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Deuteronomy 10

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Renewal of the Covenant Tablets 1–5

1
At that time Jehovah said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood. ​
2
And I will write on the tables the words that were on the first tables which thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark. ​
3
So I made an ark of acacia wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in my hand.
4
And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which Jehovah spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and Jehovah gave them unto me. ​
5
And I turned and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they are as Jehovah commanded me.

Journey and the Death of Aaron 6–7

6
(And the children of Israel journeyed from Beeroth Bene-jaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest’s office in his stead. ​
7
From thence they journeyed unto Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of brooks of water.

The Separation of the Tribe of Levi 8–11

8
At that time Jehovah set apart the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, to stand before Jehovah to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day. ​
9
Wherefore Levi hath no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; Jehovah is his inheritance, according as Jehovah thy God spake unto him.) ​
10
And I stayed in the mount, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights: and Jehovah hearkened unto me that time also; Jehovah would not destroy thee. ​
11
And Jehovah said unto me, Arise, take thy journey before the people; and they shall go in and possess the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give unto them.

What God Requires: Fear, Love, and Justice 12–22

12
And now, Israel, what doth Jehovah thy God require of thee, but to fear Jehovah thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve Jehovah thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, ​
13
to keep the commandments of Jehovah, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good? ​
14
Behold, unto Jehovah thy God belongeth heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth, with all that is therein. ​
15
Only Jehovah had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all peoples, as at this day. ​
16
Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked. ​
17
For Jehovah your God, he is God of gods, and Lord of lords, the great God, the mighty, and the terrible, who regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward. ​
18
He doth execute justice for the fatherless and widow, and loveth the sojourner, in giving him food and raiment. ​
19
Love ye therefore the sojourner; for ye were sojourners in the land of Egypt. ​
20
Thou shalt fear Jehovah thy God; him shalt thou serve; and to him shalt thou cleave, and by his name shalt thou swear.
21
He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen. ​
22
Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now Jehovah thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Deuteronomy 10

Verse 1

two tables of stone like unto the first — 'At that time' looks back to Ex 34:1, where the same command begins word for word. The first tables 'were the work of God' (Ex 32:16); here Moses must hew (pasal, to carve) the stones, and the LORD writes on them. The ark of 'wood' is the one Moses says he made of shittim wood in v.3, to hold them.

Verse 2

which thou brakest — Moses had cast the first tables from his hands and 'brake them beneath the mount' (Ex 32:19). The LORD promises the same words on the new ones, and they go 'in the ark'. In Solomon's day the ark held 'nothing… save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb' (1 Kgs 8:9).

Verse 4

the ten commandments — The Hebrew is literally 'the ten words' (dabar, word), the name also in Ex 34:28 and Deut 4:13. 'The day of the assembly' (qahal) is the day of Horeb, as in 9:10 and 18:16. Stephen calls that gathering 'the church in the wilderness' (Acts 7:38). The LORD wrote 'according to the first writing'.

Verse 6

there Aaron died — This is a travel note in Moses's retelling. Mosera is the Moseroth of Num 33:30, a station on the journey. Aaron's death is told in Num 20:23–29, where Moses 'put' his garments 'upon Eleazar his son' and Aaron 'died there in the top of the mount'; here Eleazar 'ministered in the priest's office in his stead'.

Verse 8

separated the tribe of Levi — Badal, to set apart, the verb of Num 8:14, 'Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be mine.' Three duties are named: to bear the ark, to stand before the LORD to minister, and to bless in his name. The blessing itself was given to Aaron and his sons (Num 6:23).

Verse 9

the LORD is his inheritance — 'Part' (cheleq) and 'inheritance' (nachalah) are the pair the LORD used to Aaron: 'I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel' (Num 18:20). Josh 13:33 repeats it of the whole tribe, and a psalmist takes the words as his own: 'The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance' (Ps 16:5).

Verse 10

forty days and forty nights — Moses stayed on the mount a second time 'according to the first time', as Ex 34:28 records. Deut 9:18–19 tells of this same second stay: he fell down before the LORD 'forty days and forty nights' because 'I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure', and 'the LORD hearkened unto me at that time also'. 'Would not' is abah, to be willing.

Verse 12

what doth the LORD thy God require — 'Require' is sha'al, to ask; Mic 6:8 puts a like question, 'what doth the LORD require of thee'. Five verbs answer it: fear, walk, love, serve, and in v.13 keep. 'With all thy heart and… all thy soul' recalls 6:5, which Christ calls 'the first and great commandment' (Matt 22:37–38).

Verse 13

for thy good — Tov, good: the commandments are given for the benefit of those who keep them. Deut 6:24 says the same: 'the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive'. This verse completes the question begun in v.12 with the verb 'keep'.

Verse 14

the heaven of heavens — The phrase means the highest heavens, which cannot hold him: 'the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee' (1 Kgs 8:27). Neh 9:6 says he made 'the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein'. All of it is the LORD's, which sets up the contrast of v.15, 'Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers'.

Verse 15

had a delight in thy fathers — Chashaq, to set one's affection on, the verb of 7:7, 'The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people'. The reason given there is that 'the LORD loved you, and… would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers' (7:8). 'Chose' is bachar.

Verse 16

the foreskin of your heart — Circumcision was the sign given to Abraham (Gen 17:11); here it is applied to the heart (leb), as in Jer 4:4. 'Stiffnecked' joins qasheh, hard, and oref, neck: the charge of 9:6. Moses later says the LORD 'will circumcise thine heart' (30:6), and Paul writes, 'circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit' (Rom 2:29).

Verse 17

God of gods, and Lord of lords — The titles are sung in Ps 136:2–3, 'the God of gods… the Lord of lords'. 'Regardeth not persons' is literally 'lifts not faces' (nasa, panim), echoed in 2 Chr 19:7, 'nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts'. 'Reward' is shochad, a bribe, which is forbidden again in 16:19.

Verse 18

the fatherless and widow — The LORD is 'a father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows' (Ps 68:5) and 'preserveth the strangers' (Ps 146:9). 'Stranger' is ger, a resident foreigner, and he is loved and given 'food and raiment'. The law names the same groups: 'Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child' (Ex 22:22).

Verse 19

ye were strangers — The command rests on Israel's own history: 'Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt' (Ex 22:21). Lev 19:34 adds 'thou shalt love him as thyself'. The verb 'love' (ahav) is the one used of God in v.18 and of Israel here.

Verse 21

He is thy praise — Tehillah, praise; Jer 17:14 says the same to the LORD: 'thou art my praise'. He is both the subject of Israel's praise and the one who did 'these great and terrible things' (yare, awe-inspiring), 'which thine eyes have seen'; Moses repeats it in 11:7, 'your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD'.

Verse 22

threescore and ten persons — Gen 46:27 counts 'all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt' as 'threescore and ten'; 'persons' is nephesh, souls. The growth fulfils the promise 'So shall thy seed be' as the stars (Gen 15:5), and Moses had said before, 'ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude' (1:10).