Verse 1

And Moses called all Israel,.... The heads of the various tribes, and elders of the people, as he had on occasion been used to do; unless it can be thought that at different times he repeated the following laws to separate parties and bodies of them, until they had all heard them: and said unto them, hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day; the laws, moral, ceremonial, and judicial, which he was about to repeat, and afresh declare unto them, being what they had all a concern in, and under obligation to regard.

Verse 2

The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Which is Sinai, as Aben Ezra observes; it being the same mountain, only it had two tops, which bore these different names; for certain it is that the decalogue after repeated was given at Sinai, and had the nature and form of a covenant; see Exo 24:7. . Deuteronomy 5:3 deu 5:3 deu 5:3 deu 5:3The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers,.... That is, not with them only, as Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Abendana remark; for certain it is that this covenant was made, or law was given, to the immediate fathers of this present generation of Israelites, whose carcasses had fallen in the wilderness; unless this is to be understood of their more remote ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with whom the covenant of grace was made, or afresh made manifest, especially with the former; when the law, the covenant here spoken of, was not delivered until four hundred and thirty years after, Gal 3:16, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day; many of them were then present at the giving of the law, and though under twenty years of age, could remember it, and the circumstances of it; and besides, they were the same people to whom it was given, though not consisting wholly of the same individuals.

Verse 3

The Lord talked with you face to face in the mount,.... Meaning, not in that free, friendly, and familiar manner, in which he sometimes talked with Moses, of whom this phrase is used, Exo 33:11, but publicly, audibly, clearly, and distinctly, or without the interposition of another; he did not speak to them by Moses, but to them themselves; he talked to them without a middle person between them, as Aben Ezra expresses it: without making use of one to relate to them what he said; but he talked to them directly, personally: out of the midst of the fire; in which he descended, and with which the mountain was burning all the time he was speaking; which made it very awful and terrible, and pointed at the terrors of the legal dispensation.

Verse 4

I stood between the Lord and you at that time,.... Between the Word of the Lord and you, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; that is, about that time, not at the exact precise time the ten commandments were delivered, for these were spoken immediately to the people; but when the ceremonial law was given, which was ordained by angels, in the hand of a mediator, Gal 3:19, and which was at the request of the people as follows, terrified by the appearance of the fire out of which the moral law was delivered: to show you the word of the Lord; not the decalogue, that they heard with their own ears, but the other laws which were afterwards given, that were of the ceremonial and judicial kind: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount; lest they should be consumed by it: and indeed bounds were set about the mount, and they were charged not to break through: saying; this word is in connection with the preceding verse, the Lord's talking out of the midst of the fire, when he said what follows.

Verse 5

I am the Lord thy God,.... This is the preface to the ten commandments, and is the same with that in Exo 20:2; see Gill on Exo 20:2, and those commands are here delivered in the same order, and pretty near in the same words, with a little variation, and a few additions; which I shall only observe, and refer to Exo 20:1 for the sense of the various laws. for the sense of the various laws. Deuteronomy 5:12 deu 5:12 deu 5:12 deu 5:12Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it,.... Or observe it, by setting it apart as a time of natural rest, and for the performance of holy and religious exercises; see Exo 20:8, where the phrase is a little varied, "remember the sabbath day to keep it holy"; it having been instituted before: as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee; not at Sinai only, for the same might then have been observed of all the rest of the commands, but before the giving of the law, at the first of the manna; see Exo 16:23.

Verse 6

Nor thine ox, nor thine ass,.... In Exo 20:10, it is only in general said: nor thy cattle: here by way of illustration and explanation the ox and the ass are particularly mentioned; the one being used in ploughing ground, and treading out the corn, and the other in carrying burdens; and it is added: nor any of thy cattle; as their camels, or whatever else they were wont to use in any kind of service; they were none of them to do any kind of work on the sabbath day. The following clause also is not used before, which expresses the end of this institution: that thy manservant and thy maidservant may have rest as well as thee; which if the cattle had not rest, they could not have, being obliged to attend them at the plough or elsewhere; and this respects not only hired, but bond servants and maidens.

Verse 12

And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt,.... Even a bondservant; for Egypt was an house of bondage, and there the Israelites were made to serve in hard bondage; of which they are reminded, that their hearts might be touched with it, and inclined to show pity to persons in somewhat similar circumstances; calling to mind how sweet a little rest would have been unto them when in Egypt: and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence, through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm; signifying that their deliverance from their state of bondage was not owing to themselves, nor to any creature, but to the mercy and kindness of God, and to his almighty power; and therefore they were under the greatest obligations to observe any command and institution of his he should think fit to make; and particularly this of the sabbath, which was made on that account, as follows: wherefore the Lord thy God commandeth thee to keep the sabbath day; in commemoration of their rest from Egyptian bondage.

Verse 14

Honour thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee,.... And is the first commandment with promise, as the apostle observes, Eph 6:2 with a promise of long life and happiness in the land of Canaan, as follows: that thy days may be prolonged; see Exo 20:12 here it is added: and that it may go well with thee; and which the apostle also has in the place referred to: in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee; the land of Canaan; which the same apostle explains to a greater latitude: that thou mayest live long on the earth; applying it to Christians under the Gospel dispensation, whether Jews or Gentiles.

Verse 15

Thou shalt not kill,.... The following commands begin with the copulative "and", different from the manner in which they are expressed, Exo 20:17 which joins these together, and them with the preceding ones; hence the law is by some said to be one copulative, and may serve to illustrate a passage in Jam 2:10. . Deuteronomy 5:21 deu 5:21 deu 5:21 deu 5:21Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife,.... Here a neighbour's wife is put before his house, different from Exo 20:17 and "his field" is added, which with what follows take in everything that is a man's property; and which is not to be desired or coveted in an unlawful manner by another, and much less should any means be made use of to deprive him of it; but "lust" is the thing intended and prohibited, be it after what it may, which is another man's: see Mat 5:28, of a man's field, see Isa 5:8.

Verse 16

These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount,.... The above ten words or commands, which were spoken so audibly and loudly by the Lord himself on Mount Sinai, that the whole congregation of the people of Israel heard them: out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness; in which the Lord was; see Deu 4:11, with a great voice, and he added no more; ceased speaking; after he had delivered the ten commands, he said no more at that time. The Targum of Jonathan is,"with a great voice which ceased not.''It ceased not until all were delivered, and then it did; it was a continued voice, yet clear and distinct: and he wrote them iwo tables of stone; marble stone, as the Targum of Jonathan; which is much more likely than what the paraphrase has on Deu 4:13, this is an emblem of the duration of the law: and delivered them unto me; to Moses, and by him to be delivered to the people, who though they had heard them would be apt to forget them; and therefore they were written, that they might read them, and meditate on them, and be careful to keep them.

Verse 17

And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness,.... The thick darkness, where God was, and with which the mountain was covered, Exo 20:21. for the mountain did burn with fire; which is a reason both why the Lord spoke out of the midst of the fire, the mountain on which he descended burning with it and also for his speaking out of the midst of darkness, because not only a thick cloud covered the mountain, but it was altogether on a smoke, which ascended as the smoke of a furnace, Exo 19:16. that ye come near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes and your elders; or wise men, as the Targum of Jonathan; by which it appears, that not only the common people were frightened at what they heard and saw on Mount Sinai, but those of the first rank and eminence among them, who were the most famous for their authority and wisdom.

Verse 21

And ye said, behold, the Lord our God hath showed us his glory and his greatness,.... In descending on Mount Sinai in the manner he did, and giving the law from thence with such solemnity; for there was a glory in the ministration of it, as the apostle argues Co2 3:7, it being delivered with so much majesty, and such a glorious apparatus attending it; see Deu 33:2. Aben Ezra interprets this of the appearance of fire in which the Lord was, "and his greatness", of the thunders and lightnings, and the voice of the trumpet: and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire; the ten words, as the same interpreter rightly notes, which were vocally and audibly expressed out of the fire: we have seen this day, that God doth talk with man, and he liveth; they had proof of it in themselves; God had been talking with them out of the fire, and yet it did not reach and consume them, but they were still alive.

Verse 22

Now therefore why should we die?.... Since we are now alive, and have so wonderfully escaped the danger we were exposed unto, let us be careful that we are not liable to it again: for this great fire will consume us: if it continues, and we are exposed to it; perhaps some of them might remember the fire that burnt in the uttermost parts of the camp at Taberah, and the destruction of Korah and the two hundred and fifty men with him by fire, Num 11:1, if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, then we shall die; for it was such a voice of words they could not endure as to the matter of them, and therefore entreated the word might not be spoken to them any more; it being the killing letter, and the ministration of condemnation and death; and the manner in which it was delivered was so terrible, that they concluded they could not live, but must die if they heard it again; and imagined that if the fire continued, the flames of it would spread and reach them, and they would not be able to escape them.

Verse 23

For who is there of all flesh,.... What man was there in any age, that was ever heard of or can be named: that hath heard the voice of the living God; who lives in and of himself, and is the author and giver of life to all his creatures, whereby he is distinguished from and is opposed unto the lifeless deities of the Gentiles; and which makes him and his voice heard the more awful and tremendous, and especially as speaking out of the midst of the fire: which was the present case: as we have, and lived? of this there never was the like instance; for though some had seen God and lived, as Jacob did, and therefore called the name of the place where he saw him Penuel, Gen 32:30, and Moses had heard the voice of the angel of the Lord out of a bush, which seemed to be burning, and was not consumed, Exo 3:2, yet none ever heard the voice of the Lord out of real fire, and particularly expressing such words as he did, but the Israelites. Zoroastres, the founder of the Magi among the Persians, and of their religion, seems to have had respect to this, and to have applied falsely this to himself, which belonged to Moses and the people of Israel; for it is said (k),"one reason the Persians have fire in so much veneration is, because they say that Zoroastres, being caught up to heaven, did not see God, but heard him speaking with him out of the midst of fire.'' (k) Hyde Hist. Relig. Vet. Pers. c. 8. p. 160.

Verse 24

Go thou near,.... To the mount, and to God on it: and hear all that the Lord our God shall say; for they supposed, by the continuance of the Lord on the mount, and the fire burning on it, that he had more to say, which they were not averse to hear; but desired it might be not immediately delivered to them, but by the means of Moses; the sound of the words, and the sight of the fire, being so terrible to them: and speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee: they did not doubt, knowing the faithfulness of Moses, his declaring all unto them that should be told him by the Lord; and they were desirous that he should, they did not want to have anything withheld from them, only they could not bear to see and hear things immediately from the Lord: and we will hear it and do it; hearken to it, and receive it, as the word of God, and not man, and yield a ready and cheerful obedience, even to everything that should be required; see Exo 20:19.

Verse 25

And the Lord heard the voice of your word, when ye spake unto me,.... Not only in a general way, as he hears and knows all that is spoken by men; for there is not a word on the tongue, formed upon it, and uttered by it, but what is altogether known to him; but in a special and particular manner observed, took notice of, approved, and was well pleased with what these people said: and the Lord said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken unto thee; not only heard the sound of them, but took notice of the sense and meaning of them, and listened to them with pleasure and delight: they have well said all that they have spoken; expressing such an awe and reverence of the divine Majesty, desiring to have a mediator between God and them, and purposing and promising to hearken to and obey whatsoever he should command by him.

Verse 26

O that there were such an heart in them,.... Not that there is properly speaking such volitions and wishes in God; but, as Aben Ezra observes, the Scripture speaks after the language of the children of men; and may be considered as upbraiding them with want of such an heart, and with weakness to do what they had promised; and, at most, as approving of those things they spoke of as grateful to him, and profitable to them: the words may be rendered, "who will give (l) that they had such an heart"; not to me, but to them, as Aben Ezra notes; they cannot give it to themselves, nor can any creature give it to them; none but God can, and therefore they ought to have prayed to him to give them an heart to hearken and do; agreeably to which is the Arabic version,"it is to be wished by them, that such an heart would continue with them;''which they by their language signified was in them: that they would fear me; which is not naturally in the heart of man, is a gift of God, a part of the covenant of grace, is implanted in regeneration, and is no inconsiderable branch of it; it is opposed to pride, and is consistent with faith and joy, and is increased by views of the grace and goodness of God, and is a distinguishing character of a good man: and keep all my commandments always; not only one, but all, and not only at some certain times, but continually; and which are to be kept in faith from a principle of love, with a view to the glory of God, and in the strength of Christ; and to this the fear of God is necessary, for where there is no fear of God, there is no regard to his commandments; but where there is a reverential fear of God, there are faith, hope, love, and every other grace; yea, the Spirit, the author of all, who is in the saints, to enable them to walk in the statutes of the Lord, and to keep his judgments and do them; and such keep the commandments of God, not from a slavish fear, but from a sense of divine goodness: that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever; for the fear of God, and the keeping of his commandments, issue in the good of men, in their own good, their inward peace, and spiritual welfare; in the good of others, their neighbours, servants, and children, by way of example and instruction; and even in the public peace and prosperity of a nation in which they dwell: not that these things are meritorious of eternal life, but are what are approved of by the Lord, and are grateful to him; which is the chief view in the expression of the text. (l) "quis det", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius; "quis dabit", Piscator.

Verse 27

Go say to them, get you into your tents again. Which they had left, being brought by Moses, at the direction of God, to the foot of Mount Sinai, to receive the law from his mouth; this being done, they are ordered to return to their tents again, to their families, wives, and children. Go say to them, get you into your tents again. Which they had left, being brought by Moses, at the direction of God, to the foot of Mount Sinai, to receive the law from his mouth; this being done, they are ordered to return to their tents again, to their families, wives, and children. Deuteronomy 5:31 deu 5:31 deu 5:31 deu 5:31But as for thee, stand thou here by me,.... On the mount by him whither he was called up; Moses was not permitted to go to his tent when the children of Israel were, but was ordered to wait upon the Lord to receive instructions from him, which he was to communicate to the people, being a kind of a mediator between God and them, as they requested, and which was granted them: and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments: all laws, moral, ceremonial, and judicial, which belong to them as men, as in a church state, and members of a body politic: which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them; for all doctrine is in order to practice, without which all instructions, and theoretical notions, signify little: and these they were more especially to do, and some of them peculiarly: in the land which I give them to possess it: the land of Canaan, and which laid on them no small obligation to do the commandments of God; since of his free favour and good will, and as a pure gift of his, he had bestowed upon them a land flowing with milk and honey, into which he was just now about to bring them; as nothing can more strongly engage souls to a cheerful obedience to the service of God, whether in private or in public, than the consideration of the great and good things which God of his rich grace bestows upon them, and has promised to them, and prepared for them, and will quickly put them into the possession of; and upon such an account Moses presses the observance of the commands of God in the following verses.

Verse 28

Ye shall observe to do therefore as the Lord your God doth command you,.... Observe every precept, as to matter and manner, which the Lord has commanded, and that under a sense of the great obligations laid on them by him, in giving them freely so good a land to possess: you shall not turn to the right hand or to the left; but walk in the way of the commandments of God, and not depart from them at all, but follow the Lord in his own ways fully. The phrase is expressive of a strict and close attention to the word of God, without deviating from it in the least; for every sin, which is a transgression of some command of God or another, is a going out of the way that directs unto; see Isa 30:21.

Verse 29

Ye shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you,.... None are to be avoided or departed from on any consideration whatever; see Psa 119:6 an instance of this we have in Zacharias and Elizabeth, Luk 1:6 that ye may live; corporeally, comfortably, in all the outward enjoyments of life needful for them, particularly in the possession of the land of Canaan, and the benefits of it; for these promises of life upon obedience seem to reach no further, unless as types and emblems of what is enjoyed through the obedience and righteousness of Christ, as the following phrases show: and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess; the land of Canaan; though the Jewish writers (m) carry it further, even to heaven and eternal happiness; and so may we in the sense before given. (m) Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 27. p. 418. Next: Deuteronomy Chapter 6

Verse 1

Deu 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. Deu 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 Deu 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 (Gen 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 Gen 4:26, etc.; and אלּה again is so connected with אנחנוּ, as to include the relative in itself. Deu 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 Exo 33:11 with reference to God's speaking to Moses (cf. Deu 34:10, and Gen 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 Deu 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 (Exo 19:11.), but, as is evident from Deu 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., Exo 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 Deu 5:25. The word "saying" at the end of Deu 5:5 is dependent upon the word "talked" in Deu 5:4; Deu 5:5 simply containing a parenthetical remark.

Verse 6

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 Exo 20:1-14. - In Deu 5:22-33, Moses expounds still further the short account in Exo 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 (Exo 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" (Exo 20:22) is an adverbial accusative, signifying "with a great voice" (cf. Ges. 118, 3). "And He added no more:" as in Num 11:25. God spoken the ten words directly to the people, and then no more; i.e., everything further He addressed to Moses alone, and through his mediation to the people. As mediator He gave him the two tables of stone, upon which He had written the decalogue (cf. Exo 31:18). This statement somewhat forestalls the historical course; and in Deu 9:10-11, it is repeated again in its proper historical connection.

Verse 24

Deu 5:24-27 contain a rhetorical, and at the same time really a more exact, account of the events described in Exo 20:18-20 (15-17). ואתּ (Deu 5:24), a contraction of ואתּה, as in Num 11:15 (cf. Ewald, 184, a.). Jehovah's reply to the words of the people (Deu 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. Deu 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 (Deu 5:32, Deu 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. Deu 17:11, Deu 17:20; Deu 28:14; Jos 1:7, etc.), that it might be well with them, etc. (cf. Deu 4:40). וטוב, perfect with ו rel. instead of the imperfect.

Verse 1

Here, 1. Moses summons the assembly. He called all Israel; not only the elders, but, it is likely, as many of the people as could come within hearing, Deu 5:1. The greatest of them were not above God's command, nor the meanest of them below his cognizance; but they were all bound to do. 2. He demands attention: "Hear, O Israel; hear and heed, hear and remember, hear, that you may learn, and keep, and do; else your hearing is to no purpose." When we hear the word of God we must set ourselves to learn it, that we may have it ready to us upon all occasions, and what we have learned we must put in practice, for that is the end of hearing and learning; not to fill our heads with notions, or our mouths with talk, but to rectify and direct our affections and conversations. 3. He refers them to the covenant made with them in Horeb, as that which they must govern themselves by. See the wonderful condescension of divine grace in turning the command into a covenant, that we might be the more strongly bound to obedience by our own consent and the more encouraged in it by the divine promise, both which are supposed in the covenant. The promises and threatenings annexed to some of the precepts, as to the second, third, and fifth, make them amount to a covenant. Observe, (1.) The parties to this covenant. God made it, not with our fathers, not with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; to them God gave the covenant of circumcision (Act 7:8), but not that of the ten commandments. The light of divine revelation shone gradually, and the children were made to know more of God's mind than their fathers had done. "The covenant was made with us, or our immediate parents that represented us, before Mount Sinai, and transacted for us." (2.) The publication of this covenant. God himself did, as it were, read the articles to them (Deu 5:4): He talked with you face to face; word to word, so the Chaldee. Not in dark visions, as of old he spoke to the fathers (Job 4:12, Job 4:13), but openly and clearly, and so that all the thousands of Israel might hear and understand. He spoke to them, and then received the answer they returned to him: thus was it transacted face to face. (3.) The mediator of the covenant: Moses stood between God and them, at the foot of the mount (Deu 5:5), and carried messages between them both for the settling of the preliminaries (Ex. 19) and for the changing of the ratifications, Ex. 24. Herein Moses was a type of Christ, who stands between God and man, to show us the word of the Lord, a blessed days-man, that has laid his hand upon us both, so that we may both hear from God and speak to him without trembling.

Verse 6

Here is the repetition of the ten commandments, in which observe, 1. Though they had been spoken before, and written, yet they are again rehearsed; for precept must be upon precept, and line upon line, and all little enough to keep the word of God in our minds and to preserve and renew the impressions of it. We have need to have the same things often inculcated upon us. See Phi 3:1. 2. There is some variation here from that record (Ex. 20), as there is between the Lord's prayer as it is in Mt. 6 and as it is Lu. 11. In both it is more necessary that we tie ourselves to the things than to the words unalterably. 3. The most considerable variation is in the fourth commandment. In Ex. 20 the reason annexed is taken from the creation of the world; here it is taken from their deliverance out of Egypt, because that was typical of our redemption by Jesus Christ, in remembrance of which the Christian sabbath was to be observed: Remember that thou wast a servant, and God brought thee out, Deu 5:15. And Therefore, (1.) "It is fit that thy servants should be favoured by the sabbath-rest; for thou knowest the heart of a servant, and how welcome one day's ease will be after six days' labour." (2.) "It is fit that thy God should be honoured by the sabbath-work, and the religious services of the day, in consideration of the great things he has done for thee." In the resurrection of Christ we were brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore, by the gospel-edition of the law, we are directed to observe the first day of the week, in remembrance of that glorious work of power and grace. 4. It is added in the fifth commandment, That it may go well with thee, which addition the apostle quotes, and puts first (Eph 6:3), that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest live long. If there be instances of some that have been very dutiful to their parents, and yet have not lived long upon earth, we may reconcile it to the promise by this explication of it, Whether they live long or no, it shall go well with them, either in this world or in a better. See Ecc 8:12. 5. The last five commandments are connected or coupled together, which they are not in Exodus: Neither shalt thou commit adultery, neither shalt thou steal, etc., which intimate that God's commands are all of a piece: the same authority that obliges us to one obliges us to another; and we must not be partial in the law, but have respect to all God's commandments, for he that offends in one point is guilty of all, Jam 2:10, Jam 2:11. 6. That these commandments were given with a great deal of awful solemnity, Deu 5:22. (1.) They were spoken with a great voice out of the fire, and thick darkness. That was a dispensation of terror, designed to make the gospel of grace the more welcome, and to be a specimen of the terrors of the judgment-day, Psa 50:3, Psa 50:4. (2.) He added no more. What other laws he gave them were sent by Moses, but no more were spoken in the same manner that the ten commandments were. He added no more, therefore we must not add: the law of the Lord is perfect. (3.) He wrote them in two tables of stone, that they might be preserved from corruption, and might be transmitted pure and entire to posterity, for whose use they were intended, as well as for the present generation. These being the heads of the covenant, the chest in which the written tables were deposited was called the ark of the covenant. See Rev 11:19.

Verse 23

Here, I. Moses reminds them of the agreement of both the parties that were now treating, in the mediation of Moses. 1. Here is the consternation that the people were put into by that extreme terror with which the law was given. They owned that they could not bear it any more: "This great fire will consume us; this dreadful voice will be fatal to us; we shall certainly die if we hear it any more," Deu 5:25. They wondered that they were not already struck dead with it, and took it for an extraordinary instance of the divine power and goodness, not only that they were thus spoken to, but that they were enabled to bear it. For who ever heard the voice of the living God, as we have, and lived? God's appearances have always been terrible to man, ever since the fall: but Christ, having taken away sin, invites us to come boldly to the throne of grace. 2. Their earnest request that God would henceforth speak to them by Moses, with a promise that they would hear what he said as from God himself, and do it, Deu 5:27. It seems by this, (1.) That they expected to receive further commands from God and were willing to hear more from him. (2.) That they thought Moses able to bear those discoveries of the divine glory which they by reason of guilt were sensible of their inability to stand up under. They believed him to be a favourite of Heaven, and also one that would be faithful to them; yet at other times they murmured at him, and but a little before this were ready to stone him, Exo 17:4. See how men's convictions correct their passions. (3.) That now they were in a good mind, under the strong convictions of the word they heard. Many have their consciences startled by the law that have them not purified; fair promises are extorted from them, but no good principles fixed and rooted in them. 3. God's approbation of their request. (1.) He commends what they said, Deu 5:28. They spoke it to Moses, but God took notice of it; for there is not a word in our tongue but he knows it. He acknowledges, They have well said. Their owning the necessity of a mediator to deal between them and God was well said. Their desire to receive further directions from God by Moses, and their promise to observe what directions should be given them, were well said. And what is well said shall have its praise with God, and should have with us. What is good, as far as it goes, let it be commended. (2.) He wishes they were but sincere in it: O that there were such a heart in them! Deu 5:29. [1.] Such a heart as they should have, a heart to fear God, and keep his commandments for ever. Note, The God of heaven is truly and earnestly desirous of the welfare and salvation of poor sinners. He has given abundant proof that he is so: he gives us time and space to repent, by his mercies invites us to repentance, and waits to be gracious; he has sent his Son to redeem us, published a general offer of pardon and life, promised his Spirit to those that pray for him, and has said and sworn that he has no pleasure in the ruin of sinners. [2.] Such a heart as they now had, or one would think they had. Note, It would be well with many if there were always such a heart in them as there seems to be sometimes, when they are under conviction of sin, or the rebukes of Providence, or when they come to look death in the face: How gracious will they be when these pangs come upon them! O that there were always such a heart in them! (3.) He appoints Moses to be his messenger to them, to receive the law from his mouth and to communicate it to them, Deu 5:31. Here the matter was settled by consent of both parties that God should hence-forward speak to us by men like ourselves, by Moses and the prophets, by the apostles and the evangelists, and, if we believe not these, neither should we be persuaded though God should speak to us as he did to Israel at Mount Sinai, or send expresses from heaven or hell. II. Hence he infers a charge to them to observe and do all that God had commanded them, Deu 5:32, Deu 5:33. Seeing God had shown himself so tender of them, and so willing to consider their frame and gratify them in what they desired, and withal so ready to make the best of them, - seeing they themselves had desired to have Moses for their teacher, who was now teaching them, - and seeing they had promised so solemnly, and under the influence of so many good causes and considerations, that they would hear and do, he charges them to walk in all the ways that God had commanded them, assuring them that it would be highly for their advantage to do so. The only way to be happy is to be holy. Say to the righteous, It shall be well with them.

Verse 1

5:1–26:19 This section contains the heart of the covenant document, the stipulations. The first subdivision (5:1–11:32) sets forth the major stipulations relating especially to the first two commandments (5:7-10). The more specific minor stipulations make up the rest of the section.

5:1-32 The rest of the covenant laws expand and comment upon the Ten Commandments (5:6-21), on which they are based. Moses had first given the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel nearly forty years earlier (Exod 20:2-17).

5:1 decrees and regulations: These technical terms describe the stipulations that Israel must obey as the junior partner in the covenant.

Verse 9

5:9 The children of sinful parents are not punished for the wrongdoings of their mothers and fathers, but the sins of any generation have consequences that last for generations (see 2 Sam 12:10). • The term reject (literally hate) does not relate to having bitter and hostile feelings but to forsaking a relationship.

Verse 10

5:10 who love me: Those who choose to accept the Lord do not hate or reject him.

Verse 11

5:11 misuse the name (literally take up the name in vain): Someone who “takes the name of the Lord in vain” uses it manipulatively to achieve a desired end, uses it thoughtlessly, or takes an oath by God’s name that a falsehood is true.

Verse 12

5:12 keeping it holy: Certain holy days were set apart from others and were given extraordinary significance. On the Sabbath day, the community stopped working and worshiped the Lord (cp. 1 Cor 16:2; Heb 10:25).

Verse 15

5:15 That is why: God commanded Israel to observe a day of rest to remember that God ceased his work of creation on the seventh day (Exod 20:11). In Deuteronomy, the Sabbath also celebrated Israel’s release from Egyptian bondage. In the Christian tradition, the first day rather than the seventh is generally set apart to observe the most significant event in Christian history, the resurrection of Jesus Christ (see study note on Rev 1:10).

Verse 16

5:16-20 Jesus quoted these five commands in response to the question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Matt 19:17-19; Mark 10:19; Luke 18:20).

5:16 Honor: Since parents are representatives of divine authority, children are to recognize them as worthy of obedience and great respect (cp. Eph 6:1-3).

Verse 17

5:17 murder: The Hebrew word can mean either “kill” or “murder.” Killing was permitted in war and as punishment in capital cases, so here it must refer to premeditated homicide. See Jesus’ comments in Matt 5:21-22.

Verse 18

5:18 adultery: See Jesus’ comments about adultery in Matt 5:27-28.

Verse 21

5:21 covet: This commandment differs from the others because it pertains to a desire rather than to an act. An evil desire is no less offensive to God than an evil deed (see Matt 5:27-28).

Verse 33

5:33 Stay on the path: This figure of speech compares the course of life to making a journey. Israel was called to live in such a way that the nation would not be sidetracked from the purposes for which it had been chosen and equipped.