Deuteronomy 12:1
XII. (1) THESE ARE THE STATUTES AND JUDGMENTS. — The word _Mitzvah_ — commandment, or duty — is not used here. Particular _institutions and requirements_ are now before us.... [ Continue Reading ]
XII. (1) THESE ARE THE STATUTES AND JUDGMENTS. — The word _Mitzvah_ — commandment, or duty — is not used here. Particular _institutions and requirements_ are now before us.... [ Continue Reading ]
YE SHALL UTTERLY DESTROY. — First of all these requirements is the destruction of every vestige of idolatry. In the land of Jehovah there must be no trace of any other god but Him. The non-fulfilment of this command in the early history of Israel has led some to suppose that the command itself belon... [ Continue Reading ]
DESTROY THE NAMES. — The substitution in later times of _bosheth_ for _baal_ in the names Jerubbaal (Jerubbesheth), Eshbaal (Ishbosheth), Meribbaal (Mephibosheth), is a curious example of the literal fulfilment of this command, or, perhaps, rather of the command in Exodus 23:13, of which the spirit... [ Continue Reading ]
YE SHALL NOT DO SO — i.e. shall not serve Him upon the high mountains, and hills, and under every green tree, after the manner of the nations.... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT UNTO THE PLACE WHICH THE LORD YOUR GOD SHALL CHOOSE OUT OF ALL YOUR TRIBES. — The very form of the order proves its antiquity. No one who was acquainted with the removal of that “place” from Shiloh to Nob, from Nob to Gibeon, from Gibeon to Jerusalem, could have written with such utter unconscio... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THITHER YE SHALL BRING... YOUR TITHES — _i.e.,_ what the Jews understand as the “second tithe;” on which see Deuteronomy 12:17.... [ Continue Reading ]
YE SHALL NOT DO AFTER ALL THE THINGS THAT WE DO HERE THIS DAY. — Another precept strongly marked with the condition of Israel in the wilderness. It has been too much overlooked by recent commentators that the law of Moses has a _prophetic side._ It was given to him and to Israel at a time when they... [ Continue Reading ]
YE ARE NOT AS YET COME TO THE REST AND TO THE INHERITANCE. — Nor would the passage of Jordan and the conquest of Joshua bring them to it.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN HE GIVETH YOU REST. — Rashi observes, “This was not until the days of David.” He cite 2 Samuel 7:1 : “It came to pass when the king sat in his house, and the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies.”... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN THERE SHALL BE A PLACE. — The building of Jerusalem and of the Temple brought with it in due time the accomplishment of the law which is appended to the prophecy.... [ Continue Reading ]
TAKE HEED TO THYSELF THAT THOU OFFER NOT THY BURNT OFFERINGS IN EVERY PLACE THAT THOU SEEST: BUT IN THE PLACE WHICH THE LORD SHALL CHOOSE. — An attempt is made by some modern writers to establish a contradiction between this precept and the one in Exodus 20:24 : “In all places where I record my name... [ Continue Reading ]
NOTWITHSTANDING THOU MAYEST KILL AND EAT FLESH. — This may very possibly be intended as a slight modification of a law made for the wilderness journey (Leviticus 17:3). There the “killing_”_ of an ox, or lamb, or goat is forbidden anywhere except at the door of the tabernacle. The word “kill,” thoug... [ Continue Reading ]
YE SHALL POUR IT UPON THE EARTH. — This act was a necessary part of every slaughter of an animal for food. The blood, which is the life, must be poured upon the earth for God, whether the victim was consigned to the altar or not. It was a continual reminder of the necessity for the sacrifice of the... [ Continue Reading ]
THE TITHE. — This is understood by Jewish commentators of what is called “the second tithe.” The disposal of it is more particularly specified in Deuteronomy 14:22. (See also on Deuteronomy 26:12, &c.)... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LEVITE THAT IS WITHIN THY GATES. — The distribution of the Levites throughout the several tribes (ordered in Numbers 35:1), and carried out by Joshua (Deuteronomy 21), is here anticipated. The Levites had this provision in Israel until Jeroboam and his sons cast them off, when they migrated to t... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN THE LORD THY GOD SHALL ENLARGE THY BORDER.... — This and the following verses (20-25) are perfectly intelligible as an expansion of Deuteronomy 12:15, and a modification of the strict rule introduced in Leviticus 18:2, &c. The distance from the central place of worship to the borders of the lan... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT IT MAY GO WELL WITH THEE. — Very possibly, the physical as well as the moral effect of the rule is contemplated here.... [ Continue Reading ]
ONLY THY HOLY THINGS... AND THY VOWS. — The holy things probably mean the firstlings, which were necessarily holy, and must be made burnt offerings (Deuteronomy 12:6). The second tithe was also considered holy. The first tithe, or ordinary provision for the Levites (see Numbers 18), was not consider... [ Continue Reading ]
THE BLOOD OF THY SACRIFICES — i.e., peace offerings, the only kind of which the worshipper as well as the priest might partake.... [ Continue Reading ]
TAKE HEED TO THYSELF THAT THOU BE NOT SNARED. — A necessary caution. “The fear” of heathen deities often attached itself to their seats of worship. It was found necessary to caution Israel against the fear of them and the dread of them in much later times. (See Jeremiah 10:2.)... [ Continue Reading ]
WHAT THING SOEVER I COMMAND YOU. — _No_ later writer could put these words into the mouth of Moses, if he had altered the precepts of Moses to any appreciable extent.... [ Continue Reading ]