992 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Three times a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God,.... This has been observed before, Exodus 23:17, and is repeated here for the sake of mentioning the place where they were to appear, which before now was not observed, and indeed it is chiefly for that the other festivals are here recited: in the place which he shall choose;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Every man shall give as he is able,.... The quantity to be given is not fixed in the law, but the wise men appointed it, as observed on Deuteronomy 16:16 but it is left by the Lord to the generosity of the people, only giving this general rule, that they should do according to their ability, and as the Lord had prospered them; see 1 Corinthians...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Judges and officers shall thou make thee,.... Judges were fixed in the sanhedrim, or court of judicature, and those that have lawsuits come before them; officers are masters of the staff and whip, and they stand before the judges, and go into markets, streets, and shops, to order the weights and measures, and to smite all that do wrong; and all...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou shall not wrest judgment,.... Or pervert it, pass a wrong sentence, or act contrary to justice; this is said to the judges as a direction to them, and so what follows: thou shalt not respect persons; so as to give the cause on account of outward circumstances and relations; as in favour of a rich man against a poor man merely for that reason,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
That which is altogether just shalt thou follow,.... Or "justice", "justice" (a), strict justice, and nothing else: that thou mayest live and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee; that is, continue in the possession of it. (a) צדק צדק
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou shall not plant thee a grove of any trees,.... Of any sort of trees, as oaks or any other; not but that it was lawful to plant trees and groves of them, but not for a religious or idolatrous use: particularly near unto the altar of the Lord thy God, which thou shalt make thee; as the Heathens did near their altars, lest it should be thought...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Neither shalt thou set up any image,.... Graven or molten, of man, beast, fish, or fowl; the word signifies a "statue or pillar" (c) which was set up for idolatry; for, as Aben Ezra observes, what was not set up for idolatry was not forbidden, as when erected in memory of any action or remarkable event; see Joshua 22:10, c. which the Lord thy God...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Deuteronomy 17 This chapter begins with a caution not to sacrifice anything to the Lord that is blemished or ill favoured, Deuteronomy 17:1, an order is given to put to death men or women guilty of idolatry, where it is clearly proved upon them, Deuteronomy 17:2 and it is directed that when cases are too hard for inferior judges to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the Lord thy God any bullock or sheep wherein is blemish,.... No sacrifice of any sort, whether burnt offering, sin offering, or peace offering, was to have any blemish in it; typical of the unblemished and immaculate Lamb of God, who, being without sin, offered himself without spot to God, and so could take away the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee,.... In any of their cities in the land of Canaan: man or woman that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the Lord thy God: as all that is wrought is in the sight of the omniscient God; here it means not any kind of wickedness, for there is none lives...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And hath gone,.... The Targum of Jonathan adds, after the evil imagination or concupiscence, lusting after other lovers, and forsaking the true God, and departing from his worship: and served other gods; strange gods, the idols of the people, other gods besides the true God; the creature besides the Creator: and worshipped them; by bowing down...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and inquired diligently,.... A report of this kind was not to be neglected; though it was not to be concluded upon as certain by hearsay, it was to be looked into, and the persons that brought it thoroughly examined; so the Targum of Jonathan, "and inquired the witnesses well,'' what proof and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou shall bring forth that man or that woman which have committed the wicked thing,.... Idolatry in any of the above instances: this must be supposed to be done after he or she have been had before a court of judicature, and have been tried and found guilty, and sentence passed on them, then they were to be brought forth to execution: unto thy...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death,.... The idolater found guilty was to be stoned; two witnesses were sufficient to prove a fact, if three the better, but, on the testimony of one, sentence might not be pronounced. Aben Ezra observes, that some say, if two witnesses contradict two...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death,.... Of everyone of them, as Aben Ezra; they were to cast the first stone at him, which would be a further trial and confirmation of their testimony; for if they readily and without reluctance first began the stoning of the idolater, it would not only show their zeal for the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment,.... This is spoken to inferior judges in cities in the country, who sometimes might have cases too wonderful and mysterious, as the word signifies, or secret and hidden, such as were out of their reach and beyond their capacity, and so be very difficult for them to determine what should be...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou shalt come unto the priests, the Levites,.... The priests that are of the tribe of Levi, as the Targum of Jonathan, and so Jarchi; for Aben Ezra says there are priests that are not of the genealogy of Levi; such there were indeed in Jeroboam's time, 1 Kings 12:31. Maimonides (f) observes, that it is ordered that there should be in the great...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And thou shalt do according to the sentence which they of that place which the Lord shall choose shall show thee,.... The judges of the inferior courts were to return and proceed on the difficult case according to the judgment of the great court at Jerusalem, and follow the directions and instructions they should give them: and thou shalt observe...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee,.... For they were not to make any new law, but to teach the law of God, and so far as their sense and opinion of things agreed with that law they were to be regarded: and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do; what were law and justice, what were fit...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Ver. 12 And the man that will do presumptuously,.... The judge of the country court that makes his application to that at Jerusalem for information and direction; if, after all, he is conceited in his own opinion, and rejects theirs, and is obstinate, and will not be guided and directed, but will take his own way, and pursue his own sense of...