1 An exhortation to obedience 2-7 by their own experience of God's great works 8-15 by promise of God's great blessings 16-17 and by threatenings 18-25 A careful study is required in God's words 26-32 The blessing and curse set before them

thou shalt This verse is the practical improvement of the conclusion of the foregoing chapter; while the next verse begins another view of the subject. De 6:5 10:12 30:16-20 Ps 116:1

keep Le 8:35 Zec 3:7

his statutes De 4:1,5,40 6:1 Ps 105:45 Lu 1:74,75

2 And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm,

And know moses seems here to have addressed himself particularly to the elders, who had in their youth witnessed the wonderful works which Jehovah had wrought both for them and among them; and who were bound to remember them for their own warning, and testify them to the rising generation who had not been eye-witnesses. De 8:19 29:10 Pr 22:19 Ac 26:22

the chastisement De 8:2-5

his greatness De 5:24 9:26

his mighty De 7:19

3 And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land;

De 4:34 7:19 Ps 78:12,13 105:27 135:9 Jer 32:20,21

4 And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the LORD hath destroyed them unto this day;

how he made Ex 14:23-31 15:4,9,10,19 Ps 106:11 Heb 11:29

5 And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place;

Ps 77:20 78:14 105:39-41 106:12

6 And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel:

he did unto Nu 16:1,31-33 26:9,10 27:3 Ps 106:17

substance. or, living substance which followed them.
in their possession [heb] at their feet

7 But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD which he did.

De 5:3 7:19 Ps 106:2 145:4-6,12 150:2

8 Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it;

Therefore De 8:10,11 10:12-15 26:16-19 28:47 Ps 116:12-16

that ye may De 31:23 Jos 1:6,7 Ps 138:3 Isa 40:31 Da 10:19 2Co 12:9,10 Eph 3:16 6:10 Php 4:13 Col 1:11

9 And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey.

prolong De 4:40 5:16 6:2 Ps 34:12 Pr 3:2,16 9:11 10:27

sware De 6:18 9:5

a land Ex 3:8 Eze 20:6

10 For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs:

wateredst it with thy foot. Rain seldom falls in Egypt; the land being chiefly watered by the inundations of the Nile. In order to water the grounds where the inundations do not extend, water is collected in ponds, and directed in streamlets to the different parts of the field where irrigation is necessary. It is no unusual thing in the East to see a man, with a small mattock, making a little trench for the water to run into; and, as he opens the passage, the water following, he uses his foot to raise up the mould against the side of this little channel, to prevent the water from being shed unnecessarily, before it reaches the place of its destination. Hence he may justly be said to water the ground with his foot. Zec 14:18

11 But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven:

De 8:7-9 Ge 27:28 Ps 65:12,13 104:10-13 Isa 28:1 Jer 2:7 Heb 6:7

12 A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.

careth for [heb] seeketh
the eyes 1Ki 9:3 Ezr 5:5 Ps 33:18 34:15 Jer 24:6

13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,

diligently De 11:8,22 6:17 Ps 119:4

to love De 4:29 6:5,6 10:12

14 That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.

De 28:12 Le 26:4 Job 5:10,11 37:11-13 Ps 65:9-13 Jer 14:22 Eze 34:26 Joe 2:22,23 Jas 5:7

15 And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.

And I will 1Ki 18:5 Ps 104:14 Jer 14:5 Joe 1:18 2:22

send [heb] give
eat and be full De 6:11 8:10 Joe 2:19 Hag 1:6 Mal 3:10,11

16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;

Take heed De 4:9,23 Lu 21:8,34,36 Heb 2:1 3:12 4:1 12:15

your heart De 13:3 29:18 Job 31:27 Isa 44:20 Jas 1:26 1Jo 5:21 Re 12:9 13:14 20:4

and serve De 8:19 30:17

17 And then the LORD's wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you.

the Lord's De 6:15 30:17,18

shut up De 28:23,24 1Ki 8:35 17:1 2Ch 6:26 7:13 Jer 14:1-6 Am 4:7 Hag 1:9-11

ye perish De 4:26 8:19,20 30:18 Jos 23:13-16

18 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.

ye lay up De 6:6-9 32:46 Ex 13:9,16 Ps 119:11 Pr 3:1 6:20-23 7:2,3 Col 3:16 Heb 2:1 2Pe 1:12 3:1,2

a sign Mt 23:5

19 And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

De 4:9,10 6:7 Ps 34:11 78:5,6 Pr 2:1 4:1 Isa 38:19

20 And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:

De 6:9

21 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

your days De 4:40 5:16 6:2 Pr 3:2,16 4:10 9:11

as the days Ps 72:5 89:28,29 Isa 65:20 Re 20:6

22 For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him;

if ye shall De 11:13 6:17

to love De 11:13 Mt 22:37 2Ti 4:8 1Jo 5:2,3

to cleave De 10:20 30:20 Ge 2:24 Ac 11:23 2Co 11:2,3

23 Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.

De 4:38 7:1,2,22,23 9:1,5 Ex 23:27-30 34:11

24 Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.

Ge 15:18-21 Ex 23:31 Nu 34:3 Jos 1:3,4 14:9 1Ki 4:21,24 2Ch 9:26

25 There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.

there shall De 2:25 7:24 Jos 1:5 2:9 5:1

as he hath Ex 23:27

26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;

De 30:1,15-20 Ga 3:10,13,14

27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day:

De 28:1-14 Le 26:3-13 Ps 19:11 Isa 1:19 3:10 Mt 5:3-12 25:31 Lu 11:28 Joh 13:17 14:21-23 Ro 2:7 Jas 1:25 Re 22:14

28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.

De 28:15 29:19-28 Le 26:14 Isa 1:20 3:11 Mt 25:41 Ro 2:8,9 Ga 3:10

29 And it shall come to pass, when the LORD thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal.

put the blessing De 27:12-26 Jos 8:30-35

Gerizim Gerizim and ebal, mountains west of Jordan, and in the tribe of Ephraim, are opposite, or parallel to each other, extending from east to west; mount Gerizim being on the south, and mount Ebal on the north. They are separated by the beautiful valley in which Shechem or Nablous is situated, which is only about 200 paces in width. Both mountains are much alike in height, length, and figure; being about a league in length, in the form of a semicircle, and so steep, on the side of Shechem, that there is scarcely any shelving: their altitude appeared to Mr. Buckingham nearly equal, not exceeding 700 or 800 feet from the level of the valley, which is itself elevated. But though they resemble each other in these particulars, yet in another they are very dissimilar; for, says Maundree, `though neither of the mountains has much to boast of as to its pleasantness, yet, as one passed between them, Gerizim seems to discover a somewhat more verdant, fruitful aspect then Ebal: the reason of which may be, because fronting towards the north, it is sheltered from the heat of the sun by its own shade; whereas Ebal, looking southward, and receiving the sun that comes directly upon it, must by consequence be rendered more scorched and unfruitful.'

A LIST OF THE MOST FAMOUS MOUNTAINS NAMED IN SCRIPTURE

Amalek, in the tribe of Ephraim. Jud 12:15 Calvary, near Jerusalem. Lu 23:33 Carmel, near the Mediterranean. Jos 19:26 Ebal, near to Gerizim. jos 8:30 En-gedi, near the Dead Sea. Jos 15:62 Gaash, in the tribe of Ephraim. Jos 24:30 Gilboa, south of the valley of Israel. 2sa 1:21 Gilead, beyond Jordan. ge 31:21-25 Gerizim, on which afterwards stood a temple of the Samaritans. Ju 9:7 Hermon, beyond Jordan. Jos 11:3 Hor, in Idumeae. Nu 20:22 Horeb, in Arabia Petraea, near to Sinai. De 1:2 Lebanon, separates Syria from Palestine. De 3:25 Moriah, where the temple was built. 2ch 3:1 Nebo, part of the mountains of Abarim. Nu 32:3 Olives, east of Jerusalem, divided only by brook Kidron. 1Ki 11:1,7 2ki 23:13 ac 1:12 Paran, in Arabia Petraea. Ge 14:6 De 1:1 Pisgah, beyond Jordan. Nu 21:20 de 34:1 Seir, in Idumae. Ge 14:6 Sinai, in Arabia Petraea. Ex 19:2 de 33:2 Sion, near to mount Moriah. 2Sa 5:7 Tabor, in the Lower Galilee Ju 4:6

30 Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh?

Gilgal Ge 12:6 Jos 5:9 Jud 7:1

31 For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein.

De 9:1 Jos 1:11 3:13-17

32 And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day.

De 5:32,33 12:32 Ps 119:6 Mt 7:21-27 28:20 Lu 1:6 Joh 15:14 1Th 4:1,2