Deuteronomy 12:1-16:17

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Deuteronomy 12:1-4

From those great original truths, That there is a God, and that there is but one God, arise those great fundamental laws, That that God is to be worshipped, and he only, and that therefore we are to have no other God before him: this is the first commandment, and the second is a guard upon it, or a hedge about it. To prevent a revolt to false gods, we are forbidden to worship the true God in such a way and manner as the false gods were worshipped in, and are commanded to observe the instituted... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 12:1

These are the statutes and judgments which ye shall observe to do ,.... Which are recorded in this and the following chapters; here a new discourse begins, and which perhaps was delivered at another time, and respects things that were to be observed: in the land which the Lord God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it ; the land of Canaan, often described by this circumlocution, to put them in mind that it was promised to their fathers by their covenant God, was his gift to them, and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 12:1

These are the statutes and judgments (cf. Deuteronomy 4:1 ; Deuteronomy 6:1 ). Moses, as the servant of God, had taught Israel statutes and rights, as God had commanded him ( Deuteronomy 4:5 ); and now he recapitulates the principal of these for their guidance in the way of obedience. These they were to observe all the days of their life upon the land that was to be given them; the land was the Lord's, and there, as long as they possessed it, the Law of the Lord was to be paramount. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 12:1-3

The invasion a religious one. The Israelites were instructed to exterminate the Canaanites in consequence of their sins, as we have already seen; but in this passage we have strict injunctions given to destroy the places of worship which the Canaanites had used, "upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree," etc. They were, in fact, to be iconoclasts , and they were to leave no vestige remaining of the Canaanitish worship. I. IT WAS THUS MADE ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 12:1-4

The doom of idolatry. The reverse side of blessing is a curse. The abuse of the best things is the worst. In the ratio in which any institution has capacity to benefit, has it capacity to injure. The sun can quicken life or kill. The temple is a stepping-stone to heaven or a snare of hell. I. BOTH NATURE AND ART HAVE BEEN PROSTITUTED TO BASEST USES . If men cannot find God in themselves, they cannot find him in material nature. Some "look through nature up to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 12:1-5

Destruction of monuments of idolatry. Israel's entrance into Canaan was the entrance of true knowledge, of pure forms of religion, of cleansed morals. The worship of Jehovah was the very antithesis of that of which these altars, pillars, and graven images, were the polluted memorials. "What did the grove conceal? Lust—blood—imposture. What sounds shook the lane? Alternate screams of anguish and the laughter of mad votaries. What was the priest? The teacher of every vice of which his god.... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 12:1-32

EXPOSITION Deuteronomy 12:1-32 . PLACES AND MONUMENTS OF IDOLATRY TO BE DESTROYED ; JEHOVAH TO BE WORSHIPPED IN THE ONE PLACE WHICH HE SHALL CHOOSE ; INSTRUCTIONS AS TO THE USE OF FLESH FOR FOOD ; AND CAUTIONS AGAINST BEING ENSNARED INTO FOLLOWING THE HEATHEN IN THEIR MANNER OF SERVICE . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Deuteronomy 12:1-32

Regulations for Divine worship: specific rules embodying permanent principles. With this twelfth chapter an entirely new set of instructions begins. Up to this point the exhortations have been for the most part moral: now they are positive. Hitherto the precepts have been, speaking generally, concerning duties which God commanded because they were right; but from this point they concern duties which became right because God had commanded them. Of all specific directions which Moses gave to... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Deuteronomy 12:1

Moses now passes on to apply Deut. 12–26 the leading principles of the Decalogue to the ecclesiastical, civil, and social life of the people. Particulars will be noticed which are unique to the Law as given in Deuteronomy; and even in laws repeated from the earlier books various new circumstances and details are introduced. This is only natural. The Sinaitic legislation was nearly 40 years old and had been given under conditions of time, place, and circumstance different and distant from those... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Deuteronomy 12:1

Deuteronomy 12:1. These are the statutes Moses, being still deeply impressed with a sense of the great danger his nation would be in of falling into idolatrous practices, after their settlement in the promised land, in the neighbourhood of so many superstitious nations, begins here a new exhortation to them, reminding them of the laws provided against it, as the indispensable conditions of their happy and peaceful enjoyment of that fruitful country. read more

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