Now, Israel, what does Yahweh your God require of you, but to fear Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, and to serve Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
Parallel Translations
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Now, Israel, what does Yahweh your God require of you, but to fear Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, and to serve Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
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And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,
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And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul;
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Cross-references (34)
Passages linked to Deuteronomy 10:12 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does Yahweh require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
- Deuteronomy 6:5 You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.
- Luke 10:27 He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
- Deuteronomy 5:33 You shall walk in all the way which Yahweh your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.
- Deuteronomy 11:13 It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to my commandments which I command you today, to love Yahweh your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
- Mark 12:29-33 Jesus answered, “The greatest is, ‘Hear, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one: you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. The second is like this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” The scribe said to him, “Truly, teacher, you have said well that he is one, and there is none other but he, and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
- Matthew 22:37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
- Jeremiah 32:39-40 I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their good, and the good of their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from following them, to do them good. I will put my fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from me.
- 1 John 4:19-20 We love him, because he first loved us. If a man says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who doesn’t love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
- Deuteronomy 4:29 But from there you shall seek Yahweh your God, and you shall find him when you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
- Deuteronomy 30:16 For I command you today to love Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances, that you may live and multiply, and that Yahweh your God may bless you in the land where you go in to possess it.
- Zephaniah 3:9 For then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that they may all call on Yahweh’s name, to serve him shoulder to shoulder.
- Titus 2:11-12 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we would live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age;
- Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, receiving a Kingdom that can’t be shaken, let’s have grace, through which we serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe,
- 1 Peter 1:15-17 but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy; for I am holy.” If you call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man’s work, pass the time of your living as foreigners here in reverent fear,
- Deuteronomy 6:13 You shall fear Yahweh your God; and you shall serve him, and shall swear by his name.
- Deuteronomy 30:20 to love Yahweh your God, to obey his voice, and to cling to him; for he is your life, and the length of your days, that you may dwell in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
- Joshua 22:5 Only take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you, to love Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commandments, to hold fast to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
- Psalms 81:13 Oh that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!
- Psalms 128:1 Blessed is everyone who fears Yahweh, who walks in his ways.
- Psalms 145:20 Yahweh preserves all those who love him, but he will destroy all the wicked.
- Ezekiel 11:20 that they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
- Job 36:11 If they listen and serve him, they will spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.
- Psalms 34:9 Oh fear Yahweh, you his saints, for there is no lack with those who fear him.
- Matthew 11:29-30 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
- Luke 11:42 But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, but you bypass justice and God’s love. You ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.
- 1 John 5:5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
- Acts 9:31 So the assemblies throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace, and were built up. They were multiplied, walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit.
- Romans 8:28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.
- 1 John 2:15 Don’t love the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love isn’t in him.
- 1 John 5:2-3 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments. For this is loving God, that we keep his commandments. His commandments are not grievous.
- Jeremiah 7:22-23 For I didn’t speak to your fathers or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices; but this thing I commanded them, saying, ‘Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. Walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’
- Romans 1:9 For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the Good News of his Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you always in my prayers,
- Psalms 18:1 I love you, Yahweh, my strength.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain For all our sins and transgressions God requireth nothing…
For all our sins and transgressions God requireth nothing but to turn to him and obey him.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Deu 10:12 And now, Israel, what doth the LORD…
Deu 10:12 And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,
Ver. 12. What doth the Lord thy God require of thee?] Beneficium postulat officium; mercy calls for duty.
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Require of thee.] Or, as some render it, Request of thee; the word here used signifieth, petere more mendicorum, to crave as beggars do; and so it is used in Psa 109:10.
But to fear the Lord.] This is the totum hominis {Ecc 12:13} the bonum hominis {Mic 6:8} the unum necessarium {Luk 10:42} the primum quaerendum {Mat 6:33}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain What doth the Lord thy God require, by way…
What doth the Lord thy God require, by way of duty and gratitude to God for such amazing mercies?
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Here is a most pathetic exhortation to obedience, inferred…
Here is a most pathetic exhortation to obedience, inferred from the premises, and urged with very powerful arguments and a great deal of persuasive rhetoric. Moses brings it in like an orator, with an appeal to his auditors And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee? Deu 10:12. Ask what he requires; as David (Psa 116:12), What shall I render? When we have received mercy from God it becomes us to enquire what returns we shall make to him. Consider what he requires, and you will find it is nothing but what is highly just and reasonable in itself and of unspeakable benefit and advantage to you. Let us see here what he does require, and what abundant reason there is why we should do what he requires.
I. We are here most plainly directed in our duty to God, to our neighbour, and to ourselves.
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1. We are here taught our duty to God, both in the dispositions and affections of our souls and in the actions of our lives, our principles and our practices. (1.) We must fear the Lord our God, Deu 10:12, and again Deu 10:20. We must adore his majesty, acknowledge his authority, stand in awe of his power, and dread his wrath. This is gospel duty, Rev 14:6, Rev 14:7. (2.) We must love him, be well pleased that he is, desire that he may be ours, and delight in the contemplation of him and in communion with him. Fear him as a great God, and our Lord, love him as a good God, and our Father and benefactor. (3.) We must walk in his ways, that is, the ways which he has appointed us to walk in. The whole course of our conversation must be conformable to his holy will. (4.) We must serve him (Deu 10:20), serve him with all our heart and soul (Deu 10:12), devote ourselves to his honour, put ourselves under his government, and lay out ourselves to advance all the interests of his kingdom among men. And we must be hearty and zealous in his service, engage and employ our inward man in his work, and what we do for him we must do cheerfully and with a good will. (5.) We must keep his commandments and his statutes, Deu 10:13. Having given up ourselves to his service, we must make his revealed will our rule in every thing, perform all he prescribes, forbear all the forbids, firmly believing that all the statutes he commands us are for our good. Besides the reward of obedience, which will be our unspeakable gain, there are true honour and pleasure in obedience. It is really for our present good to be meek and humble, chaste and sober, just and charitable, patient and contented; these make us easy, and safe, and pleasant, and truly great. (6.) We must give honour to God, in swearing by his name (Deu 10:20); so give him the honour of his omniscience, his sovereignty, his justice, as well as of his necessary existence. Swear by his name, and not by the name of any creature, or false god, whenever an oath for confirmation is called for. (7.) To him we must cleave, Deu 10:20. Having chosen him for our God, we must faithfully and constantly abide with him and never forsake him. Cleave to him as one we love and delight in, trust and confide in, and from whom we have great expectations.
2. We are here taught our duty to our neighbour (Deu 10:19): Love the stranger; and, if the stranger, much more our brethren, as ourselves. If the Israelites that were such a peculiar people, so particularly distinguished from all people, must be kind to strangers, much more must we, that are not enclosed in such a pale; we must have a tender concern for all that share with us in the human nature, and as we have opportunity; (that is, according to their necessities and our abilities) we must do good to all men. Two arguments are here urged to enforce this duty: - (1.) God's common providence, which extends itself to all nations of men, they being all made of one blood. God loveth the stranger (Deu 10:18), that is, he gives to all life, and breath, and all things, even to those that are Gentiles, and strangers to the commonwealth of Israel and to Israel's God. He knows those perfectly whom we know nothing of. He gives food and raiment even to those to whom he has not shown his word and statutes. God's common gifts to mankind oblige us to honour all men. Or the expression denotes the particular care which Providence takes of strangers in distress, which we ought to praise him for (Psa 146:9, The Lord preserveth the strangers), and to imitate him, to serve him, and concur with him therein, being forward to make ourselves instruments in his hand of kindness to strangers. (2.) The afflicted condition which the Israelites themselves had been in, when they were strangers in Egypt. Those that have themselves been in distress, and have found mercy with God, should sympathize most feelingly with those that are in the like distress and be ready to show kindness to them. The people of the Jews, notwithstanding these repeated commands given them to be kind to strangers, conceived a rooted antipathy to the Gentiles, whom they looked upon with the utmost disdain, which made them envy the grace of God and the gospel of Christ, and this brought a final ruin upon themselves.
3. We are here taught our duty to ourselves (Deu 10:16): Circumcise the foreskin of your hearts. that is, "Cast away from you all corrupt affections and inclinations, which hinder you from fearing and loving God. Mortify the flesh with the lusts of it. Away with all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, which obstruct the free course of the word of God to your hearts. Rest not in the circumcision of the body, which was only the sign, but be circumcised in heart, which is the thing signified." See Rom 2:29. The command of Christ goes further than this, and obliges us not only to cut off the foreskin of the heart, which may easily be spared, but to cut off the right hand and to pluck out the right eye that is an offence to us; the more spiritual the dispensation is the more spiritual we are obliged to be, and to go the closer in mortifying sin. And be no more stiff-necked, as they had been hitherto, Deu 9:24. "Be not any longer obstinate against divine commands and corrections, but ready to comply with the will of God in both." The circumcision of the heart makes it ready to yield to God, and draw in his yoke.
II. We are here most pathetically persuaded to our duty. Let but reason rule us, and religion will.
1. Consider the greatness and glory of God, and therefore fear him, and from that principle serve and obey him. What is it that is thought to make a man great, but great honour, power, and possessions? Think then how great the Lord our God is, and greatly to be feared. (1.) He has great honour, a name above every name. He is God of gods, and Lord of lords, Deu 10:17. Angels are called gods, so are magistrates, and the Gentiles had gods many, and lords many, the creatures of their own fancy; but God is infinitely above all these nominal deities. What an absurdity would it be for them to worship other gods when the God to whom they had sworn allegiance was the God of gods! (2.) He has great power. He is a mighty God and terrible (Deu 10:17), who regardeth not persons. He has the power of a conqueror, and so he is terrible to those that resist him and rebel against him. He has the power of a judge, and so he is just to all those that appeal to him or appear before him. And it is as much the greatness and honour of a judge to be impartial in his justice, without respect to persons or bribes, as it is to a general to be terrible to the enemy. Our God is both. (3.) He has great possessions. Heaven and earth are his (Deu 10:14), and all the hosts and stars of both. Therefore he is able to bear us out in his service, and to make up the losses we sustain in discharging our duty to him. And yet therefore he has no need of us, nor any thing we have or can do; we are undone without him, but he is happy without us, which makes the condescensions of his grace, in accepting us and our services, truly admirable. Heaven and earth are his possession, and yet the Lord's portion is his people.
2. Consider the goodness and grace of God, and therefore love him, and from that principle serve and obey him. His goodness is his glory as much as his greatness. (1.) He is good to all. Whomsoever he finds miserable, to them he will be found merciful: He executes the judgment of the fatherless and widow, Deu 10:18. It is his honour to help the helpless, and to succour those that most need relief and that men are apt to do injury to, or at least to put a light upon. See Psa 68:4, Psa 68:5; Psa 146:7, Psa 146:9. (2.) But truly God is good to Israel in a special obligations to him: "He is they praise, and he is thy God, Deu 10:21. Therefore love him and serve him, because of the relation wherein he stands to thee. He is thy God, a God in covenant with thee, and as such he is thy praise," that is [1.] "He puts honour upon thee; he is the God in whom, all the day long, thou mayest boast that thou knowest him, and art known of him. If he is thy God, he is thy glory." [2.] "He expects honour from thee. He is thy praise," that is "he is the God whom thou art bound to praise; if he has not praise from thee, whence may he expect it?" He inhabits the praises of Israel. Consider, First, The gracious choice he made of Israel, Deu 10:15. "He had a delight in thy fathers, and therefore chose their seed." Not that there was any thing in them to merit his favour, or to recommend them to it, but so it seemed good in his eyes. He would be kind to them, though he had no need of them. Secondly, The great things he had done for Israel, Deu 10:21, Deu 10:22. He reminds them not only of what they had heard with their ears, and which their fathers had told them of, but of what they had seen with their eyes, and which they must tell their children of, particularly that within a few generations seventy souls (for they were no more when Jacob went down into Egypt) increased to a great nation, as the stars of heaven for multitude. And the more they were in number the more praise and service God expected from them; yet it proved, as in the old world, that when they began to multiply they corrupted themselves.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God…
And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee,.... For all these favours bestowed upon them, the forgiveness of their sins, and a fresh intimation of their possession of the land of Canaan, and the renewal of the promise of it made to their fathers:
but to fear the Lord thy God; to fear him with a filial fear, to fear him and his goodness, and him for his goodness sake, and particularly for his pardoning grace and mercy vouchsafed to them; see Psa 130:4,
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to walk in all his ways; prescribed and directed to by him, every path of duty, whether moral, ceremonial, or judicial:
and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul; for that is the best service which springs from love, and love constrains unto, and which is hearty and sincere, as that is, and is performed in the best manner such are capable of.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain What doth he require - By way of duty…
What doth he require - By way of duty and gratitude for such amazing mercies.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 12. Now, Israel, what doth the Lord -…
Verse 12. Now, Israel, what doth the Lord - require of thee] An answer is immediately given. God requires,
1. That ye fear him as Jehovah your God; him who made, preserves, and governs you.
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2. That ye walk in all his ways - that, having received his precepts, all of which are good and excellent, ye obey the whole; walking in God's ways, not your own, nor in the ways of the people of the land.
3. That ye love him - have confidence in him as your father and friend, have recourse to him in all your necessities, and love him in return for his love.
4. That you serve him - give him that worship which he requires, performing it with all your heart - the whole of your affections, and with all your soul - your will, understanding, and judgment. In a word, putting forth your whole strength and energy of body and soul in the sacred work.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Deu 10:12. What doth he require? — By way…
Deu 10:12. What doth he require? — By way of duty and gratitude for such amazing mercies? But to fear the Lord thy God, &c. — When Jehovah is our God in Christ, pacified toward us after all we have done, and has received us for his adopted children, then, and not before, are we qualified to comply with his will as here enjoined, to love as well as fear him, and to walk in all his ways, yea, to serve him, as it is here expressed, with all our heart and all our soul. For then, beholding what manner of love be hath bestowed upon us, in making us his children, we love him because he hath first loved us, and that love becomes a source of never failing obedience in our souls: it makes the tree good, and then the fruit is good also. Reader, consider this well, lest thy religion be mere formality and hypocrisy, and while thou hast a name to live, thou be dead to God and things divine!
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain After these emphatic warnings against self-righteousness the principal topic…
After these emphatic warnings against self-righteousness the principal topic is resumed from Deut. 6, and this division of the discourse is drawn to a conclusion in the next two chapters by a series of direct and positive exhortations to a careful fulfillment of the duties prescribed in the first two of the Ten “Words.”
Deu 10:12
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What doth the Lord thy God require ... - A noteworthy demand. God has in the Mosaic law positively commanded many things. However, these relate to external observances, which if need be can be enforced. But love and veneration cannot be enforced, even by God himself. They must be spontaneous. Hence, even under the law of ordinances where so much was peremptorily laid down, and omnipotence was ready to compel obedience, those sentiments, which are the spirit and life of the whole, have to be, as they here are, invited and solicited.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain And now. He shews what advantages may be derived…
And now. He shews what advantages may be derived from a constant observance of the commandments, that it may be well with thee, ver. 13. God stands not in need of our services, (ver. 14,) but chooses whom he pleases to display the treasures of his love, (ver. 15,) which ought to move us strongly to make him a suitable return of gratitude, (Calmet) by withdrawing our affections from every thing that may be displeasing to him, ver. 16. If we refuse, we must expect to fall under the rod of his indignation, notwithstanding all the efforts of his clemency, which he holds forth for our imitation, ver. 17, 19. He will judge all alike, the rich and the poor. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 12. What doth the Lord thy God require of…
12. What doth the Lord thy God require of thee — In few words Moses sums up the requirements of the law: Obedience, reverence, love. In these consists the fulfilling of the law.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 12. And now] in conclusion; in the same way…
12. And now] in conclusion; in the same way opened the concluding stage of the first discourses, Deu_4:1.
What doth … require of thee] what is … asking of thee. Cp. Mic_6:8, seeking from thee. The force of the question lies in this, that it is nothing impossible or extraordinary or complicated, that God demands, but what is simple and within the people’s duty.
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to fear] Deu_4:10 (q.v.), Deu_6:2; Deu_6:13, Deu_10:20.
to walk in all his ways] See on Deu_5:33.
to love him … with all thy heart, etc.] See on Deu_6:5.
to serve] or worship; see on Deu_4:19, Deu_6:13; combined with love or fear, Deu_10:20, Deu_11:13, Deu_13:4, etc., and deuteronomic passages in other books.
13. to keep] or in that thou keepest, for this is how they are to fear and love Him.
commandments … and statutes] Varied from Deu_7:11. for thy good, Deu_6:24. That the verse is made up of formulas does not necessarily prove its secondary character (Steuern.).
12, 13 sum up once more the main demand of the discourses.
Chs. Deu_10:12 to Deu_11:32. Final Exhortations, Introductory to the Laws
Enforced by the preceding Retrospect, the discourse continues to urge its practical conclusions of full fear and love to God, by worshipping and obeying Him (Deu_10:12-13); because, though all heaven and earth is His, He was pleased to love the fathers of Israel and to choose their posterity (Deu_10:14-15). Changing to the Pl. address the discourse urges Israel to circumcise their hearts and be no more stiffnecked, for their God is the greatest God and Lord, mightiest and most terrible and absolutely impartial (Deu_10:16-17). He secures justice for the widow and orphan and loves the stranger, as Israel, themselves strangers in Egypt, must do (Deu_10:18-19). Returning to the Sg. exhortations follow to fear, worship, and cleave to Jehovah, for He is Israel’s God who has done all these mighty things for the people, and out of seventy individuals who went down to Egypt, made them a multitude like to the stars; therefore loving God they shall keep His commandments (Deu_10:20 to Deu_11:1). Once more in the Pl., Israel are reminded of the discipline of God, which they themselves have experienced in their deliverance from Egypt and guidance through the desert, and in the punishment for rebellion of Dathan and Abiram (Deu_10:2-7); therefore they shall keep the commandment, that they may be strong, possess the land and prolong their days upon it (Deu_10:8-9). Oscillating between Sg. and Pl. there follows a description of the distinction of the land from the flat and rainless Egypt, irrigated from the Nile by the foot of man: it is a land whose water comes from heaven and God’s eyes are always upon it (Deu_10:10-12); if Israel observe His commandments (vv. here the discourse passes from Moses to the person of the Deity), He will give the rains in their seasons and fulness of crops (Deu_10:13-15). Let them not turn away from Him to other gods, lest in His anger He send drought and they perish (Deu_10:16-17). Therefore they shall lay His words to heart, bind them as signs on their hands and brows, teach them to their children, and write them by their doors and gates that their days, and their children’s, may be long in the land (Deu_10:18-21). For if they keep all his commandments (vv. the discourse is already again in the person of Moses) God will expel all these nations and give them every part of the land they tread, from the desert to Lebanon and from the Euphrates to the Western Sea (Deu_10:22-22). The speaker, in short, has set a blessing and a curse before Israel on conditions respectively, and they shall put them up on Gerizim and Ebal on the other side of Jordan, which they are about to cross and then they must keep all the statutes and judgments now to be delivered to them (Deut 10:26–32).—So we reach the close of the discourses introductory to the Laws. The frequent changes between the Sg. and Pl. forms of address, sometimes coinciding with transitions to subjects not always relevant to the main theme of the discourses, are proof of the composite character of this closing section; and after the text (which, as the versions show, is by no means certain) has been corrected, furnish material for the question whether it is possible to discriminate two original discourses, introductory to the Code, one Sg. the other Pl., or whether the changes of address may be explained by the expansion of one original at the hands of editors.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (12) And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy…
(12) And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee.—“Although ye have done all this, still His tender mercies and His affection are set upon you, and after all that ye have sinned before Him, He doth not ask anything of you but to fear,” &c. (Rashi). The Rabbis have drawn this exposition from hence: “Everything is in the hand of Heaven (to bestow), save only the fear of Heaven.” But it is written elsewhere, “I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.” (Comp. also Mic_6:8; Mat_23:23.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 12, 13. God had showed great favor to…
Vers. 12, 13. God had showed great favor to Israel; what return did he require? Only what, without any prescription, they were bound to render fear, love, and obedience. (comp. Mic_6:8) To fear the Lord thy God (cf. Deu_6:2, Deu_6:13) To walk in all his ways; to receive his truth, accept his law, and follow the course of conduct which he prescribes (cf. Gen_18:19; Psa_25:4, 5 67:2; Act_18:25, Act_18:26) To love him (cf. Exo_20:6) "Fear with love! Love without fear relaxes; fear without love enslaves, and leads to despair" (J. Gerhard). There is a fear with which love cannot coexist a fear which hath torment, and which love casts out as its antagonist; (1Jn_4:18) but the fear of God which he requires is that pious reverence which not only can coexist with love to him, but is not where love is not. And to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul. Love prompts to service. Wherever love fills the heart, it seeks expression in acts of service to its object; and where no such expression comes forth, the evidence is wanting of the existence of the emotion in the bosom. (cf. Joh_14:15, Joh_14:23; Gal_5:13; 1Jn_3:18) For thy good. (cf. Deu_5:29 Deu_6:24) "In serving the Lord the glory redoundeth unto him, the benefit to ourselves; for them that honor him he will honor, (1Sa_2:30) and "godliness hath the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come (1Ti_4:8) (Ainsworth).
Vers. 12-16. Israel"s duty summed up and touchingly enforced.
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The rehearsal and review of Israel"s waywardness, in which the great lawgiver had been reminding the people how much God had had to bear with from them, must have been extremely painful to him, as it was reproachful for them. That part of the review closes with the eleventh verse. And then follows thereon one of the most tender and touching appeals to which the old man could give vent. The two first words of the twelfth verse," And now," convey a world of meaning. We think we see the lips of Moses quiver, we hear his voice falter, we note the tear standing in his eye, as, with intensely deep pathos and loving solicitude, he shows Israel how past waywardness on their part, and forbearance and forgiveness on God"s part, gave them an urgent reason why they should seek henceforth to love, not in word only, but in deed and of a truth. There are two lines of thought suggested by this paragraph.
I HERE IS THE SUM OF ISRAEL"S LIFE-DUTY NEWLY ENJOINED. This may be set under six heads, which will be but enumerated here.
1. They must cease their rebellious spirit: "be no more stiffnecked.
2. They must fear the Lord their God.
3. With fear they must blend love.
4. To love and fear they must add loyalty of action, by walking in God"s ways.
5. They must observe alike the commandments or moral precepts, and the statutes or several appointments.
6. And finally, they must guard against all merely surface work: "Circumcise the foreskin of your heart." Though there were many more rites in Judaism than there are under Christianity, yet a merely ritual service was no more acceptable then than now. This summing up of life"s duty should be compared with that in Mic_6:8.
II THERE IS A GREAT REASON FOR DISCHARGING THAT DUTY ENFORCED BY TENDER APPEAL. In this appeal, as we venture to call it, there are but few words. But how full of meaning they are! The word "nownunc, at this time; and as put here it may suggest six queries, each of which contains a most tender reason for future loyalty, which the preacher may well urge with all possible force. We will name the queries one by one.
1. And now, Israel, have you not been thus wayward long enough? Is it not time that you reconsidered the position in which you stand with reference to Jehovah? Look! See where you are! Think how long you have been trying God"s patience and long-suffering!
1. And now, Israel, since God has continued to spare you, since he has forgiven you and not cast you off, since he has consented to bear with you still, will you not renew your vows, with less, indeed, of self-confidence, but with more of penitential loyalty?
2. And now, Israel, think again, "what doth the Lord thy God require of thee?" Is it more than what is reasonable and right? Could he ask less consistently with his righteousness and honor? Are not all his commands wise and right? Is it not an easy yoke to love a God so kind, to fear a God so holy, to obey a God so faithful and true?
3. And now, Israel, look at the fact that all God"s commands are for your good (ver. 13)! A perfect obedience would ensure perfect content. All the while you have been rebellious against the Lord, you have been fighting against your own highest interests. God"s honor and your happiness require precisely the same course of life.
4. And now, Israel, do remember this, for consider how great is the Divine condescension in caring for you at all (ver. 14): "Lo! the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord"s thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is." And what, what but infinite love should lead him thus to stoop from his high throne to care for you? It is not for your righteousness, for you are a stiffnecked people. No account can be given of why God should care for you so, save that he loves to do it. Then surely the reason is overwhelmingly strong for your gratitude, loyalty, and love.
5. And now, Israel, seeing these things are so, could you do less for such a God than he asks of you, even if he did not ask it? So rich should be your joy in him, so reverent your fear, so devout your love, that you would with ready mind give God all, even if he did not require all. What he is to you should lead you to be to him all that he would have you be. Such seems to us to be a true expansion of the pathetic plea which this passage contains, which the connection in which it stands necessarily suggests. How much stronger every one of the six points may be made from the evangelic standpoint, the Christian preacher will in a moment see. By as much as the love of God in the great redemption in Christ Jesus is a grander disclosure than his love as revealed in the deliverance from Egypt, by so much should each argument be the more tender and strong. When we read, "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us," what can the proper response for our hearts be but this, "We love him, because he first loved us"? Such love should constrain us to obey, even if we had no written Law by which obedience was required.
Vers. 12, 13. The supreme requirement.
With this Moses began, (Deu_6:4) and with this he ends. The sum of the Law, and the sum of all his exhortations. It all and always comes back to this: (Ecc_12:13) "What doth the Lord require of thee?" etc. We have here:
1. The central requirement.
2. The all-embracing requirement.
3. The indispensable requirement; that for which nothing else can be accepted as a substitute.
4. The requirement of kindness thy good.
5. A reasonable requirement. This love and obedience were due from Israel for God"s mercies to them. As in the gospel, grace precedes, obedience follows. Saved by grace, we are to make such return as is possible by loving and fearing God, and diligently keeping his commands. J.O. (Rom_6:13 Rom_7:6; Eph_2:8-11)
Vers. 12-22. Knowledge of God the parent of obedient faith.
Every honest view we take of God"s service brings to light fresh features of attractiveness. It is the only right course. It satisfies conscience, reason, affection, desire. Having right dispositions and purposes in life, all larger knowledge of God makes service pleasant; yea, true service ministers to our best life.
I THE REASONABLENESS OF GOD"S SERVICE HAY RE DEDUCED FROM THE PERFECTION OF HIS CHARACTER.
1. His supremacy. He is "God of gods." He stands alone, the sole Creator, but himself uncreated. His claims upon his creatures are absolute, unlimited, and unconditioned.
2. His equity. If, at any time, men suspect any unrighteousness in God, it is because of some obliqueness of vision, or some defect in their mental instrument, or some deficiency of knowledge. No shadow of partiality has ever once been found in him. The favorites of God have been the most chastised.
3. His immense power. He is "mighty and terrible." A breath of God can create; a breath can destroy. "With the breath of his mouth he will slay the wicked.
4. His goodness and pity. His goodness is profuse, is distributed with royal generosity, without stint. But his special care is reserved for the helpless. Widows and orphans have exceptional protection and defense. He makes their case his own, and becomes their unseen Patron. Human monarchs lavish their favors upon those who can do them most service; God lavishes his kindness upon the most needy. Want is the passport to his storehouse. Infinite worth belongs to him.
II THIS REASONABLENESS OF SERVING GOD IS SEEN IN HIS GRACIOUS TREATMENT OF MEN.
1. There was no need, so far as we can discover, that God should be served by men. The heaven was his, and all previous orders of intelligent beings. The earth also was his, and all its various contents. Here was large scope for the display of his perfections. If men were rebellions, he could readily crush the race, and sweep it from the face of the earth. And no other motive for his kindness to men can we discover, than that of generous and irrepressible love.
2. He has made covenant engagements with them. Moses never fails to remind Israel that the God of heaven was their God. With condescending grace, that excites our perpetual surprise, God had chosen them to be recipients of special blessing. He had found "delight in their fathers;" and for the fathers" sakes had loved the children. We, too, who believe in Christ, "are Abraham"s seed, and heirs according to the promise." God regards renewed men as his treasure, his portion, his jewels. They are dear to him as "the apple of his eye." There is no service he will not render for them, "no gift will he withhold." He has redeemed them with life-blood, and esteems them as unspeakably precious. They are destined to share his society, his possessions, his throne, his image. God has bound himself to us by most solemn compacts, and all his vast resources are pledged to us. It is a covenant made in heaven, and "is ordered in all things and sure.
III THIS REASONABLENESS IS SEEN IN THE SELFADVANTAGE OF SERVING GOD.
1. It is for our good." Every command may not be pleasant to flesh and blood, nor always to appetite and inclination; but obedience is salutary to all the better parts of man"s nature. "In keeping his commandments we have great reward." There is large present benefit, and there is larger prospective good.
2. It is a credit to us to serve such a God. "He is our praise." The statesmen and ambassadors and generals of England count it high honor to serve Britain"s queen. How vastly greater the honor to serve the King of kings! We may suffer passing reproach from our attachment to Christ, but reproach is like the early hoar-frost, which the ascending sun will scatter. If men do not perceive the honor, it is because they are blind. "My soul shall make her boast in the Lord.
3. God"s past goodness excites our largest hope. God had already done great things for Israel. He had multiplied them in Egypt a thousandfold. Nor had he reached the end of his power nor the end of his intentions. What he had done was only a sample of what he yet meant to do. A world of good is yet in store for each believer. We shall never touch the furthest limits of God"s beneficence. "Eye hath not seen it." To his faithful servants the invitation is repeated a thousand times over, Come up higher.
IV THIS REASONABLENESS IS SEEN IN THE KIND OF SERVICE REQUIRED. Nothing more is demanded than our thoughtful reason and enlightened conscience approve.
1. Reverence. We have only to know God in order to yield him the reverence of our souls. If we could perceive his inherent majesty, his real excellence, and his unsullied purity, we should (if feeling were right) instinctively yield to him the profoundest reverence of our hearts. Were it not for the corrupting effects of sin, this would be natural.
2. Submission to his superior will. By virtue of his wisdom, he has a right to counsel. By virtue of his relation as Monarch, he has a right to command. By virtue of his supremacy as Creator, he has claims on every part of our nature and on every moment of our time. His will is excellent, benevolent, unerring. To take his will, not ours, for chart and compass is simplest duty, ay, is largest privilege. Be no more stiffnecked." A pliable will alone makes a dutiful child.
3. Hearty love. That we can love at all is due to him. The power to cherish love, to receive love, is his gift. Hence, if we love at all, our love belongs to him. If we love in proportion to benefits received, or in proportion to the worth of the object, or in proportion to the love expended on us, then all our love will center in God.
4. Practical service. Genuine love will always seek some channel for its outflow, and service for love"s object is a delight, and is only love in active exercise. It would be a restraint and a pain for love to be silent. She would justly count it bondage to be caged up within the heart. Having feet, it would be a restraint not to walk; how great the honor to be able to walk in God"s paths, in the highways he himself doth take! True service for God is freedom, life, joy, heaven. If we love we must obey.
5. Such service makes us Godlike. God counts it a joy to serve us, though he is under no obligation of law or right so to do. To serve him means that we grow like him. We imitate him first in actions, then in disposition, then in purposes, then in character. Said Moses significantly to Israel, "God loveth the stranger Love ye therefore the stranger.
Through every hour of every day we may be climbing heavenwards, becoming Godlike. Every duty may become to us an instrument actively molding us into the image of perfection. The obedience that springs from love is a pathway of flowery pleasantness, ascending gradually to the hills of frankincense, and to the presence of God. D.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Deu_10:12; Deu_10:18
Deu_10:12; Deu_10:18
What doth the Lord thy God require of thee.
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The true life of man
The true life of man is the life of practical conformity to Divine claims. All is summed up and expressed here.
I. Loving reverence.
1. Fear of not acting worthily of the object of love.
2. Fear of offending the object of love.
II. Practical obedience.
1. God has ways, that is methods of action--
(1) In material nature. Acquaintance with these is what is called science.
(2) In moral mind. Acquaintance with these is the highest knowledge. Embodied in the life of Christ.
2. To walk in Gods ways is--
(1) The only righteous walk.
(2) The only secure walk.
(3) The only elevating walk.
III. Hearty service.
1. Perfect freedom.
2. Sunny cheerfulness.
3. Thorough completeness. All the powers fully employed. (Homilist.)
Educated towards spirituality
That was the Divine intention from the very beginning. God does not disclose His purpose all at once, but out of consideration for our capacities and our opportunities and our necessities He leads us one step at a time, as the wise teacher leads the young scholar. What wise teacher thrusts a whole library upon the dawning mind of childhood? A picture, a toy, a tempting prize, a handful to be going on with, and all the rest covered by a genial smile: so the young scholar passes from page to page until the genius of the revelation seizes him, and life becomes a sacred Pentecost. This thought supplies a standard by which to measure progress. What are we? To what have we attained? Are we still among the beggarly elements? Do we still cry out for a kind of teaching that is infantile and that ought to be from our age altogether profitless? Or do we sigh to see the finer lines and hear the lower tones and enter into the mystery of silent worship--so highly strung in all holy sensibilities that even a word jars upon us and is out of place under circumstances so charged with the Divine presence? Still keeping by this same line of thought, notice how the promises were adapted to the mental condition of Israel. What promises could Israel understand? Only promises of the most substantial kind. Moses addresses himself to this necessity with infinite skill (Deu_10:22; Deu_11:11-12). Still preserving the marvellous consistency of the whole economy, we cannot fail to notice how beautifully the sacrifices were adapted to the religious condition of the people. This explains the sacrifices indeed. What was the religious condition of the people? Hardly religious at all. It was an infantile condition; it was a condition in which appeal could only lie with effect along the line of vision. So God will institute a worship accordingly; He will say to Israel, Bring beasts in great numbers, and kill them upon the altar; take censers, put fire thereon; spare nothing of your herds and flocks and corn and wine; have a continual burnt offering, and add to the continual burnt offering other offerings great in number and in value. Israel must be kept busy; leisure will be destruction. There must be seven Sabbaths in the week, and seven of those seven must be specialised by fast or festival or sacred observance. Give Israel no time to rest. When he has brought one bullock, send him for another; when he has killed a ram, call for a thousand more; this will be instructive to him. We must weary him to a higher aspiration; to begin this aspiration would be to beat the air, or to speak an unknown language, or to propound a series of spiritual impossibilities. Men must be trained according to their capacity and their quality. The whole ceremonial system of Moses constitutes in itself--in its wisdom so rich, its marvellous adaptation to the character and temper of the times,--an unanswerable argument for the inspiration of the Bible. So far the line has been consistent from its beginning, what wonder, then, if it culminate in one splendid word? That word is introduced here and there. For example, in Deu_10:12, the word occurs; in Deu_11:1, it is repeated. What is that culminating word? How long it has been kept back! Now that it is set down we see it and acknowledge it; it comes at the right time, and is put in the right place:--To love Him. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Exhortation to serve the Lord
Who obeys this command? A part of my hearers obey it in some degree. They esteem God above every other object. They consider His glory as their highest interest, and communion with Him as their supreme happiness. It is their greatest grief that their treacherous hearts are so prone to wander from Him. Their most fervent desires pant after Him. And when in a favoured hour they find Him whom their soul loveth, they hold Him fast and will not let Him go. I have no reproaches for these. But are all such? Would to God all were. But there is no service without love. Love is the fulfilling of the law. Supreme love to God will certainly produce self-denial for His sake. It will habitually avoid everything which He has forbidden, and obey, not a part, but all He commands. Supreme love will seek communion with its object more than any worldly pleasure. It will pant after Him and after greater conformity to Him; it will seek His glory as the highest interest; it will renounce the world and idols and cultivate a heavenly mind. Unless we have that which will produce all these effects, we have no supreme love to God; and if we have no supreme love, we have no love at all; and if we have no love, as there is no neutral state, we are His enemies. It was God that made you what you are, and put you into a world which He had richly furnished for your use. Have you nothing to do with Him, or He with you? Do you imagine that He created you and raised you so much above the brutes, and put you into a world on which He had expended so much labour, that you might wander from Him in the regions of darkness? that you might seek your happiness out of Him, and live in rebellion against Him? that you might spend your life only in preparing to live in this transitory state? or that you might live only to eat and drink? As God is true, He sent you into His world for the same end that a master sends a servant into his vineyard--to labour for Him. He has sent you into the field abundantly furnished with powers and means to serve Him, and has strictly commanded you to use these talents in His service. Say not that He is too far above you to be apprehended. He has brought Himself down, and spread Himself out before you in His works and word, and it is only to unbelief that He is invisible. Having sent you into His vineyard, He looks after you to see whether you are faithful or not. Has He nothing to do with you? His eyes are upon you every moment--upon the very bottom of your heart. Did your Creator turn you loose into the world, to run wild in pursuit of your own imaginations, without law or restraint, intending to look no further after you, but to throw you out from His care? Woe to you if He had done this; though this, I fear, you have often wished. But He did no such thing. His intention was still to follow you with His care, as beloved creatures, whom His own hands had formed--to exercise government over you--to establish eternal communion with you--to lead your desires up to Him--to fill you with His own sublime happiness, and to make you a part of an harmonious, blessed, and glorious kingdom. To accomplish these ends He put you under law--a law admirably calculated to unite you to Him and to consummate your happiness. The unreasonable will complain of anything, and murmurs have filled the world because this law requires the heart. But were it otherwise--were God to relinquish His claims on the heart and compound for outward service only, would it be better then? Could they be happy here, could they be happy in heaven, without a holy heart? They had better never been born than be excused from loving God. Should God give up His law, still they are wretches to eternity without love to Him. The law enjoins nothing but what in the nature of things is essential to happiness. From this moment you must either renounce your Bible, or understand that God accounts you rebels for not loving and serving Him with all the heart and soul. He admits no excuse. Your plea that you cannot, is only pleading guilty. A heart that refuses to love the Creator and Redeemer of the world, is the very thing for which God condemns you--is the vilest rebel in the universe. (E. Griffin, D. D.)
Gods requirements
Gods exactions, if we be Christians, are our own free-will offerings. What God demands is what thankful hearts should gladly give.
1. First of all to fear Him. Not to be terrified, that is the natural mans religion. Unless taught of God men look upon Him with alarm. Hence religion is a sepulchral and gloomy thing to them. To the Christian all is reverse. He has no alarm; he courts Gods presence and feels that presence to be the inspiration of hope and joy.
2. Next to walk in all His ways. All the ways proceed from one source and terminate in the same again. There are varieties of expression, but one religion. A way of righteousness, a way of truth, a way of peace, and a way of pleasantness.
3. Then to love Him. If the fear enjoined were terror, it would be impossible to love. Love is the germ in the heart that blossoms and bursts into all the fragrant fruits demanded by Gods holy law. The law, like the imperious taskmaster, says, Give me fruit, and you cannot; but love softly, progressively, originates and develops all the fruits of the Spirit. The absence of this love is the absence of Christianity. This love, lost in the Fall, regained by the Cross, is the result of seeing Gods love for us. The measure and extent is all your hearts. Not cold, calculating preference; but warm, cordial attachment--attachment not blind and unintelligible, but with all the soul.
4. Also to serve Him, service in the sense of worship. The word liturgy strictly means service; here service means adore, pray, and praise; worship outwardly, publicly, and privately with all the heart. We learn the essence of all true acceptable worship before God. Not material glory, ritual splendour; but depth of sincerity, intensity of love, the supremacy of God in the heart.
5. What is the end of all this? First, God asks this, not for His benefit, but for our good. Is there no benefit in meeting together in the house of God, in unloading the thankful heart in praise? When you give the greatest glory, worship, and homage to God, the reaction of it is showers of blessings, mercies, and privileges upon yourselves. God requires this in His Word, in seasons of affliction and prosperity. He requires it that holy effects may be seen, and that men may feel that religion purifies. It is also good for the world. The best evidence that you are Christians is in what you feel, suffer, sacrifice, and do; not as servants obeying for reward, but as sons serving God out of affection. (J. Cumming, D. D.)
An imperative demand
Yea, and what does the Lord require of us?
1. Reverence--But to fear the Lord thy God.
2. Obedience To walk in all His ways. To go when He tells us, and to take the way He has prepared for us. Matthew Henry says, It ought to be the care of every one of us to follow the Lord fully. We must, in a course of obedience to Gods will, and service to His honour, follow Him universally, without dividing; uprightly, without dissembling; cheerfully, without disputing; and constantly, without declining: and this is following Him fully.
3. Love--And to love Him. This exhortation comes in beautifully to prevent the possibility of reverence becoming a terror, and obedience servility.
4. Service--And to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul. Conviction, principle, truth, sentiment, and emotion find their level in service, as the waters of the river do in the sea. Life, of every kind, is energy from within towards an outward object.
5. Diligence--To keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good. (T. Davies.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain (See Scofield "Psa 19:9").
fear
(See Scofield "Psa 19:9").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain 6. Jehovah’s Love and His Requirements of His People
6. Jehovah’s Love and His Requirements of His People
CHAPTER 10:12-22
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1. Jehovah’s delight and love (Deu 10:12-15)
2. Admonition to fear and serve Jehovah (Deu 10:16-22)
This section is especially precious. Jehovah speaks through Moses and reminds His people of Himself and His Love and what He requires of them. “Behold the heaven and the heaven of heavens is Jehovah’s thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.” What a marvellous call to fear and serve such a Lord! What He required of them was a loving obedience, to fear Him, to walk in all His ways, to love Him and to serve Him. They were to be followers of Jehovah their God. He is God of gods, Lord of lords, great, mighty, terrible. His goodness again is revealed by Moses as an incentive to love and to obey Him. He cares for the fatherless and loveth the stranger; for this reason they were to love the stranger. Yet far greater is our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, who loveth us and hath washed us from our sins in His own blood and made us priests and kings unto God His Father. And this carries with it a higher obligation to serve Him, to love Him and to walk in obedience, than Israel’s obligation.
“Well then, let us ever bear in mind--yea, let us have it deep, deep down in our hearts, that according to our privileges are our obligations. Let us not refuse the wholesome word ‘obligation,’ as though it had a legal ring about it. Far from it! It would be utterly impossible to conceive any thing further removed from all thought of legality than the obligations which flow out of the Christian’s position. It is a very serious mistake to be continually raising the cry of ‘Legal! legal!’ whenever the holy responsibilities of our position are pressed upon us” (C.H. Mackintosh).
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain What The Fear of God Demands
What The Fear of God Demands
v. 12. And now, Israel, what doth the Lord, thy God, require of thee, thus Moses asks in a powerful appeal, but to fear the Lord, thy God, with the fear which flowed out of the realization of His grace and mercy, to walk in all His ways, as a manifestation of the right veneration, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord, thy God, with all thy heart and with all thy soul, as the culmination and completion of the true worship of Jehovah,
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v. 13. to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes, both the precepts of the covenant and the obligations of the universal Moral Law, which I command thee this day for thy good? The true fear of the Lord, as it learns to understand the mercy of God, is ever the source of love toward Him, which, in turn, manifests itself in a wholehearted service that puts aside all selfish motives.
v. 14. Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens, the highest heaven with all its glory, is the Lord’s, thy God, the earth also, with all that there in Isaiah Such is the majesty, the exaltation, of the mighty God, who surely does not need any man to complete His happiness, to make His bliss more perfect.
v. 15. Only the Lord, in free grace and mercy, had a delight in thy fathers to love them. He chose to show them His affection in this manner, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day; for the people were abundantly experiencing the richness of His love.
v. 16. Circumcise, therefore, the foreskin of your heart, said of the removal of the hardness and callousness which was indifferent to the many manifestations of God’s mercy, and be no more stiff-necked, rebellious, unwilling to follow His leadership. Without this preparation of the heart, which is essentially repentance, neither true fear nor love of God is possible.
v. 17. For the Lord, your God, is God of gods, high above all idols to whom that name is falsely applied, and Lord of lords, immeasurably exalted above all the princes of this earth, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, 1Ti 6:15; Psa 95:3, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward, His justice cannot be deflected by any attempt at bribery; He is far removed from all the petty faults of human judges, Lev 19:15. The very imagining of Him in terms of human weakness is an insult to His greatness. And this great might and this loving mercy are blended in just the proper manner.
v. 18. He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, those whose natural protector has been taken from them, and loveth the stranger, one likely to be subjected to oppression, in giving him food and raiment. This example of God’s compassionate love is held before the people for a special reason.
v. 19. Love ye, therefore, the stranger; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt, and the remembrance of those experiences, which many of the Israelites could recall from the days of their childhood and youth, was to be an inducement to them to exercise the virtues of mercy and compassion.
v. 20. Thou shalt fear the Lord, thy God; for that is the essence of all worship and the fulfillment of the First Commandment; Him shalt thou serve, and to Him shalt thou cleave, cling firmly to Him alone in all vicissitudes of life, and swear by His name, Deu 6:13.
v. 21. He is thy praise, in whom they should glory, for He had given them many occasions to sing His praises, and He is thy God, the supreme good, the essence of all goodness, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things which thine eyes have seen, for they were deeds of His divine power, which gave evidence of His incomparable majesty and had been performed in assisting the children of Israel.
v. 22. Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons, Gen 46:27; and now the Lord, thy God, hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude, as He had promised Abraham, Gen 15:5. The same almighty and merciful God is the trust of His children throughout the ages.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Moses speaks to the Israelites as if they are one person. (See: Forms of You)
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Now, Israel
Here the metonym "Israel" refers to the people of Israel. AT: "Now, people of Israel" (See: Metonymy)
what does Yahweh your God require of you, except to fear ... for your own good?
Moses uses a question to teach the people of Israel. This rhetorical question can be translated as a statement. AT: "this is what Yahweh your God requires you to do: to fear ... for your own good." (See: Rhetorical Question)
to walk in all his ways
Moses speaks as if obeying Yahweh were walking on a path. AT: "to obey all his commands" (See: Metaphor)
with all your heart and with all your soul
Here "heart" and "soul" are metonyms for a person's inner being. These two phrases are used together to mean "completely" or "earnestly." See how you translated these two phrases in Deuteronomy 4:29. (See: Metonymy and Doublet)
translationWords
Israel
Yahweh
God
fear
walk
love
worship
heart
soul
command
statute
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 10:12-13 fear the Lord your God: The fear of…
10:12-13 fear the Lord your God: The fear of God is not terror from dread of his wrath. Rather, God wanted his people to recognize their finiteness and unworthiness in his divine presence (see study notes on 7:21 and Prov 1:7).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.