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
O that H3863 thou hadst hearkened H7181 to my commandments! H4687 then had thy peace H7965 been as a river, H5104 and thy righteousness H6666 as the waves H1530 of the sea: H3220
And they come H935 unto thee as the people H5971 cometh, H3996 and they sit H3427 before H6440 thee as my people, H5971 and they hear H8085 thy words, H1697 but they will not do H6213 them: for with their mouth H6310 they shew H6213 much love, H5690 but their heart H3820 goeth H1980 after H310 their covetousness. H1215 And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely H5690 song H7892 of one that hath a pleasant H3303 voice, H6963 and can play well H2895 on an instrument: H5059 for they hear H8085 thy words, H1697 but they do H6213 them not.
Thou shalt keep H8104 therefore his statutes, H2706 and his commandments, H4687 which I command H6680 thee this day, H3117 that it may go well H3190 with thee, and with thy children H1121 after H310 thee, and that thou mayest prolong H748 thy days H3117 upon the earth, H127 which the LORD H3068 thy God H430 giveth H5414 thee, for ever.
Saying, G3004 If G3754 G1487 thou hadst known, G1097 even G2532 thou, G4771 at least G2534 in G1722 this G5026 thy G4675 day, G2250 the things G3588 which belong unto G4314 thy G4675 peace! G1515 but G1161 now G3568 they are hid G2928 from G575 thine G4675 eyes. G3788
O Jerusalem, G2419 Jerusalem, G2419 thou that killest G615 the prophets, G4396 and G2532 stonest G3036 them which are sent G649 unto G4314 thee, G846 how often G4212 would I G2309 have gathered G1996 thy G4675 G3739 children G5043 together, G1996 even as G5158 a hen G3733 gathereth G1996 her G1438 chickens G3556 under G5259 her wings, G4420 and G2532 ye would G2309 not! G3756
Honour H3513 thy father H1 and thy mother, H517 as the LORD H3068 thy God H430 hath commanded H6680 thee; that thy days H3117 may be prolonged, H748 and that it may go well H3190 with thee, in the land H127 which the LORD H3068 thy God H430 giveth H5414 thee.
But G1161 whoso looketh G3879 into G1519 the perfect G5046 law G3551 of liberty, G1657 and G2532 continueth G3887 therein, he G3778 being G1096 not G3756 a forgetful G1953 hearer, G202 but G235 a doer G4163 of the work, G2041 this man G3778 shall be G2071 blessed G3107 in G1722 his G846 deed. G4162
See G991 that ye refuse G3868 not G3361 him that speaketh. G2980 For G1063 if G1487 they G1565 escaped G5343 not G3756 who refused him G3868 that spake G5537 on G1909 earth, G1093 much G4183 more G3123 shall not we G2249 escape, if we turn away from him G654 that speaketh from G575 heaven: G3772
We G3870 then, G1161 as workers together G4903 with him, beseech G3870 you also G2532 that ye G5209 receive G1209 not G3361 the grace G5485 of God G2316 in G1519 vain. G2756
Hear H8085 therefore, O Israel, H3478 and observe H8104 to do H6213 it; that it may be well H3190 with thee, and that ye may increase H7235 mightily, H3966 as the LORD H3068 God H430 of thy fathers H1 hath promised H1696 thee, in the land H776 that floweth H2100 with milk H2461 and honey. H1706
Howbeit I sent H7971 unto you all my servants H5650 the prophets, H5030 rising early H7925 and sending H7971 them, saying, H559 Oh, do H6213 not this abominable H8441 thing H1697 that I hate. H8130
That saith, H559 I will build H1129 me a wide H4060 house H1004 and large H7304 chambers, H5944 and cutteth him out H7167 windows; H2474 and it is cieled H5603 with cedar, H730 and painted H4886 with vermilion. H8350 Shalt thou reign, H4427 because thou closest H8474 thyself in cedar? H730 did not thy father H1 eat H398 and drink, H8354 and do H6213 judgment H4941 and justice, H6666 and then it was well H2896 with him?
Say H559 ye to the righteous, H6662 that it shall be well H2896 with him: for they shall eat H398 the fruit H6529 of their doings. H4611
ALEPH. Blessed H835 are the undefiled H8549 in the way, H1870 who walk H1980 in the law H8451 of the LORD. H3068 Blessed H835 are they that keep H5341 his testimonies, H5713 and that seek H1875 him with the whole heart. H3820 They also do H6466 no iniquity: H5766 they walk H1980 in his ways. H1870 Thou hast commanded H6680 us to keep H8104 thy precepts H6490 diligently. H3966 O that H305 my ways H1870 were directed H3559 to keep H8104 thy statutes! H2706
Oh H3863 that my people H5971 had hearkened H8085 unto me, and Israel H3478 had walked H1980 in my ways! H1870 I should soon H4592 have subdued H3665 their enemies, H341 and turned H7725 my hand H3027 against their adversaries. H6862 The haters H8130 of the LORD H3068 should have submitted H3584 themselves unto him: but their time H6256 should have endured for ever. H5769
O that H3863 they were wise, H2449 that they understood H7919 this, that they would consider H995 their latter end! H319 How should one H259 chase H7291 a thousand, H505 and two H8147 put ten H7233 thousand H505 to flight, H5127 except H3808 their Rock H6697 had sold H4376 them, H3588 and the LORD H3068 had shut them up? H5462
Observe H8104 and hear H8085 all these words H1697 which I command H6680 thee, that it may go well H3190 with thee, and with thy children H1121 after H310 thee for H5704 ever, H5769 when thou doest H6213 that which is good H2896 and right H3477 in the sight H5869 of the LORD H3068 thy God. H430
Thou shalt not eat H398 it; that it may go well H3190 with thee, and with thy children H1121 after H310 thee, when thou shalt do H6213 that which is right H3477 in the sight H5869 of the LORD. H3068
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Deuteronomy 5
Commentary on Deuteronomy 5 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
A. The True Essence of the Law and Its Fulfilment
The exposition of the law commences with a repetition of the ten words of the covenant, which were spoken to all Israel directly by the Lord Himself.
Deuteronomy 5:1-5 form the introduction, and point out the importance and great significance of the exposition which follows. Hence, instead of the simple sentence “ And Moses said ,” we have the more formal statement “ And Moses called all Israel, and said to them .” The great significance of the laws and rights about to be set before them, consisted in the fact that they contained the covenant of Jehovah with Israel.
Deuteronomy 5:2-3
“ Jehovah our God made a covenant with us in Horeb; not with our fathers, but with ourselves, who are all of us here alive this day .” The “ fathers” are neither those who died in the wilderness, as Augustine supposed, nor the forefathers in Egypt, as Calvin imagined; but the patriarchs, as in Deuteronomy 4:37. Moses refers to the conclusion of the covenant at Sinai, which was essentially distinct from the covenant at Sinai, which was essentially distinct from the covenant made with Abraham ( Genesis 15:18), though the latter laid the foundation for the Sinaitic covenant. But Moses passed over this, as it was not his intention to trace the historical development of the covenant relation, but simply to impress upon the hearts of the existing generation the significance of its entrance into covenant with the Lord. The generation, it is true, with which God made the covenant at Horeb, had all died out by that time, with the exception of Moses, Joshua, and Caleb, and only lived in the children, who, though in part born in Egypt, were all under twenty years of age at the conclusion of the covenant at Sinai, and therefore were not among the persons with whom the Lord concluded the covenant. But the covenant was made not with the particular individuals who were then alive, but rather with the nation as an organic whole. Hence Moses could with perfect justice identify those who constituted the nation at that time, with those who had entered into covenant with the Lord at Sinai. The separate pronoun ( we ) is added to the pronominal suffix for the sake of emphasis, just as in Genesis 4:26, etc.; and אלּה again is so connected with אנחנוּ , as to include the relative in itself.
Deuteronomy 5:4-5
“ Jehovah talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire ,” i.e., He came as near to you as one person to another. בּפנים פּנים is not perfectly synonymous with פּנים אל פּנים , which is used in Exodus 33:11 with reference to God's speaking to Moses (cf. Deuteronomy 34:10, and Genesis 32:31), and expresses the very confidential relation in which the Lord spoke to Moses as one friend to another; whereas the former simply denotes the directness with which Jehovah spoke to the people. - Before repeating the ten words which the Lord addressed directly to the people, Moses introduces the following remark in Deuteronomy 5:5 - “ I stood between Jehovah and you at that time, to announce to you the word of Jehovah; because ye were afraid of the fire, and went not up into the mount ” - for the purpose of showing the mediatorial position which he occupied between the Lord and the people, not so much at the proclamation of the ten words of the covenant, as in connection with the conclusion of the covenant generally, which alone in fact rendered the conclusion of the covenant possible at all, on account of the alarm of the people at the awful manifestation of the majesty of the Lord. The word of Jehovah, which Moses as mediator had to announce to the people, had reference not to the instructions which preceded the promulgation of the decalogue (Exodus 19:11.), but, as is evident from Deuteronomy 5:22-31, primarily to the further communications which the Lord was about to address to the nation in connection with the conclusion of the covenant, besides the ten words (viz., Exodus 20:18; 22:1-23:33), to which in fact the whole of the Sinaitic legislation really belongs, as being the further development of the covenant laws. The alarm of the people at the fire is more fully described in Deuteronomy 5:25. The word “ saying ” at the end of Deuteronomy 5:5 is dependent upon the word “ talked ” in Deuteronomy 5:4; Deuteronomy 5:5 simply containing a parenthetical remark.
In vv. 6-21, the ten covenant words are repeated from Ex 20, with only a few variations, which have already been discussed in connection with the exposition of the decalogue at Exodus 20:1-14. - In Deuteronomy 5:22-33, Moses expounds still further the short account in Exodus 20:18-21, viz., that after the people had heard the ten covenant words, in their alarm at the awful phenomena in which the Lord revealed His glory, they entreated him to stand between as mediator, that God Himself might not speak to them any further, and that they might not die, and then promised that they would hearken to all that the Lord should speak to him (Exodus 20:23 -31). His purpose in doing so was to link on the exhortation in vv. 32, 33, to keep all the commandments of the Lord and do them, which paves the way for passing to the exposition of the law which follows. “A great voice” (Exodus 20:22) is an adverbial accusative, signifying “ with a great voice” (cf. Ges.
Deuteronomy 5:24-27 contain a rhetorical, and at the same time really a more exact, account of the events described in Exodus 20:18-20 (15-17). ואתּ (Deuteronomy 5:24), a contraction of ואתּה , as in Numbers 11:15 (cf. Ewald , §184, a .). Jehovah's reply to the words of the people (Deuteronomy 5:28-31) is passed over in Ex 20. God approved of what the people said, because it sprang from a consciousness of the unworthiness of any sinner to come into the presence of the holy God; and He added, “ Would that there were always this heart in them to fear Me,” i.e., would that they were always of the same mind to fear Me and keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and their children for ever. He then directed the people to return to their tents, and appointed Moses as the mediator, to whom He would address all the law, that he might teach it to the people (cf. Deuteronomy 4:5). Having been thus entreated by the people to take the office of mediator, and appointed to that office by the Lord, Moses could very well bring his account of these events to a close (Deuteronomy 5:32, Deuteronomy 5:33), by exhorting them to observe carefully all the commandments of the Lord, and not to turn aside to the right hand or to the left, i.e., not to depart in any way from the mode of life pointed out in the commandments (cf. Deuteronomy 17:11, Deuteronomy 17:20; Deuteronomy 28:14; Joshua 1:7, etc.), that it might be well with them, etc. (cf. Deuteronomy 4:40). וטוב , perfect with ו rel. instead of the imperfect.