Deuteronomy 27:4

4 After you cross the Jordan River, set up these stones on Mount Ebal, and cover them with plaster, following the command I'm giving you today.

Deuteronomy 27:4 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 27:4

And therefore it shall be, when ye be gone over Jordan
Some time after they had passed that river:

[that] ye shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in
Mount Ebal;
a mountain near Shechem in Samaria, and was, as Benjamin of Tudela says ^F18, dry as stones and rocks itself, and perhaps had its name, as some think ^F19, from the root in the Arabic language which signifies to strip a tree of its leaves, and a derivative from it, white stones and a mountain in which such are found. Hither the stones commanded to be set up were to be brought, and fixed here; from whence it is not certain; it may be from some part of the mountain. Here the Samaritan version has Gerizim instead of Ebal, which is generally thought to be a wilful corruption of the Samaritans, in favour of their temple built at Gerizim:

and thou shall plaster them with plaster;
as before directed, ( Deuteronomy 27:2 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F18 Itinerar. p. 40.
F19 Reland. Dissert. 3. de Monte Gerizim, p. 128. See Castel. Lexic. Heptaglott col 2642.

Deuteronomy 27:4 In-Context

2 "The day you cross the Jordan River and enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, set up some large stones and cover them with plaster.

3 The LORD God of your ancestors is giving you a land flowing with milk and honey, as he promised you. After you're in that land, write all the words of these teachings on the stones.

4 After you cross the Jordan River, set up these stones on Mount Ebal, and cover them with plaster, following the command I'm giving you today.

5 Build an altar of stones there dedicated to the LORD your God. Don't use an iron chisel on the stones.

6 You must use uncut stones to build the altar of the LORD your God. Sacrifice burnt offerings on it to the LORD your God.