Deuteronomy 5 Study Notes

5:1-3 Though revealed again now in a new, expanded form in Moab, this covenant was essentially a restatement of the covenant given forty years earlier. Fathers refers to the patriarchal ancestors beginning with Abram with whom God had made a covenant centuries earlier (Gn 12:1-3; 15:1-21; 17:1-21).

5:4-5 These verses echo Ex 20:18-21 (also Dt 4:12) and are elaborated on in Dt 5:22-31. Face to face is a metaphor for “directly” as opposed to through a mediator. Therefore, v. 5 seems to contradict v. 4. The explanation is in vv. 5:22-31. Although Israel heard the Ten Commandments directly from God, the rest of the law was mediated to them by Moses (J. G. McConville).

5:6-7 The phrase other gods does not admit their existence but only the fact that the polytheistic worldview was rife in the surrounding cultures of OT Israel (4:7; 1Co 8:4-6).

5:8 The Hebrew term translated idol (pesel) means “a carved thing.” It could, in this context, refer not just to likenesses of pagan gods but to that of the Lord himself (4:15-16).

5:9-10 To hate God in a covenant context means not so much to detest him with strong emotional overtones as it does to reject him as a covenant partner. For Israel to love God was to choose him and agree to obey him (6:4-5; Jn 14:15). Conversely, to hate him was to disobey him. When God is the subject, he is said to have loved Israel in the sense that he chose Israel to be his special people (Dt 7:8). The best illustration of love and hate with these nuances is the statement of the Lord, “I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau” (Mal 1:2-3). What clearly is meant is that God had chosen Jacob to inherit the covenant privileges but had not chosen Esau (cp. Gn 25:23; 27:29).

5:11 The Hebrew word behind the term misuse bears the literal idea of using the name of the Lord in an empty, flippant, or purposeless way. To make light of his name is to denigrate God himself (12:5).

5:12-13 To remember the Sabbath day is, literally, to set it apart for a special purpose. The emphasis is not so much on remaining inactive on the Sabbath as it is on making it a time of reflection, praise, worship, and service.

5:14 The seventh day calls to mind the seventh day of creation by which time all of God’s creation work had been accomplished (Gn 2:1-2). The verb used in Genesis is (Hb) shavath (“to cease”) which lends the nuance of stopping from one thing with the possibility of doing something else, not necessarily an absolute cessation from activity.

5:15 To remember in Hebrew idiom carries the sense of deep reflection and meditation on the past, particularly with regard to God’s mighty acts of love and grace (7:18; 8:2; 9:7; 15:15; Ps 42:4,6; 77:11; 137:6; Is 46:8; 1Co 11:24-25). In the exodus account, the motive for remembering the Sabbath was that God had ceased his creation work on the seventh day (Ex 20:11). In Deuteronomy, Israel was called on to remember a more recent event, God’s mightiest work on their behalf—their redemption from cruel bondage.

5:16 As those created in the image of God and most immediately representing his glory and his authority over them, children must honor their father and their mother. The word “honor” translates a verb meaning literally “regard as weighty.” It is associated with the notion that important people are “heavyweights,” loaded down with glory and honor. Parents were to be considered as such, heavy with responsibility and privilege of which children must be aware and to which they must submit if they are to be obedient and pleasing to God. The opposite is to dishonor parents by considering them to be nobodies. Exodus 21:17 states that “whoever curses his father or his mother must be put to death.” The word “curses” here translates a verb meaning “be light” or “esteem to be light.” To honor one’s parents is to accord them the highest esteem; to dishonor them is to curse them and regard them with contempt.

5:17 Though a generic term for killing is used here, the intent clearly is to speak of premeditated murder. Manslaughter as accidental homicide has already been considered (4:42), and killing by government and other constituted authority was permitted as capital punishment (13:5,9; Ex 21:12,14-17) and in times of war (Dt 7:2; 20:13,17). Murder is heinous because human beings are created in the image of God and their murder, in effect, is a blow against God himself (Gn 9:5-6).

5:18 Adultery is described in a number of ancient Near Eastern texts as “the great sin,” suggesting that even pagans were aware of its seriousness. A common biblical image is marriage as a metaphor for God’s relationship to Israel (Ezk 16:8,32; Hs 2:14-16) and for Christ’s relationship to the church (Rv 19:7; 21:2,9). In both cases, unfaithfulness on the part of God’s people is identical to adultery.

5:19 Whereas the sixth commandment is about taking one’s life and the seventh is about taking the purity and sanctity of the marriage relationship, the eighth is about taking one’s property. It betrays an attitude of dissatisfaction with what God has given.

5:20 The ninth commandment is most at home in a legal setting where testimony is required of witnesses or other knowledgeable persons. Since a person accused of a crime could suffer serious penalties or death for his violation of the law, it was essential that the evidence presented be trustworthy (cp. 17:6; 19:15-21).

5:21 To covet and to desire are essentially the same thing, as is seen in Ex 20:17 where the same Hebrew verb is used of both houses and wives. Here the same verb occurs for wife and a different verb for everything else. A possible explanation is that in the land of Canaan families would live in close quarters where desire for a neighbor’s property might be a more glaring temptation.

5:22-31 These verses elaborate on vv. 4-5. See comments there.

5:22 The fire, cloud, and total darkness indicated the Lord’s transcendent glory. The fire suggested its openness and the cloud and darkness its hiddenness. Were the glory of the Lord to appear in all its brightness, no human could look upon it and live (vv. 25-26; Ex 19:20-22). The two stone tablets reflect the ancient Near Eastern custom of making a copy of the covenant texts for each party. One of these was for the Lord and the other for Israel.

5:28-29 Upon receiving the terms of the covenant, the people had said, “We will do all that the Lord has spoken” (Ex 19:8). However, the Lord would not be impressed with their verbal commitment but with a heart to fear him and keep all his commands.

5:32-33 Turn aside to the right or the left alludes to the metaphor of following the Lord’s ways (see Dt 1:36; 5:1,31; 13:4; Nm 14:24,43; 32:11-12,15) as opposed to following the ways of the nations (Dt 6:14; 11:28; 13:2).