992 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day,.... A phrase often met with before, and signifies the putting in practice the several laws, moral, ceremonial, and judicial, which Moses was now making a repetition of, and enjoining the observance of them by a divine authority: to love the Lord thy God; which is...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
That innocent blood be not shed,.... As it would be if such a slayer as before described was killed by the avenger of blood, before he could get to one of these cities of refuge, or supposing that they had not bean appointed, or a sufficient number of them: which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance; to be enjoyed by them and their...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But if any man hate his neighbour,.... Has conceived enmity in his heart against him, bears him a mortal hatred, and has formed a scheme in his mind to take away his life: and lie in wait for him knowing and expecting he will come by in such a way at such a time: and rise up against him; out of the place where he lay in wait, just at the time he...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence,.... The Targum of Jonathan is, "the wise men of his city,'' the sanhedrim, or court of judicature, or at least the civil magistrates of that city, to which such a murderer belonged, had a power to send to the city of refuge whither he was fled, and demand the delivering of him up to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thine eye shall not pity him,.... This is not said to the avenger of blood, who is not to be supposed to have any pity or compassion on such a person, but to the elders, judges, and civil magistrates of the city to which he belonged, who took cognizance of his case; these were to show him no favour on account of his being a citizen, a neighbour, a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's landmark,.... By which one man's land is distinguished from another; for so to do is to injure a man's property, and alienate his lands to the use of another, which must be a very great evil, and render those that do it obnoxious to a curse, Deuteronomy 27:17 which they of old have set in thine inheritance,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth,.... Whether capital sins, or pecuniary debts; or whatsoever sins a man may be guilty of whether sins against the first or second table of the law, whether greater or lesser sins, whether in moral or civil things; the Jews except only in the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
If a false witness rise up against any man,.... In a court of judicature: to testify against him: that which is not true of him, let it be in what case it will; Aben Ezra instances in idolatry, but it holds good of any other.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then both the men between whom the controversy is,.... The man that bears the false witness, and the man against whom it is borne: shall stand before the Lord; as in the presence of him, the omniscient God, and as represented by judges and civil magistrates, whose vicegerents they are; so it seems to be explained in the next words, which are...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the judges shall make diligent inquisition,.... Into the case before them, into the nature of the evidence and proof that each witness brings for or against; so the Targum of Jonathan, "the judges shall interrogate the witness, by whom these things are said, well;'' shall thoroughly examine the testimony given, and look carefully into it: and,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then shall ye do unto him as he had thought to have done unto his brother,.... Inflict the same fine or punishment on him he thought to have brought his brother under by his false testimony of him; whether any pecuniary fine, or whipping and scourging, or the loss of a member, or the value of it, or death itself; whether stoning, strangling,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And those which remain shall hear, and fear,.... Those which survive the false witness shall hear of the punishment inflicted on him, and fear to commit the like sin, lest they should be punished in like manner.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And thine eye shall not pity,.... The false witness when convicted; this is directed to the judges, who should not spare such an one through favour or affection, but pronounce a righteous sentence on him, and see it executed, in proportion to the crime, and that according to the law of retaliation: but life shall go for life; in such a case where...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Deuteronomy 20 In this chapter rules are given to be observed in times of war. When a battle was near, a priest was to address the soldiers, and encourage them to fight, Deuteronomy 20:1, then the officers were to declare who might return home, Deuteronomy 20:5 when an enemy's city was approached, peace was to be proclaimed on...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies,.... There were two sorts of war the Israelites were engaged in, one commanded and another permitted, as Maimonides (c) distinguishes; one was by the order and appointment of God, as against the seven nations of Canaan; the other was voluntary and arbitrary, which was left to their own discretion...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Ver. 2 And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle,.... When all things are preparing for it, and it seems unavoidable: that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people; not any priest, but one appointed for this service; who is called the anointed of war, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra observe, and concerning whom Maimonides (d) is...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And shall say unto them, hear, O Israel,.... Exciting their attention to what he was about to say, and which, as Jarchi observes, was spoken in the holy tongue, or in the Hebrew language: you approach this day unto battle against your enemies; were marching or ready to march, preparing to engage with them, and a battle seemed near at hand: let not...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you,.... To battle, and therefore they had no reason to fear and be dismayed, to be fainthearted, terrified, and tremble: fear not, I am with thee,.... Isaiah 41:10, this, according to the Misnah (f), respects the ark, and so Jarchi, which was a symbol of the divine Presence, and went with them to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the officers shall speak unto the people,.... What these officers were is not easy to say; they seem not to be officers of the army, for they are distinguished from captains of the armies, Deuteronomy 20:9, unless they can be thought to be general officers; but the word for them is the same that is used of such that attended the judges and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And what man is he that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not yet eaten of it?.... Which he has a right to do, and it is hard for him to be deprived of it, 1 Corinthians 9:7 or "hath not made it common" (k); according to the law in Leviticus 19:23. Three years the fruit of trees, and so of vines, might not be eaten; in the fourth, they were...