Devarim 4:14

14 And Hashem commanded me at that time to teach you chukkim and mishpatim, that ye might do them in ha’aretz whither ye go over to possess it.

Devarim 4:14 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 4:14

And the Lord commanded me at that time
When the ten commandments were delivered on Mount Sinai, and Moses was ordered to come up to God in the mount:

to teach you statutes and judgments;
laws ceremonial and judicial, besides the ten commands given them:

that ye may do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it;
the land of Canaan, which was on the other side of Jordan, and over which they must go in order to possess it; and when they came there, they were to hold the possession of it by attending to those laws which forbad the sins for which the old inhabitants of it were expelled out of it; and besides these, there were also several laws, both ceremonial and judicial, which were to be peculiarly observed in the land, as well as others they were obliged to do while without it.

Devarim 4:14 In-Context

12 And Hashem spoke unto you out of the midst of the eish; ye heard the voice of the devarim, but saw no temunah (form, semblance); only ye heard a voice.

13 And He declared unto you His Brit, which He commanded you to do, even Aseres HaDevarim; and He wrote them upon shnei luchot avanim (two tablets of stone).

14 And Hashem commanded me at that time to teach you chukkim and mishpatim, that ye might do them in ha’aretz whither ye go over to possess it.

15 Be shomer over yourselves, therefore; for ye saw no manner of temunah on the yom that Hashem spoke unto you in Chorev out of the midst of the eish;

16 Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a pesel, the temunah of any semel, the likeness of zachar or nekevah,