Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves ,.... As to keep all the laws given them, so particularly to avoid idolatry: for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire ; and therefore, as they had nothing that directed and led them, so they had nothing that could be a temptation to them, to make any form or likeness, and worship it. read more
Lest ye corrupt yourselves ,.... And not themselves only, but the word and worship of God, by idolatry, than which nothing is more corrupting and defiling, nor more abominable to God: and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure ; a graven image, in the likeness of any figure, an idea of which they had formed in their minds: the likeness of male or female ; of a man or a woman; so some of the Heathen deities were in the likeness of men, as Jupiter, Mars, Hercules,... read more
The likeness of any beast that is on the earth ,.... As there are scarce any but the likeness of them has been made and worshipped, or the creatures themselves, as the ox by the Egyptians, the sheep by the Thebans, the goat by the Mendesians, and others by different people: the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air ; as the hawk, and the bird called Ibis, and another by the name of Cneph by the Egyptians, and the eagle by others. read more
The likeness of anything that creepeth on the ground ,.... As serpents by many; and indeed that creature is introduced into almost all the idolatries of the Heathens, which seems to take its rise from the serpent Satan made use of to deceive our first parents: the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth ; as the crocodile and hippopotamus, or river horse, by the Egyptians; and Dagon and Derceto, supposed to be figures in the form of a fish, among the Phoenicians. read more
And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven ,.... The starry heaven, which to do in itself is not sinful; and may be lawfully and commendably done, to raise admiration at the wonderful works of God in them, and lead to adore the author of them: but if not guarded against may be ensnaring: and when thou seest the sun and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven ; those bright luminaries, so glorious to behold, and so useful and beneficial to the earth, and the inhabitants... read more
But the Lord hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace ,.... The allusion is to the trying and melting of metals, and fleeing them from dross, by putting them into furnaces strongly heated, some of which are of earth, others of iron; the word, as the Jewish writers F7 Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Celim. c. 8. sect. 9. & Jarchi in loc. observe, signifies such an one in which gold and silver and other things are melted; see Psalm 12:6 even "out of Egypt";... read more
Furthermore the Lord was angry with me for your sakes ,.... See Deuteronomy 3:26 , and sware that I should not go over Jordan ; this circumstance of swearing is nowhere else expressed: and that I should not go in unto that good land ; the land of Canaan; he might see it, as he did from Pisgah, but not enter into it: which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance ; to them and to their children after them. read more
But I must die in this land ,.... The land of Moab, in a mountain in it he died, and in a valley there he was buried, Deuteronomy 32:50 , I must not go over Jordan ; this he repeats, as lying near his heart; he had earnestly solicited to go over, but was denied it: but ye shall go over, and possess that good land ; this he firmly believed and assures them of, relying on the promise and faithfulness of God. read more
Take heed unto yourselves ,.... Since he should not be long with them, to advise, instruct, and caution them: lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God , which he made with you; what that required of them, and what was promised unto them on the performance of it, and what they must expect should they break it, and particularly be so forgetful of it, and the first articles in it, as follows: and make you a graven image, or the likeness of anything which the Lord thy God hath... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Deuteronomy 4:1-40
This most lively and excellent discourse is so entire, and the particulars of it are so often repeated, that we must take it altogether in the exposition of it, and endeavour to digest it into proper heads, for we cannot divide it into paragraphs. I. In general, it is the use and application of the foregoing history; it comes in by way of inference from it: Now therefore harken, O Israel, Deut. 4:1. This use we should make of the review of God's providences concerning us, we should by them be... read more