Deuteronomy 4:26 - Chapter 4:44—chapter 26:19. Summary

I call heaven and earth to witness . Moses speaks in the name of the Lord of all, and so calls to witness the whole created universe to attest his words; the heavens and earth are witnesses for God, and when evil comes on those who transgress his Law, they declare his righteousness ( Psalms 50:4 , Psalms 50:6 ), in that what has befallen the sinner is only what was announced beforehand as the penalty of transgression. Soon ; hastily ( מַהֵר ), without delay (cf. Deuteronomy 7:4 , Deuteronomy 7:22 ["at once," Authorized Verses]; Deuteronomy 9:3 ["quickly"], Deuteronomy 9:12 , Deuteronomy 9:16 ). Prolong days ; usually equal to have a long life (cf. Deuteronomy 5:16 ; Deuteronomy 6:2 ; Deuteronomy 11:9 ; Deuteronomy 17:20 , etc.); here it means "continue long to occupy." Only as they continued faithful to Jehovah could they continue as a people to possess the land; severed from him, they lost their title to occupy Canaan, and ceased to be his special people; as a nation they would be destroyed by being scattered among other nations. From Le 26:33, etc; and Deuteronomy 28:64 , it is evident that the author had in view "all the dispersions which would come upon the rebellious nation in future times, even down to the dispersion under the Romans, which continues still; so that Moses contemplated the punishment in its fullest extent" (Keil).