Deuteronomy 31:26

26 Take the book of this law, and ye shall put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God; and it shall be there among you for a testimony.

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 And when Moses finished writing all the words of this law in a book, even to the end,

25 then he charged the Levites who bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying,

26 Take the book of this law, and ye shall put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God; and it shall be there among you for a testimony.

27 For I know thy provocation, and thy stiff neck; for yet during my life with you at this day, ye have been provoking in your conduct toward God: how shall ye not also be so after my death?

28 Gather together to me the heads of your tribes, and your elders, and your judges, and your officers, that I may speak in their ears all these words; and I call both heaven and earth to witness against them.

Footnotes

• [a]. within thee.