992 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Moses came,.... To the people, as the Greek version, the heads of the people being gathered together according to his order, Deuteronomy 31:28; The Targum of Jonathan says, he came from the tabernacle, the house of instruction: and spake all the words of this song in the ears of the people; which is observed both before and after the reading...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel. Finished all he had to say to them from the Lord, whether by way of precept, moral, civil, and ceremonial or in the form of a song.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he said unto them,.... By way of exhortation: set your hearts to all the words which I testify among you this day; it was not enough to hear them, but they were to lay them up in their hearts, and retain them in their memories; and not only so, but reflect on them in their minds, and closely apply to the consideration of them, and get the true...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For it [is] not a vain thing for you,.... That is, the law is not, and the observance of it in them and their children; it was no light and trifling matter, but of great importance and consequence, obedience to it being attended with rewards, and disobedience with punishment: because it [is] your life: if obeyed, the means of a comfortable and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the Lord spake unto Moses the selfsame day,.... On which he finished the reading of the law, and the above song, which was the seventh of Adar or February; according to the Targum of Jonathan, the day he died on; according to the Egyptian Calendar (a), it was the sixteenth of that month, see Deuteronomy 34:5; saying; as follows. (a) Apud...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Get thee up into this mountain Abarim,.... Which was near in sight, and pointed at; it was a range of mountains, of which see Numbers 21:11; [unto] Mount Nebo; which was one of the mountains of Abarim, and had its name either from its height, or a city of this name, to which it was near, see Numbers 32:38; Jerom says (b), in his lays it was shown...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And die in the mount whither thou goest up,.... Immediately after having taken a view of the land, expect to die, prepare for it, and willingly and cheerfully submit to it: and be gathered unto thy people; to the spirits of just men made perfect in heaven, his more immediate and more remote ancestors, the souls of good men; for otherwise there...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel,.... By their unbelief, doubting whether God would give water or no to such a rebellious people, and by giving way to passion and wrathful expressions: and this was done at the waters of Meribahkadesh; so called, to distinguish it from another Meribah, where also there was a contention...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Yet thou shalt see the land before [thee],.... Which Jarchi interprets, afar off; and so does Noldius (c); he saw it at a distance, as the Old Testament saints saw the things promised afar off, and were persuaded of them, though they did not enjoy them, Hebrews 11:13: but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Deuteronomy 33 This chapter relates the blessings Moses pronounced upon the people of Israel a little before his death; first, in general, on account of their having a law given them in so glorious a manner, Deuteronomy 33:1; then, in particular, each of the tribes distinctly is blessed, Reuben, Deuteronomy 33:6; Judah, Deuteronomy...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And this is the blessing wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. Namely, what is related in the following verses, this being the general title to the chapter: Moses is called "the man of God", being raised up of God, and eminently qualified by him with girls for the work he was called unto, and by whom he...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he said,.... What follows, of which, in some things, he was an eye and ear witness, and in others was inspired by the Spirit of God, to deliver his mind and will concerning the future case and state of the several tribes, after he had observed the common benefit and blessing they all enjoyed, by having such a law given them in the manner it...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Yea, he loved the people,.... The people of Israel, of which his giving the law to them in such a glorious manner was an instance, and was a distinguishing blessing which other nations were not favoured with, see Deuteronomy 4:6; how much more is the love of God shown to his spiritual Israel and special people, by giving them his Gospel, the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Moses commanded us a law,.... The law was of God, it came forth from his right hand, Deuteronomy 33:2; it is of his enacting, a declaration of his will, and has his authority stamped upon it, who is the lawgiver, and which lays under obligation to regard it; but it was delivered to Moses, and by him to the children of Israel, on whom he urged...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he was king in Jeshurun,.... That is, in Israel, or over the people of Israel, of which name of theirs, [See comments on Deuteronomy 32:15]; either God, as Jarchi; for the government of the Israelites was a theocracy, and their laws were immediately from God, and by him they were guided and directed in all things; wherefore, when they were so...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Let Reuben live, and not die,.... As a tribe, continue and not be extinct, though they should not excel, because of the sin of their progenitor; and it may have a special regard to the preservation of them, of their families on the other side Jordan, while they passed over it with their brethren into Canaan, and of them in that expedition to help...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And this [is the blessing] of Judah,.... Which follows; the same supplement of the words is made in the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem; but Aben Ezra thinks it refers to what goes before, that this, the same thing prayed for or prophesied of Reuben, belongs also to Judah, that he should live and not die; it may be in the wars in which that...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And of Levi he said,.... That is, Moses said of the tribe of Levi, as both the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem: [let] thy Thummim and thy Urim [be] with thy Holy One; with Aaron, as the same Targums interpret it, who was of the tribe of Levi, and was a holy good man, a saint of the Lord, as he is called, Psalms 106:16; of the Urim and Thummim,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him,.... Which some understand of the high priests who were of this tribe, and according to the law were not to defile themselves, or mourn for a father or mother, Leviticus 21:11; or rather, as others, of their having no respect to them in judgment, but determining all causes that came...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
They shall teach Jacob thy statutes, and Israel thy law,.... The priests and Levites, being dispersed among each of the tribes, having cities in them allotted to them, taught the people the laws, statutes, and ordinances of the Lord, moral, civil, and ceremonial, see Malachi 2:6; they shall put incense before thee; upon the altar of incense, which...