Deuteronomio 12:2 Commento

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.

Ye shall utterly destroy all the places wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods,.... The temples erected for the worship of them by the Canaanites, of which there were many, as appears by the various names of places given them from the temples in them, as Bethshemesh, Bethbaalmeon, Bethpeor, and others: upon the high mountains and upon the hills: which they chose to worship on, being nearer the heavens, and which they thought most acceptable to their gods; and some of them had their names from hence, as Baalpeor, in like manner as Jupiter Olympius was called by the Greeks; see Jer 2:20, and under every green tree; which being shady and solitary, and pleasant to the sight, they fancied their gods delighted in, and this notion prevailed among other nations; and there is scarcely any deity but what had some tree or another devoted to it; as the oak to Jupiter, the laurel to Apollo, the ivy to Bacchus, the olive to Minerva, the myrtle to Venus, &c. see Jer 2:20.

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.

Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods--This divine command was founded on the tendencies of human nature; for to remove out of sight everything that had been associated with idolatry, that it might never be spoken of and no vestige of it remain, was the only effectual way to keep the Israelites from temptations to it. It is observable that Moses does not make any mention of temples, for such buildings were not in existence at that early period. The "places" chosen as the scene of heathen worship were situated either on the summit of a lofty mountain, or on some artificial mound, or in a grove, planted with particular trees, such as oaks, poplars, and elms (Isa 57:5-7; Hos 4:13). The reason for the selection of such sites was both to secure retirement and to direct the attention upward to heaven; and the "place" was nothing else than a consecrated enclosure, or at most, a canopy or screen from the weather.

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."