Deuteronomy 4:2

2 Ye shall not add to the word which I speak to you, neither ye shall take away from it; keep ye the commandments of your Lord God (obey the commandments of the Lord your God), which I command to 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, thou Israel, hear the behests and dooms which I teach thee, that thou do those, and live, and that thou enter and wield the land which the Lord God of your fathers shall give to you. (And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and laws, or judgements, which I shall teach thee, so that thou do them, and live, and so that thou can enter and take the land which the Lord God of your fathers shall give to you.)
2 Ye shall not add to the word which I speak to you, neither ye shall take away from it; keep ye the commandments of your Lord God (obey the commandments of the Lord your God), which I command to you.
3 Your eyes saw all things which the Lord did against Baalpeor; how he all-brake all the worshippers of him from the midst of you. (Your own eyes saw all the things which the Lord did at Mount Peor; how he destroyed all the worshippers of Baal of Peor in the midst of you.)
4 Forsooth ye that cleave(d) to your Lord God live all till into (this) present day. (But all of ye who cleaved to the Lord your God still be alive unto this present day.)
5 Ye know that I taught you the behests and the rightwisenesses, as my Lord God commanded to me; so ye shall do them in the land that ye shall wield, (Ye know that I have taught you all the statutes and the laws, or the judgements, as the Lord my God commanded to me; and ye shall do them in the land that ye shall take,)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.