Deuteronomy 12:3 Komentář

Moses at this chapter comes to the particular statues which he had to give in charge to Israel, and he begins with those which relate to the worship of God, and particularly those which explain the second commandment, about which God is in a special manner jealous. I. They must utterly destroy all relics and remains of idolatry (Deu 12:1-3). II. They must keep close to the tabernacle (Deu 12:4, Deu 12:5). The former precept was intended to prevent all false worship, the latter to preserve the worship God had instituted. By this latter law, 1. They are commanded to bring all their offerings to the altar of God, and all their holy things to the place which he should choose (Deu 12:6, Deu 12:7, Deu 12:11, Deu 12:12, Deu 12:14, Deu 12:18, Deu 12:26-28). 2. They are forbidden, in general, to do as they now did in the wilderness (Deu 12:8-11), and as the Canaanites had done (Deu 12:29-32), and, in particular, to eat the hallowed things at their own houses (Deu 12:13, Deu 12:17, Deu 12:18), or to forsake the instituted ministry (Deu 12:19). 3. They are permitted to eat flesh as common food at their own houses, provided they do not eat the blood (Deu 12:15, Deu 12:16, and again, Deu 12:20-26).

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 12 In this chapter orders are given to destroy all altars, pillars, groves, and images, made for the worship of idols in the land of Canaan, Deu 12:1 and to bring all sacrifices and holy things unto the place which the Lord should choose for his habitation, and not do as they then did, not being come to their rest, Deu 12:4, flesh for their common food might be killed and eaten in their own houses, provided they did not eat the blood, but poured it out upon the earth, Deu 12:15, tithes, vows, and freewill offerings, were to be eaten in the holy place, Deu 12:17 and burnt offerings to be offered on the altar of the Lord and the blood of them to be poured out upon the altar, Deu 12:26, all which they were carefully to observe, Deu 12:29, and they are cautioned against idolatry, and inquiring after the manner of it, as practised by the old inhabitants of the land, and introducing their customs into the service of God, Deu 12:30.

And you shall overthrow their altars,.... Which were of stone, as Jarchi observes; whereas the altar ordered to be made by the Lord, before the altar of burnt offering in the tabernacle was made, was of earth, Exo 20:24 these were to be demolished, lest the Israelites should be tempted to make use of them; and besides, the Lord would not have any remains of idolatry in the land where his tabernacle and worship were, as being abominable to him: and break down their pillars; or statues erected to the honour of their idols; according to Jarchi it was a single stone hewed out at first for the basis of a statue (y); perhaps such as were called Baetulia, in imitation of the stone Jacob set up for a pillar at Bethel, Gen 28:18. and burn their groves with fire; which were planted about their temples, and under which also their idols were placed, and where they privately committed the most abominable lewdness under the notion of religion. The Targum of Jonathan renders the word "abominations", meaning idols; and so Jarchi interprets it by a tree that is worshipped; See Gill on Deu 7:5. and you shall hew down the graven images of their gods; which were made of wood: and destroy the names of them out of the place; by never making any mention of them in common discourse, and by changing the names of places called from them; and especially by destroying all the relics of them, and whatever appertained to them, which might lead to the mention of them; see Hos 2:17. (y) Misn. Avodah Zarah, c. 3. sect. 7.

Give no credit to their words, neither be afraid of them. They say that we are enemies of their idols. So be it; may God give them all into our power, as he has already given us what we have broken down. For I say this, beloved, that you may not attempt to overcome those which it is not lawfully in your power to overcome. It is the way of ill-regulated men and the mad Circumcelliones to be violent when they have no power and to be ever eager to die without cause. You heard what we read to you, all of you who were present in the Mappalia: 2 “When the land shall have been given into your power”—he says first “into your power” and so enjoins what is to be done—“then you shall destroy their altars and break in pieces their groves, and hew down all their images.” When the power has not been given us, do not do it; when it is given, do not neglect it.

MONUMENTS OF IDOLATRY TO BE DESTROYED. (Deu 12:1-15) These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe--Having in the preceding chapter inculcated upon the Israelites the general obligation to fear and love God, Moses here enters into a detail of some special duties they were to practise on their obtaining possession of the promised land.

And ye shall overthrow their altars--piles of turf or small stones. and break their pillars--Before the art of sculpture was known, the statues of idols were only rude blocks of colored stones.

B. Exposition of the Principal Laws - Deuteronomy 12-26 The statutes and rights which follow in the second or special half of this address, and which consist in part of rules having regard to circumstances not contemplated by the Sinaitic laws, and partly of repetitions of laws already given, were designed as a whole to regulate the ecclesiastical, civil, and domestic life of Israel in the land of Canaan, in harmony with its calling to be the holy nation of the Lord. Moses first of all describes the religious and ecclesiastical life of the nation, in its various relations to the Lord (ch. 12-16:17); and then the political organization of the congregation, or the rights and duties of the civil and spiritual leaders of the nation (Deut 16:18-18:22); and lastly, seeks to establish upon a permanent basis the civil and domestic well-being of the whole congregation and its individual members, by a multiplicity of precepts, intended to set before the people, as a conscientious obligation on their part, reverence and holy awe in relation to human life, to property, and to personal rights; a pious regard for the fundamental laws of the world; sanctification of domestic life and of the social bond; practical brotherly love towards the poor, the oppressed, and the needy; and righteousness of walk and conversation (ch. 19-26). - So far as the arrangement of this address is concerned, the first two series of these laws may be easily regarded as expositions, expansions, and completions of the commandments in the decalogue in relation to the Sabbath, and to the duty of honouring parents; and in the third series also there are unquestionably many allusions to the commandments in the second table of the decalogue. But the order in which the different laws and precepts in this last series are arranged, does not follow the order of the decalogue, so as to warrant us in looking there for the leading principle of the arrangement, as Schultz has done. Moses allows himself to be guided much more by analogies and the free association of ideas than by any strict regard to the decalogue; although, no doubt, the whole of the book of Deuteronomy may be described, as Luther says, as "a very copious and lucid explanation of the decalogue, an acquaintance with which will supply all that is requisite to a full understanding of the ten commandments."