11 And houses H1004 full H4392 of all good H2898 things, which thou filledst H4390 not, and wells H953 digged, H2672 which thou diggedst H2672 not, vineyards H3754 and olive trees, H2132 which thou plantedst H5193 not; when thou shalt have eaten H398 and be full; H7646
Then G1161 said G2036 Jesus G2424 unto his G846 disciples, G3101 Verily G281 I say G3004 unto you, G5213 That G3754 a rich man G4145 shall hardly G1423 enter G1525 into G1519 the kingdom G932 of heaven. G3772 And G1161 again G3825 I say G3004 unto you, G5213 It is G2076 easier G2123 for a camel G2574 to go G1330 through G1223 the eye G5169 of a needle, G4476 than G2228 for a rich man G4145 to enter G1525 into G1519 the kingdom G932 of God. G2316
Wherefore it shall come to pass, if H6118 ye hearken H8085 to these judgments, H4941 and keep, H8104 and do H6213 them, that the LORD H3068 thy God H430 shall keep H8104 unto thee the covenant H1285 and the mercy H2617 which he sware H7650 unto thy fathers: H1 And he will love H157 thee, and bless H1288 thee, and multiply H7235 thee: he will also bless H1288 the fruit H6529 of thy womb, H990 and the fruit H6529 of thy land, H127 thy corn, H1715 and thy wine, H8492 and thine oil, H3323 the increase H7698 of thy kine, H504 and the flocks H6251 of thy sheep, H6629 in the land H127 which he sware H7650 unto thy fathers H1 to give H5414 thee. Thou shalt be blessed H1288 above all people: H5971 there shall not be male H6135 or female barren H6135 among you, or among your cattle. H929 And the LORD H3068 will take away H5493 from thee all sickness, H2483 and will put H7760 none of the evil H7451 diseases H4064 of Egypt, H4714 which thou knowest, H3045 upon thee; but will lay H5414 them upon all them that hate H8130 thee. And thou shalt consume H398 all the people H5971 which the LORD H3068 thy God H430 shall deliver H5414 thee; thine eye H5869 shall have no pity H2347 upon them: neither shalt thou serve H5647 their gods; H430 for that will be a snare H4170 unto thee. If thou shalt say H559 in thine heart, H3824 These nations H1471 are more H7227 than I; how H349 can H3201 I dispossess H3423 them? Thou shalt not be afraid H3372 of them: but shalt well H2142 remember H2142 what the LORD H3068 thy God H430 did H6213 unto Pharaoh, H6547 and unto all Egypt; H4714
When thou hast eaten H398 and art full, H7646 then thou shalt bless H1288 the LORD H3068 thy God H430 for the good H2896 land H776 which he hath given H5414 thee. Beware H8104 that thou forget H7911 not the LORD H3068 thy God, H430 in not keeping H8104 his commandments, H4687 and his judgments, H4941 and his statutes, H2708 which I command H6680 thee this day: H3117 Lest when thou hast eaten H398 and art full, H7646 and hast built H1129 goodly H2896 houses, H1004 and dwelt H3427 therein; And when thy herds H1241 and thy flocks H6629 multiply, H7235 and thy silver H3701 and thy gold H2091 is multiplied, H7235 and all that thou hast is multiplied; H7235 Then thine heart H3824 be lifted up, H7311 and thou forget H7911 the LORD H3068 thy God, H430 which brought thee forth H3318 out of the land H776 of Egypt, H4714 from the house H1004 of bondage; H5650 Who led H3212 thee through that great H1419 and terrible H3372 wilderness, H4057 wherein were fiery H8314 serpents, H5175 and scorpions, H6137 and drought, H6774 where there was no water; H4325 who brought thee forth H3318 water H4325 out of the rock H6697 of flint; H2496 Who fed H398 thee in the wilderness H4057 with manna, H4478 which thy fathers H1 knew H3045 not, that he might humble H6031 thee, and that he might prove H5254 thee, to do thee good H3190 at thy latter end; H319 And thou say H559 in thine heart, H3824 My power H3581 and the might H6108 of mine hand H3027 hath gotten H6213 me this wealth. H2428 But thou shalt remember H2142 the LORD H3068 thy God: H430 for it is he that giveth H5414 thee power H3581 to get H6213 wealth, H2428 that he may establish H6965 his covenant H1285 which he sware H7650 unto thy fathers, H1 as it is this day. H3117 And it shall be, if thou do at all H7911 forget H7911 the LORD H3068 thy God, H430 and walk H1980 after H310 other H312 gods, H430 and serve H5647 them, and worship H7812 them, I testify H5749 against you this day H3117 that ye shall surely H6 perish. H6 As the nations H1471 which the LORD H3068 destroyeth H6 before your face, H6440 so shall ye perish; H6 because H6118 ye would not be obedient H8085 unto the voice H6963 of the LORD H3068 your God. H430
O generation, H1755 see H7200 ye the word H1697 of the LORD. H3068 Have I been a wilderness H4057 unto Israel? H3478 a land H776 of darkness? H3991 wherefore say H559 my people, H5971 We are lords; H7300 we will come H935 no more unto thee? Can a maid H1330 forget H7911 her ornaments, H5716 or a bride H3618 her attire? H7196 yet my people H5971 have forgotten H7911 me days H3117 without number. H4557
I clothed H3847 thee also with broidered work, H7553 and shod H5274 thee with badgers' skin, H8476 and I girded H2280 thee about with fine linen, H8336 and I covered H3680 thee with silk. H4897 I decked H5710 thee also with ornaments, H5716 and I put H5414 bracelets H6781 upon thy hands, H3027 and a chain H7242 on thy neck. H1627 And I put H5414 a jewel H5141 on thy forehead, H639 and earrings H5694 in thine ears, H241 and a beautiful H8597 crown H5850 upon thine head. H7218 Thus wast thou decked H5710 with gold H2091 and silver; H3701 and thy raiment H4403 was of fine linen, H8336 H8336 and silk, H4897 and broidered work; H7553 thou didst eat H398 fine flour, H5560 and honey, H1706 and oil: H8081 and thou wast exceeding H3966 beautiful, H3302 and thou didst prosper H6743 into a kingdom. H4410 And thy renown H8034 went forth H3318 among the heathen H1471 for thy beauty: H3308 for it was perfect H3632 through my comeliness, H1926 which I had put H7760 upon thee, saith H5002 the Lord H136 GOD. H3069 But thou didst trust H982 in thine own beauty, H3308 and playedst the harlot H2181 because of thy renown, H8034 and pouredst out H8210 thy fornications H8457 on every one that passed by; H5674 his it was. And of thy garments H899 thou didst take, H3947 and deckedst H6213 thy high places H1116 with divers colours, H2921 and playedst the harlot H2181 thereupon: the like things shall not come, H935 neither shall it be so. Thou hast also taken H3947 thy fair H8597 jewels H3627 of my gold H2091 and of my silver, H3701 which I had given H5414 thee, and madest H6213 to thyself images H6754 of men, H2145 and didst commit whoredom H2181 with them, And tookest H3947 thy broidered H7553 garments, H899 and coveredst H3680 them: and thou hast set H5414 mine oil H8081 and mine incense H7004 before H6440 them. My meat H3899 also which I gave H5414 thee, fine flour, H5560 and oil, H8081 and honey, H1706 wherewith I fed H398 thee, thou hast even set H5414 it before H6440 them for a sweet H5207 savour: H7381 and thus it was, saith H5002 the Lord H136 GOD. H3069 Moreover thou hast taken H3947 thy sons H1121 and thy daughters, H1323 whom thou hast borne H3205 unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed H2076 unto them to be devoured. H398 Is this of thy whoredoms H8457 a small matter, H4592
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Deuteronomy 6
Commentary on Deuteronomy 6 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Announcement of the commandments which follow, with a statement of the reason for communicating them, and the beneficent results of their observance. המּצוה , that which is commanded, i.e., the substance of all that Jehovah had commanded, synonymous therefore with the Thorah (Deuteronomy 4:44). The words, “ the statutes and the rights ,” are explanatory of and in apposition to “ the commandment .” These commandments Moses was to teach the Israelites to keep in the land which they were preparing to possess (cf. Deuteronomy 4:1).
Deuteronomy 6:2
The reason for communicating the law was to awaken the fear of God (cf. Deuteronomy 4:10; Deuteronomy 5:26), and, in fact, such fear of Jehovah as would show itself at all times in the observance of every commandment. “ Thou and thy son: ” this forms the subject to “ thou mightest fear ,” and is placed at the end for the sake of emphasis. The Hiphil האריך has not the transitive meaning, “to make long,” as in Deuteronomy 5:30, but the intransitive, to last long , as in Deuteronomy 5:16; Exodus 20:12, etc.
Deuteronomy 6:3
The maintenance of the fear of God would bring prosperity, and the increase of the nation promised to the fathers. In form this thought is not connected with Deuteronomy 6:3 as the apodosis, but it is appended to the leading thought in Deuteronomy 6:1 by the words “ Hear therefore, O Israel! ” which correspond to the expression “ to teach you ” in Deuteronomy 6:1. אשׁר , that, in order that (as in Deuteronomy 2:25; Deuteronomy 4:10, etc.). The increase of the nation had been promised to the patriarchs from the very first (Genesis 12:1; cf. Leviticus 26:9). - On “ milk and honey ,” see at Exodus 3:8.
With Deuteronomy 6:4 the burden of the law commences, which is not a new law added to the ten commandments, but simply the development and unfolding of the covenant laws and rights enclosed as a germ in the decalogue, simply an exposition of the law, as had already been announced in Deuteronomy 1:5. The exposition commences with an explanation and enforcing of the first commandment. There are two things contained in it: (1) that Jehovah is the one absolute God; (2) that He requires love with all the heart, all the soul, and all the strength. “ Jehovah our God is one Jehovah .”
(Note: On the majuscula ע and ד in שׁמע and אחד , R. Bochin has this remark: “It is possible to confess one God with the mouth, although the heart is far from Him. For this reason ע and ד are majuscula , from which the tsere subscribed the word עד , 'a witness,' is formed, that every one may know, when he professes the unity of God, that his heart ought to be engaged, and free from every other thought, because God is a witness and knows all things” ( J. H. Mich. Bibl. Hebr .).)
This does not mean Jehovah is one God, Jehovah alone ( Abenezra ), for in that case לבדּו יהוה would be used instead of אחד יהוה ; still less Jehovah our God, namely, Jehovah is one (J. H. Michaelis). אחד יהוה together form the predicate of the sentence. The idea is not, Jehovah our God is one (the only) God, but “ one (or the only) Jehovah: ” not in this sense, however, that “He has not adopted one mode of revelation or appearance here and another there, but one mode only, viz., the revelation which Israel had received” ( Schultz ); for Jehovah never denotes merely a mode in which the true God is revealed or appears, but God as the absolute, unconditioned, or God according to the absolute independence and constancy of His actions. Hence what is predicated here of Jehovah ( Jehovah one ) does not relate to the unity of God, but simply states that it is to Him alone that the name Jehovah rightfully belongs, that He is the one absolute God, to whom no other Elohim can be compared. This is also the meaning of the same expression in Zechariah 14:9, where the words added, “and His name one,” can only signify that in the future Jehovah would be acknowledged as the one absolute God, as King over all the earth. This clause not merely precludes polytheism, but also syncretism, which reduces the one absolute God to a national deity, a Baal (Hosea 2:18), and in fact every form of theism and deism, which creates for itself a supreme God according to philosophical abstractions and ideas. For Jehovah, although the absolute One, is not an abstract notion like “absolute being” or “the absolute idea,” but the absolutely living God, as He made Himself known in His deeds in Israel for the salvation of the whole world.
Deuteronomy 6:5
As the one God, therefore, Israel was to love Jehovah its God with all its heart, with all its soul, and with all its strength. The motive for this is to be found in the words “thy God,” in the fact that Jehovah was Israel's God, and had manifested Himself to it as one God. The demand “ with all the heart” excludes all half-heartedness, all division of the heart in its love. The heart is mentioned first, as the seat of the emotions generally and of love in particular; then follows the soul ( nephesh ) as the centre of personality in man, to depict the love as pervading the entire self-consciousness; and to this is added, “with all the strength,” sc., of body and soul. Loving the Lord with all the heart and soul and strength is placed at the head, as the spiritual principle from which the observance of the commandments was to flow (see also Deuteronomy 11:1; Deuteronomy 30:6). It was in love that the fear of the Lord (Deuteronomy 10:12), hearkening to His commandments (Deuteronomy 11:13), and the observance of the whole law (Deuteronomy 11:22), were to be manifested; but love itself was to be shown by walking in all the ways of the Lord (Deuteronomy 11:22; Deuteronomy 19:9; Deuteronomy 30:16). Christ therefore calls the command to love God with all the heart “the first and great commandment,” and places on a par with this the commandment contained in Leviticus 19:8 to love one's neighbour as oneself, and then observes that on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets (Matthew 22:37-40; Mark 12:29-31; Luke 10:27).
(Note: In quoting this commandment, Matthew (Matthew 22:37) has substituted δαίνοια , “thy mind,” for “thy strength,” as being of especial importance to spiritual love, whereas in the lxx the mind ( διάνοια ) is substituted for the heart. Mark (Mark 12:30) gives the triad of Deuteronomy ( heart, soul, and strength ); but he has inserted “ mind ” ( διάνοια ) before strength ( ἰσχύς ), whilst in Mark 12:33 the understanding ( σύνεσις ) is mentioned between the heart and the soul. Lastly, Luke has given the three ideas of the original passage quite correctly, but has added at the end, “and with all thy mind” ( διάνοια ). Although the term διάνοια (mind) originated with the Septuagint, not one of the Evangelists has adhered strictly to this version.)
Even the gospel knows no higher commandment than this. The distinction between the new covenant and the old consists simply in this, that the love of God which the gospel demands of its professors, is more intensive and cordial than that which the law of Moses demanded of the Israelites, according to the gradual unfolding of the love of God Himself, which was displayed in a much grander and more glorious form in the gift of His only begotten Son for our redemption, than in the redemption of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 6:6-9
But for the love of God to be of the right kind, the commandments of God must be laid to heart, and be the constant subject of thought and conversation. “ Upon thine heart: ” i.e., the commandments of God were to be an affair of the heart, and not merely of the memory (cf. Deuteronomy 11:18). They were to be enforced upon the children, talked of at home and by the way, in the evening on lying down and in the morning on rising up, i.e., everywhere and at all times; they were to be bound upon the hand for a sign, and worn as bands (frontlets) between the eyes (see at Exodus 13:16). As these words are figurative, and denote an undeviating observance of the divine commands, so also the commandment which follows, viz., to write the words upon the door-posts of the house, and also upon the gates, are to be understood spiritually; and the literal fulfilment of such a command could only be a praiseworthy custom or well-pleasing to God when resorted to as the means of keeping the commandments of God constantly before the eye. The precept itself, however, presupposes the existence of this custom, which is not only met with in the Mahometan countries of the East at the present day (cf. A . Russell, Naturgesch. v. Aleppo, i. p. 36; Lane, Sitten u. Gebr. i. pp. 6, 13, ii. p. 71), but was also a common custom in ancient Egypt (cf. Wilkinson, Manners and Customs, vol. ii. p. 102).
(Note: The Jewish custom of the Medusah is nothing but a formal and outward observance founded upon this command. It consists in writing the words of Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and Deuteronomy 11:13-20 upon a piece of parchment, which is then placed upon the top of the doorway of houses and rooms, enclosed in a wooden box; this box they touch with the finger and then kiss the finger on going either out or in. S. Buxtorf, Synag. Jud. pp. 582ff.; and Bodenschatz. Kirchl. Verfassung der Juden, iv. pp. 19ff.)
To the positive statement of the command there is attached, in the next place, the negative side, or a warning against the danger to which prosperity and an abundance of earthly goods so certainly exposed, viz., of forgetting the Lord and His manifestations of mercy. The Israelites were all the more exposed to this danger, as their entrance into Canaan brought them into the possession of all the things conducive to well-being, in which the land abounded, without being under the necessity of procuring these things by the labour of their own hands; - into the possession, namely, of great and beautiful towns which they had not built, of houses full of all kinds of good things which they had not filled, of wells ready made which they had not dug, of vineyards and olive-plantations which they had not planted. - The nouns ערים , etc. are formally dependent upon לך לתת , and serve as a detailed description of the land into which the Lord was about to lead His people.
“ House of bondage ,” as in Exodus 13:3. “ Not forgetting ” is described from a positive point of view, as fearing God, serving Him , and swearing by His name . Fear is placed first, as the fundamental characteristic of the Israelitish worship of God; it was no slavish fear, but simply the holy awe of a sinner before the holy God, which includes love rather than excludes it. “Fearing” is a matter of the heart; “serving,” a matter of working and striving; and “swearing in His name,” the practical manifestation of the worship of God in word and conversation. It refers not merely to a solemn oath before a judicial court, but rather to asseverations on oath in the ordinary intercourse of life, by which the religious attitude of a man involuntarily reveals itself.
The worship of Jehovah not only precludes all idolatry, which the Lord, as a jealous God, will not endure (see at Exodus 20:5), but will punish with destruction from the earth (“the face of the ground,” as in Exodus 32:12); but it also excludes tempting the Lord by an unbelieving murmuring against God, if He does not remove any kind of distress immediately, as the people had already sinned at Massah, i.e., at Rephidim (Exodus 17:1-7).
They were rather to observe all His commandments diligently, and do what was right and good in His eyes. The infinitive וגו להדף contains the further development of וגו ייטב למען : “ so that He (Jehovah) thrust out all thine enemies before thee, as He hath spoken ” (viz., Exodus 23:27., Deuteronomy 34:11).
In Deuteronomy 6:20-25, the teaching to the children, which is only briefly hinted at in Deuteronomy 6:7, is more fully explained. The Israelites were to instruct their children and descendants as to the nature, meaning, and object of the commandments of the Lord; and in reply to the inquiries of their sons, to teach them what the Lord had done for the redemption of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt, and how He had brought them into the promised land, and thus to awaken in the younger generation love to the Lord and to His commandments. The “ great and sore miracles ” (Deuteronomy 6:22) were the Egyptian plagues, like מפתּים , in Deuteronomy 4:34. - “ To fear ,” etc., i.e., that we might fear the Lord.
“ And righteousness will be to us, if we observe to do: ” i.e., our righteousness will consist in the observance of the law; we shall be regarded and treated by God as righteous, if we are diligent in the observance of the law. “ Before Jehovah ” refers primarily, no doubt, to the expression, “to do all these commandments;” but, as we may see from Deuteronomy 24:13, this does not prevent the further reference to the “ righteousness” also. This righteousness before Jehovah, it is true, is not really the gospel “righteousness of faith;” but there is no opposition between the two, as the righteousness mentioned here is not founded upon the outward (pharisaic) righteousness of works, but upon an earnest striving after the fulfilment of the law, to love God with all the heart; and this love is altogether impossible without living faith.