‏ Deuteronomy 26:16-19

Summary for Deut 26:16-19: 26:16-19  ^a Having laid out the great covenant principles (chs 5–11  ^b) and clarified their application (chs 12–26  ^c), Moses urged the people to obey the covenant with all their hearts. The Lord had called them into a special relationship with himself, a privilege that required obedience to the covenant prescriptions. The result of this submission was holiness, a state that reflected God’s character and that would flow naturally from unbroken fellowship with him. 26:16  ^d wholeheartedly (literally with all your heart and with all your soul): This Hebrew phrase is a clear reference to the Shema, the foundational statement of Israel’s faith and covenant commitment (see 6:4-5  ^e and study notes). There could be no halfhearted compliance with God’s high and holy expectations; it must be all or nothing.

‏ Deuteronomy 27

27:3  ^f this whole body of instruction (literally all the words of this torah): This phrase could refer to the entire book of Deuteronomy, but considering the small surface (27:2  ^g) on which the text was to be inscribed, it probably just refers to the Ten Commandments.
27:4  ^h The covenant ceremony was to take place at Mount Ebal, a mountain east of Shechem (see Josh 8:30-35  ⁱ). The Samaritan Pentateuch reads “Mount Gerizim” here, an obvious attempt to justify the existence of the Samaritan temple on that mountain (see Deut 11:29  ^j).
27:5  ^k natural, uncut stones: Archaeological research has uncovered a number of Canaanite altars, all built of hewn blocks. In contrast to this practice, the Israelites were to build their altars only of rough field stones (Exod 20:22-26  ^l; see thematic note for Altars at end of chapter).
27:7  ^m Some offerings atoned for sins and trespasses; others affirmed that all was well between the Lord and the donor. For example, peace offerings (sometimes called fellowship offerings) testified to wholeness in the divine–human relationship (see Lev 3:1-16  ⁿ).
27:9  ^o Today: The Israelites were already the Lord’s people prior to this moment, but each time Israel affirmed itself to be God’s people and renewed the covenant (as here), they became God’s people in a fresh, new way. Recommitment to the Lord is like beginning a new relationship with him.
Summary for Deut 27:12-26: 27:12-26  ^p Mount Gerizim lies just west of Mount Ebal (27:4  ^q), and Shechem lies in the valley between (see 11:29  ^r; Josh 8:30-35  ^s).

• proclaim a blessing: The tribes or their representatives were carefully placed so that as the Levites (Deut 27:14  ^t) read the covenant from the valley below, the other tribes antiphonally proclaimed their adherence to its terms by shouting Amen, a Hebrew term that means “May it be so.”
27:13  ^u proclaim a curse: By invoking curses on themselves if they disobeyed the terms of the covenant, these tribes served as witnesses and judges of their own future disobedience.
27:14  ^v The Levites as a group were stationed on Mount Gerizim (27:12  ^w). The Ark of the Covenant accompanied them, and they offered sacrifices (Josh 8:30-35  ^x). It was part of the Levites’ role to teach and proclaim the Torah (Deut 33:10  ^y; see study note on 6:8; see also Lev 10:11  ^z).
27:15  ^aa carves or casts an idol: Such behavior would strike at the very heart of the covenant ideal by violating the second commandment (see 5:7-10  ^ab).
27:16  ^ac dishonors father or mother: In the various spheres of human relationships, duty to parents ranked just below duty to God (see 5:16  ^ad). To disrespect and disobey parents was just short of disrespecting God.
27:17  ^ae Moving a boundary marker to one’s own advantage is tantamount to theft and clearly violates the eighth commandment (see 5:19  ^af; 19:14  ^ag).
27:18  ^ah blind person: This curse would apply to treatment of physically disabled or disadvantaged people in general. Such a mean and callous act was not fitting of a member of the covenant community, in which all were to be treated alike.
27:19  ^ai It would be easy to put foreigners, orphans, and widows at a legal disadvantage or to deny them justice altogether (see 10:18  ^aj; 24:17  ^ak).
27:20  ^al violated his father: See 22:30  ^am.
27:22  ^an whether ... the daughter of his father or his mother: Though this instruction concerns a relationship with a half sister or foster sibling, it precludes a sexual relationship with one’s full sibling as well (see Lev 18:9  ^ao; 20:17  ^ap).

Thematic note: Altars
The first recorded altar in Scripture was built by Noah (Gen 8:20-21  ^aq), though Cain and Abel gave God an offering (4:3-5  ^ar). The patriarchs built numerous altars (see 12:7-8  ^as; 13:4  ^at, 18  ^au; 22:9  ^av; 26:25  ^aw; 33:20  ^ax; 35:1  ^ay, 14-15  ^az). These altars designated sacred sites of divine revelation and personal land claims in the Promised Land, both north (in Shechem) and south (in Beersheba). Altars were made of stone, earth, brick, or metal and wood. Their table-like form allowed smoke to rise unhindered. Intended as a memorial or a place for sacrifice, an altar was the most common image of worship in the Old Testament and in the wider ancient world. The typical altar was on a raised platform accessed by a ramp or stairway; this elevated the sacrificial worship toward heaven. The four horns on the corners of many altars (see Exod 27:2  ^ba) marked off the sacred space of meeting between divine and human realms. Through sacrifice and burning, the offering was transferred from the visible to the invisible world.
Jesus unites the various aspects of the altar imagery in himself as high priest, sacrificial lamb, and altar (see Heb 4:14-15  ^bb; 7:24  ^bc, 27  ^bd; 9:14  ^be, 26  ^bf; 10:10  ^bg; 13:10  ^bh, 12  ^bi). Jesus anticipated his own sacrifice in his reference to the blood of martyrs (see Matt 23:35  ^bj; Luke 11:50-51  ^bk), and the cross serves as the final altar. Thus, the enthroned Lamb in Revelation removes the need for temple and altar (Rev 21:22  ^bl).


Passages for Further Study
Gen 8:20-21  ^bm; 12:7-8  ^bn; 22:9-14  ^bo; 33:20  ^bp; Exod 20:24-26  ^bq; Josh 22:10-34  ^br; 1 Kgs 18:20-40  ^bs; Hos 8:11-13  ^bt; Matt 5:23-24  ^bu; Heb 13:10-14  ^bv; Rev 6:9  ^bw; 8:3-5  ^bx

‏ Deuteronomy 28

Summary for Deut 28:1-68: 28:1-68  ^by This section presents the conditions for receiving the covenant blessing, the nature of the blessings (28:1-14  ^bz), and the curses that will come if these mandates are ignored or disobeyed (28:15-68  ^ca).
28:5  ^cb The breadboards were blessed because the harvest was blessed.
28:7  ^cc In the Bible, the number seven generally conveys fullness or completion. Here, the number indicates that Israel’s enemies would be completely removed from the land (see study note on Deut 2:34).
28:10  ^cd When the nations saw the blessings of Israel, they would know that it had happened because you are a people claimed by the Lord (literally the name of the Lord is called over you). When the nations saw Israel, they would think of the Lord and his faithfulness.
28:12  ^ce his rich treasury in the heavens: This metaphor describes the clouds that provide life-giving rain to the earth.
28:13  ^cf the head and not the tail: If Israel obeyed the terms of the covenant, it would lead the nations and not be subject to them.
28:17  ^cg If they disobeyed the commands of the covenant, Israel could expect God to judge them with the curse of agricultural barrenness (cp. 28:5  ^ch).
28:21  ^ci The diseases that afflict (or cling to) Israel would be chronic, not releasing their hold until the nation had succumbed.
28:22  ^cj Some scholars identify these symptoms with tuberculosis.
28:23  ^ck In this graphic picture of drought and famine, the sky dams up the rain, making the earth hard and unfruitful.
28:24  ^cl The only thing even resembling rain would be the swirling dust that coats everything to suffocation.
28:25  ^cm This verse reverses the blessing of 28:7  ^cn; Israel would be forced to scatter from their enemies in seven directions—i.e., completely and totally.
28:27  ^co the boils of Egypt: See Exod 9:8-12  ^cp.

• tumors: Cp. 1 Sam 5:6  ^cq, 9  ^cr, 12  ^cs.

• scurvy: Perhaps dermatitis.

• The itch is also symptomatic of dermatitis.
28:36  ^ct exile you: This prediction had two major fulfillments in Old Testament times—the Assyrian exile of Samaria in 722 BC and the Babylonian conquest and exile of Jerusalem in 586 BC.
28:43  ^cu foreigners (literally sojourners): In God’s day of judgment, those regarded as the weakest and most vulnerable elements of Israelite society (see 29:11  ^cv) would dominate.
28:44  ^cw the head ... the tail: Rather than Israel’s leading the nations, the reverse would be true when God punishes his people (see 28:13  ^cx).
28:46  ^cy sign and warning (literally sign and wonder): This expression indicates God’s miraculous acts that arrest the attention of those who witness them and attest to his power and sovereignty (see 6:22  ^cz). They are intended to produce intense fear among his own people.
28:48  ^da An iron yoke is portrayed in various inscriptions and artistic representations. The use of this hard, unyielding metal emphasizes the cruelty and severity of the bondage Israel would experience if it remained unrepentant.
28:49  ^db like a vulture (or eagle): This simile indicates how rapidly the enemy would come.

• whose language you do not understand: Both Assyrian and Babylonian were dialects of Akkadian, a language that was related to Hebrew but vastly different in grammar, syntax, and vocabulary (see Isa 36:11-13  ^dc).
28:50  ^dd The Assyrians were fierce and heartless toward their defeated enemies. A favorite instrument of torture was a stake on which they impaled their victims alive (see Isa 33:19  ^de; Nah 2:1-7  ^df).
28:54  ^dg A tenderhearted man was sheltered from the dark and disgusting side of life. He had never experienced the horrors that would befall him.
28:56  ^dh not ... touch the ground: This woman was so fastidious that she avoided walking barefoot on the soil.
28:57  ^di afterbirth: This horrific scenario depicts a mother so hungry as to eat a human placenta and the new baby she has borne.
28:58  ^dj The context suggests that all the words of instruction (literally all the words of this torah) refers to the entire book of Deuteronomy, in which lists of blessings and curses were a major part (see 27:3  ^dk).

• If you do not fear the ... name—i.e., do not fear God himself (see study note on 7:21).
28:60  ^dl The diseases of Egypt were not just general plagues but those associated with physical illness (see Exod 9:8-12  ^dm).
28:64  ^dn foreign gods: This phrase does not suggest the actual existence of other deities. The Old Testament is clear that there is only one God, the Lord. However, the pagans among whom Israel would live did worship other gods; the danger was that Israel would adopt the same practices.
28:68  ^do The threat of being sent back to Egypt referred to any future exile of God’s people, a reversal of the exodus from freedom to bondage.

• no one will buy you: The disobedient and cursed Israelites would be so little esteemed that they would be unable to command any price as slaves. By contrast, the Lord had redeemed Israel from enslavement at great cost (see 9:26  ^dp).

‏ Deuteronomy 29:1

29:1  ^dq The land of Moab was the region east of the Jordan where Deuteronomy was composed and delivered to Israel.