Deuteronomy 4:9-14

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

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 4:9

Only take heed to thyself ,.... To walk according to this law, and not swerve from it: and keep thy soul diligently ; from the transgressions and breaches of it: lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen ; either the statutes and judgments set before them, and the circumstances of the delivery of them; or the punishment inflicted on the breakers of them; or the favours bestowed on those that observed them: and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 4:10

Specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord in Horeb ,.... Above all things Moses would have them take care not to forget the day the law was given from Mount Sinai, which was so awful and solemn, when they saw the fire, the smoke, the lightning, and heard the thunder and the sound of the trumpet; all which were very shocking and terrifying: and though the men of this generation were but young then, being under twenty years of age, yet many of them were old enough to observe these... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 4:11

And ye came near and stood under the mountain ,.... At the foot of it, in the lower part of the mountain, as the Targum of Jonathan, and agrees with Exodus 19:17 . and the mountain burnt with fire unto the midst of heaven ; the flame and smoke went up into the middle of the air: with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness; which thick darkness was occasioned partly by the smoke, which went up like the smoke of a furnace, and partly by the thick clouds, which were on the mount, and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 4:12

And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire ,.... For the Lord descended on Mount Sinai in a cloud, in fire, and was in the thick darkness, from whence he delivered out the ten commands: ye heard the voice of the words ; distinctly and plainly, not only the sound of them, but the words themselves, and so as to understand what was meant by them: but saw no similitude ; not any likeness of the person speaking, by which they could form any idea of him in their minds, which... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 4:13

And he declared unto you his covenant ,.... So the law was called, because it contained, on the part of God, things which he would have done or avoided, to which were annexed promises of long life and happiness in the land he gave them; and they, on their part, agreed to hearken to it, and obey it, Exodus 24:3 , which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments ; which see at large in Exodus 20:1 , and in this book afterwards repeated, Deuteronomy 5:6 , and he wrote them... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Deuteronomy 4:14

And the Lord commanded me at that time ,.... When the ten commandments were delivered on Mount Sinai, and Moses was ordered to come up to God in the mount: to teach you statutes and judgments ; laws ceremonial and judicial, besides the ten commands given them: that ye may do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it ; the land of Canaan, which was on the other side of Jordan, and over which they must go in order to possess it; and when they came there, they were to hold the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 4:9

Only take heed to thyself - Be circumspect and watchful. Keep thy soul diligently - Be mindful of thy eternal interests. Whatever becomes of the body, take care of the soul. Lest thou forget - God does his work that they may be had in everlasting remembrance; and he that forgets them, forgets his own mercies. Besides, if a man forget the work of God on his soul, he loses that work. Lest they depart from thy heart - It is not sufficient to lay up Divine things in the memory, they... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 4:9

Verse 9 9.Only take heed to thyself The same particle, רק, rak, of which I have just spoken, is used here, and its meaning in this place is, as if Moses had said, that this only remained; unless it is preferred to translate it nevertheless. What follows means literally “Guard (custodi) thyself, and guard thy soul;” wherein Moses advances by degrees, reminding them that they needed no common heedfulness, but that they must beware with extreme vigilance and diligence lest they should fail through... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Deuteronomy 4:10

Verse 10 10.The day (227) that thou stoodest. The word day might be taken in the accusative, as if in apposition. It is, at any rate, clear that he explains more fully what he had briefly alluded to before, for he summons the people as eye-witnesses, lest, perchance, they should object that they were not sure from whence Moses had derived what he professes to be enjoined him by God. For they were all well aware that he had undertaken nothing without the express command of God. Finally, he... read more

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