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27,299 commentary entries
The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:6
Israel was not to seek, i.e. care for and use means to promote, the welfare of these nations. Individuals, however, of these nations might be naturalized in Israel, and as proselytes enter the congregation, as the case…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:7
It was to be otherwise with the Edomite and the Egyptian; though the former had refused permission to the Israelites to pass through their land, and the latter had oppressed and wronged the nation, yet as the former wer…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:9-14
Purity in the camp. The camp was to be free from: 1. Moral pollution (Deuteronomy 23:9). 2. Ceremonial pollution (verses10, 11). 3. Natural pollution (Deuteronomy 23:12, Deuteronomy 23:13)—M. Henry. This, because God wa…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:9-14
Cleanliness a religious duty. The Law of Moses may be regarded as fourfold—moral, ritual, civil, and sanitary. The precepts in this paragraph are an example of the last-named part thereof. They refer to the inculcation…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:9-14
A pure camp for a pure King. After insisting on purity giving power in war (Deuteronomy 23:9), and giving direction to men about putting away uncleanness which may be due to natural causes, Moses urges the precaution, b…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:13
A paddle upon thy weapon; rather, a small spade (the word properly means a pin or nail) among thy furniture, or, according to another reading among thy implements or accoutrements; they were to carry with them along wit…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:14
The camp was to be kept holy, because God went forth with their armies, and in his presence there must be nothing that defileth or is unclean. That he see no unclean thing in thee; literally, nakedness, shamefulness of…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:15-23
Various precepts No very close connection exists between the precepts in these verses, yet they are variously related, and suggest by their juxtaposition lessons of importance. We have— I. A WORD SPOKEN IN THE INTERESTS…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:17-25
Money-making must be above suspicion. We have in these verses an excellent lesson upon mercantile morality. There are too many people in this world who are not at all particular how money is made, if only it be made. "T…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:18
Unacceptable offerings. The value of religious offerings in God's sight is not measured by their magnitude, nor by splendor, but by the spiritual motive that originates them. I. GOD HAS NO SEED OF HUMAN OFFERINGS. He is…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:19-25
Certain civil rights and duties are here prescribed. Deuteronomy 23:19, Deuteronomy 23:20 An Israelite might lend on interest money, or victuals, or other property, to a foreigner, but of one of his own people he was no…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:21-23
A vow to the Lord, once made, was to be religiously kept; the Lord would require it, and to refuse or neglect to pay it would be held a sin. No one, however, was under any obligation to vow—that was to be a purely volun…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:21-23
Vows to God to be performed. The vow here made is supposed to be entirely voluntary. It was "a free-will offering." In Numbers 30:3-8, abuse is guarded against. Yews made without the knowledge or consent of the father o…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 23:21-23
The place of vows. It is not obligatory to make vows; it is obligatory to fulfill them. We are often free to contract an obligation; we are not free to violate it. A man is not bound to marry; having married, he is boun…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 25:1-3
Corporal punishment. We have here directions given for the punishment of criminals. As the Hebrews had no gaol system, a properly graduated corporal punishment supplied most effectively its place. Moses here directs the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 25:1-19
EXPOSITION LAWS RELATING TO CORPORAL PUNISHMENT, LEVIRATE MARRIAGES, AND WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 25:1-3
The first and second verses should be read as one sentence, of which the protasis is in Deuteronomy 25:1 and the apodosis in Deuteronomy 25:2, thus: If there be a strife between men, and they come to judgment, and they…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 25:1-3
Humanity to be respected in judicial inflictions. This passage is an interesting illustration of the restraints which the Law of Moses puts on the Hebrews, as to the semi-barbarous customs of other nations. It is well k…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 25:1-3
The bastinado. Professor W. R. Smith regards this law of stripes as indicating a late date for Deuteronomy. He argues from the customs of the free Bedouins. But it is perilous to reason from the customs of the Bedouins…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 25:1-3
Earthly magistracy an argument for the heavenly. It is not conceivable that God should have taken such pains, through Moses, to secure pure administration of justice in earthly courts, unless he had established a like c…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 25:4
The oxen. The apostle draws from this passage the general principle that the laborer is entitled to eat of the fruits of his labor (1 Corinthians 9:9, 1 Corinthians 9:10). His application teaches us to look for similar…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 25:4
The leaving the ox unmuzzled when treading out the corn was in order that the animal might be free to eat of the grains which its labor severed from the husks. This prohibition, therefore, was dictated by a regard to th…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 25:4
Laborers to live by their labor. The use of this verse by the apostle has brought it out of an obscurity to which it might have been relegated. It is quoted by Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:10, and is there applied by him as…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 25:4
Doing good inseparable from getting good. Active exercise of our powers is a primary condition of getting good. Real service for others is destined to gain reward. I. SERVICE CAN BE RENDERED TO MAN BY VERY INFERIOR NATU…