22 These words H1697 the LORD H3068 spake H1696 unto all your assembly H6951 in the mount H2022 out of the midst H8432 of the fire, H784 of the cloud, H6051 and of the thick darkness, H6205 with a great H1419 voice: H6963 and he added no more. H3254 And he wrote H3789 them in two H8147 tables H3871 of stone, H68 and delivered H5414 them unto me.
23 And it came to pass, when ye heard H8085 the voice H6963 out of the midst H8432 of the darkness, H2822 (for the mountain H2022 did burn H1197 with fire,) H784 that ye came near H7126 unto me, even all the heads H7218 of your tribes, H7626 and your elders; H2205
24 And ye said, H559 Behold, the LORD H3068 our God H430 hath shewed H7200 us his glory H3519 and his greatness, H1433 and we have heard H8085 his voice H6963 out of the midst H8432 of the fire: H784 we have seen H7200 this day H3117 that God H430 doth talk H1696 with man, H120 and he liveth. H2425
25 Now therefore why should we die? H4191 for this great H1419 fire H784 will consume H398 us: if we hear H8085 the voice H6963 of the LORD H3068 our God H430 any more, H3254 then we shall die. H4191
26 For who is there of all flesh, H1320 that hath heard H8085 the voice H6963 of the living H2416 God H430 speaking H1696 out of the midst H8432 of the fire, H784 as we have, and lived? H2421
27 Go thou near, H7126 and hear H8085 all that the LORD H3068 our God H430 shall say: H559 and speak H1696 thou unto us all that the LORD H3068 our God H430 shall speak H1696 unto thee; and we will hear H8085 it, and do H6213 it.
28 And the LORD H3068 heard H8085 the voice H6963 of your words, H1697 when ye spake H1696 unto me; and the LORD H3068 said H559 unto me, I have heard H8085 the voice H6963 of the words H1697 of this people, H5971 which they have spoken H1696 unto thee: they have well H3190 said all that they have spoken. H1696
29 O that there were such H2088 an H4310 heart H3824 in them, H5414 that they would fear H3372 me, and keep H8104 all my commandments H4687 always, H3117 that it might be well H3190 with them, and with their children H1121 for ever! H5769
30 Go H3212 say H559 to them, Get H7725 you into your tents H168 again. H7725
31 But as for thee, stand H5975 thou here by me, H5978 and I will speak H1696 unto thee all the commandments, H4687 and the statutes, H2706 and the judgments, H4941 which thou shalt teach H3925 them, that they may do H6213 them in the land H776 which I give H5414 them to possess H3423 it.
32 Ye shall observe H8104 to do H6213 therefore as the LORD H3068 your God H430 hath commanded H6680 you: ye shall not turn aside H5493 to the right hand H3225 or to the left. H8040
33 Ye shall walk H3212 in all the ways H1870 which the LORD H3068 your God H430 hath commanded H6680 you, that ye may live, H2421 and that it may be well H2895 with you, and that ye may prolong H748 your days H3117 in the land H776 which ye shall possess. H3423
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Deuteronomy 5
Commentary on Deuteronomy 5 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 5
De 5:1-29. A Commemoration of the Covenant in Horeb.
1. Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments—Whether this rehearsal of the law was made in a solemn assembly, or as some think at a general meeting of the elders as representatives of the people, is of little moment; it was addressed either directly or indirectly to the Hebrew people as principles of their peculiar constitution as a nation; and hence, as has been well observed, "the Jewish law has no obligation upon Christians, unless so much of it as given or commanded by Jesus Christ; for whatever in this law is conformable to the laws of nature, obliges us, not as given by Moses, but by virtue of an antecedent law common to all rational beings" [Bishop Wilson].
3. The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us—The meaning is, "not with our fathers" only, "but with us" also, assuming it to be "a covenant" of grace. It may mean "not with our fathers" at all, if the reference is to the peculiar establishment of the covenant of Sinai; a law was not given to them as to us, nor was the covenant ratified in the same public manner and by the same solemn sanctions. Or, finally, the meaning may be "not with our fathers" who died in the wilderness, in consequence of their rebellion, and to whom God did not give the rewards promised only to the faithful; but "with us," who alone, strictly speaking, shall enjoy the benefits of this covenant by entering on the possession of the promised land.
4. The Lord talked with you face to face in the mount—not in a visible and corporeal form, of which there was no trace (De 4:12, 15), but freely, familiarly, and in such a manner that no doubt could be entertained of His presence.
5. I stood between the Lord and you at that time—as the messenger and interpreter of thy heavenly King, bringing near two objects formerly removed from each other at a vast distance, namely, God and the people (Ga 3:19). In this character Moses was a type of Christ, who is the only mediator between God and men (1Ti 2:5), the Mediator of a better covenant (Heb 8:6; 9:15; 12:24).
to show you the word of the Lord—not the ten commandments—for they were proclaimed directly by the Divine Speaker Himself, but the statutes and judgments which are repeated in the subsequent portion of this book.
6-20. I am the Lord thy God—The word "Lord" is expressive of authority or dominion; and God, who by natural claim as well as by covenant relation was entitled to exercise supremacy over His people Israel, had a sovereign right to establish laws for their government. [See on Ex 20:2.] The commandments which follow are, with a few slight verbal alterations, the same as formerly recorded (Ex 20:1-17), and in some of them there is a distinct reference to that promulgation.
12. Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee—that is, keep it in mind as a sacred institution of former enactment and perpetual obligation. [See on Ex 20:8].
14. that thy man-servant and thy maid-servant may rest as well as thou—This is a different reason for the observance of the Sabbath from what is assigned in Ex 20:8-11, where that day is stated to be an appointed memorial of the creation. But the addition of another motive for the observance does not imply any necessary contrariety to the other; and it has been thought probable that, the commemorative design of the institution being well known, the other reason was specially mentioned on this repetition of the law, to secure the privilege of sabbatic rest to servants, of which, in some Hebrew families, they had been deprived. In this view, the allusion to the period of Egyptian bondage (De 5:15), when they themselves were not permitted to observe the Sabbath either as a day of rest or of public devotion, was peculiarly seasonable and significant, well fitted to come home to their business and bosoms.
16. that it may go well with thee—This clause is not in Exodus, but admitted into Eph 6:3.
21. Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife, … house, his field—An alteration is here made in the words (see Ex 20:17), but it is so slight ("wife" being put in the first clause and "house" in the second) that it would not have been worth while noticing it, except that the interchange proves, contrary to the opinion of some eminent critics, that these two objects are included in one and the same commandment.
22. he added no more—(Ex 20:1). The pre-eminence of these ten commandments was shown in God's announcing them directly: other laws and institutions were communicated to the people through the instrumentality of Moses.
23-28. And … ye came near unto me—(See on Ex 20:19).
29. Oh, that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me—God can bestow such a heart, and has promised to give it, wherever it is asked (Jer 32:40). But the wish which is here expressed on the part of God for the piety and steadfast obedience of the Israelites did not relate to them as individuals, so much as a nation, whose religious character and progress would have a mighty influence on the world at large.