48443 matching verse commentaries
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And all the people shall hear, and fear,.... All the people of Israel in their own cities, and particularly the judges in those cities; they shall hear of what is done to the obstinate and disobedient elder, and shall be afraid to commit the like offence, lest they should come into the same punishment: and do no more presumptuously; after his...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
When thou art come unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee,.... The land of Canaan: and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein; be entirely in the possession of it, and settled in it; it seems to denote some time of continuance in it, as it was, before they thought of setting a king over them, about which are the following...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou shalt in any wise set [him] king over thee whom the Lord thy God shall choose,.... The Jews take this to be a command to set a king over them: whereas it is only a permission in case they should desire and determine on having one, as God foresaw they would; and this with a limitation and restriction to appoint none but whom God should choose,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But he shall not multiply horses to himself,.... That he might not put his trust and confidence in outward things, as some are apt to trust in horses and chariots; and that he might not tyrannise over and distress his subjects by keeping a number of horses and chariots as a standing army, and chiefly for a reason that follows; he was to have no...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away,.... From attending to the duty of his office, the care and government of his people, and from serious religion; and particularly from the worship of the true God, as the heart of Solomon was turned away from it by his numerous idolatrous wives, 1 Kings 11:3, it is a common...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom,.... When he is settled on it, and is even amidst all the pomp and glory of it: that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book; which copy the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions interpret of this book of Deuteronomy, which is a summary abstract and repetition of the various...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it shall be with him,.... Always, when at home or abroad, sitting on his throne or lying down, or wherever he went, unless in such places where it was not proper to read it, as the Jews observe (o): and he shall read therein all the days of his life; every day of his life; meditate on it night and day, as a good man does, that he might be well...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren,.... On account of his office, the dignity of it, considering that he was subject to the law of God, and accountable to the Lord for all his actions: and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand or to the left; not in the least deviate from the law of God in the whole of his...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Deuteronomy 18 This chapter gives an account of the provision made for the priests and Levites, with the reason of it, Deuteronomy 18:1, of allowance of a country Levite to minister at Jerusalem, and take his portion with the rest, Deuteronomy 18:6, and of several persons of bad practices not to be suffered among the people of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The priests, the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel,.... That is, in the land of Canaan, in the division of it among the tribes: they shall eat the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and his inheritance; the meat offerings, see Leviticus 2:2, and whatsoever of the sin offerings and peace offerings...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
In this chapter, I. The rights and revenues of the church are settled, and rules given concerning the Levites' ministration and maintenance, ver. 1-8. II. The caution against the idolatrous abominable customs of the heathen is repeated, ver. 9-14. III. A promise is given them of the spirit of prophecy to continue among them, and to centre at last...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Therefore shall they have none inheritance among their brethren,.... Neither of the field, nor of the vineyard, as the above Targum, because provision was made for them otherwise, and especially because the Lord is their inheritance, as he hath said unto them, [See comments on Numbers 18:20], which as it may be understood in a spiritual sense of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And this shall be the priest's due from the people, from them that offer sacrifice,.... Not from the priests, as Jarchi observes, but from those that bring the sacrifices to the priests, particularly the peace offerings: whether it be ox or sheep; the one of the herd, the other of the flock, creatures used in sacrifice, and takes in goats and the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The firstfruit also of thy corn, and of thy wine, and of thy oil,.... This is the "terumah", or heave offering, the offering of the firstfruits; what the measure or quantity was is not declared, but is fixed by the Jews; [See comments on Exodus 22:29], and the first of the fleece of thy sheep shall thou give him: concerning which in the Misnah (r)...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For the Lord thy God hath chosen him out of all thy tribes,.... That is, has chosen the tribe of Levi out of all the other tribes of Israel: to stand to minister in the name of the Lord; the priests to minister to the Lord by offering sacrifices, and the Levites to minister to the priests in assisting them in their service; and both their ministry...