Deuteronomy 4:2

2 Don't add a word to what I command you, and don't remove a word from it. Keep the commands of God, your God, that I am commanding you.

Deuteronomy 4:2 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 4:2

Ye shall not add to the word which I command you, nether shall
you diminish ought from it
Neither make new laws of their own, and join them to the law of God, and set them upon a level with it, or prefer them before it; as the Scribes and Pharisees did in Christ's time, who by their traditions made the word of God of none effect, as do the Papists also by their unwritten traditions; nor abrogate nor detract from the law of God, nor make void any part of it: or else the sense is, neither do that which is forbidden, nor neglect that which is commanded; neither be guilty of sins of omission nor commission, nor in any way break the law of God, and teach men so to do by word or by example; not a jot or tittle is either to be put to it, or taken from it, ( Proverbs 30:5 Proverbs 30:6 ) ( Matthew 5:18 Matthew 5:19 ) ( Revelation 22:18 Revelation 22:19 )

that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command
you;
in his name; or which he delivered unto them as his commandments, and which were to be kept just as they were delivered, without adding to them, or taking from them.

Deuteronomy 4:2 In-Context

1 Now listen, Israel, listen carefully to the rules and regulations that I am teaching you to follow so that you may live and enter and take possession of the land that God, the God-of-Your-Fathers, is giving to you.
2 Don't add a word to what I command you, and don't remove a word from it. Keep the commands of God, your God, that I am commanding you.
3 You saw with your own eyes what God did at Baal Peor, how God destroyed from among you every man who joined in the Baal Peor orgies.
4 But you, the ones who held tight to God, your God, are alive and well, every one of you, today.
5 Pay attention: I'm teaching you the rules and regulations that God commanded me, so that you may live by them in the land you are entering to take up ownership.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.