Deuternomium 12:5

5 sondern den Ort, den der HERR, euer Gott, erwählen wird aus allen euren Stämmen, daß er seinen Namen daselbst läßt wohnen, sollt ihr aufsuchen und dahin kommen

Deuternomium 12:5 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 12:5

But unto the place which the Lord your God
The Targum of Jonathan is, that the Word of the Lord your God:

shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there;
to place his tabernacle, set up his worship, take up his residence, and cause the Shechinah, or his divine Majesty, to dwell there, as the next clause explains it; out of what tribe it should be chosen, and where it should be, is not said. Maimomides F2 gives three reasons for it; he says there are three great mysteries why the place is not clearly, but obscurely mentioned;

1) lest the Gentiles should seize upon it, and make war for the sake of it, supposing this place to be the end of the law; 2) lest they in whose hands the place then was should by all means waste and destroy it; 3) which is the chief, lest every tribe should desire to have it in its own lot and jurisdiction; and so strifes might arise among them on account of it, as happened to the priesthood:

[even] unto his habitation shall ye seek;
the temple at Jerusalem is meant, where the Lord took up his dwelling, and whither men were to come and seek unto him by prayer and supplication for whatsoever they needed, and to inquire of him in matters doubtful, and they wanted counsel in:

and thither thou shall come:
with sacrifices of every sort, where they were to be slain and offered to the Lord, and become acceptable to him, as is more largely declared in the following part of this chapter.


FOOTNOTES:

F2 Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 45. p. 475.

Deuternomium 12:5 In-Context

3 und reißt um ihre Altäre und zerbrecht ihre Säulen und verbrennt mit Feuer ihre Haine, und die Bilder ihrer Götter zerschlagt, und vertilgt ihren Namen aus demselben Ort.
4 Ihr sollt dem HERRN, eurem Gott, nicht also tun;
5 sondern den Ort, den der HERR, euer Gott, erwählen wird aus allen euren Stämmen, daß er seinen Namen daselbst läßt wohnen, sollt ihr aufsuchen und dahin kommen
6 und eure Brandopfer und eure andern Opfer und eure Zehnten und eurer Hände Hebe und euer Gelübde und eure freiwilligen Opfer und die Erstgeburt eurer Rinder und Schafe dahin bringen.
7 Und sollt daselbst vor dem HERRN, eurem Gott, essen und fröhlich sein, ihr und euer Haus, über alles, was eure Hand vor sich bringt, darin dich der HERR, dein Gott, gesegnet hat.
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