Deuteronomy 31:26

26 Take ye this book (of the law), and put ye it in the side of the ark of the bond of peace of your Lord God, that it be there against thee into witnessing. (Take ye this Book of the Law, and put ye it beside the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, to be a witness there against thee.)

Deuteronomy 31:26 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 31:26

Take this book of the law
Not Deuteronomy only, but the whole Pentateuch:

and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your
God;
not in the ark, for there were nothing there but the two tables of stone with the ten commands on them, ( 1 Kings 8:9 ) ; but on one side of it; the Targum of Jonathan says, it was

``put in a chest (or box) on the right side of the ark of the covenant;''

which is very probable. Jarchi observes, that the wise men of Israel are divided about it in the Talmud ^F5; some of them say there was a table (or ledge) that stood out from the ark without, and there it was put; others say it was put on the side of the tables of the law within the ark; the former are in the right:

that it may be therefore a witness against thee;
when they fall into idolatry or any other sin, a transgression of any of the laws therein contained.

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 T. B. Bava Bathra, fol. 14. 1. 2.

Deuteronomy 31:26 In-Context

24 Therefore after that Moses had written the words of this law in a book, and fulfilled them (and finished them),

25 he commanded to the Levites that bare the ark of the bond of peace of the Lord, and said, (he commanded to the Levites who carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, and said,)

26 Take ye this book (of the law), and put ye it in the side of the ark of the bond of peace of your Lord God, that it be there against thee into witnessing. (Take ye this Book of the Law, and put ye it beside the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, to be a witness there against thee.)

27 For I know thy striving, and thy most hard noll; yet while I lived and entered with you, ye did ever[more] strivingly against the Lord; how much more when I shall be dead. (For I know thy defiance, or thy rebellious nature, and thy stiff neck/and thy stubbornness; yet while I lived and went with you, ye often defied the Lord; so then how much more, after that I am dead?)

28 Gather ye to me all the greater men in birth, and teachers [and doctors], by your lineages, and I shall speak to them, hearing these words, and I shall call (to witness) against them heaven and earth. (Gather ye to me all the men of great age, that is, the elders, of your tribes, and the officers, and I shall speak to them, and they shall hear all these words, and I shall call heaven and earth to witness against them.)