Deuteronomy 27:3

3 When you cross over, write all the words of these teachings on them. Then you may enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a fertile land, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised.

Deuteronomy 27:3 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 27:3

And thou shall write upon them all the words of this law
Not the whole book of Deuteronomy, as some think, at least not the historical part of it, only what concerns the laws of God; and it may be only a summary or abstract of them, and perhaps only the ten commandments. Josephus ^F17 is of opinion that the blessings and the curses after recited were what were written on them:

when thou art passed over;
that is, the river Jordan:

that thou mayest go in unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth
thee, a land flowing with milk and honey;
this account of the land of Canaan is so frequently observed, to imprint upon their minds a sense of the great goodness of God in giving them such a fruitful country, and to point out to them the obligation they lay under to observe the laws of God ordered to be written on plastered stones, as soon as they came into it:

as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee;
( Exodus 3:8 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 Antiqu. l. 4. c. 8. sect. 44.

Deuteronomy 27:3 In-Context

1 Then Moses, along with the older leaders of Israel, commanded the people, saying, "Keep all the commands I have given you today.

2 Soon you will cross the Jordan River to go into the land the Lord your God is giving you. On that day set up some large stones and cover them with plaster.

3 When you cross over, write all the words of these teachings on them. Then you may enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a fertile land, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised.

4 After you have crossed the Jordan River, set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I command you today, and cover them with plaster.

5 Build an altar of stones there to the Lord your God, but don't use any iron tool to cut the stones;