1The end of the law is obedience: 3an exhortation thereto. 20What they are required to teach their children concerning it.
1NOW these are 1the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:
1 Hebr. the commandment; see Deut. 5 on verse 31.
2That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.
3¶Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with 2milk and honey.
2 See Exod. 3:8.
4Hear,a O Israel: The LORD our God is 3one LORD:
a Deut. 4:35; Mark 12:29; John 17:3; 1 Cor. 8:4, 6.
3 That is, one only, eternal, almighty, Divine Essence. See of the word LORD or Jehovah, Gen. 2 on verse 4.
5And thou shalt loveb the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
b Deut. 10:12; Mat. 22:37; Luke 10:27.
6And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
7And thou shalt 4teach them diligently unto thy children,c and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
4 Hebr. sharpen, whet, grind, that is, set as such before them that they may pierce through into their heart; as weapons are sharpened to pierce through according to the intent of him who uses them.
c Deut. 4:9; 11:19.
8And thou shalt bind them for a 5sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontletsd between thine eyes.
5 That is, thou shalt use all means to keep them in continual remembrance, and to set them before the eyes of your children to live according to them. See Exod. 13:9, and of the frontlets Exod. 13 on verse 16.
d headbands
9And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
10And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,
11And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; whene thou 6shalt have eaten and be full;
e Deut. 8:9, 10.
6 Other, that thou then shalt eat and be satisfied, But, etc.
12Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of 7bondage.
7 Hebr. out of the house of servants; as Deut. 5:6.
13Thou shalt fearf the LORD thy 8God, and serve him, and shalt swear 9by his name.
f Deut. 10:20; Mat. 4:10; Luke 4:8.
8 Understand only, as the following verse shows, and appears in Mat. 4:10.
9 When either public or private necessity requires, then thou shalt do this honor unto thy God, as to swear only by Him.
14Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;
15(For the LORD thy God is a 10jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.
10 See Exod. 20:5; Deut. 4 on verse 24.
16¶Ye shall notg11tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.h
g Mat. 4:7; Luke 4:12.
11 To tempt God is: either out of distrust in Him, or out of high conceit of man’s own self to forsake the Divine rule, the right order and the common means, to follow man’s own discretion and to test God, His attributes and will. See Exod. 17:2; Num. 14:22; Psalm 78:18; Mat. 4:7; Acts 15:10.
h Exod. 17:2; Num. 20:3.
17Ye shall 12diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.
12 Hebr. keeping keep.
18And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers,
19To cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the LORD hath spoken.
20And when thy son asketh thee 13in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD our God hath commanded you?
13 That is, hereafter, in time to come, today or tomorrow, as we say. See Gen. 30 on verse 33.
21Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand:
22And the LORD shewed signs and 14wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes:
14 That is, strange, terrible, hurtful and destructive plagues, whereby the Egyptians were sorely vexed and tormented.
23And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers.
24And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good 15always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day.
15 Hebr. all the days.
25And it shall be our 16righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.
16 According to the law, if we, on condition, perfectly keep the entire law, as the following words declare. Compare Lev. 18:5; Ezek. 20:11; Mat. 19:17; Rom. 10:5; Gal. 3:12; James 2:10. Since in regard that all the regenerate children of God remain imperfect in this life so that they cannot perform the aforementioned condition, therefore there is no other way to be justified before God than by a true faith in Jesus Christ, Whose righteousness and satisfaction is graciously given us of the Father, imputed and applied to us by faith. See Jer. 33:16; Dan. 9:24; Rom. 3:27; 8:3; 1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:10, 11; whereupon than good works follow, as a fruit of faith, and evidence of due thankfulness, according to the rule of God’s law, etc., 1 Cor. 6:20; Gal. 5:6; Philip. 1:11; James 2:18. Some understand here by righteousness the evidence and outward manifestation of righteousness, which we have by faith.