15 `Cursed `is' the man who maketh a graven and molten image, the abomination of Jehovah, work of the hands of an artificer, and hath put `it' in a secret place, -- and all the people have answered and said, Amen.
`Thou dost not make to thyself a graven image, or any likeness which `is' in the heavens above, or which `is' in the earth beneath, or which `is' in the waters under the earth.
`Thou dost not make to thee a graven image, any similitude which `is' in the heavens above, and which `is' in the earth beneath, and which `is' in the waters under the earth;
`Ye do not make to yourselves idols; and graven image or standing image ye do not set up to yourselves; and a stone of imagery ye do not put in your land, to bow yourselves to it; for I `am' Jehovah your God.
and these waters which cause the curse have gone into thy bowels, to cause the belly to swell, and the thigh to fall; and the woman hath said, Amen, Amen.
ye do not make with Me gods of silver, even gods of gold ye do not make to yourselves.
Yea, Jeremiah the prophet saith, `Amen! so may Jehovah do; Jehovah establish thy words that thou hast prophesied, to bring back the vessels of the house of Jehovah and all the removal from Babylon, unto this place.
As to the beauty of his ornament, For excellency He set it, And the images of their abominations, Their detestable things -- they made in it, Therefore I have given it to them for impurity,
and the woman was arrayed with purple and scarlet-colour, and gilded with gold, and precious stone, and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and uncleanness of her whoredom, and upon her forehead was a name written: `Secret, Babylon the Great, the Mother of the Whores, and the Abominations of the earth.'
`Whenever, therefore, ye may see the abomination of the desolation, that was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever is reading let him observe)
`And mayest Thou not lead us to temptation, but deliver us from the evil, because Thine is the reign, and the power, and the glory -- to the ages. Amen.
And now do they add to sin, And make to them a molten image of their silver, By their own understanding -- idols, A work of artizans -- all of it, Of them they say, who `are' sacrificers among men, `The calves let them kiss.' Therefore they are as a cloud of the morning, And as dew, rising early, going away, As chaff tossed about out of a floor, And as smoke out of a window.
And strong ones out of him stand up, and have polluted the sanctuary, the stronghold, and have turned aside the continual `sacrifice', and appointed the desolating abomination.
`Therefore, speak with them, and thou hast said unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Every one of the house of Israel who causeth his idols to go up unto his heart, and the stumbling-block of his iniquity setteth over-against his face, and hath gone in unto the prophet -- I Jehovah have given an answer to him for this, for the abundance of his idols,
And He bringeth me in unto an opening of the court, and I look, and lo, a hole in the wall; and He saith unto me, `Son of man, dig, I pray thee, through the wall;' and I dig through the wall, and lo, an opening. And He saith to me, `Go in, and see the evil abominations that they are doing here.' And I go in, and look, and lo, every form of creeping thing, and detestable beast -- and all the Idols of the house of Israel -- graved on the wall, all round about, and seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel -- and Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing in their midst -- are standing before them, and each his censer in his hand, and the abundance of the cloud of perfume is going up. And He saith unto me, `Hast thou seen, son of man, that which elders of the house of Israel are doing in darkness, each in the inner chambers of his imagery, for they are saying, Jehovah is not seeing us, Jehovah hath forsaken the land?'
Also Judah hath not kept the commands of Jehovah their God, and they walk in the statutes of Israel that they had made.
And Laban hath gone to shear his flock, and Rachel stealeth the teraphim which her father hath;
And the people see that Moses is delaying to come down from the mount, and the people assemble against Aaron, and say unto him, `Rise, make for us gods who go before us, for this Moses -- the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt -- we have not known what hath happened to him.' And Aaron saith unto them, `Break off the rings of gold which `are' in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring in unto me;' and all the people themselves break off the rings of gold which `are' in their ears, and bring in unto Aaron, and he receiveth from their hand, and doth fashion it with a graving tool, and doth make it a molten calf, and they say, `These thy gods, O Israel, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.'
lest ye do corruptly, and have made to you a graven image, a similitude of any figure, a form of male or female -- a form of any beast which `is' in the earth -- a form of any winged bird which flieth in the heavens -- a form of any creeping thing on the ground -- a form of any fish which `is' in the waters under the earth; `And lest thou lift up thine eyes towards the heavens, and hast seen the sun, and the moon, and the stars, all the host of the heavens, and thou hast been forced, and hast bowed thyself to them, and served them, which Jehovah thy God hath apportioned to all the peoples under the whole heavens. `And you hath Jehovah taken, and He is bringing you out from the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be to Him for a people -- an inheritance, as `at' this day. `And Jehovah hath shewed himself wroth with me because of your words, and sweareth to my not passing over the Jordan, and to my not going in unto the good land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee -- an inheritance; for I am dying in this land; I am not passing over the Jordan, and ye are passing over, and have possessed this good land. `Take heed to yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of Jehovah your God, which He hath made with you, and have made to yourselves a graven image, a similitude of anything `concerning' which Jehovah thy God hath charged thee:
`Cursed `art' thou in the city, and cursed `art' thou in the field. `Cursed `is' thy basket and thy kneading-trough. `Cursed `is' the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, increase of thine oxen, and wealth of thy flock. `Cursed `art' thou in thy coming in, and cursed `art' thou in thy going out.
and ye see their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which `are' with them,
And, now, let, I pray thee, my lord the king hear the words of his servant: if Jehovah hath moved thee against me, let Him accept a present; and if the sons of men -- cursed `are' they before Jehovah, for they have cast me out to-day from being admitted into the inheritance of Jehovah, saying, Go, serve other gods.
And Solomon goeth after Ashtoreth god`dess' of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites; and Solomon doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and hath not been fully after Jehovah, like David his father. Then doth Solomon build a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, in the hill that `is' on the front of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the sons of Ammon;
and saith: `Cursed `is' Canaan, Servant of servants he is to his brethren.'
And the high places that `are' on the front of Jerusalem, that `are' on the right of the mount of corruption, that Solomon king of Israel had built to Ashtoreth abomination of the Zidonians, and Chemosh abomination of Moab, and to Milcom abomination of the sons of Ammon, hath the king defiled.
If we have forgotten the name of our God, And spread our hands to a strange God, Doth not God search out this? For He knoweth the secrets of the heart.
Framers of a graven image `are' all of them emptiness, And their desirable things do not profit, And their own witnesses they `are', They see not, nor know, that they may be ashamed. Who hath formed a god, And a molten image poured out -- not profitable?
And none doth turn `it' back unto his heart, Nor hath knowledge nor understanding to say, `Half of it I have burned in the fire, Yea, also, I have baked bread over its coals, I roast flesh and I eat, And its remnant for an abomination I make, To the stock of a tree I fall down.'
and thou hast said unto them, Thus said Jehovah God of Israel: Cursed `is' the man who doth not obey the words of this covenant,
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Deuteronomy 27
Commentary on Deuteronomy 27 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 27
De 27:1-10. The People Are to Write the Law upon Stones.
2. it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan—"Day" is often put for "time"; and it was not till some days after the passage that the following instructions were acted upon.
thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaister them with plaister—These stones were to be taken in their natural state, unhewn, and unpolished—the occasion on which they were used not admitting of long or elaborate preparation; and they were to be daubed over with paint or whitewash, to render them more conspicuous. Stones and even rocks are seen in Egypt and the peninsula of Sinai, containing inscriptions made three thousand years ago, in paint or plaister. By some similar method those stones may have been inscribed, and it is most probable that Moses learned the art from the Egyptians.
3. thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law—It might be, as some think, the Decalogue; but a greater probability is that it was "the blessings and curses," which comprised in fact an epitome of the law (Jos 8:34).
5-10. there shalt thou build an altar … of whole stones—The stones were to be in their natural state, as if a chisel would communicate pollution to them. The stony pile was to be so large as to contain all the conditions of the covenant, so elevated as to be visible to the whole congregation of Israel; and the religious ceremonial performed on the occasion was to consist: first, of the elementary worship needed for sinful men; and secondly, of the peace offerings, or lively, social feasts, that were suited to the happy people whose God was the Lord. There were thus, the law which condemned, and the typical expiation—the two great principles of revealed religion.
De 27:11-13. The Tribes Divided on Gerizim and Ebal.
11-13. These shall stand upon mount Gerizim to bless the people … these shall stand upon mount Ebal to curse—Those long, rocky ridges lay in the province of Samaria, and the peaks referred to were near Shechem (Nablous), rising in steep precipices to the height of about eight hundred feet and separated by a green, well-watered valley of about five hundred yards wide. The people of Israel were here divided into two parts. On mount Gerizim (now Jebel-et-Tur) were stationed the descendants of Rachel and Leah, the two principal wives of Jacob, and to them was assigned the most pleasant and honorable office of pronouncing the benedictions; while on the twin hill of Ebal (now Imad-el-Deen) were placed the posterity of the two secondary wives, Zilpah and Bilhah, with those of Reuben, who had lost the primogeniture, and Zebulun, Leah's youngest son; to them was committed the necessary but painful duty of pronouncing the maledictions (see on Jud 9:7). The ceremony might have taken place on the lower spurs of the mountains, where they approach more closely to each other; and the course observed was as follows: Amid the silent expectations of the solemn assembly, the priests standing round the ark in the valley below, said aloud, looking to Gerizim, "Blessed is the man that maketh not any graven image," when the people ranged on that hill responded in full simultaneous shouts of "Amen"; then turning round to Ebal, they cried, "Cursed is the man that maketh any graven image"; to which those that covered the ridge answered, "Amen." The same course at every pause was followed with all the blessings and curses (see on Jos 8:33, 34). These curses attendant on disobedience to the divine will, which had been revealed as a law from heaven, be it observed, are given in the form of a declaration, not a wish, as the words should be rendered, "Cursed is he," and not, "Cursed be he."