Deuteronomy 5:31

31 Soothly stand thou here with me, and I shall speak to thee all [the] commandments, and ceremonies, and dooms, which thou shalt teach them, that they do those in the land which I shall give to them into possession. (But thou stand here with me, and I shall tell thee all the commandments, and statutes, and laws, or judgements, which thou shalt teach them, so that they can do them in the land which I shall give them for a possession.)

Deuteronomy 5:31 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 5:31

But as for thee, stand thou here by me
On the mount by him whither he was called up; Moses was not permitted to go to his tent when the children of Israel were, but was ordered to wait upon the Lord to receive instructions from him, which he was to communicate to the people, being a kind of a mediator between God and them, as they requested, and which was granted them:

and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and
the judgments:
all laws, moral, ceremonial, and judicial, which belong to them as men, as in a church state, and members of a body politic:

which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them;
for all doctrine is in order to practice, without which all instructions, and theoretical notions, signify little: and these they were more especially to do, and some of them peculiarly,

in the land which I give them to possess it:
the land of Canaan, and which laid on them no small obligation to do the commandments of God; since of his free favour and good will, and as a pure gift of his, he had bestowed upon them a land flowing with milk and honey, into which he was just now about to bring them; as nothing can more strongly engage souls to a cheerful obedience to the service of God, whether in private or in public, than the consideration of the great and good things which God of his rich grace bestows upon them, and has promised to them, and prepared for them, and will quickly put them into the possession of; and upon such an account Moses presses the observance of the commands of God in the following verses.

Deuteronomy 5:31 In-Context

29 Who shall give that they have such soul, that they dread me, and keep all my commandments in all time, that it be well to them, and to the sons of them, [into] without end? (O that they would have such a soul, that they would fear me at all times/that they would revere me at all times, and obey all my commandments, so that it would be well with them, and with their children, forevermore!)
30 Go thou, and say to them, Turn ye again into your tents. (Go thou, and say to them, Return ye to your tents.)
31 Soothly stand thou here with me, and I shall speak to thee all [the] commandments, and ceremonies, and dooms, which thou shalt teach them, that they do those in the land which I shall give to them into possession. (But thou stand here with me, and I shall tell thee all the commandments, and statutes, and laws, or judgements, which thou shalt teach them, so that they can do them in the land which I shall give them for a possession.)
32 Therefore keep ye (And so obey ye), and do ye those things, which the Lord God hath commanded to you; ye shall not bow away, neither to the right side, nor to the left side,
33 but ye shall go by the way which your Lord God commanded, that ye live, and that it be well to you (so that ye can live, and it shall be well with you), and that your days be lengthened in the land of your possession.
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.