu 5:1-21)<\/p>\n 3. Moses, the mediator (Deu 5:22-33)<\/p>\n First a general announcement is given of the discourse on the law. The fact is emphasized, that it was set before them after they came forth out of Egypt. Then the victories over Sihon and Og are mentioned once more and that they now possessed their land. Why this repetition? It was to remind them of the goodness and faithfulness of Jehovah, whose law they were about to hear expounded. It was to be a helpful encouragement to them and stimulate their obedience, while it also was the pledge of greater victories and blessings to come. Jehovah would keep His promise.<\/p>\n All Israel is gathered about Moses. The aged servant, so soon to leave their midst, now solemnly begins to utter the main discourse, which composes this book. The first verse of the fifth chapter contains the four words, which are found so often in this book of moral responsibility and practical obedience. These words are hear (over thirty times); learn (seven times); keep (thirty-nine times); do (almost one hundred times). These are therefore characteristic words of this great book. They were to hear, and hearing to learn, and learning to keep, and keeping to do. And this is still Jehovahs demand of us His people. All who have a spiritual nature love to have it so. What is more delightful and blessed, than to hear Him speak, to learn of Him, to keep His Word and to do what He tells us!<\/p>\n Jehovah had made a covenant with them, not with their fathers, the patriarchs. The law covenant was made 430 years after Abraham. Moses then speaks in their hearing the words of the Decalogue. The words differ somewhat from the twentieth chapter in Exodus, showing again that Deuteronomy is not a mechanical repetition of previous history. Higher criticism with its confused and confusing theories has made the best of this difference. Upon this difference critics claim that Moses could not have been the author of both. Says a critic: Indeed he could not have written either in its present form, because that in Exodus is Jehovistic, and older than the record in Deuteronomy (Dr. Davidson). Such an assertion simply shows the blindness of these men of supposed learning and scholarship. Anyone can see that the records in Exodus and Deuteronomy differ. We do not need scholarship for that. The mysterious person, whom the critics call Deuteronomist certainly possessed the record in Exodus and could have easily copied the exact words. But why is there a difference? Exodus gives the history; Deuteronomy does not repeat that history, but in restating the Decalogue, Moses makes such comments which are in perfect keeping with the object of Deuteronomy. If Deuteronomy claimed to be a literal repetition of the history recorded in Exodus and Numbers, then one might speak of discrepancy.<\/p>\n Deuteronomy proves that we have here a grave and instructive reference to the commandments formally given in the second book of Moses. Such moral motives as are added are therefore as appropriate in Deuteronomy as they could not, ought not to, be in Exodus. The remembrance of their own estate as slaves in Egypt till delivered by Jehovah is most suitable in verse 15; but it is certain that this is an appeal to their hearts, not the ground stated by God in promulgating the fourth commandment. All is perfect in its own place, and the imputation of self contradiction as baseless as it is malicious and irreverent. But one must only expect this from men whose aim is to reduce the inspired writers to their own level, and who think that piety can co-exist with fraud, yea, with fraudulent falsehood about God.<\/p>\n Moses left out purposely certain statements he uttered when the law was given through him in Exodus; and he added by way of comment other words in fullest keeping with the moral purpose of his message to the people. This is most evident in connection with the commandment to keep the Sabbath-day holy. In Exodus 20 we find the words for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath-day and hallowed it. This reference to creation is omitted now by Moses, but he adds another spiritual motive to keep that day. And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm; therefore, the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath-day (verse 15). We see at once that the characteristic of Deuteronomy is maintained. The people are reminded of the faithfulness and goodness of Jehovah, His gracious dealing with them, and that is made the ground of their responsibility to obey His Word. See in connection with the Sabbath Exo 31:12-17. It was a sign between Jehovah and Israel. We refer the reader to our remarks on the Sabbath in the analysis of Exodus.<\/p>\n Moses then confirms the record in Exodus. And He wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me. They possessed them. Moses was also appointed as mediator, the type of Him, who is mediator between God and man, our Lord Jesus Christ. And He has done more than Moses did; He made atonement. The people had recognized their sinful distance from God as well as their merited condemnation (that which is the purpose of the law), and therefore had asked for the mediator. Note verse 29: Jehovah speaks, the One who searches the heart and knows what is in man. Absolute obedience is again demanded in the closing verses of this chapter.<\/p>\n This is evidently an introduction to the discourse of the subsequent chapters. Moses having practically improved some particulars in the history of Israel, proceeded to repeat and enforce the laws which he had delivered before, with additions and explanations, beginning with the ten commandments. Deu 1:5, Deu 17:18, Deu 17:19, Deu 27:3, Deu 27:8, Deu 27:26, Deu 33:4, Lev 27:34, Num 36:13, Mal 4:4, Joh 1:17 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: 2Ki 17:37 – the statutes Jer 26:4 – which<\/p>\n Subdivision 1. (Deu 4:44-49; Deu 5:1-33; Deu 6:1-25; Deu 7:1-26; Deu 8:1-20; Deu 9:1-29; Deu 10:1-22; Deu 11:1-32.)<\/p>\n The governing principle, or the law in its essence.<\/p>\n In the first subdivision there are five sections; in which we find, first, the law itself, and in the repetition of this we are called back to the manner and circumstances of its first announcement. In the first two commandments of the law, by which God is enthroned in the affections of His people, the spirit of the whole is seen. For this, the testimony to Him, and to the salvation He has wrought for them, is to be constantly maintained, -kept before their own eyes, and taught their children. For this also all toleration of the false gods of the heathen and of their worship is forbidden: they are to be a people holy to their God, the only true God. Then they are to beware of self-righteousness, which the enjoyment of His favor might engender; and in this, the lessons of the wilderness -of their humbling and discipline there, and of their need of it, -are to have their permanent use. Then responsibility is finally insisted on, and the issue of their conduct in blessing or in curse.<\/p>\n 1. (1) The exposition of the law begins with the place in which and the circumstances under which it is given, -after their deliverance from Egypt, Jordan reached, the land of the two Amorite kings already in possession. It is evident that these are motives and encouragements to obedience, -pledges of the full blessing yet to come.<\/p>\n In a similar interest, Israel are carried back to Horeb, and placed amid the solemn surroundings of the first giving of the law. Many of the eyes which were upon Moses now had beheld the glory of the fiery mount, as he reminds them. Face to face, out of the midst of the fire, God had talked with them. They needed no argument as to His being or power; but that power had been used in their behalf, and the first words of Him who spake declared Him their Deliverer out of Egyptian bondage. He did not claim their love without having done that which would secure it for Him. But this love must have reverence in it also: nothing is more offensive than that familiar tone assumed toward God by some who have been moulded upon the lax gospel often preached to-day. Yet God would have us near Him, -truly near, -the nearer, the more His majesty will impress us, the infinite distance between ourselves and Him will penetrate us.<\/p>\n True, it was here the fiery mount: for the people had accepted law, and put themselves under it; yet the fear with which God sought to impress them was preservative, and in that sense gracious. And there remains for us, after grace has fully come, a “fear of the Lord” which is not terror, but which allows no levity, and along with which “the comfort of the Holy Ghost” is ever found. (Act 9:31.)<\/p>\n Spoken before written, the law of the Lord is a living reality; and while it may be a “ministry of death,” is never a dead letter. Our hearts may well delight to recognize in it all through, indeed, a “ministry” meant to blight only the pretentious pride and self-righteousness of man, and thus deliver him, -to shut him up among those “lost” for whom a Saviour is provided.<\/p>\n In the recapitulation of the law, it is evident, as especially in the fourth commandment, that Moses does not confine himself to a literal quoting of the divine words. The ground for the observance of the Sabbath is here, not the six days’ making of heaven and earth, but the redemption of the people out of Egypt. Of course, the one reason does not conflict with the other; and indeed the latter is a needed supplement to the former. Man as the creature of God can only now by grace be sustained in this place, and at rest and after his wilderness-history is closed, as it is in Deuteronomy, this comes in more naturally than in Exodus, where the people stand as yet under the unbroken covenant. God’s Word is perfect and divine in every part.<\/p>\n In the fifth commandment, the words, “as Jehovah thy God commanded thee,” brought in, show clearly that Moses is not simply repeating. The same words are found in the fourth commandment, but might be thought in that place to refer to the first institution of the Sabbath, when the manna fell. He adds here also, “that it may be well with thee.” Except in the fourth commandment, the differences are, however, slight.<\/p>\n (2) Moses, after the recapitulation of the law, dwells upon their need of a mediator, -a need met, obviously, only typically in himself. A greater than Moses speaks to us here through him and we see how Deuteronomy presents to us the great features of the history as suited to us. Owning that Jehovah had actually spoken to them, and they lived, they yet declare this impossible to last and God owns this (from their stand-point) as true. But then the legal covenant was plainly hopeless. One only reason can there be why God and His creature should not meet together in security. No necessary distance between finitude and the Infinite One could make His presence destructive to what His hands had fashioned. No, it is sin which absolutely demands judgment, unless Another can intervene in righteousness in his behalf and here Moses can make no real atonement, as we know. He is a shadow, not the substance. Man’s refuge is not from God, but in God Himself.<\/p>\n 2. Such is the text, and now we come to the exposition. Moses sums up in two brief sentences what the law implies in its first table. First, the unity and immutability of God: “Jehovah our God is one Jehovah” founded upon this, His claim to the undivided allegiance of man, -“Thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” If there be but one God, there is none beside to divide the heart with; and Jehovah claims in the most absolute way the whole of it. The words stand for the inner man, with all his affections, and in their full energy. And this is the reasonable claim of the Creator to the full answer of the heart to Him who created him, and in whose service alone all his faculties find their full occupation, rest, and satisfaction. All freedom apart from this is only slavery. All slavery here is only freedom as he knew well who could say, “To me, to live is Christ,” and who in his epistle to the Romans signs himself His “bondsman,” -“Paul, bondsman of Jesus Christ.” (Rom 1:1, Greek.) Yet none can insist more earnestly that “we have not received the spirit of bondage.” (Rom 8:15.) To live in love, and serve Him who is love, is indeed the opposite.<\/p>\n (2) Whose they were, they were to remind themselves and others at all times, and on all occasions. Their confession of God was to be of the most open character. How great a help and strength to the soul itself is this conspicuous putting God foremost! “I have set the Lord always before me” has necessarily for its companion-word, “He is at my right hand: I shall not be moved.” (Psa 16:8.) God’s seal is for the forehead, not the back of the head; and how many are saved by it from the devil’s locusts! (Rev 9:4.) Nor does the apostle hesitate to say, “With the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Rom 10:10.) Let us not think it legal to insist upon commandment, and to write upon every available space a “Thus saith the Lord.” Such a consecration of things is the way to prevent the devil’s scribbling, who has not the least hesitation or delicacy in appropriating every vacant spot. God’s word is no intrusion, and never out of place. By it the heavens were framed, and the earth established; and still it establishes, harmonizes, gives fullest meaning, character, beauty, to every thing. It is no more out of place any where than a ray of sunshine is; and, like it, glorifies what it rests upon.<\/p>\n (3) But, alas! then as now, and now as then, the very fullness of the blessing enjoyed might cause forgetfulness of the gracious hand from which it came. “Fullness of bread” had of old been the destruction of Sodom. Trial and necessity awake the consciousness of man’s need of God, while without want he may lose easily the sense of his still existing dependence. Egypt, the type of the world away from Him, we have seen to be fed by her unfailing river. Mercies thus may through our pride and willfulness become that plagues shall have to become our mercies. In this condition the gods which man’s own heart has devised are more attractive than the glorious God who is our Creator, not our creature; and Israel can go after the idols of Canaan -of the nations they have seen driven out before Jehovah -away from Him who had given them these for a possession.<\/p>\n Of this, then, they are warned beforehand, that they may retain Him in their fear, serve Him, and swear by His name. The God who loves them is jealous of their affections. They must choose between that love heretofore so fruitful to them and the wrath which will alike be fruitful; for indifferent He cannot be.<\/p>\n (4) They must not tempt Jehovah, then, as they tempted Him in Massah. There, it was, in fact, belief in His indifference. They said, “Is the Lord among us, or not?” He had been, surely; but in their change of circumstances, they. had imagined fickleness in Him, and that His shoulder had thrown off the burden it had assumed. How little we judge it our sin that we have not counted on Him, that we have judged Him capable of abandoning the objects of His choice! No: He would fill His place; let it be only their care to fill theirs. Let them diligently observe His commandments, which were also His testimonies, and the result could not but follow -that it should be well with them, and that they should go in to possess the land.<\/p>\n One blessed experience they had, and which was to be their testimony to the generations following. They had been bond-slaves in Egypt, and Jehovah had broken their bonds to bring them forth. This He had enshrined for their remembrance in those ordinances which, as they abode, should be testimonies that He abode still, their changeless God and Saviour. Thus was perpetuated among them the memory of a love which in all else manifested itself for them, -statutes which would be righteousness to those who observed them, and for their good alway: assurances of what He who gave them was in His own nature, as loving righteousness, -who commands love, because He loves. So in man also does conscience testify to the one of these, as the heart of parent, brother, friend testify to the other. In these, man cannot but be, however feebly, the reflection of his Maker.<\/p>\n 3. So far as to Israel, simply looked at as from within: a sterner duty awaited them as to the land into which Jehovah was about to bring them. They were completely to destroy out of it the Canaanite inhabitants, showing them no mercy, making no covenant or alliance with them. Over and over again the cause of this has been explained. They were a people whose iniquity was now full, as in Abraham’s time it yet was not. (Gen 15:1-21.) The land itself was spuing them out for their abominations, and Israel was in this respect but the executioner of divine judgment, not of their own passion or lust of acquisition. Instead of destroying them, as He might, by plague or famine, He chose Israel to perform this office, and thus gave His people themselves the most solemn lesson that could be given them, in the holiness of His own nature, and in what sin is before Him. They themselves would incur similar awful judgments if they followed them in their sin, of which their loathsome gods of lust and murder were the full outcome and expression. There must be no dalliance with this evil, no league of any kind with those infected with it. Axe and fire must deal with all its symbols, and Israel must be wholly devoted to Him who had set His love upon them in all their insignificance, and in that love, and faithful to His promise to their fathers, had now redeemed them to Himself. Thus they knew God, this true and faithful God, -faithful in holy judgment as in loving mercy.<\/p>\n How needful all this reiteration Israel’s after-history shows abundantly. Here, therefore, follows the detail of various blessing, just such things as every man values, which would go with obedience; while the power of God, which they had witnessed in Egypt, would be against their enemies and consume them if slowly, even this in tender mercy to them, lest the wild beasts should increase too much in the vacant land.<\/p>\n 4. Again, Moses returns to enforce all this with the ever-fruitful wilderness-lessons; -we too, in eternity, shall return to feast upon harvests gathered out of such barren soil. If these are lessons of humiliation, it is just this that is so needful for the proud heart of man. To the meek and contrite of heart God looks, -yea, dwells with these. Humility is the true undoing of the fall in one main feature; and thus the forty years of discipline have their justification.<\/p>\n (1) They were to remember, then, all the way by which God had led them, -a way which had brought out for them, as His way still does for all, all that was in their hearts. This in its design was but their Father’s care, whether He suffered them to hunger, or fed them with His strange food, still by man so little appreciated. Patient weaning from self it was, patient instilling of lessons of dependence, so easy-seeming, so hard to acquire. Ah, in the life that He has taught us to be our possession, how sure that God’s Word is that which sustains it! -“By every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God doth man live.”<\/p>\n If there was trial, how God’s tenderness was shown! Raiment never growing old; feet never swelling as they trod that flinty soil. We too have a robe of beauty that is fresh eternally; “feet shod with the preparation of the gospel, of peace,” of which the rough places only prove the abiding comfort. Discipline, -yes! but the tender discipline of a father for the son in whom he delighteth.<\/p>\n Beyond, the good land beckoning them, -“a land of water-brooks, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills,” reminding us of the fullness of the Spirit which abounds at all levels for us; a land of grain and fruits, and stored within with precious metals. Alas! there lay for them dangers which the wilderness was meant to prepare them for; and they might say, “My power, and the might of my hand, have gotten me this wealth.” Into our laud, thank God! we shall enter with this lesson learnt; and yet how in this the wilderness may still be remembered as our teacher, and its teachings still be treasured up for endless blessing!<\/p>\n (2) Not only might there be the thought that their own hand had gained them what they had, a subtler one might use the very acknowledgment of God as having bestowed it to foster a spirit of self-righteousness. Moses goes on, therefore, to review their course, as far back as Horeb itself, the place of covenant, and where it was so soon and so terribly broken through. When Jehovah’s power had cast out before them nations mightier than themselves, they might impute it to their own credit that He had thus manifestly favored them. No; but on account of the wickedness of these nations He had cast them out. And as to themselves, they had always been a stiff-necked people. And again he recites how he had gone up at first into the mount to receive the tables of the law, and how in that short space in which he had remained there, they had forfeited every thing, and provoked Jehovah so that His wrath threatened to destroy them all. Yet He had hearkened to his intercession both for them and Aaron. And from there to Kadesh-barnea they had constantly rebelled.<\/p>\n (3) It was divine mercy only that had restored every thing. In that extremity of theirs, the promise to their fathers and the glory of His own name had given Him ground to take them up again. The tables had been renewed, and this time to be received into the ark for safe-keeping and there they still abode. Aaron died long after, transmitting the priesthood to Eleazar his son. While the whole tribe of Levi were separated to God to minister to him and to bless the people in His name, having Jehovah alone for their portion and inheritance.<\/p>\n The statement as to Aaron is quite intelligible as showing the answer to Moses’ prayer, to which without any doubt it stands related, the section closing as it began with this, and the reiteration that God had answered it. But there are, at first sight, difficulties nevertheless connected with it, which furnish a pretext for cavil by those ready to find it.<\/p>\n The main difficulty is, that the passage reads like a part of the itinerary of the wilderness, beginning before Mosera, at which Aaron died, and going on beyond to Gudgodah and Jotbath. The only other that can be really called so is that the time of the separation of the Levites seems to come after Aaron’s death, which in fact it preceded thirty-eight years. But this is founded only upon the expression “at that time,” coming after the account of Aaron’s death, which it does, but does not necessarily refer to it. It is the “time” of his great intercession that is in Moses’ mind; and to this he has before returned after going beyond it (as Deu 9:24-25).<\/p>\n But the first difficulty needs more attention. It will be perceived at once that the death of Aaron, and the succession of Eleazar are the central points quite evidently; and that these are indeed in such relation to the whole history here, we have seen in Numbers. In Eleazar the priesthood of Aaron is maintained, spite of his death, and in the power of resurrection; and this connects significantly with the rapid advance of the people, who now press on through all opposition triumphantly to the very border of the land. Our great High-Priest, His work accomplished, and risen out of death, is able thus to lead on His people. In the passage before us indeed but a few stages of the journey are given: they are however a good sample; and those who realize the connection of the smitten Rock with the outflowing waters, and of Christ dead and risen with the gift of the Spirit, will mark with interest, as others have done, the record (surely not purposeless) of what was indeed so important for their journey, the water which they found. First, before Aaron’s death, and giving perhaps the meaning of the commencement here -the “wells of the (Horite) sons of Jaakan.” After Mosera and when Eleazar has succeeded Aaron, Gudgodah, which has been said to mean “a well with much water.” Then Jotbath, which (it is openly stated) is “a land of water-brooks.” Thus there is progress: has there not at least been corresponding progress since Christ our High-Priest has entered the heavens? From the wells which indeed furnish water, but in Horite hands -they were cave-dwellers, as we know, these Horites -to first the rise of many waters in that of Pentecost, and then the far and wide-flowing streams among the nations?<\/p>\n 5. This part is now closed with a solemn reminder of their responsibility to God. (1) What did God require of them but a loving obedience to commandments which were always for their good? love to One who while infinitely great, heaven and earth belonging to Him, had nevertheless chosen them above all people in His love to them? Here was what made them so responsible beyond all men, while it should have made their duty easy of fulfillment. They had but to wear the light yoke of love, a thing which is indeed the moral power of the gospel: “We love Him, because He first loved us.” How far, then, does our responsibility exceed that of Israel?<\/p>\n (2) They indeed knew God in His wonderful work for them, as well as in the commandments which displayed His character. They were called to imitate Him. If He cared for the fatherless and widows, and for the stranger, they too must care. And had they not known what it was to be strangers in that land out of which (marvelously multiplied amid all their suffering) He had delivered them with an outstretched arm?<\/p>\n (3) In Egypt and at the Red Sea they had seen His signs, His anger, the more terrible for its holiness. And in the wilderness, when the earth acted for Him, and swallowed up the insolence of the stubborn transgressor. Now, the good land before them waited to receive them, and welcome them with all its wealth. But they must enjoy it holily or not enjoy it.<\/p>\n (4) Indeed, this land was a land not like the land of Egypt. There, independent, as they might think, of heaven, the overflowing river both watered and fertilized it, needing but guidance upon man,s part, who with his foot could guide it as he would. Not so Israel’s land of hills and valleys and rain from heaven. Here God had chosen for them the better part of creature-dependence, therefore of the Creator’s care. “A land which Jehovah thy God careth for: the eyes of Jehovah thy God are continually upon it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year.” Could those vigilant eyes overlook their need? No, assuredly; but their need might be, alas! of chastening, and He would give it. Israel’s land might thus suffer where Egypt escaped. It is the secret of the seventy-third psalm, only to be read aright, and acquiesced in joyfully, in the presence of God, in the sanctuary. If the wicked are “not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued as other men,” -if, on the other hand, “all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning,” -here is the meaning of it, that “I am continually with thee; thou hast holden me with Thy right hand.” How blessed a reason! how glorious a compensation! “Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire in respect of Thee.” The presence of the Holy One with us necessarily implies discipline; but it is a Father’s discipline of the “son in whom He delighteth.”<\/p>\n This, then, is what God appoints for Israel. They are perpetually to be upon His arm. They are to know the “living God” in the constant display of His resources for them, even as their land is to be not a dead level such as Egypt’s, but a land of valley and hill, such as must needs have the direct “rain from heaven” upon it. And then with it what Pisgah prospects, and what a place for a hardy race such as mountaineers are! And what mines of wealth in the bowels of these hills, -“a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou shalt dig copper”! what “fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills”!<\/p>\n This is the creature-place -not a hard one, at its worst, when the opened eye beholds Him on whom all things wait. And at last its full meaning shall come out, how blessed! for in the creature it has been God’s will to manifest Himself; and into the creature-place the Creator Himself has been pleased to come, and to know fully all that dependence upon Him which to us only unbelief makes hard. “I was cast upon Thee from the womb,” is the word of Him, whom yet all nature shall put on its bridal dress to welcome, -the “MAN,” God’s “fellow”! (Zec 13:7.)<\/p>\n Let Israel keep only in the place of dependence, taking from no hand but that of their God, serving Him with the only service fitting for Him to receive, then they have pledged a word that shall never be broken, for their full deliverance in the land. It is also pledged -and the pledge has been redeemed -that if they go away from Him, they shall learn in a closed heaven and a barren earth His faithfulness to the covenant they have despised. Let them only lay up in their hearts His word, and confess it in their lives, in multiplied days they and their children shall enjoy the fullness of a blessing, of which He who knows heaven can say, “As the days of heaven upon the earth.”<\/p>\n (5) A career of conquest was now before them, and the land is conditionally made over to them, not merely in the extent to which they actually possessed it, but expressly all Lebanon and the wilderness -east of it -as far as the Euphrates itself. In David’s time a shadow of this was reached, but only in the way of supremacy over the nations that filled these countries. Israel is yet to have this in possession, and much more, for the southern limit is not defined here according to promise, and Edom, Moab, and Ammon were at present, as we have seen, excepted from the land assigned them. By and by these also are to be their own. Meanwhile, a large and plentiful land was put before them, which they did not possess, simply because of their own rapid declension and apostasy, their non-observance of the conditions so again and again insisted on.<\/p>\n The blessing and the curse were to be solemnly rehearsed in the centre of the land when God should give it them, from the slopes respectively of Gerizim and Ebal. The last words which point out the site, “beside the oaks of Moreh,” -full of touching recollections for an Israelite, -show that this is the place where Abraham first rested upon entering Canaan. “Moreh” means “teacher,” as the oak itself suits well with the robustness of growth where the Word of God is that which teaches. The connection of Moreh with Shechem is seen in Genesis, and this lies between Ebal and Gerizim. “Shechem” means “shoulder,” and there Israel as a nation, now brought into the land, were finally to take up the burden of the law; a law which is commonly torah, or “teaching,” from the same root as Moreh. These are links which show us how God would carry back His people to the position of their great ancestor, so definitely the man of faith, and set them where he had been. Alas, they had accepted law, to stand in covenant-relation to Jehovah on that ground; and the shadow of this falls darkly over them. Ebal o’ertops Gerizim. Even this should have been but a voice of recall to Abraham’s blessing through a faith like his: some surely heard it.<\/p>\n Deu 4:44. This is the law More particularly and fully expressed in the following chapter, to which these words are an introduction.<\/p>\n B. Introduction to the second address 4:44-49<\/span><\/p>\n These verses are similar to Deu 1:4-5. They summarize and introduce with historical references what follows. In a larger sense these verses summarize all of chapters 1-3. These verses contain narration about Moses, not a discourse by Moses.<\/p>\n "This address, which is described in the heading as the law which Moses set before the Israelites, commences with a repetition of the decalogue, and a notice of the powerful impression which was made, through the proclamation of it by God Himself, upon the people who were assembled round Him at Horeb (chap. v). In the first and more general part, it shows that the true essence of the law, and of that righteousness which the Israelites were to strive after, consisted in loving Jehovah their God with all their heart (chap. vi); that the people were bound, by virtue of their election as the Lord’s people of possession, to exterminate the Canaanites with their idolatrous worship, in order to rejoice in the blessing of God (chap. vii.); but more especially that, having regard on the one hand to the divine chastisement and humiliation which they had experienced in the desert (chap. viii.), and on the other hand to the frequency with which they had rebelled against their God (chap. ix. 1-x. 11), they were to beware of self-exaltation and self-righteousness, that in the land of Canaan, of which they were about to take possession, they might not forget their God when enjoying the rich productions of the land, but might retain the blessings of their God for ever by a faithful observance of the covenant (chap. x. 12-xi. 32). Then after this there follows an exposition of the different commandments of the law (chap. xii.-xxvi.)." [Note: Keil and Delitzsch, 3:318.] <\/span><\/p>\n The Law (Deu 4:44, Heb. torah<\/span>) here refers to the covenant text itself rather than to the Pentateuch, its more frequent referent.<\/p>\n "The law given at Sinai is properly a suzerainty treaty rather than a legal code, and Deuteronomy is a covenant-renewal document. Consequently it has some modification or modernizations of the code given originally." [Note: Schultz, p. 32.] <\/span><\/p>\n ". . . there is no distinctive anthropology in Deuteronomy because in this covenant text the individual is of relatively little significance. It is Israel, the vassal, that is highlighted in the book whose purpose is to show the Sovereign’s redemptive, covenantal claims on and relationship to a people through whom He would manifest His saving will." [Note: Merrill, "A Theology . . .," p. 72.] <\/span><\/p>\n Note that God gave this Law, ". . . to the sons of Israel." As I have pointed out previously, the Mosaic Law had a double purpose. God gave it primarily as a revelation of Himself, mankind, and the essential requirements for their relationship. He has preserved it in Scripture for all believers because it still has this revelatory<\/span> value. However, God also gave the law to regulate the life of the Israelites religiously, governmentally, and domestically. This regulatory<\/span> purpose is what ended with the death of Jesus Christ. The law of Christ (Gal 6:2) has replaced the Old (Mosaic) Covenant by specifying new regulations for believers since Jesus Christ died.<\/p>\n "Testimonies<\/span> denoted covenant stipulations. Statutes<\/span> were laws that were written down or inscribed on some suitable medium. Ordinances<\/span> were the decisions of a judge."Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/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: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
45 These are the testimonies, and the laws and the precepts, which Moses spoke to the Israelites when they came out of Egypt,
46 Beyond the Jordan in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the Israelites smote when they came out of Egypt.
47 And they took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who lived beyond the Jordan to the east;
48 From Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, as far as Mount Sirion (that is, Hermon),
49 And all the Arabah (lowlands) beyond the Jordan eastward, as far as the Sea of Arabah [The Dead Sea], under the slopes and springs of Pisgah.<\/p>\nFuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series<\/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: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange<\/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: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n