Deuteronomy 27:5

5 et aedificabis ibi altare Domino Deo tuo de lapidibus quos ferrum non tetigit

Deuteronomy 27:5 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 27:5

And there shall thou build an altar to the Lord thy God
On the same mountain, though not of the same stones. Jarchi's note is,

``after that (the setting up of the plastered stones) thou shalt bring from thence (from Jordan) others, and build of them an altar on Mount Ebal;''

but Josephus F20 places this altar not on Mount Ebal, but between that and Gerizim. This altar, he says, was ordered to be built towards the rising sun, not far from the city of Shechem, between two mountains, Gerizim and Ebal; but the text is express, that it was to be built where the stones were set up, which was on Mount Ebal, and there it was built, ( Joshua 8:30 ) ; an altar of stones; of whole stones, as in ( Deuteronomy 27:6 ) , not broken, nor hewed, but rough as they were when taken out of the quarry: thou shalt not lift up [any] iron [tool] upon them;
to hew them, and make them smooth; (See Gill on Exodus 20:25);


FOOTNOTES:

F20 Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 4. c. 8. sect. 44.)

Deuteronomy 27:5 In-Context

3 ut possis in eis scribere omnia verba legis huius Iordane transmisso ut introeas terram quam Dominus Deus tuus dabit tibi terram lacte et melle manantem sicut iuravit patribus tuis
4 quando ergo transieritis Iordanem erige lapides quos ego hodie praecipio vobis in monte Hebal et levigabis calce
5 et aedificabis ibi altare Domino Deo tuo de lapidibus quos ferrum non tetigit
6 et de saxis informibus et inpolitis et offeres super eo holocausta Domino Deo tuo
7 et immolabis hostias pacificas comedesque ibi et epulaberis coram Domino Deo tuo
The Latin Vulgate is in the public domain.