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The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 12:6-29
The central sanctuary. There are difficulties connected with this law from which conclusions have been drawn adverse to the Mosaic authorship of Deuteronomy. These arise: 1. From the lack of evidence that the law was in…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 12:7
And there ye shall eat before the Lord. The injunction here and in Deuteronomy 12:17, respecting the eating by the offerer of the firstlings of his flocks and herds, appears to be inconsistent with the injunction in Num…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 12:8-10
In the wilderness, while leading a nomadic life, no certain place could be appointed to them for the observance of sacred rites; each man did in that matter as suited his own convenience. But after they were settled in…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 12:11
All your choice vows; i.e. all the vows of your choice, all that ye choose to make; the vow was purely voluntary; it became obligatory only after it was made.
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 12:12
Of their offerings they should make a festive meal for themselves and their household; and of this the Levite who might happen at the time to be resident among them was to partake. Rejoice before the Lord. This phrase o…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 12:13-16
They were to beware of offering sacrifice in any place that might seem to them best; their offerings were to be presented only in that place which God should choose. But this did not imply that they were not to kill and…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 12:15-19
Private worship not the substitute for public. While the central altar was ordained for the reception of the sacrifices and the place for the love-feasts of God's people, they were also allowed to slay and eat flesh mea…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 12:17-19
(Cf. Deuteronomy 12:6, Deuteronomy 12:7, Deuteronomy 12:12.) Thou mayest not eat; literally, thou art not able to eat; i.e. there is a legal inability to this. So the verb to be able ( יָכֹל) is frequently used (cf. Gen…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 12:19
The Levite. The dues of the Levites consisted mainly of the tithes. The value of this legal provision has been frequently exaggerated. The mistake has lain in comparing it with the average of income over the whole natio…
The Pulpit Commentary on Deuteronomy 12:20
When the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy border. These laws were to continue in force even when God should, according to his promise (Genesis 15:18; Exodus 23:27-31), extend the boundaries of their land.
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
Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 13:1-5
Moses had cautioned against the peril that might arise from the Canaanites. Here he cautions against the rise of idolatry among themselves. It is needful for us to be well acquainted with the truths and precepts of the…
Cautions Against Idolatry. (b. c. 1451.)
CAUTIONS AGAINST IDOLATRY. (B. C. 1451.) Here is, I. A very strange supposition, Deuteronomy 13:1-2. 1. It is strange that there should arise any among themselves, especially any pretending to vision and prophecy, who s…
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
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 13:1-6
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
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…