Deuteronomy 4:2

2 You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it; that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command 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 "And now, O Israel, give heed to the statutes and the ordinances which I teach you, and do them; that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, gives you.
2 You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it; that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
3 Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Ba'al-pe'or; for the LORD your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Ba'al of Pe'or;
4 but you who held fast to the LORD your God are all alive this day.
5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land which you are entering to take possession of it.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.