Deuteronomy 4:2

2 "1You shall not add to the word which 2I am commanding you, nor take away 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 "Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I am teaching you to perform, so that you may live and go in and take possession of the land which the LORD , the God of your fathers, is giving you.
2 "You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away 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 has done in the case of Baal-peor, for all the men who followed Baal-peor, the LORD your God has destroyed them from among you.
4 "But you who held fast to the LORD your God are alive today, every one of you.
5 "See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it.

Cross References 2

  • 1. Deuteronomy 12:32; Proverbs 30:6; Revelation 22:18
  • 2. Deut 4:5, 14, 40
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