8 At that time Jehovah separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, to stand before Jehovah to do service unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day.
and the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them Jehovah thy God hath chosen to do service unto him, and to bless in the name of Jehovah; and according to their word shall be every controversy and every stroke.
for Jehovah thy God hath chosen him out of all thy tribes, that he may stand to serve in the name of Jehovah, he and his sons continually.
Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him;
And when Aaron and his sons have ended covering the sanctuary, and all the utensils of the sanctuary, when the camp setteth forward, then afterwards the sons of Kohath shall come to carry it; but they shall not touch the holy things, lest they die. This is what the sons of Kohath have to carry in the tent of meeting.
Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel: saying unto them, Jehovah bless thee, and keep thee; Jehovah make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee; Jehovah lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
And the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people; and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy habitation, to the heavens.
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and have set you that ye should go and [that] ye should bear fruit, and [that] your fruit should abide, that whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name he may give you.
But when God, who set me apart [even] from my mother's womb, and called [me] by his grace,
Wherefore come out from the midst of them, and be separated, saith [the] Lord, and touch not [what is] unclean, and *I* will receive you;
Paul, bondman of Jesus Christ, [a] called apostle, separated to God's glad tidings,
And as they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.
But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall approach unto me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to present unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord Jehovah.
but they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house, and doing the service of the house: they shall slaughter the burnt-offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister unto them.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah: If thou return, then will I bring thee again, thou shalt stand before me; and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth. Let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.
and he put the turban upon his head; and upon the turban, on the front of it, he put the golden plate, the holy diadem; as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them. For Jehovah had spoken to Moses, saying, Only thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel. But thou, appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all its vessels; and they shall serve it, and round about the tabernacle shall they encamp; and when the tabernacle setteth forward, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle encampeth, the Levites shall set it up; and the stranger that cometh near shall be put to death. And the children of Israel shall encamp every man in his camp, and every man by his own standard, according to their hosts; but the Levites shall encamp round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there come not wrath upon the assembly of the children of Israel; and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony.
And these are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that Jehovah spoke with Moses on mount Sinai. And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, who were consecrated to exercise the priesthood. And Nadab and Abihu died before Jehovah when they offered strange fire before Jehovah in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no sons; and Eleazar and Ithamar exercised the priesthood in the presence of Aaron their father.
And their charge was the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the utensils of the sanctuary with which they ministered, and the curtain, and all that belongs to its service.
And Jehovah spoke to Moses saying, Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him, When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick. And Aaron did so; he lighted the lamps thereof over against the candlestick, as Jehovah had commanded Moses. And this was the work of the candlestick: [it was] of beaten gold; from its base to its flowers was it beaten work; according to the form which Jehovah had shewn Moses, so had he made the candlestick. And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them. And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: sprinkle upon them water of purification from sin; and they shall pass the razor over all their flesh, and shall wash their garments, and make themselves clean. And they shall take a young bullock and its oblation of fine flour mingled with oil; and another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin-offering. And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tent of meeting; and thou shalt gather together the whole assembly of the children of Israel. And thou shalt bring the Levites before Jehovah; and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites. And Aaron shall offer the Levites as a wave-offering before Jehovah from the children of Israel, and they shall perform the service of Jehovah. And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks, and thou shalt offer the one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering, to Jehovah, to make atonement for the Levites. And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them as a wave-offering to Jehovah. And thou shalt separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, that the Levites may be mine. And afterwards shall the Levites come in to do the service of the tent of meeting. And thou shalt cleanse them, and offer them as a wave-offering. For they are wholly given unto me from among the children of Israel; instead of every one that breaketh open the womb, instead of every firstborn among the children of Israel, have I taken them unto me. For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are mine, both of man and beast; on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I hallowed them to myself. And I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel. And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons, from among the children of Israel, to perform the service of the children of Israel in the tent of meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel; that there be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel draw near to the sanctuary. And Moses and Aaron, and all the assembly of the children of Israel, did to the Levites according to all that Jehovah had commanded Moses concerning the Levites: so did the children of Israel to them. And the Levites purified themselves from sin, and they washed their garments; and Aaron offered them as a wave-offering before Jehovah; and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. And afterwards the Levites came in to perform their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron, and before his sons; as Jehovah had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did they to them. And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, This is that which concerneth the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward shall he come to labour in the work of the service of the tent of meeting. And from fifty years old he shall retire from the labour of the service, and shall serve no more; but he shall minister with his brethren in the tent of meeting, and keep the charge, but he shall not serve [in] the service. Thus shalt thou do unto the Levites with regard to their charges.
Is it too little for you, that the God of Israel has separated you from the assembly of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the work of the tabernacle of Jehovah, and to stand before the assembly to minister to them? -- that he has brought thee near, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee; and seek ye now the priesthood also?
And Jehovah said to Aaron, Thou and thy sons and thy father's house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood. And thy brethren also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring near with thee, that they may unite with thee, and minister unto thee; but thou and thy sons with thee [shall serve] before the tent of the testimony. And they shall keep thy charge, and the charge of the whole tent: only they shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary and to the altar, that they may not die, and you as well as they. And they shall unite with thee, and keep the charge of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; and no stranger shall come near to you. And ye shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar; that there come no wrath any more upon the children of Israel. And I, behold, I have taken your brethren, the Levites, from among the children of Israel; to you are they given as a gift for Jehovah to perform the service of the tent of meeting. But thou and thy sons with thee shall attend to your priesthood for all that concerneth the altar, and for that which is inside the veil; and ye shall perform the service: I give you your priesthood as a service of gift, and the stranger that cometh near shall be put to death. And Jehovah spoke to Aaron, And I, behold, I have given thee the charge of my heave-offerings, of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; to thee have I given them, because of the anointing, and to thy sons by an everlasting statute. This shall be thine of the most holy things, [reserved] from the fire: every offering of theirs, of all their oblations, and of all their sin-offerings, and of all their trespass-offerings, which they render unto me, it is most holy for thee and for thy sons. As most holy shalt thou eat it: every male shall eat it; it shall be holy unto thee. And this shall be thine: the heave-offering of their gift, with all the wave-offerings of the children of Israel; I have given them unto thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, by an everlasting statute; every one that is clean in thy house shall eat of it. All the best of the oil, and all the best of the new wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they give to Jehovah, have I given thee. The first ripe of everything that is in their land, which they shall bring to Jehovah, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thy house shall eat of it. Every devoted thing in Israel shall be thine. Everything that breaketh open the womb of all flesh, which they present to Jehovah, of men or of beasts, shall be thine; nevertheless the firstborn of man shalt thou in any case ransom, and the firstborn of unclean beasts shalt thou ransom. And those that are to be ransomed from a month old shalt thou ransom, according to thy valuation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs. But the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, thou shalt not ransom: they are holy. Thou shalt sprinkle their blood on the altar, and their fat shalt thou burn as an offering by fire for a sweet odour to Jehovah. And their flesh shall be thine; as the wave-breast and as the right shoulder shall it be thine. All the heave-offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer to Jehovah, have I given thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, by an everlasting statute: it shall be an everlasting covenant of salt before Jehovah unto thee and thy seed with thee. And Jehovah said to Aaron, In their land thou shalt have no inheritance, neither shalt thou have any portion among them: I am thy portion and thine inheritance among the children of Israel. And to the children of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithes in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting. Neither shall the children of Israel henceforth come near the tent of meeting, to bear sin and die. But the Levite, he shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity: it is an everlasting statute throughout your generations. And among the children of Israel shall they possess no inheritance; for I have given for an inheritance to the Levites the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as a heave-offering to Jehovah; therefore I have said of them, They shall possess no inheritance among the children of Israel. And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, And to the Levites shalt thou speak, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer a heave-offering from it for Jehovah, the tenth of the tithe. And your heave-offering shall be reckoned unto you, as the corn from the threshing-floor, and as the fulness of the winepress. Thus ye also shall offer Jehovah's heave-offering of all your tithes, which ye take of the children of Israel; and ye shall give thereof Jehovah's heave-offering to Aaron the priest. Out of all that is given you ye shall offer the whole heave-offering of Jehovah, -- of all the best thereof the hallowed part thereof. And thou shalt say unto them, When ye heave the best thereof from it, then it shall be counted unto the Levites as produce of the threshing-floor, and as produce of the winepress. And ye shall eat it in every place, ye and your households; for it is your reward for your service in the tent of meeting. And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it, if ye heave from it the best of it; and ye shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, lest ye die.
And the man that shall act presumptuously, and not hearken unto the priest that standeth to serve there before Jehovah thy God, or unto the judge, that man shall die; and thou shalt put away evil from Israel.
And this is the thing which thou shalt do to them to hallow them, that they may serve me as priests: take one young bullock, and two rams without blemish, and unleavened bread, and unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil -- of wheaten flour shalt thou make them. And thou shalt put them into one basket, and present them in the basket, with the bullock and the two rams. And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring near the entrance of the tent of meeting, and shalt bathe them with water. And thou shalt take the garments, and clothe Aaron with the vest, and the cloak of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastplate, and shalt gird him with the girdle of the ephod. And thou shalt put the turban upon his head, and fasten the holy diadem to the turban, and shalt take the anointing oil, and pour [it] on his head, and anoint him. And thou shalt bring his sons near, and clothe them with the vests. And thou shalt gird them with the girdle -- Aaron and his sons, and bind the high caps on them; and the priesthood shall be theirs for an everlasting statute; and thou shalt consecrate Aaron and his sons. And thou shalt present the bullock before the tent of meeting; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock; and thou shalt slaughter the bullock before Jehovah, at the entrance of the tent of meeting; and thou shalt take of the blood of the bullock, and put it on the horns of the altar with thy finger, and shalt pour all the blood at the bottom of the altar. And thou shalt take all the fat that covereth the inwards, and the net of the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and burn them upon the altar. And the flesh of the bullock, and its skin, and its dung, shalt thou burn with fire outside the camp: it is a sin-offering. And thou shalt take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram; and thou shalt slaughter the ram, and shalt take its blood, and sprinkle [it] on the altar round about. And thou shalt cut up the ram into its pieces, and wash its inwards, and its legs, and put [them] upon its pieces, and upon its head; and thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt-offering to Jehovah -- a sweet odour; it is an offering by fire to Jehovah. And thou shalt take the second ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of the ram; and thou shalt slaughter the ram, and take of its blood, and put [it] on the tip of the [right] ear of Aaron, and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the great toe of their right foot; and thou shalt sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about. And thou shalt take of the blood that is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle [it] on Aaron, and on his garments, and on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him; and he shall be hallowed, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons' garments with him. Also of the ram shalt thou take the fat, and the fat-tail, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and the net of the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and the right shoulder -- for it is a ram of consecration -- and one loaf of bread, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of the unleavened [bread] that is before Jehovah; and thou shalt put all this in the hands of Aaron, and in the hands of his sons, and shalt wave them as a wave-offering before Jehovah. And thou shalt receive them of their hand and burn [them] upon the altar over the burnt-offering, for a sweet odour before Jehovah: it is an offering by fire to Jehovah. And thou shalt take the breast of the ram of consecration which is for Aaron, and wave it as a wave-offering before Jehovah; and it shall be thy part. And thou shalt hallow the breast of the wave-offering, and the shoulder of the heave-offering, that hath been waved and heaved up, of the ram of the consecration, of that which is for Aaron, and of [that] which is for his sons. And they shall be for Aaron and his sons, as an everlasting statute, on the part of the children of Israel; for it is a heave-offering; and it shall be a heave-offering on the part of the children of Israel of the sacrifices of their peace-offerings, [as] their heave-offering to Jehovah. And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons' after him, to be anointed therein, and to be consecrated in them. The son that is priest in his stead shall put them on seven days, when he cometh into the tent of meeting to serve in the sanctuary. And thou shalt take the ram of the consecration, and boil its flesh in a holy place. And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. They shall eat the things with which the atonement was made, to consecrate [and] to hallow them; but a stranger shall not eat [of them], for they are holy. And if [any] of the flesh of the consecration, and of the bread, remain until the morning, then thou shalt burn the remainder with fire: it shall not be eaten, for it is holy. And thus shalt thou do to Aaron, and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded thee: seven days shalt thou consecrate them. And thou shalt offer every day a bullock as a sin-offering for atonement; and the altar shalt thou cleanse from sin, by making atonement for it, and shalt anoint it, to hallow it. Seven days shalt thou make atonement for the altar and hallow it; and the altar shall be most holy: whatever toucheth the altar shall be holy.
And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Jehovah to its place, into the oracle of the house, into the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubim;
and he said to them, Ye are the chief fathers of the Levites; hallow yourselves, ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of Jehovah the God of Israel to [the place that] I have prepared for it. For because ye did [it] not at the first, Jehovah our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order. So the priests and the Levites hallowed themselves to bring up the ark of Jehovah the God of Israel. And the children of the Levites bore the ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves upon them, as Moses had commanded according to the word of Jehovah.
and the Levites also have no more to carry the tabernacle, nor any of its vessels for its service.
And all the elders of Israel came; and the Levites took up the ark. And they brought up the ark, and the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent: the priests, the Levites, brought them up.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » John Gill's Exposition of the Bible » Commentary on Deuteronomy 10
Commentary on Deuteronomy 10 John Gill's Exposition of the Bible
INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 10
In this chapter an account is given of an order to Moses to hew two tables of stone, on which the Lord would write the words that were on the first, and to make an ark and put them into it, all which was accordingly done, Deuteronomy 10:1 and of some of the journeys of the children of Israel, Deuteronomy 10:6 and of the separation of the tribe of Levi to the service of the sanctuary, Deuteronomy 10:8 and of Moses's stay in the mount forty days and nights, and his success there, and the direction he had to lead on the people of Israel towards Canaan's land, Deuteronomy 10:10 and who by various arguments are exhorted to fear the Lord, and serve him, and keep his commands, Deuteronomy 10:12.
At that time the Lord said unto me,.... On the fortieth day, mentioned in the preceding chapter, as Aben Ezra, or at the end of forty days, as Jarchi; not of the first forty, for then were given him the first two tables of stone, with the law written on them, which he broke when he came down; but at the end of the second forty days, as some think, when he had fallen before the Lord, and entreated him for the people, and, as a token of his reconciliation to them, gave the following order:
hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, &c. Of the same sort of stone, of the same size and form with those God gave him in the mount the first time he was there, and which he broke in his descent from thence; they were the work of God, but these were to be hewed by Moses: the order seems to be given between the request Moses made to see the glory of the Lord, and the proclamation made of it, see Exodus 34:1, and come up unto me into the mount; Mount Sinai; this was certainly the third time of his going up there, and where he continued forty days and nights; but whether he continued there so long the second time may be a matter of question, though he certainly did the third time; see Exodus 32:30.
and make thee an ark of wood; Jarchi thinks this was not the ark Bezaleel made, but made after, and is that which went out to battle; and some take it to be a temporary ark, made for the present purpose till that was finished; but Aben Ezra is of opinion it is the same that Bezaleel made: and it may be said to be made by Moses, because he was not only ordered to make it, but it was by his orders and the direction he gave to Bezaleel that it was made; and this seems the more probable, because there the tables remained, Deuteronomy 10:5.
And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest,....F1See a Sermon of mine on this text, called, "The Law in the Hand of Christ." Though they were hewn by Moses, the writing on them was the Lord's; and the very same laws, in the same words, without any alteration or variation, were written by him on these as on the former; partly to show the authenticity of them, that they were of God and not Moses, of a divine original and not human; and partly to show the invariableness of them, that no change had been made in them, though they had been broken by the people; of which Moses's breaking the tables was a representation:
and thou shall put them in the ark; which being a type of Christ may signify the fulfilment of the law by him, who is the end, the fulfilling end of the law for righteousness to every believer; and that as this was in his heart to fulfil it, so it is in his hand as a rule of faith and conversation to his people.
And I made an ark of shittim wood,.... That is, ordered it to be made, and it was made by Bezaleel, and that of shittim wood: so the ark that was put into the holy of holies was made of this wood; see See Gill on Exodus 25:10; see Gill on Exodus 37:1,
and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; two marble ones, as the Targum of Jonathan; that is, he ordered them to be hewed, and took care that they should be exactly made as the former were, of which he had perfect knowledge, having received them of the Lord, and brought them with him down the mount:
and went up into the mount, having the two tables in my hand; in order to have the words of the law, the ten commands, written on them, these being only hewn stones, without anything on them: they were very probably marble, of which great quantities were near at hand.
And he wrote on the tables according to the first writing,.... The same laws, in the same letters:
the ten commandments which the Lord spake unto you in the mount; in Mount Sinai, on which he descended, and from whence he delivered the decalogue by word of mouth in an audible manner, that all the people could hear it:
out of the midst of the fire; in which he descended, and where he continued, and from whence he spake, so that it was indeed a fiery law:
in the day of the assembly; when all the people of Israel were assembled together at the bottom of the mount to hear it:
and the Lord gave them unto me; the two tables, when he had wrote upon them the ten commands.
And I turned myself,.... From the Lord, out of whose hands he had received the tables:
and came down from the mount; with the two tables in his hand as before, one in one hand, and the other in the other hand:
and put the tables in the ark which I had made; or ordered to be made:
and there they be, as the Lord commanded me; there they were when Moses rehearsed what is contained in this book, on the plains of Moab, about thirty eight years after the putting them, into it; and there they continued to be when the ark was brought into Solomon's temple, 1 Kings 8:9 and there they were as long as the ark was in being; which may denote the continuance of the law in the hands of Christ under the Gospel dispensation as a rule of walk and conversation to his people.
And the children of Israel took their journey from Beeroth of the children of Jaakan,.... Not when or soon after they removed from Sinai; for if this place is the same with Benejaakan, as is generally supposed, they had a great many journeys, mansions, and stations before they came to it; see Numbers 33:31 and besides, since Aaron, according to this account, died at their next station from hence, that was thirty eight years after their departure from Mount Sinai; and it is hard to say what should be the reason of making mention of these two or three journeys here; and whereas they are here said to journey front the place here mentioned
to Mosera; on the contrary in Numbers 33:31 they are said to depart from Mosera, and pitch in Benejaakan; which is accounted for by their going backwards and forwards, and so both may be true. Aben Ezra is of opinion, that Beeroth Benejaakan, or the wells of the children of Jaakan, is not the same with Bene Jaakan, nor Mosera the same with Moseroth; but Beeroth is Kadesh, and Mosera is the name of the desert of Mount Hor; and it is certain that Moseroth was the twenty seventh station, and Mosera, or the desert of Mount Hor, where Aaron died, was the thirty fourth, and therefore must be distant; see Numbers 33:30, which seems to agree with what follows:
there Aaron died, and there he was buried; it is certain that Aaron died on Mount Hor, Numbers 20:23, or there died and was buried when in the desert of Mosera:
and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest's office in his stead; so that though the high priest died, the office continued, and the law of it remained in force, and the tribe of Levi was separated for the service of the sanctuary, as afterwards expressed.
From thence they journeyed unto Gudgodah,.... Which Jarchi takes to be the same with Horhagidgad, and so do most; see Numbers 33:32, but Aben Ezra says it is not, but is a general name, including Zalmonah, Punon, and Oboth, places the Israelites came to after they removed from Mount Hor, where Aaron died; see Numbers 33:41.
and from Gudgodah to Jotbath, a land of rivers of waters; which the above writer takes to be the same with Beer, the well, Numbers 21:16 and by this description of it, it was a place where there was much water.
At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi,.... Not at the time that Moses came down from the mount with the tables of the law, but some considerable time after, even after the tabernacle was erected; nor at the time that Aaron died, and Eleazar succeeded him, but many years before that; unless there was a fresh separation of them, or a renewal of it when Eleazar became high priest in his father's stead; and so that being mentioned is the reason of its being repeated here:
to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord; even that into which the law, sometimes called the covenant, was put, and therefore here called the ark of the covenant: when this was carried from place to place, as it was especially in the wilderness, it was the business of the Levites to bear it, particularly the Kohathites; Numbers 3:31,
to stand before the Lord to minister unto him; that is, to his priests, in the tabernacle, and to keep and guard that:
and to bless in his name unto this day; not to bless the people, which was the work of the priest, but to sing praise in the name of the Lord, to give thanks unto him, and bless and praise him.
Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren,.... In the division of the land of Canaan, because being separated to the service of the sanctuary, he had no leisure to plough and sow, as Jarchi observes:
the Lord is his inheritance, as the Lord thy God promised him; not in a spiritual sense, for so the Lord was an inheritance and portion of other Israelites; though these being taken off of worldly employments, and devoted to sanctuary service, might have more communion with God than others; but in a temporal sense, provision being made particularly by tithes, which were the Lord's, for their maintenance; and so the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan paraphrase the words;"gifts which the Lord gave him are his inheritance;'see Numbers 18:20.
And I stayed in the mount, according to the first time, forty days and forty nights,.... Which is to be connected with Deuteronomy 10:6 and relates what passed before he came down from the mount with the two tables; as that he stayed there as long as he did when he received the first tables, and fasted also as long as he did then; see Exodus 34:28.
and the Lord hearkened unto me at that time also; to his prayer on the behalf of the people:
and the Lord would not destroy thee; though he had threatened it, and their sin had deserved it.
And the Lord said unto me, arise, take thy journey before the people,.... Here Moses goes on with his relation of things at Mount Sinai, how that upon his supplication for the people, on account of the destruction they were threatened with for their idolatry, the Lord was graciously pleased not only to hear him and forgive the people, but ordered him to go before them, and lead them on towards the land of Canaan he had promised them, Exodus 32:34,
that they may go in and possess the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give unto them; and which had it not been for their later murmurings and rebellions, they had been in the possession of it in a little time, especially after their departure from Sinai.
And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee,.... For all these favours bestowed upon them, the forgiveness of their sins, and a fresh intimation of their possession of the land of Canaan, and the renewal of the promise of it made to their fathers:
but to fear the Lord thy God; to fear him with a filial fear, to fear him and his goodness, and him for his goodness sake, and particularly for his pardoning grace and mercy vouchsafed to them; see Psalm 130:4,
to walk in all his ways; prescribed and directed to by him, every path of duty, whether moral, ceremonial, or judicial:
and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul; for that is the best service which springs from love, and love constrains unto, and which is hearty and sincere, as that is, and is performed in the best manner such are capable of.
To keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes,.... Both the ten commands and all others:
which I command thee this day for thy good; promises of temporal good things, introduction into the land of Canaan, possession of it, and continuance in it, being made to obedience to them.
Behold, the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, are the Lord's thy God,.... Made and possessed by him; the airy and starry heaven, the third heaven, which is the heaven of heavens, the seat of the divine Majesty, the habitation of angels and glorified saints:
the earth also, with all that therein is; that is his property, and at his disposal, being made by him, and all that is upon it, or contained in it, even whatsoever is on or in the whole terraqueous globe; see Psalm 115:15.
Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them,.... Though the heavens and the earth, and all the inhabitants of them are the Lord's by creation, yet he had a special regard unto, and a peculiar complacency in, the fathers of the Israelites, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; from whence arose some particular expressions of love to them, signified by various acts of kindness done them, and promises made unto them:
and he chose their seed after them, even you above all the people, as it is this day; to be a special people to him, to enjoy civil and religious privileges greater than any other; and particularly to have his law given to them, his tabernacle and worship set up among them, which were at this time, and which gave them the preference to all other nations; see Deuteronomy 4:7.
Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart,.... Content not yourselves with, nor put your confidence in outward circumcision of the flesh, but be concerned for the circumcision of the heart; for removing from that whatever is disagreeable to the Lord, even all carnality, sensuality, hypocrisy, and superfluity of naughtiness, and for having that put there which is well pleasing in his sight; and which though it is the work of God, and he only can do it and has promised it, yet such an exhortation is made to bring men to a sense of their need of it, and of the importance of it, and to show how agreeable it is to the Lord, and so to stir them up to seek unto him for it; see Deuteronomy 30:6.
and be no more stiffnecked; froward, obstinate, and disobedient, as they had been hitherto; Deuteronomy 9:6.
For the Lord your God is God of gods,.... Of angels and civil magistrates, who are sometimes so called: these are his creatures, act for him and under him, and are accountable to him:
the Lord of lords; of the kings and princes of the earth, who have their crowns, sceptres, and kingdoms from him, and hold them of him, by and under whom they reign and decree judgment, and who are subject to his authority and control:
a great God; as the perfections of his nature, the works of his hands, the blessings of his providence and grace, and the extensiveness of his dominion in heaven, earth, and hell, show him to be:
a mighty and a terrible; mighty and powerful to help, protect, and defend his people; terrible to his and their enemies, even to the kings of the earth:
which regardeth not persons; but bestows his favours, whether in a way of providence or grace, according to his sovereign will and pleasure, without regard to the works and merits of men, their characters or circumstances:
nor taketh reward; or bribes, to avert threatened and deserved judgments; see Job 36:18.
He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow,.... Who have none to help them, and whose patron and defender he is, and will do them justice himself, and take care that it is done them by others, or avenge their injuries, for he is a Father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widow, in his holy habitation; Psalm 68:5.
and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment; one that is in a foreign country, at a distance from his native land, and destitute of friends; such God in his providence takes care of, and expresses his love and kindness to, by giving them the necessaries of life, food, and raiment.
Love ye therefore the stranger,.... Because the Lord loves him; and another reason follows, particularly binding on the Israelites:
for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt; and therefore should sympathize with such, and show them compassion, relieve them in distress, and afford them whatever they want, and is in the power of their hands to communicate to them; remembering their own condition in Egypt, and how welcome such a treatment would have been to them then, as well as the kind and careful providence of God towards them at that time.
Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God,.... Which includes the whole worship of him, external and internal:
him shalt thou serve; heartily and sincerely, according to his revealed will, and him only:
and to him shall thou cleave; and not turn aside to follow other gods, and worship them:
and swear by his name; and his only, whenever it is necessary to take an oath, which should not be done rashly or on trivial accounts; and never by any creature, but by the living God; see Deuteronomy 6:13.
He is thy praise,.... The object and matter of it, who deserves the praises of all his creatures, because of his perfections, works, and blessings of goodness; for all mercies temporal and spiritual come from him, and therefore he is greatly to be praised for them: praise is his due, and it is comely in his people to give it to him; see Jeremiah 17:14.
and he is thy God which hath done for thee these great and terrible things which thine eyes have seen; which were done upon the Egyptians for their sakes, both in the land of Egypt and at the Red sea; and also what he had done for them in the wilderness, to Sihon and Og, kings of the Amorites, Psalm 106:22.
Thy fathers went down into Egypt with seventy persons,.... That is, in all; for there were not seventy besides Jacob and the patriarchs his sons, but with them; see Genesis 46:26 and now the Lord thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude; as he promised they should be, Genesis 15:5.