The “fathers” are, as in Deuteronomy 4:37, the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. With them God did indeed make a covenant, but not the particular covenant now in question. The responsibilites of this later covenant, made at Sinai by the nation as a nation, attached in their day and generation to those whom Moses was addressing. read more
Deuteronomy 5:3. The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers That is, with our remote progenitors, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but with us, their descendants: or if it be understood as spoken of their immediate parents, it means, according to the Hebrew idiom, Not with our fathers only, but with us also, as Genesis 32:28, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; that is, not only Jacob, but Israel, or Israel preferably to Jacob. Moses might truly say, God made... read more
4:44-11:32 BASIC REQUIREMENTS OF THE COVENANTIn the address just concluded, Moses outlined God’s dealings with Israel in the past, and on the basis of this urged Israel to be obedient in the future. He now called a second meeting, this time to ‘renew’ the covenant, not in the ceremonial sense but in the practical sense. That is, he reawakened the people to their responsibilities under the covenant. He recalled the events when the covenant was made at Sinai (4:44-5:5), he repeated the basic... read more
The LORD our God. Jehovah, our 'Elohim. made. Hebrew cut, because covenants were made by cutting the sacrifice in twain and passing between the parts. See Genesis 15:10 . Jeremiah 34:18 , Jeremiah 34:19 . Hebrews 9:16 , Hebrews 9:17 . Galatians 1:3 , Galatians 1:20 , the latter referring to the one of the two necessary parties to a covenant. read more
our fathers = our fathers only. read more
Ver. 3. The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers— According to Houbigant, the word fathers here signifies, not their immediate predecessors, but their remote progenitors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were not the inheritors of the land of Canaan. Moses considers not the covenant itself, which God indeed made with the patriarchs, but the effect of that covenant; which effect pertained not to their fathers, but to them: as much as to say, he promised indeed to them the land of Canaan,... read more
3. The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us—The meaning is, "not with our fathers" only, "but with us" also, assuming it to be "a covenant" of grace. It may mean "not with our fathers" at all, if the reference is to the peculiar establishment of the covenant of Sinai; a law was not given to them as to us, nor was the covenant ratified in the same public manner and by the same solemn sanctions. Or, finally, the meaning may be "not with our fathers" who died in the... read more
Introduction 5:1-6The covenant to which Moses referred (Deuteronomy 5:2) is not the Abrahamic but the Mosaic Covenant. What follows is an upgrade of the Mosaic Covenant for the new generation about to enter the Promised Land. The "fathers" (Deuteronomy 5:3) were the previous generation. "Face to face" (Deuteronomy 5:4) is a figure of speech indicating direct communication, without a mediator. God uttered the Ten Commandments in the hearing of all the Israelites (Deuteronomy 5:22). This... read more
IV. MOSES’ SECOND MAJOR ADDRESS: AN EXPOSITION OF THE LAW CHS. 5-26". . . Deuteronomy contains the most comprehensive body of laws in the Pentateuch. It is clearly intended to be consulted for guidance on many aspects of daily life, in sharp contrast with the laws of Leviticus, which are very restricted in scope and mainly concern the functions of the priesthood." [Note: R. Norman Whybray, Introduction to the Pentateuch, pp. 103-4.] "Two of the major elements [in ancient Near Eastern covenant... read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 5:2-3
The covenant at Horeb. Here spoken of as distinct from the older covenant made with the patriarchs ( Genesis 15:1-21 ; Genesis 17:1-27 .). I. ITS RELATIONS TO THE COVENANT MADE WITH THE FATHERS , It was not a new thing absolutely. It rested on that older covenant, and on the series of revelations which sprang out of it. It could not disannul that older covenant ( Galatians 3:17 ). It could not run counter to it ( Galatians 3:21 ). It must, though "superadded,"... read more