You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God ,.... Not only the ten commands, but all others: and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee ; those of a judicial and ceremonial kind. read more
And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the Lord ,.... And what is such appears from the declaration of his mind and will in the commandments he has given, and obeying which is therefore doing what is right and good; for his commandment is holy, just, and good, being agreeable both to his nature and will, Romans 7:12 that it may be well with thee; as it is with those that fear God, and keep his commandments: and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land... read more
To cast out all thine enemies from before thee ,.... This the Lord promised, and as it seems with an oath, that he would do for them; drive out their enemies, and make way for the settlement of them in their country: as the Lord hath spoken ; see Genesis 15:18 . read more
Ye shall diligently keep, etc. - On this and the following verse see the note on Deuteronomy 6:3 . read more
The Israelites were at the point of quitting a normal, life for a fixed and settled abode in the midst of other nations; they were exchanging a condition of comparative poverty for great and goodly cities, houses and vineyards. There was therefore before them a double danger;(1) a God-forgetting worldliness, and(2) a false tolerance of the idolatries practiced by those about to become their neighbors.The former error Moses strives to guard against in the verses before us; the latter in... read more
Deuteronomy 6:15-17. Is a jealous God among you Hebrew, In the midst of you; to see and observe all your ways, and your turnings aside to other gods. Ye shall not tempt Not provoke him, as the following instance explains. Sinners, especially presumptuous sinners, are said to tempt God; that is, to make a trial of God, whether he be so wise as to see their sins, so just, and true, and powerful, as to take vengeance on them, concerning which they are very apt to doubt, because of the... read more
The power of love (6:1-25)No matter how strong their determination to do right, the people would be unable to keep God’s law unless they first had a strong and genuine love for God himself. Love for him would give them the inner power to walk in his ways (6:1-5). As well as keeping God’s commandments themselves, they had to teach their children to do likewise. Their family life was to be guided by the knowledge of God’s law. Their house was to be known as a place where people loved God’s law... read more
Ver. 16-19. Ye shall not tempt the Lord, &c.— He had warned them, ver. 12 against the sin of ingratitude, and forgetfulness of God, to which they might be tempted by prosperity: here he cautions them against the vice that they were liable to from the other extreme, adversity; namely, distrust of Providence, and murmuring against God, which is justly termed a tempting of God; for it is calling his goodness and veracity in question. In the first words of the eighteenth verse, we have the true... read more
Exhortation to give Yahweh exclusive recognition, worship, and obedience 6:10-19"The constant corollary of the demand for loyalty in ancient suzerainty treaties was the prohibition of allegiance to any and all other lords." [Note: Kline, "Deuteronomy," p. 164.] Prosperity (Deuteronomy 6:10-15) and adversity (Deuteronomy 6:16-19) would test the Israelites’ devotion to Yahweh. The Israelites were not to destroy many towns but only to kill their inhabitants, a rare policy in the history of... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Deuteronomy 6:17-25
Here, I. Moses charges them to keep God's commandments themselves: You shall diligently keep God's commandments, Deut. 6:17-19. Note, It requires a great deal of care and pains to keep up religion in the power of it in our hearts and lives. Negligence will ruin us; but we cannot be saved without diligence. To induce them to this, he here shows them, 1. That this would be very acceptable to God: it is right and good in the sight of the Lord; and that is right and good indeed that is, so in... read more