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27,299 commentary entries
The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 12:20-28
The sanctity of blood. The central altar was for the reception of the blood. And while the Jews remained in pilgrimage, every time they killed an animal out of their flocks or herds for family use they carried the blood…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 12:21-23
If the place.; be too far from thee; this supplies the reason for the alteration of the law in Le Deuteronomy 17:3. Only be sure; literally, only be strong; i.e. be firm and resolute, steadfastly resisting the temptatio…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 12:29-32
Unworthy inquiries. We have here— I. BALEFUL SUPERSTITION. The ground of these inquiries about the gods of the place was a lurking belief in their reality. There was a superstitious feeling that the woods, hills, stream…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 12:29-32
The subtle ensnarements of idolatry. A spirit of vain curiosity is to be repressed at its beginning. So weak is human nature, and so subtle is the working of sin, that prying curiosity into evil customs works practical…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 12:31
For even their sons and their daughters have they burnt in the fire to their gods. Elsewhere the phrase used is "make to pass through the fire "(Deuteronomy 18:10), or simply "make to pass through to Molech" (Le Deutero…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 12:32
The admonition in this verse is best regarded as forming an intermediate link between this chapter and the following, "closing what goes before and introductory to what follows" (Keil). HOMILETICS
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:1-6
False prophets. In viewing the bearings of this passage on the credentials of revelation, two points should be observed. 1. The case supposed is one in which the prophet contradicts a revelation already received. 2. The…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:1-18
EXPOSITION IDOLATERS AND ENTICERS TO IDOLATRY TO BE PUT TO DEATH.
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:1-5
The case supposed here is that of one professing to have supernatural intelligence, who should, by giving a sign or a wonder, endeavor to draw away the people to idolatry. Such a one was to be put to death.
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:1
A prophet (nabhi, נבָיִא); one who speaks from God, an interpreter to men of what God reveals or suggests to him (of. for the meaning of the word, Exodus 7:1 with Exodus 4:16; also Jeremiah 15:19). Dreamer of dreams. No…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:1-18
God's executioners upon idolaters. No respecter of persons is God. The sin of all sins is idolatry, and such overt rebels against the supreme God shall be summarily punished, whether they be Amorites or Hebrews. As a ru…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:1-18
Idolatry to be treated as a capital crime. This chapter relates to the Israelites themselves. As the government was a theocracy, idolatry in any form was treason against the Divine King, and justly punishable with death…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:1-18
Temptations to depart from God to be resisted at all costs. In the preceding chapter we had directions with regard to the worship of the true God. Here Israel is told what to do in case of temptation arising to worship…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:6-12
God or our brother. Terribly stern is the duty here laid on the person enticed to idolatry. The law is adapted to an age of stern deeds, and to a people living under a stern dispensation. Yet, reflecting on the nature o…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:6
Thy brother, the son of thy mother; thy full brother, allied to thee by the closest fraternal tie. The wife of thy Bosom; the object of thy tenderest affection, Whom it is thine to protect and cherish (cf. Deuteronomy 2…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:6-11
A second case supposed is that of temptation to apostasy proceeding from some near relative or intimate friend. Not only was this to be resisted, but no consideration of affection or bend of friendship was to be allowed…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:8
Pity, spare, conceal. The accumulation of terms serves to make the injunction more solemn and impressive.
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:11
The penalty publicly inflicted, and therefore generally known, would have a deterrent effect on the community, so as to prevent the recurrence of such evil.
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:12-18
A city under ban. The case here supposed is even more appalling than the former one, for it is the inhabitants of a whole city who, with all that they have, are to be destroyed. Yet, as it is certain that godly persons,…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:12
Hear in one of thy cities. The Hebrew phrase, "to hear in" ( שָׁמַע בְּ). has sometimes the meaning of to overhear, as in Genesis 27:5; 1 Samuel 17:28; Job 15:8; sometimes it means simply to hear, as in 2 Samuel 19:36 (…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:12-18
A third ease supposed is that of the inhabitants of a city being seduced by wicked men into idolatry. In this case inquiry was to be made as to the fact; and if it was found to be so, the inhabitants of that city were t…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:13
Men, the children of Belial; the sons of worthlessness, utterly worthless persons. Beli ya‛al (a compound of בְלִי, not, and עָל, to ascend, to have worth, to profit) means primarily that which is low, hence worthlessne…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 13:16
All the spoil thereof every whir, for the Lord thy God; rather, all the spoil [booty] thereof as a whole offering unto Jehovah thy God; it was to be wholly devoted to God, and as such to be consumed by fire. "It was a d…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 14:1-29
EXPOSITION HEATHEN CUSTOMS OF MOURNING TO BE AVOIDED. NO ABOMINABLE THING TO BE EATEN. MEATS CLEAN AND UNCLEAN. TITHES.