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Deuteronomy Chapter
Twenty-six
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 26
This
chapter treats of the basket of firstfruits to be brought and presented to the
Lord, and the confession to be made along with it, Deuteronomy 26:1;
and of the declaration to be made on the third year, the year of tithing, and
the prayer annexed to it, Deuteronomy 26:12;
and of the covenant made in a solemn manner between God and the people of
Israel, Deuteronomy 26:16.
Deuteronomy 26:1 “And it shall be, when you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you
possess it and dwell in it,
YLT
1`And it hath been, when
thou comest in unto the land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee -- an
inheritance, and thou hast possessed it, and dwelt in it,
And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land,.... The land
of Canaan, which they were now on the borders of, and just entering into:
which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance; which is
often mentioned, to observe that it was not through their merits, but his gift,
that they should enjoy the land; and the rather here to enforce the following
law concerning the basket of firstfruits:
and possessest it, and dwellest therein; not only had
entered into it, but got the possession of it, and settled there. This shows as
Jarchi observes, that they were not bound to the firstfruits till they had
subdued the land and divided it; not as soon as they were in it.
Deuteronomy 26:2 2 that
you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground, which you
shall bring from your land that the Lord
your God is giving you, and put it in a basket and go to the place where
the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide.
YLT
2that thou hast taken of the
first of all the fruits of the ground which thou dost bring in out of thy land
which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee, and hast put [it] in a basket, and
gone unto the place which Jehovah thy God doth choose to cause His name to tabernacle
there.
That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth,.... This
oblation of firstfruits was different front the sheaf of the firstfruits
brought at barley harvest in the time of the passover, and from the two wave
loaves of wheaten flour, at wheat harvest, at Pentecost; and from the cake of
the first of their dough; see Leviticus 23:10.
They were of one sort only, these of various kinds; though, as Jarchi observes,
not all firstfruits, or the first of all sorts of fruits, were to be brought;
for all were not bound to firstfruits, but the seven kinds only, called here
the fruit of the earth, and are particularly mentioned in Deuteronomy 8:8;
and their manner of observing, selecting, and gathering their firstfruits, as
the same writer notes, was this;
"a
man goes into his field, and sees a mature fig, he binds a rush about it for a
sign, and says, lo, this is firstfruits: and so, if he sees a bunch of grapes,
or a pomegranate, more mature than the rest, he does the same,'as is observed
in the MisnahF26Misn. Biccurim, c. 3. sect. 1. :
which thou shalt bring of thy land which the Lord thy God giveth
thee; and the land being given them, and such a fruitful one as it
was, they needed not to grudge bringing the firstfruits of it to the Lord. The
quantity they were to bring is not fixed; this was left to their generosity;
but, according to tradition, they were to bring the sixtieth part; so says
MaimonidesF1Maimon. Hilchot Biccurim, c. 2. sect. 17. ,"the
firstfruits have no measure (no fixed measure) from the law; but from the words
of the wise men, a man ought to separate one out of sixty:"
and shalt put it in a basket; for the more convenient
carriage of them and for the more decent oblation and waving of them together,
The rich brought their firstfruits in baskets of silver and of gold, the poor in
wicker baskets of willows barkedF2Misn. Biccurim, c. 3. sect. 8. .
The firstfruits of the seven several kinds were all put together in one basket,
not into separate ones, or into as many as there were kinds; but then, as the
last mentioned writer observesF3Hilchot Biccurim, c. 3. sect. 7.
,"they did not bring them mixed, but the barley (was put) beneath, or
lowermost, and the wheat over that; and the olives above that, and the dates
over them, and the pomegranates over them, and the figs uppermost in the
vessel; and there was some one thing which separated between every kind, as
leaves, and the like; and they put about the figs clusters of grapes
without:"
and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to
place his name there; which, as the event showed, was the city of Jerusalem; hither
from all parts of the country were the firstfruits to be brought. All which may
teach us, that we are to honour God with the firstfruits of our increase; that
we are to be thankful in every thing, and for everything we have; and that our
mercies should be acknowledged publicly in the place of public worship; and
that all our sacrifices of praise should be offered in faith, which may be
signified by the basket in which the firstfruits were brought, without which we
cannot please God; and this being bore on the shoulder all the while, may
denote reverence of God, and a sense of former state and condition, as this
might put the Israelites in mind of their carrying loads in Egypt.
Deuteronomy 26:3 3 And
you shall go to the one who is priest in those days, and say to him, ‘I declare
today to the Lord your[a] God that I have come to the country which the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.’
YLT
3`And thou hast come in unto
the priest who is in those days, and hast said unto him, I have declared to-day
to Jehovah thy God, that I have come in unto the land which Jehovah hath sworn
to our fathers to give to us;
And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days,.... Whose
course and turn it would be to minister before the Lord; though, according to
the Targum of Jonathan, it was the high priest they were to apply to on this
occasion; and so Aben Ezra observes, that this law is obligatory all the time
there is an high priest, as if it was not binding when there was none, and all
depended on him; who in this case was typical of Christ our high priest, to
whom we must bring, and by him offer up, the sacrifice of praise, even the
fruit of our lips, giving thanks to God for all his mercies:
and say unto him; what follows, and the basket of firstfruits
all the while on his shoulderF4Misn. Biccurim, c. 3. sect. 4, 6.
Maimon. Biccurim, c. 3. sect. 12. , even if a king:
I profess this day; it being done once in a year, and not
twice, as Jarchi notes:
unto the Lord thy God; directing his speech to
the priest:
that I am come into the country which the Lord sware unto our
fathers for to give us; and not only come into it, but was in the possession of it, and
in the enjoyment of the fruits of it; of which the basket of firstfruits he had
brought on his shoulder was a token. The natural and moral use of these
firstfruits to the Israelites, and the bringing of them, was hereby to own and
acknowledge that God was the proprietor of the land of Canaan; that they had it
by gift from him, and that they held it of him, the firstfruits being a sort of
a small rent they brought him; and that he was faithful to his oath and promise
he had made to their fathers, and which they professed with great humility and
thankfulness. The typical use of them was to direct to Christ himself, the
firstfruits of them that sleep in him, the first begotten from the dead, the
pledge and earnest of the resurrection of his people; to the Spirit of God and
his grace, which are the earnest of glory; and to the first converts among Jews
and Gentiles, in the first times of the Gospel; to Christians in general, who
are the firstfruits of God and of the Lamb, and to their sacrifices of praise
and thankfulness they are to offer up to God through Christ, which are
acceptable to him through him; and whereby they glorify him as the author of
all their mercies, to whom they are to bring their best, and in the first
place; see 1 Corinthians 15:20.
Deuteronomy 26:4 4 “Then the priest shall take the basket out of your hand
and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God.
YLT
4and the priest hath taken
the basket out of thy hand, and placed it before the altar of Jehovah thy God.
And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand,.... To wave
it, as Jarchi says, putting his hand under the hand of the owner, and so waving
it; and this being waved to and fro towards the several corners of the earth,
was an acknowledgment of the Lord being the proprietor of it:
and set it down before the altar of the Lord thy God; that it might
have some appearance of a sacrifice, and be a fit emblem of the spiritual
sacrifice of praise, which is accepted upon the altar Christ, which sanctifies
every gift.
Deuteronomy 26:5 5 And you shall answer and say before the Lord your God: ‘My father was a Syrian,[b] about to
perish, and he went down to Egypt and dwelt there, few in number; and there he
became a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
YLT
5`And thou hast answered and
said before Jehovah thy God, A perishing Aramaean [is] my father! and he goeth
down to Egypt, and sojourneth there with few men, and becometh there a nation,
great, mighty, and numerous;
And thou shalt speak and say before the Lord thy God,.... Speak
with a loud voice, lifting up the voice, as Jarchi interprets it; or
"answer"F5וענית "et
respondebis", Montanus, Vatablus; "et respondens dices",
Munster. , to the question the priest will ask, saying, what is this thou hast
brought? as Aben Ezra remarks; and this being said in the tabernacle, and
before the priest of the Lord, and as in the presence of the Lord, is
represented as said before him, which is as follows:
a Syrian ready to perish was my father; meaning
Jacob, who though born in Canaan, his mother was a Syrian, and his grandfather
Abraham was of Chaldea, a part of Syria; and Jacob married two wives in Syria,
and all his children were born there but Benjamin, and where he lived twenty
years; and sometimes persons are denominated, as from the place of their birth,
so from the place of their dwelling, as Christ was called a Nazarene from
Nazareth, where he dwelt, though he was born at Bethlehem, Matthew 2:23; and
Jether, though an Israelite, as Aben Ezra observes, is called an Ishmaelite,
perhaps because he dwelt some time among that people, 1 Chronicles 2:17.
Now Jacob might be said to be ready to perish when he fled for his life from
his brother Esau, and was poor and penniless when he came to Laban; so the last
mentioned writer interprets this phrase; to which may be added, that when in
his service he was exposed to cold and heat, and had his wages frequently changed,
and afterwards, when obliged to flee from Laban, was pursued by him with an
intention to do him mischief, had not the Lord prevented him. The reason of
this part of the confession was to show that it was not owing to the greatness
of their ancestors from whence they sprung, whose condition was mean, but to
the gift of God, and his goodness, that they enjoyed the land of Canaan. So
every sensible soul, when he brings his sacrifice of praise to God for his
mercies, especially spiritual ones, frankly acknowledges his lost perishing
condition by nature, of which he is sensible; and that in order to magnify the
riches of the grace of God in his salvation, to endear Christ as a Saviour the
more, and to keep humble, and make thankful:
and he went down into Egypt; not directly, but some
years after his former afflicted circumstances; so the Targum of Jonathan
expresses it,"after these things he went down into Egypt;'after he had
been in perishing circumstances in Syria, and when he was sore pressed with famine
in Canaan:
and sojourned there with a few; with seventy souls, as
Jarchi:
and became there a great nation, mighty and populous; insomuch that
the king of Egypt was jealous of them, lest through their strength and numbers
they should get away from them, when any favourable incident happened; they
being when they came out from thence six hundred thousand men able to bear
arms, besides women and children.
Deuteronomy 26:6 6 But the Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and laid
hard bondage on us.
YLT
6and the Egyptians do us
evil, and afflict us, and put on us hard service;
And the Egyptians evil entreated us,.... Ordered their male
children to be killed by the midwives, and by another edict to be drowned by
the people:
and afflicted us; by setting taskmasters over them, who put
heavy burdens upon them:
and laid upon us hard bondage; in mortar and brick, and
all manner of field service, in which they made them serve with rigour, and
whereby their lives were made bitter; see Exodus 1:9.
Deuteronomy 26:7 7 Then we cried out to the Lord God of our
fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and looked on
our affliction and our labor and our oppression.
YLT
7and we cry unto Jehovah,
God of our fathers, and Jehovah heareth our voice, and seeth our affliction,
and our labour, and our oppression;
And when we cried unto the Lord our God,.... As they
did by reason of their hard bondage, Exodus 2:23,
and the Lord heard our voice, and looked upon our affliction, and
our labour, and our oppression; with a look of pity and compassion, heard
their cries, answered their petitions, and sent them a deliverer, Exodus 2:25.
Deuteronomy 26:8 8 So the Lord brought us
out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, with great terror
and with signs and wonders.
YLT
8and Jehovah bringeth us out
from Egypt, by a strong hand, and by a stretched-out arm, and by great fear,
and by signs, and by wonders,
And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt,.... After
some time:
with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm; by his
almighty power, of which full proof was given by what he then did, Deuteronomy 5:15,
and with great terribleness: to Pharaoh and his
people, through the plagues that were inflicted on them, especially the last,
the slaying of their firstborn; see Deuteronomy 4:34,
and with signs and with wonders; wrought by the hands of
Moses and Aaron, meaning the ten plagues, often so called.
Deuteronomy 26:9 9 He has brought us to this place and has given us this
land, “a land flowing with milk and honey”;[c]
YLT
9and he bringeth us in unto
this place, and giveth to us this land -- a land flowing with milk and honey.
And he hath brought us unto this place,.... After
forty years travel through the wilderness:
and hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with
milk and honey; an usual description of the land of Canaan, because of the great
fertility of it, and the abundance of good things in it; see Exodus 3:8.
Deuteronomy 26:10 10 and now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the
land which you, O Lord, have given me.’ “Then you shall
set it before the Lord your God, and worship before the
Lord your God.
YLT
10`And now, lo, I have
brought in the first of the fruits of the ground which thou hast given to me, O
Jehovah; -- and thou hast placed it before Jehovah thy God, and bowed thyself
before Jehovah thy God,
And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land,
which thou, O Lord, hast given me,.... Directing his speech
not to the priest, but to the Lord himself; owning that the part of the land he
had, and the fruits he enjoyed, were the gifts of God to him, and therefore, as
in gratitude bound, brought him the firstfruits:
and thou shalt set it before the Lord thy God; these are the
words of Moses, or of the law, directing the man what further he had to do; and
this, as Jarchi thinks, shows that he took it after the priest waved it, and
laid hold on it with his hand while he was reading (his confession), turning
and waving:
and worship before the Lord thy God; bow before him in a
reverend and humble manner, sensible of his obligations to him, and dependence
on him.
Deuteronomy 26:11 11 So you shall rejoice in every good thing which
the Lord your God has given to you and your house, you and the Levite and
the stranger who is among you.
YLT
11and rejoiced in all the
good which Jehovah thy God hath given to thee, and to thy house, thou, and the
Levite, and the sojourner who [is] in thy midst.
And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing,.... In all
the blessings of goodness and mercies of life, which God in his kind providence
had favoured them with:
which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house; to them and
their families, by which they were comfortably provided for:
thou and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you; by which it
seems that not only a basket of firstfruits was brought and presented to the
Lord, which is the perquisite of the priest, but there were others also
brought, or bought with their money at Jerusalem, and a sort of a kept, which
the Levite, and stranger or proselyte, of along with the owner; see Deuteronomy 12:11;
though Jarchi understands it of the Levite and stranger being obliged to bring
the firstfruits: the Levite, he says, is bound to the firstfruits of the plants
in the midst of his cities, though he had no part in the division of the land;
and the same writer says, the stranger brings the firstfruits, but does not
proclaim, because he cannot say, "which he sware to our fathers", Deuteronomy 26:3;
but it is saidF6Misn. Biccurim, c. 1. sect. 4. , if his mother was
an Israelitess he might proclaim; yea, MaimonidesF7Maimon. Hilchot
Biccurim, c. 4. sect. 3. says, on account of what is said of Abraham, Genesis 17:5; who
is the father of the whole world; see Romans 4:10;
because mention is made of rejoicing; hence it is concluded, as Jarchi says,
that the proclamation of the firstfruits was only made in the time of joy, from
Pentecost unto the feast that a man gathers in his increase, and his fruits,
and his wine, and his oil; though from that feast and onward he may bring, but
not proclaim; to the same purpose, says the MisnahF8, from Pentecost
to the feast of tabernacles a man may bring the firstfruits, and proclaim; and
even from the feast of tabernacles to the dedication of the temple, he may
bring, but not proclaim; the reason given in SiphriF9Apud Maimon.
Hilchot Biccurim, c. 4. sect. 6. is, because proclamation is only to be performed
in time of joy--and the joy of the year is finished at the end of the feast of
tabernacles, as in Leviticus 23:40.
Deuteronomy 26:12 12 “When you have finished laying aside all the tithe of
your increase in the third year—the year of tithing—and have given it to
the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat
within your gates and be filled,
YLT
12`When thou dost complete to
tithe all the tithe of thine increase in the third year, the year of the tithe,
then thou hast given to the Levite, to the sojourner, to the fatherless, and to
the widow, and they have eaten within thy gates, and been satisfied,
When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine
increase,.... Which, according to MaimonidesF11In Misn. Maaser
Sheni, c. 5. sect. 6. , is to be understood of the feast, in which all tithes
are finished, which is the feast of the passover:
the third year, which is the year of tithing; that is, the
third from every seventh, when the land lay fallow. Every year a tithe was paid
to the Levites; and besides that a second tithe, which was carried to Jerusalem
and eaten there; and every third year it was eaten at home, in their towns and
cities in the country instead of it, with the Levite, poor and stranger, and
was called the poor's tithe; and hence the Targum of Jonathan here calls this
year the year of the poor's tithe, as was also the sixth year, and was reckoned
not complete till the passover in the following year, as the Jewish writersF12Misn.
ib. & Maimon. & Bartenora in ib. say:
and hath given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless,
and the widow; that is, the poor's tithe of the third year, which these were to
eat of with the owner, Deuteronomy 14:28;
though the Jews commonly distinguish the Levite from the rest, and suppose that
both first and second tithes are meant, the one to be given to the former, and
the other to the latter; so the Targum of Jonathan and Jarchi:
that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled: for this was
a considerable entertainment, a sort of a feast, a full meal, however; hence it
is concluded, as Jarchi says, that they did not give less of corn to a poor man
than half a kab of wheat, which was above three pints.
Deuteronomy 26:13 13 then you shall say before the Lord your God: ‘I have removed the holy tithe from my
house, and also have given them to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless,
and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me;
I have not transgressed Your commandments, nor have I forgotten them.
YLT
13and thou hast said before
Jehovah thy God, I have put away the separated thing out of the house, and also
have given it to the Levite, and to the sojourner, and to the orphan, and to
the widow, according to all Thy command which Thou hast commanded me; I have
not passed over from Thy commands, nor have I forgotten.
Then thou shalt say before the Lord thy God,.... Make the
following declaration as in his presence; for this was not made in the
tabernacle or temple at, Jerusalem, since the tithe was to be eaten with the
poor in the gates of the owner, as in Deuteronomy 26:12,
I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house: which Aben
Ezra and Onkelos interpret of the tithe; but it seems, besides that, to take in
everything devoted to all holy uses, be they what they will, which were at this
time to be separated from a man's own common goods, and applied to the purposes
for which they were designed and devoted, and particularly what was to be given
to the poor:
and also have, given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger,
to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which
thou hast commanded me; giving to each according as the law directs; which the Targum of
Jonathan and Jarchi interpret as before, giving the first tithe to the Levites,
and the second tithe to the rest:
I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten
them: neither broken them wilfully, nor omitted them through
carelessness, negligence, and forgetfulness, but was mindful to observe them
punctually and exactly.
Deuteronomy 26:14 14 I have not eaten any of it when in mourning, nor have
I removed any of it for an unclean use, nor given any of
it for the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God,
and have done according to all that You have commanded me.
YLT
14I have not eaten in mine
affliction of it, nor have I put away of it for uncleanness, nor have I given
of it for the dead; I have hearkened to the voice of Jehovah my God; I have
done according to all that Thou hast commanded me;
I have not eaten thereof in my mourning,.... When in
grief and sorrow on account of any afflictive circumstance, for these were to
be eaten with joy, Deuteronomy 16:11;
and especially of the loss of relations by death, when holy things were not to
be eaten by such persons; see Leviticus 10:19;
and particularly tithes, though it is saidF14Misn. Demai, c. 1.
sect. 2. ,"What is doubtful of tithing (whether it has been tithed or no)
might be eaten by a mourner;'and a man was reckoned such an one until his dead
was buried. So MaimonidesF15Maimon. in Misn. Pesachim, c. 8. sect.
6. observes,"a mourner may not eat holy things, as it is written, Deuteronomy 26:14;
he is one whose relation is dead, when he is obliged to mourn; for he is called
by the law a mourner as long as the dead lies upon the face of the earth (above
ground), or as long as he is not yet buried he is called a mourner; and so
likewise on the day of burial:"
neither have I taken away ought thereof for any
unclean use; or common use, or any other use than it was designed for, and
devoted to; or for any unclean person, who by the law might not eat thereof;
or, as Jarchi interprets it, that he had not removed it, or taken it away from
being eaten, on account of any unclean person, because I am unclean and he
pure, or he pure and I unclean:
nor given ought thereof for the dead; for the
necessities of the dead, as Aben Ezra; more particularly Jarchi, to make for
him a coffin and grave clothes; and so the Targum of Jonathan interprets it of
grave clothes for the dead; though that of Jerusalem of clothes for those that
are polluted by the dead. It may have respect also to the parentalia, or
funeral feasts made at the interment of the dead; though Aben Ezra says, there
are some that say it was for idolatry, and so the person here speaking denies
that he had made use of any of the holy things in honour of idols, of dead men
deified; and some are of opinion that all the above things may have some
respect to idolatrous practicesF16Vid. Patrick in loc. :
but I have hearkened to the
voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all that thou hast
commanded me; observed his word, and kept close to it, and not swerved from
it, but acted according to it in all things before referred to.
Deuteronomy 26:15 15 Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and
bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given us, just as You
swore to our fathers, “a land flowing with milk and honey.”’[d]
YLT
15look from Thy holy
habitation, from the heavens, and bless Thy people Israel, and the ground which
Thou hast given to us, as Thou hast sworn to our fathers -- a land flowing
[with] milk and honey.
Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven,.... This is a
prayer of the person that makes the above declaration annexed to it, desiring
that God would vouchsafe to look with an eye of love, complacency, and delight,
upon him and upon all his people, from heaven his holy habitation, though they
were on earth, and unholy persons in themselves, and especially if compared
with him; see Isaiah 57:15,
and bless thy people Israel; with blessings temporal
and spiritual:
and the land which thou hast given us; with fertility
and plenty of all good things, that it might be
as thou swarest to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey; See Gill on Deuteronomy 26:9.
Deuteronomy 26:16 16 “This day the Lord your God
commands you to observe these statutes and judgments; therefore you shall be
careful to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.
YLT
16`This day Jehovah thy God
is commanding thee to do these statutes and judgments; and thou hast hearkened
and done them with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,
This day the Lord thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes
and judgments,.... These are the words of Moses, as Aben Ezra rightly observes,
and refer not only to the laws last mentioned, but to all others which he had
repeated, or the Lord by him had ordered to be observed, recorded in this book:
and though it is very probable Moses had been several days repeating former
laws, and acquainting them with new ones; yet this being the last day, in which
the whole account was finished, they are said to be commanded that day, and
though commanded that day were to be observed and done every day; for, as
Jarchi says, every day was to be considered and reckoned as new, as if on that
day they were commanded them:
thou shall therefore keep and do them with all thy heart, and with
all thy soul; cordially, readily, willingly, sincerely, constantly, and to the
utmost of their abilities.
Deuteronomy 26:17 17 Today you have proclaimed the Lord to be your God, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His
statutes, His commandments, and His judgments, and that you will obey His
voice.
YLT
17Jehovah thou hast caused to
promise to-day to become thy God, and to walk in His ways, and to keep His
statutes, and His commands, and His judgments, and to hearken to His voice.
Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God,.... Said,
affirmed, protested, and in the most solemn manner declared, that the Lord was
their God, and him only; and that they would have no other God, nor worship,
serve, or obey any other. The Lord is the God of all mankind, as he is the
Creator and Preserver of them, and was of the people of Israel in a peculiar
manner, they being chosen, redeemed, and privileged by him above all others;
and especially is of his elect in Christ among all nations, whom he has loved
and set apart for himself, and determined to save; whom he has adopted and
regenerated; he provides for them, protects and preserves them, gives them
grace here and glory hereafter: he is their God in Christ, and by virtue of the
covenant of his grace made with them in him; and is known by them to be so in
the effectual calling by the application of covenant blessings to them; and
which is certified to them by the Spirit of God, upon which they claim their
interest in him, and make profession of him as their God:
and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes and his
commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice; that is, this
was then their resolution and determination, their protestation and
declaration, to walk in all the ways of God, both in private and in public, he
directed unto; and to observe all his laws, ceremonial, moral, and judicial,
which he had given them as the rule of their walk and behaviour; and to regard
whatsoever he should reveal by his prophets and ministers as his will; and a
view of covenant interest in God lays all good men under the strongest
obligation in the strength of divine grace to attend to his will; nor can there
be a greater motive to them than covenant love, grace, and mercy.
Deuteronomy 26:18 18 Also today the Lord has
proclaimed you to be His special people, just as He promised you, that you
should keep all His commandments,
YLT
18`And Jehovah hath caused
thee to promise to-day to become His people, a peculiar treasure, as He hath
spoken to thee, and to keep all His commands;
And the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people,.... Affirmed
and declared them to be his special people, above all people on the face of the
earth, and that they were looked upon and considered by him as his jewels, his
peculiar treasure:
as he hath promised thee; on condition of their
obedience to him, as he did in Exodus 19:5,
and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments; at the same
time declared this as his will, that they should observe all his precepts, to
which they were laid under obligation by the special favour and peculiar
privileges he bestowed upon them, Deuteronomy 7:6.
The Targums interpret both these verses of the people of Israel choosing and
making the Lord their King, and of his being made King over them; and so it
respects their peculiar form of civil government, being a theocracy. The Lord's
people in Christ are a peculiar people; they are distinct from all people, and
are peculiarly regarded by him; they are the objects of his peculiar love, and
receive peculiar favours from him; and whom having chosen and redeemed, he
calls by his special grace, and witnesses their special relation to him by his
Spirit; which grace obliges and excites them to a cheerful obedience to his
commands.
Deuteronomy 26:19 19 and that He will set you high above all nations which
He has made, in praise, in name, and in honor, and that you may be a holy
people to the Lord your God, just as He has spoken.”
YLT
19so as to make thee
uppermost above all the nations whom He hath made for a praise, and for a name,
and for beauty, and for thy being a holy people to Jehovah thy God, as He hath
spoken.
To make thee high above all nations,.... None of them having
the Lord to be their God and King in such sense as Israel, nor they his people
in such a peculiar sense as they were; nor having such laws and statutes as he
had given to them; these things gave them a superiority over all other nations:
which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; that is,
which nations he made praiseworthy, famous, and honourable, for their extent,
wealth, riches, and number; and yet on the above accounts Israel was advanced
higher than they:
and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the Lord thy God, as
he hath spoken; the end of the Lord in being their God, and making them his
people, was not only to make them high above all others, but to make them more
holy than others; to set them apart for himself, as a people sacred to his
worship and service, as he had both determined and declared, Deuteronomy 7:6.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)