Read-Post Through the Bible

[daniel1212av]

Deuteronomy 24 -
In this chapter we have,  I. The toleration of divorce (Deu_24:1-4).  II. A discharge of new-married men from the war (Deu_24:5).  III. Laws concerning pledges (Deu_24:6, Deu_24:10-13, Deu_24:17).  IV. Against man-stealing (Deu_24:7).  V. Concerning the leprosy (Deu_24:8, Deu_24:9).  VI. Against the injustice of masters towards their servants (Deu_24:14, Deu_24:15). Judges in capital causes (Deu_24:16), and civil concerns (Deu_24:17, Deu_24:18).  VII. Of charity to the poor (Deu_24:19, etc. ― Henry 

Vs. 1-2: This seems to provide for divorce only as Jesus did, “because he hath found some uncleanness in her:” The word for uncleanness,   ערוה ‛ervah, is found 54 times, and refers to nakedness, and only once to  bodily uncleanness of another sort (cf. Dt. 23:14). It can possibly refer to homosexuality (Gen. 9:22–23), incestuous relationships (Lev. 18:6–18; 20:11, 17, 19–21). women during their period (Lev. 18:19), and can be associated with idolatry, including the nakedness and sexual activity that accompanies it (Ex. 20:26). Once it refers to defiling personal habits (Deut. 23:14).  It would seem however, that it did not refer to marital infidelity, which was a capital crime (Lv. 20:10; Dt. 22:23), or of suspicion of such, in which the judicial instrumentation of bitter water could be used (Num. 5). However, as the act of Joseph with Mary may suggest (Mt. 1:19), perhaps the death penalty was optional in such a case (though that was not an option in Joseph's case, aa the Jews themselves id not have the power for such). 

Jesus in the gospel of Mathew provided fornication as the only clause that could allow divorce (Mt. 19:9), in the betrothal period, or maybe due to false virginity, or perhaps within marriage. Fornication (G4202; porneia) can include adultery, as Israel was charged with such, being married to God (Ezek. 16:26, 29), and which it seems to cover in other occurrences (Romans 1:29, I Cor. 5:1; 6:13, 18; 7:2, II Cor. 12:21, Eph. 5:3 seem to cover. According to the rule of Dt. 24:2, namely that where there is a provision for divorce, there is also a provision for remarriage, it would seem that those who have a valid divorce may also have a valid remarriage. The only other possible provision for remarriage is that of 1Cor. 7:15, and is a much more uncertain clause. But if such is allowed, it is not commanded, and even marriage between two virgins can be sin if it is not done in the will of God, and with the right motive.

Notice also that neither marriage or divorce necessitated formal ecclesiastical intervention,  though it is such that provides it's definition and criteria for any dissolution. And as marriage Biblically is a social contract, a covenant that is not only between the spouse but between  families, it should be entered into as a community celebration, and any attempt at Biblical dissolution be carefully examined, and  be an object of the prayers of the community of faith (the church).  One of the errors of Rome is not simply  not allowing any grounds for divorce, where the Bible seems to allow at least one, but  that of granting annulments, which the Bible nowhere does, even when the grounds fit it's rather liberal criteria (Gn. 29; Jdg. 14).  And once you start declaring that marriages never were marriages, especially based upon  liberal criteria, you potentially are declaring that multitudes who are married are actually living in fornication.

Vs. 3-4: Notice also that the kind of divorce that God gave to Israel was one that did not carry this restriction, for just as assuredly as He divorced Israel, God also called her to repentance and restoration again (Jer 3:8-22; Hos 2:2-4).   

Finally, it should not need to be noted that God only provided marriage for heterosexuals, and nowhere is sexual unions between homosexuals sanctiifed. But condemned: http://peacebyjesus.witnesstoday.org/homosexual_refuted.html

Deu 24:1-4 -
In this and the next chapter certain particular rights and duties, domestic, social, and civil, are treated. The cases brought forward have often no definite connection, and seem selected in order to illustrate the application of the great principles of the Law in certain important events and circumstances.
These four verses contain only one sentence, and should be rendered thus: If a man hath taken a wife, etc., and given her a bill of divorcement and Deu_24:2 if she has departed out of his house and become another man’s wife; and Deu_24:3 if the latter husband hates her, then Deu_24:4 her former husband, etc.

Moses neither institutes nor enjoins divorce. The exact spirit of the passage is given in our Lord’s words to the Jews’, “Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives” Mat_19:8. Not only does the original institution of marriage as recorded by Moses Gen_2:24 set forth the perpetuity of the bond, but the verses before us plainly intimate that divorce, while tolerated for the time, contravenes the order of nature and of God. The divorced woman who marries again is “defiled” Deu_24:4, and is grouped in this particular with the adulteress (compare Lev_18:20). Our Lord then was speaking according to the spirit of the law of Moses when he declared, “Whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery” Mat_19:9. He was speaking too not less according to the mind of the prophets (compare Mal_2:14-16). But Moses could not absolutely put an end to a practice which was traditional, and common to the Jews with other Oriental nations. His aim is therefore to regulate and thus to mitigate an evil which he could not extirpate. ― Barnes

Deu 24:1-4 -
This is that permission which the Pharisees erroneously referred to as a precept, Mat_19:7, Moses commanded to give a writing of divorcement. It was not so; our Saviour told them that he only suffered it because of the hardness of their hearts, lest, if they had not had liberty to divorce their wives, they should have ruled them with rigour, and it may be, have been the death of them. It is probable that divorces were in use before (they are taken for granted, Lev_21:14), and Moses thought it needful here to give some rules concerning them.

1. That a man might not divorce his wife unless he found some uncleanness in her, Deu_24:1. It was not sufficient to say that he did not like her, or that he liked another better, but he must show cause for his dislike; something that made her disagreeable and unpleasant to him, though it might not make her so to another. This uncleanness must mean something less than adultery; for, for that, she was to die; and less than the suspicion of it, for in that case he might give her the waters of jealousy; but it means either a light carriage, or a cross froward disposition, or some loathsome sore or disease; nay, some of the Jewish writers suppose that an offensive breath might be a just ground for divorce. Whatever is meant by it, doubtless it was something considerable; so that their modern doctors erred who allowed divorce for every cause, though ever so trivial, Mat_19:3.

2. That it must be done, not by word of mouth, for that might be spoken hastily, but by writing, and that put in due form, and solemnly declared, before witnesses, to be his own act and deed, which was a work of time, and left room for consideration, that it might not be done rashly.

3. That the husband must give it into the hand of his wife, and send her away, which some think obliged him to endow her and make provision for her, according to her quality and such as might help to marry her again; and good reason he should do this, since the cause of quarrel was not her fault, but her infelicity.

4. That being divorced it was lawful for her to marry another husband, Deu_24:2. The divorce had dissolved the bond of marriage as effectually as death could dissolve it; so that she was as free to marry again as if her first husband had been naturally dead.

5. That if her second husband died, or divorced her, then still she might marry a third, but her first husband should never take her again (Deu_24:3, Deu_24:4), which he might have done if she had not married another; for by that act of her own she had perfectly renounced him for ever, and, as to him was looked upon as defiled, though not as to another person. The Jewish writers say that this was to prevent a most vile and wicked practice which the Egyptians had of changing wives; or perhaps it was intended to prevent men's rashness in putting away their wives; for the wife that was divorced would be apt, in revenge, to marry another immediately, and perhaps the husband that divorced her, how much soever he though to better himself by another choice, would find the next worse, and something in her more disagreeable, so that he would wish for his first wife again. “No” (says this law) “you shall not have her, you should have kept her when you had her.” Note, It is best to be content with such things as we have, since changes made by discontent often prove for the worse. The uneasiness we know is commonly better, though we are apt to think it worse, than that which we do not know. By the strictness of this law God illustrates the riches of his grace in his willingness to be reconciled to his people that had gone a whoring from him. Jer_3:1, Thou hast played the harlot with many lovers, yet return again to me. For his thoughts and ways are above ours. ― Henry 

[daniel1212av]

Deu 24:5-13 -
Here is,

I. Provision made for the preservation and confirmation of love between new-married people, Deu_24:5. This fitly follows upon the laws concerning divorce, which would be prevented if their affection to each other were well settled at first. If the husband were much abroad from his wife the first year, his love to her would be in danger of cooling, and of being drawn aside to others whom he would meet with abroad; therefore his service to his country in war, embassies, or other public business that would call him from home, shall be dispensed with, that he may cheer up the wife that he has taken. Note,

1. It is of great consequence that love be kept up between husband and wife, and that every thing be very carefully avoided which might make them strange one to another, especially at first; for in that relation, where there is not the love that should be, there is an inlet ready to abundance of guilt and grief.

2. One of the duties of that relation is to cheer up one another under the cares and crosses that happen, as helpers of each other's joy; for a cheerful heart does good like a medicine.

II. A law against man-stealing, Deu_24:7. It was not death by the law of Moses to steal cattle or goods; but to steal a child, or a weak and simple man, or one that a man had in his power, and to make merchandize of him, this was a capital crime, and could not be expiated, as other thefts, by restitution - so much is a man better than a sheep, Mat_12:12. It was a very heinous offence, for,

1. It was robbing the public of one of its members.

2. It was taking away a man's liberty, the liberty of a free-born Israelite, which was next in value to his life.

3. It was driving a man out from the inheritance of the land, to the privileges of which he was entitled, and bidding him go serve other gods, as David complains against Saul, 1Sa_26:19.

III. A memorandum concerning the leprosy, Deu_24:8, Deu_24:9.

1. The laws concerning it must be carefully observed. The laws concerning it we had, Lev_13:14. They are here said to be commanded to the priests and Levites, and therefore are not repeated in a discourse to the people; but the people are here charged, in case of leprosy, to apply to the priest according to the law, and to abide by his judgment, so far as it agreed with the law and the plain matter of fact. The plague of leprosy being usually a particular mark of God's displeasure for sin, he in whom the signs of it did appear ought not to conceal it, nor cut out the signs of it, nor apply to the physician for relief; but he must go to the priest, and follow his directions. Thus those that feel their consciences under guilt and wrath must not cover it, nor endeavour to shake off their convictions, but by repentance, and prayer, and humble confession, take the appointed way to peace and pardon.

2. The particular case of Miriam, who was smitten with leprosy for quarrelling with Moses, must not be forgotten. It was an explication of the law concerning the leprosy. Remember that, and, (1.) “Take heed of sinning after the similitude of her transgression, by despising dominions and speaking evil of dignities, lest you thereby bring upon yourselves the same judgment.”

(2.) “If any of you be smitten with a leprosy, expect not that the law should be dispensed with, nor think it hard to be shut out of the camp and so made a spectacle; there is no remedy: Miriam herself, though a prophetess and the sister of Moses, was not exempted, but was forced to submit to this severe discipline when she was under this divine rebuke.” Thus David, Hezekiah, Peter, and other great men, when they had sinned, humbled themselves, and took to themselves shame and grief; let us not expect to be reconciled upon easier terms.

IV. Some necessary orders given about pledges for the security of money lent. They are not forbidden to take such securities as would save the lender from loss, and oblige the borrower to be honest; but,

1. They must not take the millstone for a pledge (Deu_24:6), for with that they ground the corn that was to be bread for their families, or, if it were a public mill, with it the miller got his livelihood; and so it forbids the taking of any thing for a pledge by the want of which a man was in danger of being undone. Consonant to this is the ancient common law of England, which provides that no man be distrained of the utensils or instruments of his trade or profession, as the axe of a carpenter, or the books of a scholar, or beasts belonging to the plough, as long as there are other beasts of which distress may be made (Coke, 1 Inst. fol. 47). This teaches us to consult the comfort and subsistence of others as much as our own advantage. That creditor who cares not though his debtor and his family starve, nor is at all concerned what become of them, so he may but get his money or secure it, goes contrary, not only to the law of Christ, but even to the law of Moses too.

2. They must not go into the borrower's house to fetch the pledge, but must stand without, and he must bring it, Deu_24:10, Deu_24:11. The borrower (says Solomon) is servant to the lender; therefore lest the lender should abuse the advantage he has against him, and improve it for his own interest, it is provided that he shall take not what he pleases, but what the borrower can best spare. A man's house is his castle, even the poor man's house is so, and is here taken under the protection of the law.

3. That a poor man's bed-clothes should never be taken for a pledge, Deu_24:12, Deu_24:13. This we had before, Exo_22:26, Exo_22:27. If they were taken in the morning, they must be brought back again at night, which is in effect to say that they must not be taken at all. “Let the poor debtor sleep in his own raiment, and bless thee,” that is, “pray for thee, and praise God for thy kindness to him.” Note, Poor debtors ought to be sensible (more sensible than commonly they are) of the goodness of those creditors that do not take all the advantage of the law against them, and to repay their kindnesses by their prayers for them, when they are not in a capacity to repay it in any other way. “Nay, thou shalt not only have the prayers and good wishes of thy poor brother, but it shall be righteousness to thee before the Lord thy God,” that is, “It shall be accepted and rewarded as an act of mercy to thy brother and obedience to thy God, and an evidence of thy sincere conformity to the law. Though it may be looked upon by men as an act of weakness to deliver up the securities thou hast for thy debt, yet it shall be looked upon by thy God as an act of goodness, which shall in no wise lose its reward.” ― Henry 

[daniel1212av]

V. 16. See also 2Ki_14:5, 6; 2Ch_25:4; Jer_31:29, Jer_31:30; Eze_18:20. This seems to militate against one of the conclusions of Calvinism, in which non-elect souls effectively are eternally damned due to Adam's transgression (seeing they are born into bondage to sin, and are never called nor granted repentance and faith).  This does not means Calvinism is all wrong, the essence of which Rm. 9 seems to clearly teach, but it seems that to be consistent with Biblical jurisprudence, then the non-elect, absent of the ability or opportunity to be saved, would need to be personally culpable of Adam's transgression, though that seems to me to be contrary that the principal of Rm. 4:15; 5:13.  We need not understand this, and as God is perfectly just, “we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth” (Rm. 2:2).

Deu 24:14-22 -
Here, I. Masters are commanded to be just to their poor servants, Deu_24:14, Deu_24:15.

1. They must not oppress them, by overloading them with work, by giving them undue and unreasonable rebukes, or by withholding from them proper maintenance. A servant, though a stranger to the commonwealth of Israel, must not be abused: “For thou wast a bondman in the land where thou wast a stranger (Deu_24:18), and thou knowest what a grievous thing it is to be oppressed by a task-master, and therefore, in tenderness to those that are servants and strangers, and in gratitude to that God who set thee at liberty and settled thee in a country of thy own, thou shalt not oppress a servant.” Let not masters be tyrants to their servants, for their Master is in heaven. See Job_31:13.

2. They must be faithful and punctual in paying them their wages: “At his day thou shalt give him his hire, not only pay it in time, without further delay. As soon as he had done his day's work, if he desire it, let him have his day's wages,” as those labourers (Mat_20: when evening had come. he that works by day-wages is supposed to live from hand to mouth, and cannot have tomorrow's bread for his family till be is paid for this day's labour. If the wages be withheld,

(1.) It will be grief to the servant, for, poor man, he sets his heart upon it,. or, as the word is, he lifts up his soul to it, he is earnestly desirous of it, as the reward of his work (Job_7:2), and depends upon it as the gift of God's providence for the maintenance of his family. A compassionate master, though it should be somewhat inconvenient to himself, would not disappoint the expectation of a poor servant that was so fond to think of receiving his wages. But that is not the worst.

(2.) It will be guilt to the master. “The injured servant will cry against thee to the Lord; since he has no one else to appeal to, he will lodge his appeal in the court of heaven, and it will be sin to thee.” Or, if he do not complain, the cause will speak for itself, the “hire of the labourers which is kept back by fraud will itself cry,” Jam_5:4. It is a greater sin than most people think it is, and will be found so in the great day, to put hardships upon poor servants, labourers, and workmen, that we employ. God will do them right if men do not.

II. Magistrates and judges are commanded to be just in their administrations.

1. In those which we call pleas of the crown a standing rule is here given, that the fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children for the fathers, Deu_24:16. If the children make themselves obnoxious to the law, let them suffer for it, but let not the parents suffer either for them or with them; it is grief enough to them to see their children suffer: if the parents be guilty, let them die for their own sin; but though God, the sovereign Lord of life, sometimes visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, especially the sin of idolatry, and when he deals with nations in their national capacity, yet he does not allow men to do so. Accordingly, we find Amaziah sparing the children, even when the fathers were put to death for killing the king, 2Ki_14:6. It was in an extraordinary case, and no doubt by special direction from heaven, that Saul's sons were put to death for his offence, and they died rather as sacrifices than as malefactors, 2Sa_21:9, 2Sa_21:14.

2. In common pleas between party and party, great care must be taken that none whose cause was just should fare the worse for their weakness, nor for their being destitute of friends, as strangers, fatherless, and widows (Deu_24:17): “Thou shalt not pervert their judgment, nor force them to give their very raiment for a pledge, by defrauding them of their right.” Judges must be advocates for those that cannot speak for themselves and have no friends to speak for them.

III. The rich are commanded to be kind and charitable to the poor. Many ways they are ordered to be so by the law of Moses. The particular instance of charity here prescribed is that they should not be greedy in gathering in their corn, and grapes, and olives, so as to be afraid of leaving any behind them, but be willing to overlook some, and let the poor have the gleanings, v. 19-22.

1. “Say not, 'It is all my own, and why should not I have it?' But learn a generous contempt of property in small matters. One sheaf or two forgotten will make thee never the poorer at the year's end, and it will do somebody good, if thou have it not.”

2. “Say not, 'What I give I will give, and know whom I give it to, why should I leave it to be gathered by I know not whom, that will never thank me.' But trust God's providence with the disposal of thy charity, perhaps that will direct it to the most necessitous.” Or, “Thou mayest reasonably think it will come to the hands of the most industrious, that are forward to seek and gather that which this law provides for them.”

3. “Say not, 'What should the poor do with grapes and olives? It is enough for them to have bread and water;' for, since they have the same senses that the rich have, why should not they have some little share of the delights of sense?” Boaz ordered handfuls of corn to be left on purpose for Ruth, and God blessed him. All that is left is not lost. ― Henry 

 

[daniel1212av]

(Deu 25)  "If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked. {2} And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number. {3} Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed: lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee.

{4} Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.

{5} If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger: her husband's brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband's brother unto her. {6} And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel. {7} And if the man like not to take his brother's wife, then let his brother's wife go up to the gate unto the elders, and say, My husband's brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel, he will not perform the duty of my husband's brother. {8} Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak unto him: and if he stand to it, and say, I like not to take her; {9} Then shall his brother's wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother's house. {10} And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed.

{11} When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets: {12} Then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not pity her.

{13} Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small. {14} Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small. {15} But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. {16} For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the LORD thy God.

{17} Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt; {18} How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God. {19} Therefore it shall be, when the LORD thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it."

[daniel1212av]

Deuteronomy 25 -
Punishment by whipping not to exceed forty stripes, Deu_25:1-3. The ox that treads out the corn is not to be muzzled, Deu_25:4. The ordinance concerning marrying the wife of that brother who has died childless, Deu_25:5-10. Of the woman who acts indecently in succouring her husband, Deu_25:11, Deu_25:12. Of false weights and measures, Deu_25:13-16. Amalek is to be destroyed, Deu_25:17-19. ― Clarke 

Deu 25:1-3 -
Corporal Punishment. - The rule respecting the corporal punishment to be inflicted upon a guilty man is introduced in Deu_25:1 with the general law, that in a dispute between two men the court was to give right to the man who was right, and to pronounce the guilty man guilty (cf. Exo_22:8 and Exo_23:7).

Deu_25:2
If the guilty man was sentenced to stripes, he was to receive his punishment in the presence of the judge, and not more than forty stripes, that he might not become contemptible in the eyes of the people. הכּות בּן, son of stripes, i.e., a man liable to stripes, like son (child) of death, in 1Sa_20:31. “According to the need of his crime in number,” i.e., as many stripes as his crime deserved.

Deu_25:3
“Forty shall ye beat him, and not add,” i.e., at most forty stripes, and not more. The strokes were administered with a stick upon the back (Pro_10:13; Pro_19:29; Pro_26:3, etc.). This was the Egyptian mode of whipping, as we may see depicted upon the monuments, when the culprits lie flat upon the ground, and being held fast by the hands and feet, receive their strokes in the presence of the judge (vid., Wilkinson, ii. p. 11, and Rosellini, ii. 3, p. 274, 78). The number forty was not to be exceeded, because a larger number of strokes with a stick would not only endanger health and life, but disgrace the man: “that thy brother do not become contemptible in thine eyes.” If he had deserved a severer punishment, he was to be executed. In Turkey the punishments inflicted are much more severe, viz., from fifty to a hundred lashes with a whip; and they are at the same time inhuman (see v. Tornauw, Moslem. Recht, p. 234). The number, forty, was probably chosen with reference to its symbolical significance, which it had derived from Gen_7:12 onwards, as the full measure of judgment. The Rabbins fixed the number at forty save one (vid., 2Co_11:24), from a scrupulous fear of transgressing the letter of the law, in case a mistake should be made in the counting; yet they felt no conscientious scruples about using a whip of twisted thongs instead of a stick (vid., tract. Macc. iii. 12; Buxtorf, Synag. Jud. pp. 522-3; and Lundius, Jüd. Heiligth. p. 472).  — K+D

Deu 25:1-4 -
Here is, I. A direction to the judges in scourging malefactors, Deu_25:1-3.

1. It is here supposed that, if a man be charged with a crime, the accuser and the accused (Actor and Reus) should be brought face to face before the judges, that the controversy may be determined.

2. If a man were accused of a crime, and the proof fell short, so that the charge could not be made out against him by the evidence, then he was to be acquitted: “Thou shalt justify the righteous,” that is, “him that appears to the court to be so.” If the accusation be proved, then the conviction of the accused is a justification of the accuser, as righteous in the prosecution.

3. If the accused were found guilty, judgment must be given against him: “Thou shalt condemn the wicked;” for to justify the wicked is as much an abomination to the Lord as it is to condemn the righteous, Pro_17:15.

4. If the crime were not made capital by the law, then the criminal must be beaten. A great many precepts we have met with which have not any particular penalty annexed to them, the violation of most of which, according to the constant practice of the Jews, was punished by scourging, from which no person's rank or quality did exempt him if he were a delinquent, but with this proviso, that he should never be upbraided with it, nor should it be looked upon as leaving any mark of infamy or disgrace upon him. The directions here given for the scourging of criminals are,

1.) That it be done solemnly; not tumultuously through the streets, but in open court before the judge's face, and with so much deliberation as that the stripes might be numbered. The Jews say that while execution was in doing the chief justice of the court read with a loud voice Deu_28:58, Deu_28:59, and Deu_29:9, and concluded with those words (Psa_78:38), But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity. Thus it was made a sort of religious act, and so much the more likely to reform the offender himself and to be a warning to others.

(2.) That it be done in proportion to the crime, according to his fault, that some crimes might appear, as they are, more heinous than others, the criminal being beaten with many stripes, to which perhaps there is an allusion, Luk_12:47, Luk_12:48.

(3.) That how great soever the crime were the number of stripes should never exceed forty, Deu_25:3. Forty save one was the common usage, as appears, 2Co_11:24. It seems, they always gave Paul as many stripes as ever they gave to any malefactor whatsoever. They abated one for fear of having miscounted (though one of the judges was appointed to number the stripes), or because they would never go to the utmost rigour, or because the execution was usually done with a whip of three lashes, so that thirteen stripes (each one being counted for three) made up thirty-nine, but one more by that reckoning would have been forty-two. The reason given for this is, lest thy brother should seem vile unto thee. He must still be looked upon as a brother (2Th_3:15), and his reputation as such was preserved by this merciful limitation of his punishment. It saves him from seeming vile to his brethren, when God himself by his law takes this care of him. Men must not be treated as dogs; nor must those seem vile in our sight to whom, for aught we know, God may yet give grace to make them precious in his sight.

II. A charge to husbandmen not to hinder their cattle from eating when they were working, if meat were within their reach, Deu_25:4. This instance of the beast that trod out the corn (to which there is an allusion in that of the prophet, Hos_10:11) is put for all similar instances. That which makes this law very remarkable above its fellows (and which countenances the like application of other such laws) is that it is twice quoted in the New Testament to show that it is the duty of the people to give their ministers a comfortable maintenance, 1Co_9:9, 1Co_9:10, and 1Ti_5:17, 1Ti_5:18. It teaches us in the letter of it to make much of the brute-creatures that serve us, and to allow them not only the necessary supports for their life, but the advantages of their labour; and thus we must learn not only to be just, but kind, to all that are employed for our good, not only to maintain but to encourage them, especially those that labour among us in the word and doctrine, and so are employed for the good of our better part. ― Henry 

[daniel1212av]

Deu 25:5-12 -
Here is, I. The law settled concerning the marrying of the brother's widow. It appears from the story of Judah's family that this had been an ancient usage (Gen_38:, for the keeping up of distinct families. The case put is a case that often happens, of a man's dying without issue, it may be in the prime of his time, soon after his marriage, and while his brethren were yet so young as to be unmarried. Now in this case,

1. The widow was not to marry again into any other family, unless all the relations of her husband did refuse her, that the estate she was endowed with might not be alienated.

2. The husband's brother, or next of kin, must marry her, partly out of respect to her, who, having forgotten her own people and her father's house, should have all possible kindness shown her by the family into which she was married; and partly out of respect to the deceased husband, that though he was dead and gone he might not be forgotten, nor lost out of the genealogies of his tribe; for the first-born child, which the brother or next kinsman should have by the widow, should be denominated from him that was dead, and entered in the genealogy as his child, Deu_25:5, Deu_25:6. Under that dispensation we have reason to think men had not so clear and certain a prospect of living themselves on the other side death as we have now, to whom life and immortality are brought to light by the gospel; and therefore they could not but be the more desirous to live in their posterity, which innocent desire was in some measure gratified by this law, an expedient being found out that, though a man had no child by his wife, yet his name should not be put out of Israel, that is, out of the pedigree, or, which is equivalent, remain there under the brand of childlessness. The Sadducees put a case to our Saviour upon this law, with a design to perplex the doctrine of the resurrection by it (Mat_22:24, etc.), perhaps insinuating that there was no need of maintaining the immortality of the soul and a future state, since the law had so well provided for the perpetuating of men's names and families in the world. But, 3. If the brother, or next of kin, declined to do this good office to the memory of him that was gone, what must be done in that case? Why,

(1.) He shall not be compelled to do it, Deu_25:7. If he like her not, he is at liberty to refuse her, which, some think, was not permitted in this case before this law of Moses. Affection is all in all to the comfort of the conjugal relation; this is a thing which cannot be forced, and therefore the relation should not be forced without it.

(2.) Yet he shall be publicly disgraced for not doing it. The widow, as the person most concerned for the name and honour of the deceased, was to complain to the elders of his refusal; if he persist in it, she must pluck off his shoe, and spit in his face, in open court (or, as the Jewish doctors moderate it, spit before his face), thus to fasten a mark of infamy upon him, which was to remain with his family after him, Deu_25:8-10. Note, Those justly suffer in their own reputation who do not do what they ought to preserve the name and honour of others. He that would not build up his brother's house deserved to have this blemish put upon his own, that it should be called the house of him that had his shoe loosed, in token that he deserved to go barefoot. In the case of Ruth we find this law executed (Rth_4:7), but because, upon the refusal of the next kinsman, there was another ready to perform the duty of a husband's brother, it was that other that plucked off the shoe, and not the widow - Boaz, and not Ruth.

II. A law for the punishing of an immodest woman, Deu_25:11, Deu_25:12. The woman that by the foregoing law was to complain against her husband's brother for not marrying her, and to spit in his face before the elders, needed a good measure of assurance; but, lest the confidence which that law supported should grow to an excess unbecoming the sex, here is a very severe but just law to punish impudence and immodesty.

1. The instance of it is confessedly scandalous to the highest degree. A woman could not do it unless she were perfectly lost to all virtue and honour.

2. The occasion is such as might in part excuse it; it was to help her husband out of the hands of one that was too hard for him. Now if the doing of it in a passion, and with such a good intention, was to be so severely punished, much more when it was done wantonly and in lust. 3. The punishment was that her hand should be cut off; and the magistrates must not pretend to be more merciful than God: Thy eye shall not pity her. Perhaps our Saviour alludes to this law when he commands us to cut off the right hand that offends us, or is an occasion of sin to us. Better put the greatest hardships that can be upon the body than ruin the soul for ever. Modesty is the hedge of chastity, and therefore ought to be very carefully preserved and kept up by both sexes. ― Henry 

Dt. 25:9: The taking off of the shoe was an ancient custom in Israel, adopted, according to Rth_4:7, in cases of redemption and exchange, for the purpose of confirming commercial transactions. The usage arose from the fact, that when any one took possession of landed property he did so by treading upon the soil, and asserting his right of possession by standing upon it in his shoes. In this way the taking off of the shoe and handing it to another became a symbol of the renunciation of a man's position and property, - a symbol which was also common among the Indians and the ancient Germans (see my Archäologie, ii. p. 66). But the custom was an ignominious one in such a case as this, when the shoe was publicly taken off the foot of the brother-in-law by the widow whom he refused to marry. He was thus deprived of the position which he ought to have occupied in relation to her and to his deceased brother, or to his paternal house; and the disgrace involved in this was still further heightened by the fact that his sister-in-law spat in his face. This is the meaning of the words (cf. Num_12:14), and not merely spit on the ground before his eyes, as Saalschütz and others as well as the Talmudists (tr. Jebam. xii. 6) render it, for the purpose of diminishing the disgrace. “Build up his brother's house,” i.e., lay the foundation of a family or posterity for him (cf. Gen_16:2). - In addition to this, the unwilling brother-in-law was to receive a name of ridicule in Israel: “House of the shoe taken off” (הנּעל חלוּץ, taken off as to his shoe; cf. Ewald, §288, b.), i.e., of the barefooted man, equivalent to “the miserable fellow;” for it was only in miserable circumstances that the Hebrews went barefoot (vid., Isa_20:2-3; #                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     foundation of his house” (vid., my Archäologie, pp. 64, 65).  — K+D

Deu 25:13-16 - Thou shalt not have . . . divers weights--Weights were anciently made of stone and are frequently used still by Eastern shopkeepers and traders, who take them out of the bag and put them in the balance. The man who is not cheated by the trader and his bag of divers weights must be blessed with more acuteness than most of his fellows [ROBERTS]. (Compare Pro_16:11; Pro_20:10). ― JFB

Deu 25:13-19 -
Honesty in trade, as a duty to our neighbor, is emphatically enforced once more (compare Lev_19:35-36). It is noteworthy that John the Baptist puts the like duties in the forefront of his preaching (compare Luk_3:12 ff); and that “the prophets” (compare Eze_45:10-12; Amo_8:5; Mic_6:10-11) and “the Psalms” Pro_16:11; Pro_20:10, Pro_20:23, not less than “the Law,” especially insist on them.

Deu_25:13
Divers weights - i. e. stones of unequal weights, the lighter to sell with, the heavier to buy with. Stones were used by the Jews instead of brass or lead for their weights, as less liable to lose anything through rust or wear.

Deu_25:17-19
It was not after the spirit or mission of the Law to aim at overcoming inveterate opposition by love and by attempts at conversion (contrast Luk_9:55-56). The law taught God’s hatred of sin and of rebellion against Him by enjoining the extinction of the obstinate sinner. The Amalekites were a kindred people Gen_36:15-16; and living as they did in the peninsula of Sinai, they could not but have well known the mighty acts God had done for His people in Egypt and the Red Sea; yet they manifested from the first a persistent hostility to Israel (compare Exo_17:8, and note; Num_14:45). They provoked therefore the sentence here pronounced, which was executed at last by Saul (1Sa_15:3 ff). ― Barnes

[daniel1212av]

Deu 25:13-19 -
Here is,

I. A law against deceitful weights and measures: they must not only not use them, but they must not have them, not have them in the bag, not have them in the house (Deu_25:13, Deu_25:14); for, if they had them, they would be strongly tempted to use them. They must not have a great weight and measure to buy by and a small one to sell by, for that was to cheat both ways, when either was bad enough; as we read of those that made the ephah small, in which they measured the corn they sold, and the shekel great, by which they weighed the money they received for it, Amo_8:5. But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, v. 15. That which is the rule of justice must itself be just; if that be otherwise, it is a constant cheat. This had been taken care of before, Lev_19:35, Lev_19:36. This law is enforced with two very good reasons: -

1. That justice and equity will bring down upon us the blessing of God. The way to have our days lengthened, and to prosper, is to be just and fair in all our dealings Honesty is the best policy.

2. That fraud and injustice will expose us to the curse of God, Deu_25:16. Not only unrighteousness itself, but all that do unrighteously, are an abomination to the Lord. And miserable is that man who is abhorred by his Maker. How hateful, particularly, all the arts of deceit are to God, Solomon several times observes, Pro_11:1; Pro_20:10, Pro_20:23; and the apostle tells us that the Lord is the avenger of all such as overreach and defraud in any matter, 1Th_4:6.

II. A law for the rooting out of Amalek. Here is a just weight and a just measure, that, as Amalek had measured to Israel, so it should be measure to Amalek again.

1. The mischief Amalek did to Israel must be here remembered, Deu_25:17, Deu_25:18. When it was first done it was ordered to be recorded (Exo_17:14-16), and here the remembrance of it is ordered to be preserved, not in personal revenge (for that generation which suffered by the Amalekites was gone, so that those who now lived, and their posterity, could not have any personal resentment of the injury), but in a zeal for the glory of God (which was insulted by the Amalekites), that throne of the Lord against which the hand of Amalek was stretched out. The carriage of the Amalekites towards Israel is here represented, (1.) As very base and disingenuous. They had no occasion at all to quarrel with Israel, nor did they give them any notice, by a manifesto or declaration of war; but took them at an advantage, when they had just come out of the house of bondage, and, for aught that appeared to them, were only going to sacrifice to God in the wilderness.

(2.) As very barbarous and cruel; for they smote those that were more feeble, whom they should have succoured. The greatest cowards are commonly the most cruel; while those that have the courage of a man will have the compassion of a man.

(3.) As very impious and profane: they feared not God. If they had had any reverence for the majesty of the God of Israel, which they saw a token of in the cloud, or any dread of his wrath, which they lately heard of the power of over Pharaoh, they durst not have made this assault upon Israel. Well, here was the ground of the quarrel: and it shows how God takes what is done against his people as done against himself, and that he will particularly reckon with those that discourage and hinder young beginners in religion, that (as Satan's agents) set upon the weak and feeble, either to divert them or to disquiet them, and offend his little ones.

2. This mischief must in due time be revenged, Deu_25:19. When their wars were finished, by which they were to settle their kingdom and enlarge their coast, then they must make war upon Amalek (Deu_25:19), not merely to chase them, but to consume them, to blot out the remembrance of Amalek. It was an instance of God's patience that he deferred the vengeance so long, which should have led the Amalekites to repentance; yet an instance of fearful retribution that the posterity of Amalek, so long after, were destroyed for the mischief done by their ancestors to the Israel of God, that all the world might see, and say, that he who toucheth them toucheth the apple of his eye. It was nearly 400 years after this that Saul was ordered to put this sentence in execution (1 Sa. 15), and was rejected of God because he did not do it effectually, but spared some of that devoted nation, in contempt, not only of the particular orders he received from Samuel, but of this general command here given by Moses, which he could not be ignorant of. David afterwards made some destruction of them; and the Simeonites, in Hezekiah's time, smote the rest that remained (1Ch_4:43); for when God judges he will overcome. ― Henry 

[daniel1212av]

(Deu 26)  "And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest it, and dwellest therein; {2} That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name there. {3} And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the LORD thy God, that I am come unto the country which the LORD sware unto our fathers for to give us. {4} And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the LORD thy God. {5} And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous: {6} And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage: {7} And when we cried unto the LORD God of our fathers, the LORD heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression: {8} And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders: {9} And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey. {10} And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy God: {11} And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.

{12} When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled; {13} Then thou shalt say before the LORD thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them: {14} I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use, nor given ought thereof for the dead: but I have hearkened to the voice of the LORD my God, and have done according to all that thou hast commanded me. {15} Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey.

{16} This day the LORD thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments: thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul. {17} Thou hast avouched the LORD this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice: {18} And the LORD hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments; {19} And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the LORD thy God, as he hath spoken."

[daniel1212av]

Deuteronomy 26 -
With this chapter Moses concludes the particular statutes which he thought fit to give Israel in charge at his parting with them; what follows is by way of sanction and ratification. In this chapter,  I. Moses gives them a form of confession to be made by him that offered the basket of his first-fruits (Deu_26:1-11).  II. The protestation and prayer to be made after the disposal of the third year's tithe (Deu_26:12-15).  III. He binds on all the precepts he had given them,  1. By the divine authority: “Not I, but the Lord thy God has commanded thee to do these statutes” (Deu_26:16).  2. By the mutual covenant between God and them (Deu_26:17, etc.). ― Henry 

Deu 26:1-11 -

Here is, I. A good work ordered to be done, and that is the presenting of a basket of their first-fruits to God every year, Deu_26:1, Deu_26:2. Besides the sheaf of first-fruits, which was offered for the whole land, on the morrow after the passover (Lev_23:10), every man was to bring for himself a basket of first-fruits at the feast of pentecost, when the harvest was ended, which is therefore called the feast of first-fruits (Exo_34:22), and is said to be kept with a tribute of free-will-offering, Deu_16:10. But the Jews say, “The first-fruits, if not brought then, might be brought any time after, between that and winter.” When a man went into the field or vineyard at the time when the fruits were ripening, he was to mark that which he observed most forward, and to lay it by for first-fruits, wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates, some of each sort must be put in the same basket, with leaves between them, and presented to God in the place which he should choose. Now from this law we may learn,

1. To acknowledge God as the giver of all those good things which are the support and comfort of our natural life, and therefore to serve and honour him with them.

2. To deny ourselves. What is first ripe we are most fond of; those that are nice and curious expect to be served with each fruit at its first coming in. My soul desired the first ripe fruits, Mic_7:1. When therefore God appointed them to lay those by for him he taught them to prefer the glorifying of his name before the gratifying of their own appetites and desires.

3. To give to God the first and best we have, as those that believe him to be the first and best of beings. Those that consecrate the days of their youth, and the prime of their time, to the service and honour of God, bring him their first-fruits, and with such offerings he is well pleased. I remember the kindness of thy youth.

II. Good words put into their mouths to be said in the doing of this good work, as an explication of the meaning of this ceremony, that it might be a reasonable service. The offerer must begin his acknowledgment before he delivered his basket to the priest, and then must go on with it, when the priest had set down the basket before the altar, as a present to God their great landlord, Deu_26:3, Deu_26:4.

1. He must begin with a receipt in full for the good land which God had given them (Deu_26:3): I profess that I have come now at last, after forty years' wandering, unto the country which the Lord swore to give us. This was most proper to be said when they came first into Canaan; probably when they had been long settled there they varied from this form. Note, When God has made good his promises to us he expects that we should own it, to the honour of his faithfulness; this is like giving up the bond, as Solomon does, 1Ki_8:56, There has not failed one word of all his good promise. And our creature-comforts are doubly sweet to us when we see them flowing from the fountain of the promise.

2. He must remember and own the mean origin of that nation of which he was a member. How great soever they were now, and he himself with them, their beginning was very small, which ought thus to be kept in mind throughout all the ages of their church by this public confession, that they might not be proud of their privileges and advantages, but might for ever be thankful to that God whose grace chose them when they were so low and raised them so high. Two things they must own for this purpose: -

(1.) The meanness of their common ancestor: A Syrian ready to perish was my father, Deu_26:5. Jacob is here called an Aramite, or Syrian, because he lived twenty years in Padan-Aram; his wives were of that country, and his children were all born there, except Benjamin; and perhaps the confessor means not Jacob himself, but that son of Jacob who was the father of his tribe. However it be, both father and sons were more than once ready to perish, by Laban's severity, Esau's cruelty, and the famine in the land, which last was the occasion of their going down into Egypt. Laban the Syrian sought to destroy my father (so the Chaldee), had almost destroyed him, so the Arabic.

(2.) The miserable condition of their nation in its infancy. They sojourned in Egypt as strangers, they served there as slaves (Deu_26:6), and that a great while: as their father was called a Syrian, they might be called Egyptians; so that their possession of Canaan being so long discontinued they could not pretend any tenant-right to it. A poor, despised, oppressed people they were in Egypt, and therefore, though now rich and great, had no reason to be proud, or secure, or forgetful of God.

3. He must thankfully acknowledge God's great goodness, not only to himself in particular, but to Israel in general.

(1.) In bringing them out of Egypt, Deu_26:7, Deu_26:8. It is spoken of here as an act of pity - he looked on our affliction; and an act of power - he brought us forth with a mighty hand. This was a great salvation, fit to be remembered upon all occasions, and particularly upon this; they need not grudge to bring a basket of first-fruits to God, for to him they owed it that they were not now bringing in the tale of bricks to their cruel task-masters.

(2.) In settling them in Canaan: He hath given us this land, Deu_26:9. Observe, He must not only give thanks for his own lot, but for the land in general which was given to Israel; not only for this year's profits, but for the ground itself which produced them, which God had graciously granted to his ancestors and entailed upon his posterity. Note, The comfort we have in particular enjoyments should lead us to be thankful for our share in public peace and plenty; and with present mercies we should bless God for the former mercies we remember and the further mercies we expect and hope for.

4. He must offer to God his basket of first-fruits (Deu_26:10): “I have brought the first-fruits of the land (like a pepper-corn) as a quit-rent for the land which thou hast given me.” Note, Whatever we give to God, it is but of his own that we give him, 1Ch_29:14. And it becomes us, who receive so much from him, to study what we shall render to him. The basket he set before God; and the priests, as God's receivers, had the first-fruits, as perquisites of their place and fees for attending, Num_18:12.

III. The offerer is here appointed, when he has finished the service,

1. To give glory to God: Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God. His first-fruits were not accepted without further acts of adoration. A humble, reverent, thankful heart is that which God looks at and requires, and, without this, all we can put in a basket will not avail. If a man would give all the substance of his house to be excused from this, or in lieu of it, it would utterly be contemned.

2. To take the comfort of it to himself and family: Thou shalt rejoice in every good thing, Deu_26:11. It is the will of God that we should be cheerful, not only in our attendance upon his holy ordinances, but in our enjoyments of the gifts of his providence. Whatever good thing God gives us, it is his will that we should make the most comfortable use we can of it, yet still tracing the streams to the fountain of all comfort and consolation. ― Henry 

[daniel1212av]

Deu_26:5-9
אבי אבד ארמּי, “a lost (perishing) Aramaean was my father” (not the Aramaean, Laban, wanted to destroy my father, Jacob, as the Chald., Arab., Luther, and others render it). אבד signifies not only going astray, wandering, but perishing, in danger of perishing, as in Job_29:13; Pro_31:6, etc. Jacob is referred to, for it was he who went down to Egypt in few men. He is mentioned as the tribe-father of the nation, because the nation was directly descended from his sons, and also derived its name of Israel from him. Jacob is called in Aramaean, not only because of his long sojourn in Aramaea (Gen 29-31), but also because he got his wives and children there (cf. Hos_12:13); and the relatives of the patriarchs had accompanied Abraham from Chaldaea to Mesopotamia (Aram; see Gen_11:30). מעט בּמתי, consisting of few men (בּ, the so-called beth essent., as in Deu_10:22; Exo_6:3, etc.; vid., Ewald, §299, q.). Compare Gen_34:30, where Jacob himself describes his family as “few in number.” On the number in the family that migrated into Egypt, reckoned at seventy souls, see the explanation at Gen_46:27. On the multiplication in Egypt into a great and strong people, see Exo_1:7, Exo_1:9; and on the oppression endured there, Exo_1:11-22, and Exo_2:23. - The guidance out of Egypt amidst great signs (Deu_26:8 ), as in Deu_4:34.  — K+D


Deu 26:12-15 -
Concerning the disposal of their tithe the third year we had the law before, Deu_14:28, Deu_14:29. The second tithe, which in the other two years was to be spent in extraordinaries at the feasts, was to be spent the third year at home, in entertaining the poor. Now because this was done from under the eye of the priests, and a great confidence was put in the people's honesty, that they would dispose of it according to the law, to the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless (Deu_26:12), it is therefore required that when at the next feast after they appeared before the Lord they should there testify (as it were) upon oath, in a religious manner, that they had fully administered, and been true to their trust.

I. They must make a solemn protestation to this purport, Deu_26:13, Deu_26:14. 1. That no hallowed things were hoarded up: “I have brought them away out of my house, nothing now remains there but my own part.”

2. That the poor, and particularly poor ministers, poor strangers, and poor widows, had had their part according to the commandment. It is fit that God, who by his providence gives us all we have, should by his law direct the using of it, and, though we are not now under such particular appropriations of our revenue as they then were, yet, in general, we are commanded to give alms of such things as we have; and then, and not otherwise, all things are clean to us. Then we may take the comfort of our enjoyments, when God has thus had his dues out of them. This is a commandment which must not be transgressed, no, not with an excuse of its being forgotten, Deu_26:13. 3. That none of this tithe had been misapplied to any common use, much less to any ill use. This seems to refer to the tithe of the other two years, which was to be eaten by the owners themselves; they must profess,

(1.) That they had not eaten of it in their mourning, when, by their mourning for the dead, they were commonly unclean; or they had not eaten of it grudgingly, as those that all their days eat in darkness.

(2.) That they had not sacrilegiously alienated it to any common use, for it was not their own. And, (3.) That they had not given it for the dead, for the honour of their dead gods, or in hope of making it beneficial to their dead friends. Now the obliging of them to make this solemn protestation at the three years' end would be an obligation upon them to deal faithfully, knowing that they must be called upon thus to purge themselves. It is our wisdom to keep conscience clear at all times, that when we come to give up our account we may lift up our face without spot. The Jews say that this protestation of their integrity was to be made with a low voice, because it looked like a self-commendation, but that the foregoing confession of God's goodness was to be made with a loud voice to his glory. He that durst not make this protestation must bring his trespass-offering, Lev_5:15.

II. To this solemn protestation they must add a solemn prayer (Deu_26:15), not particularly for themselves, but for God's people Israel; for in the common peace and prosperity every particular person prospers and has peace. We must learn hence to be public-spirited in prayer, and to wrestle with God for blessings for the land and nation, our English Israel, and for the universal church, which we are directed to have an eye to in our prayers, as the Israel of God, Gal_6:16. In this prayer we are taught,

1. To look up to God as in a holy habitation, and thence to infer that holiness becomes his house, and that he will be sanctified in those that are about him.

2. To depend upon the favour of God, and his gracious cognizance, as sufficient to make us and our people happy.

3. To reckon it wonderful condescension in God to case an eye even upon so great and honourable a body as Israel was. It is looking down. 4. To be earnest with God for a blessing upon his people Israel, and upon the land which he has given us. For how should the earth yield its increase, or, if it does, what comfort can we take in it, unless therewith God, even our own God, gives us his blessing? Psa_67:6. ― Henry 

Deu 26:16-19 -
Two things Moses here urges to enforce all these precepts: -

1. That they were the commands of God, Deu_26:16. They were not the dictates of his own wisdom, nor were they enacted by any authority of his own, but infinite wisdom framed them, and the power of the King of kings made them binding to them: “The Lord thy God commands thee, therefore thou art bound in duty and gratitude to obey him, and it is at thy peril if thou disobey. They are his laws, therefore thou shalt do them, for to that end were they given thee: do them and not dispute them, do them and not draw back from them; do them not carelessly and hypocritically, but with thy heart and soul, thy whole heart and thy whole soul.” 2. That their covenant with God obliged them to keep these commands. He insists not only upon God's sovereignty over them, but his propriety in them, and the relation wherein they stood to him. The covenant is mutual, and it binds to obedience both ways.

(1.) That we may perform our part of the covenant, and answer the intentions of that (Deu_26:17): “Thou hast avouched and solemnly owned and confessed the Lord Jehovah to be thy God, thy Prince and Ruler. As he is so by an incontestable right, so he is by thy own consent.” They did this implicitly by their attendance on his word, had done it expressly (Ex. 24), and were now to do it again before they parted, Deu_29:1. Now this obliges us, in fidelity to our word, as well as in duty to our Sovereign, to keep his statutes and his commandments. We really forswear ourselves, and perfidiously violate the most sacred engagements, if, when we have taken the Lord to be our God, we do not make conscience of obeying his commands. (2.) That God's part of the covenant also may be made good, and the intentions of that answered (Deu_29:18, Deu_29:19): The Lord has avouched, not only taken, but publicly owned thee to be his segullah, his peculiar people, as he has promised thee, that is, according to the true intent and meaning of the promise. Now their obedience was not only the condition of this favour, and of the continuance of it (if they were not obedient, God would disown them, and cast them off), but it was also the principal design of this favour. “He has avouched thee on purpose that thou shouldest keep his commandments, that thou mightest have both the best directions and the best encouragements in religion.” Thus we are elected to obedience (1Pe_1:2), chosen that we should be holy (Eph_1:4), purified, a peculiar people, that we might not only do good works, but be zealous in them, Tit_2:14. Two things God is here said to design in avouching them to be his peculiar people (Deu_26:19), to make them high, and, in order to that, to make them holy; for holiness is true honour, and the only way to everlasting honour.

[1.] To make them high above all nations. The greatest honour we are capable of in this world is to be taken into covenant with God, and to live in his service. They should be, First, High in praise; for God would accept them, which is true praise, Rom_2:29. Their friends would admire them, Zep_3:19, Zep_3:20. Secondly, High in name, which, some think, denotes the continuance and perpetuity of that praise, a name that shall not be cut off. Thirdly, High in honour, that is, in all the advantages of wealth and power, which would make them great above their neighbours. See Jer_13:11.

[2.] That they might be a holy people, separated for God, devoted to him, and employed continually in his service. This God aimed at in taking them to be his people; so that, if they did not keep his commandments, they received all this grace in vain. ― Henry 

avouched = Admit openly and bluntly; make no bones about.

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  (Deu 27)  "And Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commandments which I command you this day. {2} And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaster them with plaster: {3} And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law, when thou art passed over, that thou mayest go in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, a land that floweth with milk and honey; as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee. {4} Therefore it shall be when ye be gone over Jordan, that ye shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in mount Ebal, and thou shalt plaster them with plaster. {5} And there shalt thou build an altar unto the LORD thy God, an altar of stones: thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them. {6} Thou shalt build the altar of the LORD thy God of whole stones: and thou shalt offer burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD thy God: {7} And thou shalt offer peace offerings, and shalt eat there, and rejoice before the LORD thy God. {8} And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly. {9} And Moses and the priests the Levites spake unto all Israel, saying, Take heed, and hearken, O Israel; this day thou art become the people of the LORD thy God. {10} Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the LORD thy God, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day.

{11} And Moses charged the people the same day, saying, {12} These shall stand upon mount Gerizim to bless the people, when ye are come over Jordan; Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin: {13} And these shall stand upon mount Ebal to curse; Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. {14} And the Levites shall speak, and say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice, {15} Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen. {16} Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen. {17} Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen. {18} Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way. And all the people shall say, Amen. {19} Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen. {20} Cursed be he that lieth with his father's wife; because he uncovereth his father's skirt. And all the people shall say, Amen. {21} Cursed be he that lieth with any manner of beast. And all the people shall say, Amen. {22} Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen. {23} Cursed be he that lieth with his mother in law. And all the people shall say, Amen. {24} Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbour secretly. And all the people shall say, Amen. {25} Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say, Amen. {26} Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen."

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Deuteronomy 27 -
Moses commands the people to write the law upon stones, when they shall come to the promised land, Deu_27:1-3. And to set up these stones on Mount Ebal, Deu_27:4; and to build an altar of unhewn stones, and to offer on it burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, Deu_27:5-7. The words to be written plainly, and the people to be exhorted to obedience, Deu_27:8-10. The six tribes which should stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, Deu_27:11, Deu_27:12. Those who are to stand upon Mount Ebal to curse the transgressors, Deu_27:13. The different transgressors against whom the curses are to be denounced, Deu_27:14-26. — Henry 

Deu 27:1-10 -
Here is,
I. A general charge to the people to keep God's commandments; for in vain did they know them, unless they would do them. This is pressed upon them, 1. With all authority. Moses with the elders of Israel, the rulers of each tribe (Deu_27:1), and again, Moses and the priests the Levites (Deu_27:9); so that the charge is given by Moses who was king in Jeshurun, and by their lords, both spiritual and temporal, in concurrence with him. Lest they should think that it was Moses only, an old and dying man, that made such ado about religion, or the priests and Levites only, whose trade it was to attend religion and who had their maintenance out of it, the elders of Israel, whom God had placed in honour and power over them, and who were men of business in the world and likely to be so long so when Moses was gone, they commanded their people to keep God's law. Moses, having put some of his honour upon them, joins them in commission with himself, in giving this charge, as Paul sometimes in his epistles joins with himself Silvanus and Timotheus. Note, All that have any interest in others, or power over them, should use it for the support and furtherance of religion among them. Though the supreme power of a nation provide ever so good laws for this purpose, if inferior magistrates in their places, and ministers in theirs, and masters of families in theirs, do not execute their offices, it will all be to little effect. 2. With all importunity. They press it upon them with the utmost earnestness (Deu_27:9, Deu_27:10): Take heed and hearken, O Israel. It is a thing that requires and deserves the highest degree of caution and attention. They tell them of their privilege and honour: “This day thou hast become the people of the Lord thy God, the Lord having avouched thee to be his own, and being now about to put thee in possession of Canaan which he had long promised as thy God (Gen_17:7, Gen_17:, and which if he had failed to do in due time, he would have been ashamed to be called thy God, Heb_11:16. Now thou art more than ever his people, therefore obey his voice.” Privileges should be improved as engagements to duty. Should not a people be ruled by their God?

II. A particular direction to them with great solemnity to register the words of this law, as soon as they came into Canaan. It was to be done but once, and at their entrance into the land of promise, in token of their taking possession of it under the several provisos and conditions contained in this law. There was a solemn ratification of the covenant between God and Israel at Mount Sinai, when an altar was erected, with twelve pillars, and the book of the covenant was produced, Exo_24:4. That which is here appointed is a somewhat similar solemnity.

1. They must set up a monument on which they must write the words of this law. (1.) The monument itself was to be very mean, only rough unhewn stone plastered over; not polished marble or alabaster, nor brass tables, but common plaster upon stone, Deu_27:2. The command is repeated (Deu_27:4), and orders are given that it be written, not very finely, to be admired by the curious, but very plainly, that he who runs may read it, Hab_2:2. The word of God needs not to be set off by the art of man, nor embellished with the enticing words of man's wisdom. But, (2.) The inscription was to be very great: All the words of this law, Deu_27:3, and again, Deu_27:8. Some understand it only of the covenant between God and Israel, mentioned Deu_26:17, Deu_26:18. Let this help be set up for a witness, like that memorial of the covenant between Laban and Jacob, which was nothing but a heap of stones thrown hastily together, upon which they did eat together in token of friendship (Gen_31:46, Gen_31:47), and that stone which Joshua set up, Jos_24:26. Others think that the curses of the covenant in this chapter were written upon this monument, the rather because it was set up in Mount Ebal, Deu_27:4. Others think that the whole book of Deuteronomy was written upon this monument, or at least the statutes and judgments from ch. 12 to the end of ch. 26. And it is not improbable that the heap might be so large as, taking in all the sides of it, to contain so copious an inscription, unless we will suppose (as some do) that the ten commandments only were here written, as an authentic copy of the close rolls which were laid up in the ark. They must write this when they had gone into Canaan, and yet Moses says (Deu_27:3), “Write it that thou mayest go in,” that is, “that thou mayest go in with comfort, and assurance of success and settlement, otherwise it were well for thee not to go in at all. Write it as the conditions of thy entry, and own that thou comest in upon these terms and no other: since Canaan is given by promise, it must be held by obedience.”

2. They must also set up an altar. By the words of the law which were written upon the plaster, God spoke to them; by the altar, and the sacrifices offered upon it, they spoke to God; and thus was communion kept up between them and God. The word and prayer must go together. Though they might not, of their own heads, set up any altar besides that at the tabernacle, yet, but the appointment of God, they might upon a special occasion. Elijah built a temporary altar of twelve unhewn stones, similar to this, when he brought Israel back to the covenant which was now made, 1Ki_18:31, 1Ki_18:32. Now,

(1.) This altar must be made of such stones as they found ready upon the field, not newly cut out of the rock, much less squared artificially: Thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them, Deu_27:5. Christ, our altar, is a stone cut out of the mountain without hands (Dan_2:34, Dan_2:35), and therefore refused by the builders, as having no form or comeliness, but accepted of God the Father, and made the head of the corner.

(2.) Burnt-offerings and peace-offerings must be offered upon this altar (Deu_27:6, Deu_27:7), that by them they might give glory to God and obtain favour. Where the law was written, an altar was set up close by it, to signify that we could not look with any comfort upon the law, being conscious to ourselves of the violation of it, if it were not for the great sacrifice by which atonement is made for sin; and the altar was set up on Mount Ebal, the mount on which those tribes stood that said Amen to the curses, to intimate that through Christ we are redeemed from the curse of the law. In the Old Testament the words of the law are written, with the curse annexed, which would fill us with horror and amazement if we had not in the New Testament (which is bound up with it) an altar erected close by it, which gives us everlasting consolation. (3.) They must eat there, and rejoice before the Lord their God, Deu_27:7. This signified,

 [1.] The consent they gave to the covenant; for the parties to a covenant ratified the covenant by feasting together. They were partakers of the altar, which was God's table, as his servants and tenants, and such they acknowledged themselves, and, being put in possession of this good land, bound themselves to pay the rent and to do the services reserved by the royal grant.

[2.] The comfort they took in the covenant; they had reason to rejoice in the law, when they had an altar, a remedial law, so near it. It was a great favour to them, and a token for good, that God gave them his statutes; and that they were owned as the people of God, and the children of the promise, was what they had reason to rejoice in, though, when this solemnity was to be performed, they were not put in full possession of Canaan; but God has spoken in his holiness, and then I will rejoice, Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine; all my own. — Henry 

[daniel1212av]

Deu 27:11-26 -
When the law was written, to be seen and read by all men, the sanctions of it were to be published, which, to complete the solemnity of their covenanting with God, they were deliberately to declare their approbation of. This they were before directed to do (Deu_11:29, Deu_11:30), and therefore the appointment here begins somewhat abruptly, Deu_27:12. There were, it seems, in Canaan, that part of it which afterwards fell to the lot of Ephraim (Joshua's tribe), two mountains that lay near together, with a valley between, one called Gerizim and the other Ebal. On the sides of these two mountains, which faced one another, all the tribes were to be drawn up, six on one side and six on the other, so that in the valley, at the foot of each mountain, they came pretty near together, so near as that the priests standing betwixt them might be heard by those that were next them on both sides; then when silence was proclaimed, and attention commanded, one of the priests, or perhaps more at some distance from each other, pronounced with a loud voice one of the curses here following, and all the people that stood on the side and foot of Mount Ebal (those that stood further off taking the signal from those that stood nearer and within hearing) said Amen; then the contrary blessing was pronounced, “Blessed is he that doth not so or so,” and then those that stood on the side, and at the foot, of Mount Gerizim, said Amen. This could not but affect them very much with the blessings and curses, the promises and threatenings, of the law, and not only acquaint all the people with them, but teach them to apply them to themselves.

I. Something is to be observed, in general, concerning this solemnity, which was to be done, but once and not repeated, but would be talked of to posterity,.

1. God appointed which tribes should stand upon Mount Gerizim and which on Mount Ebal (Deu_27:12, Deu_27:13), to prevent the disputes that might have arisen if they had been left to dispose of themselves. The six tribes that were appointed for blessing were all the children of the free women, for to such the promise belongs, Gal_4:31. Levi is here put among the rest, to teach ministers to apply to themselves the blessing and curse which they preach to others, and by faith to set their own Amen to it.

2. Of those tribes that were to say Amen to the blessings it is said, They stood to bless the people, but of the other, They stood to curse, not mentioning the people, as loth to suppose that any of this people whom God had taken for his own should lay themselves under the curse. Or, perhaps, the different mode of expression intimates that there was to be but one blessing pronounced in general upon the people of Israel, as a happy people, and that should ever be so, if they were obedient; and to this blessing the tribes on Mount Gerizim were to say Amen - “Happy art thou, O Israel, and mayest thou ever be so;” but then the curses come in as exceptions from the general rule, and we know exceptio firmat regulam - the exception confirms the rule. Israel is a blessed people, but, if there be any particular persons even among them that do such and such things as are mentioned, let them know that they have no part nor lot in the matter, but are under a curse. This shows how ready God is to bestow the blessing; if any fall under the curse, they may thank themselves, they bring it upon their own heads.

3. The Levites or priests, such of them as were appointed for that purpose, were to pronounce the curses as well as the blessings. They were ordained to bless (Deu_10:8 ), the priests did it daily, Num_6:23. But they must separate between the precious and the vile; they must not give that blessing promiscuously, but must declare it to whom it did not belong, lest those who had no right to it themselves should think to share in it by being in the crowd. Note, Ministers must preach the terrors of the law as well as the comforts of the gospel; must not only allure people to their duty with the promises of a blessing, but awe them to it with the threatenings of a curse.

4. The curses are here expressed, but not the blessings; for as many as were under the law were under the curse, but it was a honour reserved for Christ to bless us, and so to do that for us which the law could not do, in that it was weak. In Christ's sermon upon the mount, which was the true Mount Gerizim, we have blessings only, Mat_5:3, etc. 5. To each of the curses the people were to say Amen. It is easy to understand the meaning of Amen to the blessings. The Jews have a saying to encourage people to say Amen to the public prayers, Whosoever answereth Amen, after him that blesseth, he is as he that blesseth. But how could they say Amen to the curses? (1.) It was a profession of their faith in the truth of them, that these and the like curses were not bug-bears to frighten children and fools, but the real declarations of the wrath of God against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, not one iota of which shall fall to the ground.

(2.) It was an acknowledgment of the equity of these curses; when they said Amen, they did in effect say, not only, It is certain it shall be so, but, It is just it should be so. Those who do such things deserve to fall and lie under the curse.

(3.) It was such an imprecation upon themselves as strongly obliged them to have nothing to do with those evil practices upon which the curse is here entailed. “Let God's wrath fall upon us if ever we do such things.” We read of those that entered into a curse (and with us that is the usual form of a solemn oath) to walk in God's law Neh_10:29. Nay, the Jews say (as the learned bishop Patrick quotes them), “All the people, by saying this Amen, became bound for one another, that they would observe God's laws, by which every man was obliged, as far as he could, to prevent his neighbour from breaking these laws, and to reprove those that had offended, lest they should bear sin and the curse for them.”

II. Let us now observe what are the particular sins against which the curses are here denounced.

1. Sins against the second commandment. This flaming sword is set to keep that commandment first, Deu_27:15. Those are here cursed, not only that worship images, but that make them or keep them, if they be such (or like such) as idolaters used in the service of their gods. Whether it be a graven image or a molten image, it comes all to one, it is an abomination to the Lord, even though it be not set up in public, but in a secret place, - though it be not actually worshipped, nor is it said to be designed for worship, but reserved there with respect and a constant temptation. He that does this may perhaps escape punishment from men, but he cannot escape the curse of God.

2. Against the fifth commandment, Deu_27:16. The contempt of parents is a sin so heinous that it is put next to the contempt of God himself. If a man abused his parents, either in word or deed, he fell under the sentence of the magistrate, and must be put to death, Exo_21:15, Exo_21:17. But to set light by them in his heart was a thing which the magistrate could not take cognizance of, and therefore it is here laid under the curse of God, who knows the heart. Those are cursed children that carry themselves scornfully and insolently towards their parents.

3. Against the eighth commandment. The curse of God is here fastened,

(1.) Upon an unjust neighbour that removes the land-marks, Deu_27:17. See Deu_19:14. Upon an unjust counsellor, who, when his advice is asked, maliciously directs his friend to that which he knows will be to his prejudice, which is making the blind to wander out of the way, under pretence of directing him in the way, than which nothing can be either more barbarous or more treacherous, Deu_27:18. Those that seduce others from the way of God's commandments, and entice them to sin, bring this curse upon themselves, which our Saviour has explained, Mat_15:14, The blind lead the blind, and both shall fall into the ditch.

(3.) Upon an unjust judge, that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow, whom he should protect and vindicate, Deu_27:19. These are supposed to be poor and friendless (nothing to be got by doing them a kindness, nor any thing lost by disobliging them), and therefore judges may be tempted to side with their adversaries against right and equity; but cursed are such judges.

4. Against the seventh commandment. Incest is a cursed sin, with a sister, a father's wife, or a mother-in-law, Deu_27:20, Deu_27:22, Deu_27:23. These crimes not only exposed men to the sword of the magistrate (Lev_20:11), but, which is more dreadful, to the wrath of God; bestiality likewise, Deu_27:21.

5. Against the sixth commandment. Two of the worst kinds of murder are here specified: - (1.) Murder unseen, when a man does not set upon his neighbour as a fair adversary, giving him an opportunity to defend himself, but smites him secretly (Deu_27:24), as by poison or otherwise, when he sees not who hurts him. See Psa_10:8, Psa_10:9. Though such secret murders may go undiscovered and unpunished, yet the curse of God will follow them. (2.) Murder under colour of law, which is the greatest affront to God, for it makes an ordinance of his to patronise the worst of villains, and the greatest wrong to our neighbour, for it ruins his honour as well as his life: cursed therefore is he that will be hired, or bribed, to accuse, or to convict, or to condemn, and so to slay, an innocent person, Deu_27:25. See Psa_15:5. ... Henry

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6. The solemnity concludes with a general curse upon him that confirmeth not, or, as it might be read, that performeth not, all the words of this law to do them, Deu_27:26. By our obedience to the law we set our seal to it, and so confirm it, as by our disobedience we do what lies in us to disannul it, Psa_119:126. The apostle, following all the ancient versions, reads it, Cursed is every one that continues not, Gal_3:10. Lest those who were guilty of other sins, not mentioned in this commination, should think themselves safe from the curse, this last reaches all; not only those who do the evil which the law forbids, but those also who omit the good which the law requires: to this we must all say Amen, owning ourselves under the curse, justly to have deserved it, and that we must certainly have perished for ever under it, if Christ had not redeemed us from the curse of the law, by being made a curse for us. — Henry 

  See http://peacebyjesus.witnesstoday.org/TheDeathPenalty.html for a full(?) list of sins requiring the death penalty (and let me know if i have missed any).  And then thank God you lived long enough to receive redemption through Jesus Christ!

[daniel1212av]

(Deu 28)  "And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: {2} And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. {3} Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. {4} Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. {5} Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. {6} Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. {7} The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. {8} The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. {9} The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. {10} And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee. {11} And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee. {12} The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. {13} And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them: {14} And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.