Deuteronomy 5

1 And Moses called all Israel, and said to them, Hear, Israel, the ordinances and judgments, all that I speak in your ears this day, and ye shall learn them, and observe to do them.

2 The Lord your God made a covenant with you in Choreb.

3 The Lord did not make this covenant with your fathers, but with you: ye are all here alive this day.

4 The Lord spoke to you face to face in the mountain out of the midst of the fire.

5 And I stood between the Lord and you at that time to report to you the words of the Lord, (because ye were afraid before the fire, and ye went not up to the mountain) saying,

6 I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

7 Thou shalt have no other gods before my face.

8 Thou shalt not make to thyself an image, nor likeness of any thing, whatever things in the heaven above, and whatever in the earth beneath, and whatever in the waters under the earth.

9 Thou shalt not bow down to them, nor shalt thou serve them; for I am the Lord thy God, a jealous God, visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation to them that hate me,

10 and doing mercifully to thousands of them that love me, and that keep my commandments.

11 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord thy God will certainly not acquit him that takes his name in vain.

12 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God commanded thee.

13 Six days thou shalt work, and thou shalt do all thy works;

14 but on the seventh day the sabbath of the Lord thy God: thou shalt do in it no work, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, thine ox, and thine ass, and all thy cattle, and the stranger that sojourns in the midst of thee; that thy man-servant may rest, and thy maid, and thine ox, as well as thou.

15 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God brought thee out thence with a mighty hand, and a high arm: therefore the Lord appointed thee to keep the sabbath day and to sanctify it.

16 Honour thy father and thy mother, as the Lord thy God commanded thee; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest live long upon the land, which the Lord thy God gives thee.

17 Thou shalt not commit murder.

18 Thou shalt not commit adultery.

19 Thou shalt not steal.

20 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

21 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife; thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, nor his field, nor his man-servant, nor his maid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any beast of his, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

22 These words the Lord spoke to all the assembly of you in the mountain out of the midst of the fire— darkness, blackness, storm, a loud voice—and he added no more, and he wrote them on two tables of stone, and he gave them to me.

23 And it came to pass when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the fire, for the mountain burned with fire, that ye came to me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders:

24 and ye said, Behold, the Lord our God has shewn us his glory, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: this day we have seen that God shall speak to man, and he shall live.

25 And now let us not die, for this great fire will consume us, if we shall hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, and we shall die.

26 For what flesh which has heard the voice of the living God, speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we , and shall live?

27 Do thou draw near, and hear all that the Lord our God shall say, and thou shalt speak to us all things whatsoever the Lord our God shall speak to thee, and we will hear, and do.

28 And the Lord heard the voice of your words as ye spoke to me; and the Lord said to me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, even all things that they have said to thee. well all that they have spoken.

29 O that there were such a heart in them, that they should fear me and keep my commands always, that it might be well with them and with their sons for ever.

30 Go, say to them, Return ye to your houses;

31 but stand thou here with me, and I will tell thee all the commands, and the ordinances, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, and let them do so in the land which I give them for an inheritance.

32 And ye shall take heed to do as the Lord thy God commanded thee; ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left,

33 according to all the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in it, that he may give thee rest; and that it may be well with thee, and ye may prolong your days on the land which ye shall inherit.

Deuteronomy 5 Commentary

Chapter 5

The covenant in Horeb. (1-5) The ten commandments repeated. (6-22) The request of the people that the law might be delivered through Moses. (23-33)

Verses 1-5 Moses demands attention. When we hear the word of God we must learn it; and what we have learned we must put in practice, for that is the end of hearing and learning; not to fill our heads with notions, or our mouths with talk, but to direct our affections and conduct.

Verses 6-22 There is some variation here from ( Exodus 20 ) as between the Lord's prayer in #Mt 6| and ( Luke 11 ) . It is more necessary that we tie ourselves to the things, than to the words unalterably. The original reason for hallowing the sabbath, taken from God's resting from the work of creation on the seventh day, is not here mentioned. Though this ever remains in force, it is not the only reason. Here it is taken from Israel's deliverance out of Egypt; for that was typical of our redemption by Jesus Christ, in remembrance of which the Christian sabbath was to be observed. In the resurrection of Christ we were brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God, with a mighty hand, and an outstretched arm. How sweet is it to a soul truly distressed under the terrors of a broken law, to hear the mild and soul-reviving language of the gospel!

Verses 23-33 Moses refers to the consternation caused by the terror with which the law was given. God's appearances have always been terrible to man, ever since the fall; but Christ, having taken away sin, invites us to come boldly to the throne of grace. They were in a good mind, under the strong convictions of the word they heard. Many have their consciences startled by the law who have them not purified; fair promises are extorted from them, but no good principles are fixed and rooted in them. God commended what they said. He desires the welfare and salvation of poor sinners. He has given abundant proof that he does so; he gives us time and space to repent. He has sent his Son to redeem us, promised his Spirit to those who pray for him, and has declared that he has no pleasure in the ruin of sinners. It would be well with many, if there were always such a heart in them, as there seems to be sometimes; when they are under conviction of sin, or the rebukes of providence, or when they come to look death in the face. The only way to be happy, is to be holy. Say to the righteous, It shall be well with them. Let believers make it more and more their study and delight, to do as the Lord God hath commanded.

Footnotes

• [a]. to them that love, etc. to the number of thousands.
• [b]. by this day.
• [c]. Who will give that there should be so an heart, etc.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 5

In this chapter Moses, after a short preface, De 5:1-5, repeats the law of the decalogue, or ten commands, with some little variation, De 5:6-21, and then reminds the Israelites of the terrible manner in which it was delivered to them, De 5:22,23 which put them upon making a request that Moses might be a mediator between God and them, and hear what the Lord had to say, and report it to them; to which they promised obedience, De 5:24-27 and which being agreeable to the Lord was granted, De 5:28-31, and this laid them under a greater obligation to observe the commands of God, and keep them, De 5:32,33.