เฉลยธรรมบัญญัติ 27:8 วิจารณ์

Moses having very largely and fully set before the people their duty, both to God and one another, in general and in particular instances, - having shown them plainly what is good, and what the law requires of them, - and having in the close of the foregoing chapter laid them under the obligation both of the command and the covenant, he comes in this chapter to prescribe outward means, I. For the helping of their memories, that they might not forget the law as a strange thing. They must write all the words of this law upon stones (Deu 27:1-10). II. For the moving of their affections, that they might not be indifferent to the law as a light thing. Whey they came into Canaan, the blessings and curses which were the sanctions of the law, were to be solemnly pronounced in the hearing of all Israel, who were to say Amen to them (v. 11-26). And if such a solemnity as this would not make a deep impression upon them, and affect them with the great things of God's law, nothing would.

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 27 In this chapter the people of Israel are ordered to write the law on plastered stones, and set them on Mount Ebal, Deu 27:1; where they are bid to erect an altar, and offer sacrifices on it, Deu 27:5; and are charged by Moses and the priests to obey the Lord, and keep his commandments, Deu 27:9; and a direction is given to each tribes which should stand and bless, and which curse, and where, Deu 27:11; and the curses which the Levites should pronounce with a loud voice, and the people should say Amen to, are recited, Deu 27:14; and the whole is concluded with a curse on all who in general do not perform the whole law, Deu 27:26.

And thou shall write upon the stones all the words of this law,.... Not upon the stones of the altar, but upon the first stones brought to Mount Ebal, and set up there before, and on which the words were inscribed before the altar was erected; though according to the Misnah (u) the altar was built of these stones, and on that the law written; for it is said,"they shall bring the stones (#De 27:2,4) and build the altar, and plaster it with plaster, and write upon it all the words of the law:''with which Josephus agrees, who says (w),"that when Moses was about to die, he ordered the blessings and the curses to be written on the altar, on both sides of it:''could this be made clearly to appear, it would be easy to observe the accomplishment of it in Christ, who was made under the law, became subject to it, had it written on his heart, obeyed the precepts and bore the penalty of it, and had all the curses of it laid on him, and thereby redeemed his people from them. However, be it on which it may that the words of the law were written, they were written very plainly; so that they might be easily read; in seventy languages, according to the Jewish writers; which they say was done, that whoever would learn the law might learn it, and so the Gentiles had no excuse (x); for it is a prevailing notion with them, that there were so many nations and languages. The law being written on stones denotes the duration of it, which continued not only during the times of the Old Testament dispensation, and to the times of John, and had its fulfilment in Christ, but still continues; for though Christ has redeemed his people from the curse and condemnation of it, yet it is in his hands as a rule of direction to them as to their walk and conversation: nor is it made void by any doctrine of the Gospel, and nothing more strongly enforces obedience to it than the Gospel. The moral law is immutable, invariable, and eternal in its nature, and in the matter of it. This may also point at the hardness of men's hearts, their non-subjection to the law, and disobedience of it; and these stones being covered with plaster may be an emblem of formalists and hypocrites, who are like whited walls and sepulchres, Mat 23:27, have a form of the law in their heads, but not in their hearts; are Jews outwardly, but not inwardly, Rom 2:28; externally righteous before men, as if they were strict observers of the law, but internally very wicked; and have hard, blind, and impenitent hearts, under the cover of the law, and a profession of strict regard to it; and this being done on the same mount where the curses were pronounced, shows that they were on account of the breach of this law. (u) Sotah, c. 7. sect. 5. (w) Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 4. c. 8. sect. 44.) (x) Sotah, ib. & Bartenora in ib. Targum Jon. & Jerus. & Jarchi in loc.

THE PEOPLE ARE TO WRITE THE LAW UPON STONES. (Deu 27:1-10) it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan--"Day" is often put for "time"; and it was not till some days after the passage that the following instructions were acted upon. thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaister them with plaister--These stones were to be taken in their natural state, unhewn, and unpolished--the occasion on which they were used not admitting of long or elaborate preparation; and they were to be daubed over with paint or whitewash, to render them more conspicuous. Stones and even rocks are seen in Egypt and the peninsula of Sinai, containing inscriptions made three thousand years ago, in paint or plaister. By some similar method those stones may have been inscribed, and it is most probable that Moses learned the art from the Egyptians.

III. Third Discourse, or Renewal of the Covenant - Deuteronomy 27-30 The conclusion of the covenant in the land of Moab, as the last address in this section (ch. 29 and 30) is called in the heading (Deu 29:1) and in the introduction (Deu 29:9.), i.e., the renewal of the covenant concluded at Horeb, commences with instructions to set up the law in a solemn manner in the land of Canaan after crossing over the Jordan (ch. 27). After this there follows an elaborate exposition of the blessings and curses which would come upon the people according to their attitude towards the law (ch. 28). And lastly, Moses places the whole nation with a solemn address before the face of the Lord, and sets before it once more the blessing and the curse in powerful and alarming words, with the exhortation to choose the blessing and life (ch. 29 and 30).