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Deuteronomy 10:8 World English Bible (WEB)

8 At that time Yahweh set apart the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, to stand before Yahweh to minister to him, and to bless in his name, to this day.

Cross Reference

Deuteronomy 21:5 WEB

The priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them Yahweh your God has chosen to minister to him, and to bless in the name of Yahweh; and according to their word shall every controversy and every stroke be.

Deuteronomy 18:5 WEB

For Yahweh your God has chosen him out of all your tribes, to stand to minister in the name of Yahweh, him and his sons for ever.

Leviticus 9:22 WEB

Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people, and blessed them; and he came down from offering the sin offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings.

Numbers 3:6 WEB

"Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him.

Numbers 4:15 WEB

"When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary, and all the furniture of the sanctuary, as the camp moves forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to carry it: but they shall not touch the sanctuary, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting.

Numbers 6:23-26 WEB

"Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, 'This is how you shall bless the children of Israel.' You shall tell them, 'Yahweh bless you, and keep you. Yahweh make his face to shine on you, And be gracious to you. Yahweh lift up his face toward you, And give you peace.'

2 Chronicles 30:27 WEB

Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy habitation, even to heaven.

John 15:16 WEB

You didn't choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you will ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

Psalms 135:2 WEB

You who stand in the house of Yahweh, In the courts of our God's house.

Galatians 1:15 WEB

But when it was the good pleasure of God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me through his grace,

2 Corinthians 6:17 WEB

Therefore, "'Come out from among them, And be separate,' says the Lord, 'Touch no unclean thing. I will receive you.

Romans 12:7 WEB

or service, let us give ourselves to service; or he who teaches, to his teaching;

Romans 1:1 WEB

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Gospel of God,

Acts 13:2 WEB

As they served the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, "Separate Barnabas and Saul for me, for the work to which I have called them."

Ezekiel 44:15 WEB

But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister to me; and they shall stand before me to offer to me the fat and the blood, says the Lord Yahweh:

Ezekiel 44:11 WEB

Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house, and ministering in the house: they shall kill the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister to them.

Jeremiah 15:19 WEB

Therefore thus says Yahweh, If you return, then will I bring you again, that you may stand before me; and if you take forth the precious from the vile, you shall be as my mouth: they shall return to you, but you shall not return to them.

1 Kings 8:3-4 WEB

All the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. They brought up the ark of Yahweh, and the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent; even these did the priests and the Levites bring up.

Leviticus 8:9 WEB

He set the turban on his head; and on the turban, in front, he set the golden plate, the holy crown; as Yahweh commanded Moses.

Numbers 1:47-53 WEB

But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them. For Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, neither shall you take a census of them among the children of Israel; but appoint the Levites over the Tabernacle of the Testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it. They shall carry the tabernacle, and all its furnishings; and they shall take care of it, and shall encamp around it. When the tabernacle is to move, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall set it up. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death. The children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, according to their divisions. But the Levites shall encamp around the Tabernacle of the Testimony, that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be responsible for the Tabernacle of the Testimony."

Numbers 3:1-4 WEB

Now this is the history of the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that Yahweh spoke with Moses in Mount Sinai. 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 priests who were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest's office. Nadab and Abihu died before Yahweh, when they offered strange fire before Yahweh, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest's office in the presence of Aaron their father.

Numbers 3:31 WEB

Their charge shall be the ark, the table, the lamp stand, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary with which they minister, and the screen, and all its service.

Numbers 8:1-26 WEB

Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to Aaron, and tell him, 'When you light the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand.'" Aaron did so. He lit its lamps to light the area in front of the lampstand, as Yahweh commanded Moses. This was the workmanship of the lampstand, beaten work of gold. From its base to its flowers, it was beaten work: according to the pattern which Yahweh had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them. Thus shall you do to them, to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of cleansing on them, let them shave their whole bodies with a razor, and let them wash their clothes, and cleanse themselves. Then let them take a young bull, and its meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil; and another young bull you shall take for a sin offering. You shall present the Levites before the Tent of Meeting. You shall assemble the whole congregation of the children of Israel. You shall present the Levites before Yahweh. The children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites, and Aaron shall offer the Levites before Yahweh for a wave offering, on the behalf of the children of Israel, that it may be theirs to do the service of Yahweh. The Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and you shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering to Yahweh, to make atonement for the Levites. You shall set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them as a wave offering to Yahweh. Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine. "After that, the Levites shall go in to do the service of the Tent of Meeting: and you shall cleanse them, and offer them as a wave offering. For they are wholly given to me from among the children of Israel; instead of all who open the womb, even the firstborn of all the children of Israel, I have taken them to me. For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are mine, both man and animal. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified them for myself. I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel. I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do 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 come near to the sanctuary." Thus did Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the Levites. According to all that Yahweh commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the children of Israel did to them. The Levites purified themselves from sin, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them for a wave offering before Yahweh; and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. After that, the Levites went in to do their service in the Tent of Meeting before Aaron, and before his sons: as Yahweh had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "This is that which belongs to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall go in to wait on the service in the work of the Tent of Meeting; and from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting on the work, and shall serve no more, but shall minister with their brothers in the Tent of Meeting, to keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus shall you do to the Levites concerning their duties."

Numbers 16:9-10 WEB

[seems it but] a small thing to you, that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do the service of the tent of Yahweh, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them; and that he has brought you near, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? and seek you the priesthood also?

Numbers 18:1-32 WEB

Yahweh said to Aaron, You and your sons and your fathers' house with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood. Your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, bring you near with you, that they may be joined to you, and minister to you: but you and your sons with you shall be before the tent of the testimony. They shall keep your charge, and the charge of all the Tent: only they shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary and to the altar, that they not die, neither they, nor you. They shall be joined to you, and keep the charge of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the Tent: and a stranger shall not come near to you. You shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar; that there be wrath no more on the children of Israel. I, behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you they are a gift, given to Yahweh, to do the service of the tent of meeting. You and your sons with you shall keep your priesthood for everything of the altar, and for that within the veil; and you shall serve: I give you the priesthood as a service of gift: and the stranger who comes near shall be put to death. Yahweh spoke to Aaron, I, behold, I have given you the charge of my heave-offerings, even all the holy things of the children of Israel; to you have I given them by reason of the anointing, and to your sons, as a portion forever. This shall be your of the most holy things, [reserved] from the fire: every offering of theirs, even every meal-offering of theirs, and every sin-offering of theirs, and every trespass-offering of theirs, which they shall render to me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons. As the most holy things shall you eat of it; every male shall eat of it: it shall be holy to you. This is your: the heave-offering of their gift, even all the wave-offerings of the children of Israel; I have given them to you, and to your sons and to your daughters with you, as a portion forever; everyone who is clean in your house shall eat of it. All the best of the oil, and all the best of the vintage, and of the grain, the first fruits of them which they give to Yahweh, to you have I given them. The first-ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to Yahweh, shall be yours; everyone who is clean in your house shall eat of it. Everything devoted in Israel shall be yours. Everything that opens the womb, of all flesh which they offer to Yahweh, both of man and animal shall be yours: nevertheless the firstborn of man shall you surely redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals shall you redeem. Those who are to be redeemed of them from a month old shall you redeem, according to your estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary (the same is twenty gerahs). But the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy: you shall sprinkle their blood on the altar, and shall burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a sweet savor to Yahweh. The flesh of them shall be your, as the wave-breast and as the right thigh, it shall be yours. All the heave-offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer to Yahweh, have I given you, and your sons and your daughters with you, as a portion forever: it is a covenant of salt forever before Yahweh to you and to your seed with you. Yahweh said to Aaron, You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them: I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel. To the children of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they serve, even the service of the tent of meeting. Henceforth the children of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting, lest they bear sin, and die. But the Levites shall do the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations; and among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance. For the tithe of the children of Israel, which they offer as a heave-offering to Yahweh, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance: therefore I have said to them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, Moreover you shall speak to the Levites, and tell them, When you take of the children of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall offer up a heave-offering of it for Yahweh, a tithe of the tithe. Your heave-offering shall be reckoned to you, as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the winepress. Thus you also shall offer a heave-offering to Yahweh of all your tithes, which you receive of the children of Israel; and of it you shall give Yahweh's heave-offering to Aaron the priest. Out of all your gifts you shall offer every heave-offering of Yahweh, of all the best of it, even the holy part of it out of it. Therefore you shall tell them, When you heave the best of it from it, then it shall be reckoned to the Levites as the increase of the threshing floor, and as the increase of the wine-press. You shall eat it in every place, you and your households: for it is your reward in return for your service in the tent of meeting. You shall bear no sin by reason of it, when you have heaved from it the best of it: and you shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, that you not die.

Deuteronomy 17:12 WEB

The man who does presumptuously, in not listening to the priest who stands to minister there before Yahweh your God, or to the judge, even that man shall die: and you shall put away the evil from Israel.

Exodus 29:1-37 WEB

"This is the thing that you shall do to them to make them holy, to minister to me in the priest's office: take one young bull and two rams without blemish, unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil: you shall make them of fine wheat flour. You shall put them into one basket, and bring them in the basket, with the bull and the two rams. You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tent of meeting, and shall wash them with water. You shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat, the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastplate, and dress him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod; and you shall set the turban on his head, and put the holy crown on the turban. Then you shall take the anointing oil, and pour it on his head, and anoint him. You shall bring his sons, and put coats on them. You shall dress them with belts, Aaron and his sons, and bind headbands on them: and they shall have the priesthood by a perpetual statute: and you shall consecrate Aaron and his sons. "You shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting: and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. You shall kill the bull before Yahweh, at the door of the tent of meeting. You shall take of the blood of the bull, and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar. You shall take all the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. But the flesh of the bull, and its skin, and its dung, you shall burn with fire outside of the camp: it is a sin-offering. "You shall also take the one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. You shall kill the ram, and you shall take its blood, and sprinkle it around on the altar. You shall cut the ram into its pieces, and wash its innards, and its legs, and put them with its pieces, and with its head. You shall burn the whole ram on the altar: it is a burnt offering to Yahweh; it is a sweet savor, an offering made by fire to Yahweh. "You shall take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. Then you shall kill the ram, and take some 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 big toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood on the altar round about. You shall take of the blood that is on 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 made holy, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons' garments with him. Also you shall take some of the ram's fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of consecration), and one loaf of bread, one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before Yahweh. You shall put all of this in Aaron's hands, and in his sons' hands, and shall wave them for a wave-offering before Yahweh. You shall take them from their hands, and burn them on the altar on the burnt offering, for a sweet savor before Yahweh: it is an offering made by fire to Yahweh. "You shall take the breast of Aaron's ram of consecration, and wave it for a wave-offering before Yahweh: and it shall be your portion. You shall sanctify the breast of the wave-offering, and the thigh of the heave-offering, which is waved, and which is heaved up, of the ram of consecration, even of that which is for Aaron, and of that which is for his sons: and it shall be for Aaron and his sons as their portion forever from the children of Israel; for it is a heave-offering: and it shall be a heave-offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifices of their peace-offerings, even their heave-offering to Yahweh. "The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, to be anointed in them, and to be consecrated in them. Seven days shall the son who is priest in his place put them on, when he comes into the tent of meeting to minister in the holy place. "You shall take the ram of consecration, and boil its flesh in a holy place. Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, at the door of the tent of meeting. They shall eat those things with which atonement was made, to consecrate and sanctify them: but a stranger shall not eat of it, because they are holy. If anything of the flesh of the consecration, or of the bread, remains to the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire: it shall not be eaten, because it is holy. "Thus shall you do to Aaron, and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. Seven days shall you consecrate them. Every day shall you offer the bull of sin-offering for atonement: and you shall cleanse the altar, when you make atonement for it; and you shall anoint it, to sanctify it. Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar, and sanctify it: and the altar shall be most holy; whatever touches the altar shall be holy.

1 Kings 8:6 WEB

The priests brought in the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to its place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubim.

1 Chronicles 15:12-15 WEB

and said to them, You are the heads of the fathers' [houses] of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, both you and your brothers, that you may bring up the ark of Yahweh, the God of Israel, to [the place] that I have prepared for it. For because you didn't carry it at the first, Yahweh our God made a breach on us, because we didn't seek him according to the ordinance. So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of Yahweh, the God of Israel. The children of the Levites bore the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles thereon, as Moses commanded according to the word of Yahweh.

1 Chronicles 15:26 WEB

It happened, when God helped the Levites who bore the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, that they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.

1 Chronicles 23:26 WEB

and also the Levites shall no more have need to carry the tent and all the vessels of it for the service of it.

2 Chronicles 5:4-5 WEB

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; these did the priests the Levites bring up.

2 Chronicles 29:11 WEB

My sons, don't be negligent now; for Yahweh has chosen you to stand before him, to minister to him, and that you should be his ministers, and burn incense.

Psalms 134:2 WEB

Lift up your hands in the sanctuary. Praise Yahweh!

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Deuteronomy 10

Commentary on Deuteronomy 10 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary


Verses 1-5

In Deuteronomy 10:1-5 Moses briefly relates the success of his earnest intercession. “ At that time ,” of his intercession, God commanded him to hew out new tables, and prepare an ark in which to keep them (cf. Exodus 34:1.). Here again Moses links together such things as were substantially connected, without strictly confining himself to the chronological order, which was already well known from the historical account, inasmuch as this was not required by the general object of his address. God had already given directions for the preparation of the ark of the covenant, before the apostasy of the nation (Exodus 25:10.); but it was not made till after the tabernacle had been built, and the tables were only deposited in the ark when the tabernacle was consecrated (Exodus 40:20).


Verse 6-7

And the Israelites owed to the grace of their God, which was turned towards them once more, through the intercession of Moses, not only the restoration of the tables of the covenant as a pledge that the covenant itself was restored, but also the institution and maintenance of the high-priesthood and priesthood generally for the purpose of mediation between them and the Lord.

(Note: Even Clericus pointed out this connection, and paraphrased Deuteronomy 10:6 and Deuteronomy 10:7 as follows: “But when, as I have said, God forgave the Hebrew people, He pardoned my brother Aaron also, who did not die till the fortieth year after we had come out of Egypt, and when we were coming round the borders of the Edomites to come hither. God also showed that He was reconciled towards him by conferring the priesthood upon him, which is now borne by his son Eleazar according to the will of God.” Clericus has also correctly brought out the fact that Moses referred to what he had stated in Deuteronomy 9:20 as to the wrath of God against Aaron and his intercession on his behalf, or rather that he mentioned his intercession on behalf of Aaron in that passage, because he intended to call more particular attention to the successful result of it in this. Hengstenberg ( Dissertations , vol. ii. pp. 351-2) has since pointed out briefly, but very conclusively, the connection of thought between Deuteronomy 10:6, Deuteronomy 10:7, and what goes before and follows. “Moses,” he says, “points out to the people how the Lord had continued unchangeable in His mercy notwithstanding all their sins. Although they had rendered themselves unworthy of such goodness by their worship of the calf, He gave them the ark of the covenant with the new tables of the law in it (Deuteronomy 10:1-5). He followed up this gift of His grace by instituting the high-priesthood, and when Aaron died He caused it to be transferred to his son Eleazar (Deuteronomy 10:6, Deuteronomy 10:7). He set apart the tribe of Levi to serve Him and bless the people in His name, and thus to be the mediators of His mercy (Deuteronomy 10:8, Deuteronomy 10:9). In short, He omitted nothing that was requisite to place Israel in full possession of the dignity of a people of God.” There is no ground for regarding Deuteronomy 10:6, Deuteronomy 10:7, as a gloss, as Capellus, Dathe, and Rosenm


Verses 8-11

In Deuteronomy 10:8, Moses returns to the form of an address again, and refers to the separation of the tribe of Levi for the holy service, as a manifestation of mercy on the part of the Lord towards Israel. The expression “ at that time ” is not to be understood as relating to the time of Aaron's death in the fortieth year of the march, in which Knobel finds a contradiction to the other books. It refers quite generally, as in Deuteronomy 9:20 and Deuteronomy 10:1, to the time of which Moses is speaking here, viz., the time when the covenant was restored at Sinai. The appointment of the tribe of Levi for service at the sanctuary took place in connection with the election of Aaron and his sons to the priesthood (Ex 28 and 29), although their call to this service, instead of the first-born of Israel, was not carried out till the numbering and mustering of the people (Numbers 1:49., Deuteronomy 4:17., Deuteronomy 8:6.). Moses is speaking here of the election of the whole of the tribe of Levi, including the priests (Aaron and his sons), as is very evident from the account of their service. It is true that the carrying of the ark upon the march through the desert was the business of the (non-priestly) Levites, viz., the Kohathites ( Numbers 4:4.); but on solemn occasions the priests had to carry it (cf. Joshua 3:3, Joshua 3:6, Joshua 3:8; Joshua 6:6; 1 Kings 8:3.). “Standing before the Lord, to serve Him, and to bless in His name,” was exclusively the business of the priests (cf. Deuteronomy 18:5; Deuteronomy 21:5, and Numbers 6:23.), whereas the Levites were only assistants of the priests in their service (see at Deuteronomy 18:7). This tribe therefore received no share and possession with the other tribes, as was already laid down in Numbers 18:20 with reference to the priests, and in Numbers 18:24 with regard to all the Levites; to which passages the words “as the Lord thy God promised him” refer. - Lastly, in Deuteronomy 10:10, Deuteronomy 10:11, Moses sums up the result of his intercession in the words, “ And I stood upon the mount as the first days, forty days (a resumption of Deuteronomy 9:18 and Deuteronomy 9:25); and the Lord hearkened to me this time also (word for word, as in Deuteronomy 9:19). “ Jehovah would not destroy thee (Israel).” Therefore He commanded Moses to arise to depart before the people, i.e., as leader of the people to command and superintend their removal and march. In form, this command is connected with Exodus 34:1; but Moses refers here not only to that word of the Lord with the limitation added there in Exodus 34:2, but to the ultimate, full, and unconditional assurance of God, in which the Lord Himself promised to go with His people and bring them to Canaan (Exodus 34:14.).


Verse 12-13

The proof that Israel had no righteousness before God is followed on the positive side by an expansion of the main law laid down in Deuteronomy 6:4., to love God with all the heart, which is introduced by the words, “and now Israel,” sc., now that thou hast everything without desert or worthiness, purely from forgiving grace. “ What doth the Lord thy God require of thee? ” Nothing further than that thou fearest Him, “to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve Him with all the heart and all the soul.” אם כּי , unless , or except that , presupposes a negative clause (cf. Genesis 39:9), which is implied here in the previous question, or else to be supplied as the answer. The demand for fear, love, and reverence towards the Lord, is no doubt very hard for the natural man to fulfil, and all the harder the deeper it goes into the heart; but after such manifestations of the love and grace of God, it only follows as a matter of course. “Fear, love, and obedience would naturally have taken root of themselves within the heart, if man had not corrupted his own heart.” Love, which is the only thing demanded in Deuteronomy 6:5, is here preceded by fear, which is the only thing mentioned in Deuteronomy 5:26 and Deuteronomy 6:24.

(Note: The fear of God is to be united with the love of God; for love without fear makes men remiss, and fear without love makes them servile and desperate (J. Gerhard).)

The fear of the Lord, which springs from the knowledge of one's own unholiness in the presence of the holy God, ought to form the one leading emotion in the heart prompting to walk in all the ways of the Lord, and to maintain morality of conduct in its strictest form. This fear, which first enables us to comprehend the mercy of God, awakens love, the fruit of which is manifested in serving God with all the heart and all the soul (see Deuteronomy 6:5). “ For thy good ,” as in Deuteronomy 5:30 and Deuteronomy 6:24.


Verse 14-15

This obligation the Lord had laid upon Israel by the love with which He, to whom all the heavens and the earth, with everything upon it, belong, had chosen the patriarchs and their seed out of all nations. By “the heavens of the heavens,” the idea of heaven is perfectly exhausted. This God, who might have chosen any other nation as well as Israel, or in fact all nations together, had directed His special love to Israel alone.


Verse 16-17

Above all, therefore, they were to circumcise the foreskin of their hearts, i.e., to lay aside all insensibility of heart to impressions from the love of God (cf. Leviticus 26:41; and on the spiritual signification of circumcision, see Genesis 17:15-21), and not stiffen their necks any more, i.e., not persist in their obstinacy, or obstinate resistance to God (cf. Deuteronomy 9:6, Deuteronomy 9:13). Without circumcision of heart, true fear of God and true love of God are both impossible. As a reason for this admonition, Moses adduces in Deuteronomy 10:17. the nature and acts of God. Jehovah as the absolute God and Lord is mighty and terrible towards all, without respect of person, and at the same time a just Judge and loving Protector of the helpless and oppressed. From this it follows that the true God will not tolerate haughtiness and stiffness of neck either towards Himself or towards other men, but will punish it without reserve. To set forth emphatically the infinite greatness and might of God, Moses describes Jehovah the God of Israel as the “ God of gods ,” i.e., the supreme God, the essence of all that is divine, of all divine power and might (cf. Psalms 136:2), - and as the “ Lord of lords ,” i.e., the supreme, unrestricted Ruler (“the only Potentate,” 1 Timothy 6:15), above all powers in heaven and on earth, “ a great King above all gods ” (Psalms 95:3). Compare Revelation 17:14 and Revelation 19:16, where these predicates are transferred to the exalted Son of God, as the Judge and Conqueror of all dominions and powers that are hostile to God. The predicates which follow describe the unfolding of the omnipotence of God in the government of the world, in which Jehovah manifests Himself as the great, mighty, and terrible God (Psalms 89:8), who does not regard the person (cf. Leviticus 19:15), or accept presents (cf. Deuteronomy 16:19), like a human judge.


Verse 18-19

As such, Jehovah does justice to the defenceless (orphan and widow), and exercises a loving care towards the stranger in his oppression. For this reason the Israelites were not to close their hearts egotistically against the stranger (cf. Exodus 22:20). This would show whether they possessed any love to God, and had circumcised their hearts (cf. 1 John 3:10, 1 John 3:17).


Verse 20-21

After laying down the fundamental condition of a proper relation towards God, Moses describes the fear of God, i.e., true reverence of God, in its threefold manifestation, in deed (serving God), in heart (cleaving to Him; cf. Deuteronomy 4:4), and with the mouth (swearing by His name; cf. Deuteronomy 6:13). Such reverence as this Israel owed to its God; for “ He is thy praise, and He is thy God ” (Deuteronomy 10:21). He has given thee strong inducements to praise. By the great and terrible things which thine eyes have seen, He has manifested Himself as God to thee. “ Terrible things ” are those acts of divine omnipotence, which fill men with fear and trembling at the majesty of the Almighty (cf. Exodus 15:11). אתּך עשׂה , “done with thee,” i.e., shown to thee ( את in the sense of practical help).


Verse 22

One marvel among these great and terrible acts of the Lord as to be seen in Israel itself, which had gone down to Egypt in the persons of its fathers as a family consisting of seventy souls, and now, notwithstanding the oppression it suffered there, had grown into an innumerable nation. So marvellously had the Lord fulfilled His promise in Genesis 15:5. By referring to this promise, Moses intended no doubt to recall to the recollection of the people the fact that the bondage of Israel in a foreign land for 400 years had also been foretold (Genesis 15:13.). On the seventy souls, see at Genesis 46:26-27.