break = smash. pillars. These "menhirs" constantly dug up to-day. groves = Hebrew. 'asherah. See App-42 . graven images = sculptures, as in Deuteronomy 7:25 . destroy = cause to perish. Hebrew. 'abad. Compare Exodus 23:24 ; Exodus 34:13 .Judges 2:2 ; Judges 6:28 . 2 Kings 10:19 ; 2 Kings 11:1 .Ezekiel 6:3 . read more
3. And ye shall overthrow their altars—piles of turf or small stones. and break their pillars—Before the art of sculpture was known, the statues of idols were only rude blocks of colored stones. read more
The central sanctuary 12:1-14When Israel entered the land the people were to destroy all the places and objects used in pagan worship by the Canaanites (Deuteronomy 12:2-4). Pagan peoples generally have felt that worshipping on elevated sites brings them into closer contact with their gods than is the case when they worship in low-lying places, unless those places had been the sites of supernatural events. The Canaanites typically visualized their gods as being above them. "’Places’... read more
1. Laws arising from the first commandment 12:1-31The first commandment is, "You shall have no other gods before me" (Deuteronomy 5:7). The legislation that follows deals with worshipping Yahweh exclusively. read more
The Abolition of Idolatrous Places. The Centralisation of Worship. Abstinence from BloodThe larger section of the Second Discourse begins here and extends to the end of Deuteronomy 26. It consists of a code of laws, and constitutes the nucleus of the whole book: see on Deuteronomy 4:44-49. So far as any orderly arrangement can be discovered, Deuteronomy 12-16 are taken up with the more strictly religious duties; Deuteronomy 17-20 with civil ordinances; and Deuteronomy 21-26 with social and... read more
(3) Destroy the names.—The substitution in later times of bosheth for baal in the names Jerubbaal (Jerubbesheth), Eshbaal (Ishbosheth), Meribbaal (Mephibosheth), is a curious example of the literal fulfilment of this command, or, perhaps, rather of the command in Exodus 23:13, of which the spirit and purport agree with this. read more
The Friendship of Christ (a University Sermon) Deuteronomy 12:13 ; Revelation 3:20 Your college days are preeminently days when you open the doors of your hearts and let new friends in. In these years you are generous, and ready to hear a knock, and to respond to it. I. Never has the history of any human life been truly and fully related. I fancy that if such a thing could be, the record would be mainly of those who at different stages and periods have come into it. Many of them have come and... read more
LAWS OF SACRIFICEDeuteronomy 12:1-32.IT is a characteristic of all the earlier codes of law-the Book of the Covenant, the Deuteronomic Code, and the Law of Holiness-that at the head of the series of laws which they contain there should be a law of sacrifice. Probably, too, each of the three had, as first section of all, the Decalogue. The Book of the Covenant and Deuteronomy undeniably have it so, and the earlier element which forms the basis of Leviticus 17:1-16; Leviticus 18:1-30; Leviticus... read more
8. The Place of Worship CHAPTER 12 1. The overthrow of false worship (Deuteronomy 12:1-4 ) 2. The true place of worship (Deuteronomy 12:5-14 ) 3. Concerning eating and the blood (Deuteronomy 12:15-28 ) 4. Warning against the abominations of idolatry (Deuteronomy 12:29-32 ) The law, and love as the fulfilment of that law, was the main subject of the words of Moses up to the close of the eleventh chapter. The chapters which follow also contain expositions of the different statutes, as... read more
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Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 12:1-28
12:1-26:19 DETAILED REGULATIONSIn keeping with the pattern of ancient covenant documents, the basic requirements and principles of the covenant (Chapters 5-11) are now followed by the detailed regulations (Chapters 12-26). However, Moses does not lay down these requirements with the harshness or impersonality of a formal law code. He announces them rather in the pastoral spirit of a preacher, appealing to God’s covenant family to respond to God’s grace with lives of loyalty to him and justice... read more