Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary

on the Whole Bible

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Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)

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D E U T E R O N O M Y

CHAP. V.

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In this chapter we have the second edition of the ten commandments.

I. The general intent of them; they were in the nature of a covenant

between God and Israel,

ver. 1-5.

II. The particular precepts are repeated

(ver. 6-21),

with the double delivery of them, both by word and writing,

ver. 22.

III. The settling of the correspondence thenceforward between God and

Israel, by the mediation and ministry of Moses.

1. It was Israel’s humble petition that it might be so,

ver. 23-27.

2. It was God’s gracious grant that it should be so,

ver. 28-31.

And hence he infers the obligation they were under to obedience,

ver. 32, 33.

The Decalogue Repeated.	B. C. 1451.

     

1 And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O

Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears

this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.

  2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.

  3 The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with

us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.

  4 The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the

midst of the fire,

  5 (I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to show you

the word of the LORD: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire,

and went not up into the mount;) saying,

     

Here,

1. Moses summons the assembly. He called all Israel; not only

the elders, but, it is likely, as many of the people as could come

within hearing,

v. 1.

The greatest of them were not above God’s command, nor the meanest of

them below his cognizance; but they were all bound to do.

2. He demands attention: “Hear, O Israel; hear and heed, hear

and remember, hear, that you may learn, and keep, and do; else your

hearing is to no purpose.” When we hear the word of God we must set

ourselves to learn it, that we may have it ready to us upon all

occasions, and what we have learned we must put in practice, for that

is the end of hearing and learning; not to fill our heads with notions,

or our mouths with talk, but to rectify and direct our affections and

conversations.

3. He refers them to the covenant made with them in Horeb, as that

which they must govern themselves by. See the wonderful condescension

of divine grace in turning the command into a covenant, that we might

be the more strongly bound to obedience by our own consent and the more

encouraged in it by the divine promise, both which are supposed in the

covenant. The promises and threatenings annexed to some of the

precepts, as to the second, third, and fifth, make them amount to a

covenant. Observe,

(1.) The parties to this covenant. God made it, not with our

fathers, not with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; to them God gave the

covenant of circumcision

(Acts vii. 8),

but not that of the ten commandments. The light of divine revelation

shone gradually, and the children were made to know more of God’s mind

than their fathers had done. “The covenant was made with us, or our

immediate parents that represented us, before Mount Sinai, and

transacted for us.”

(2.) The publication of this covenant. God himself did, as it were,

read the articles to them

(v. 4):

He talked with you face to face; word to word, so the Chaldee.

Not in dark visions, as of old he spoke to the fathers

(Job iv. 12, 13),

but openly and clearly, and so that all the thousands of Israel might

hear and understand. He spoke to them, and then received the answer

they returned to him: thus was it transacted face to face.

(3.) The mediator of the covenant: Moses stood between God and

them, at the foot of the mount

(v. 5),

and carried messages between them both for the settling of the

preliminaries

(Exod. xix.)

and for the changing of the ratifications,

Exod. xxiv.

Herein Moses was a type of Christ, who stands between God and man,

to show us the word of the Lord, a blessed days-man, that has laid

his hand upon us both, so that we may both hear from God and speak to

him without trembling.

     

6 I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land

of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

  7 Thou shalt have none other gods before me.

  8 Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any

likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is

in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the

earth:

  9 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them:

for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity

of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth

generation of them that hate me,

  10 And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and

keep my commandments.

  11 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain:

for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name

in vain.

  12 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God

hath commanded thee.

  13 Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work:

  14 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God:

in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy

daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox,

nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is

within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may

rest as well as thou.

  15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt,

and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a

mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy

God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.

  16 Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath

commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may

go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth

thee.

  17 Thou shalt not kill.

  18 Neither shalt thou commit adultery.

  19 Neither shalt thou steal.

  20 Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.

  21 Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour’s wife, neither

shalt thou covet thy neighbour’s house, his field, or his

manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any

thing that is thy neighbour’s.

  22 These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the

mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the

thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he

wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.

     

Here is the repetition of the ten commandments, in which observe,

1. Though they had been spoken before, and written, yet they are again

rehearsed; for precept must be upon precept, and line upon line, and

all little enough to keep the word of God in our minds and to preserve

and renew the impressions of it. We have need to have the same things

often inculcated upon us. See

Phil. iii. 1.

2. There is some variation here from that record

(Exod. xx.),

as there is between the Lord’s prayer as it is in

Matt. vi.

and as it is

Luke xi.

In both it is more necessary that we tie ourselves to the things than

to the words unalterably.

3. The most considerable variation is in the fourth commandment. In

Exod. xx.

the reason annexed is taken from the creation of the world; here it is

taken from their deliverance out of Egypt, because that was typical of

our redemption by Jesus Christ, in remembrance of which the Christian

sabbath was to be observed: Remember that thou wast a servant, and

God brought thee out,
v. 15.

And Therefore,

(1.) “It is fit that thy servants should be favoured by the

sabbath-rest; for thou knowest the heart of a servant, and how welcome

one day’s ease will be after six days’ labour.”

(2.) “It is fit that thy God should be honoured by the sabbath-work,

and the religious services of the day, in consideration of the great

things he has done for thee.” In the resurrection of Christ we were

brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God, with a

mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore, by the

gospel-edition of the law, we are directed to observe the first day of

the week, in remembrance of that glorious work of power and grace.

4. It is added in the fifth commandment, That it may go well with

thee, which addition the apostle quotes, and puts first

(Eph. vi. 3),

that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest live long.

If there be instances of some that have been very dutiful to their

parents, and yet have not lived long upon earth, we may reconcile it to

the promise by this explication of it, Whether they live long or no, it

shall go well with them, either in this world or in a better. See

Eccl. viii. 12.

5. The last five commandments are connected or coupled together, which

they are not in Exodus: Neither shalt thou commit adultery, neither

shalt thou steal, &c., which intimate that God’s commands are all

of a piece: the same authority that obliges us to one obliges us to

another; and we must not be partial in the law, but have respect to all

God’s commandments, for he that offends in one point is guilty of

all,
Jam. ii. 10, 11.

6. That these commandments were given with a great deal of awful

solemnity,

v. 22.

(1.) They were spoken with a great voice out of the fire, and thick

darkness. That was a dispensation of terror, designed to make the

gospel of grace the more welcome, and to be a specimen of the terrors

of the judgment-day,

Ps. l. 3, 4.

(2.) He added no more. What other laws he gave them were sent by

Moses, but no more were spoken in the same manner that the ten

commandments were. He added no more, therefore we must not add:

the law of the Lord is perfect.

(3.) He wrote them in two tables of stone, that they might be

preserved from corruption, and might be transmitted pure and entire to

posterity, for whose use they were intended, as well as for the present

generation. These being the heads of the covenant, the chest in which

the written tables were deposited was called the ark of the

covenant. See

Rev. xi. 19.

     

23 And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the

midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,)

that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes,

and your elders;

  24 And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath showed us his

glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the

midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with

man, and he liveth.

  25 Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will

consume us: if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more,

then we shall die.

  26 For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice

of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we

have, and lived?

  27 Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say:

and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto

thee; and we will hear it, and do it.

  28 And the LORD heard the voice of your words, when ye spake

unto me; and the LORD said unto me, I have heard the voice of the

words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have

well said all that they have spoken.

  29 O that there were such a heart in them, that they would

fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be

well with them, and with their children for ever!

  30 Go say to them, Get you into your tents again.

  31 But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak

unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the

judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them

in the land which I give them to possess it.

  32 Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath

commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to

the left.

  33 Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath

commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with

you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye

shall possess.

     

Here,

I. Moses reminds them of the agreement of both the parties that were

now treating, in the mediation of Moses.

     

1. Here is the consternation that the people were put into by that

extreme terror with which the law was given. They owned that they could

not bear it any more: “This great fire will consume us; this

dreadful voice will be fatal to us; we shall certainly die if we hear

it any more,”

v. 25.

They wondered that they were not already struck

dead with it, and took it for an extraordinary instance of the divine

power and goodness, not only that they were thus spoken to, but that

they were enabled to bear it. For who ever heard the voice of the

living God, as we have, and lived? God’s appearances have always

been terrible to man, ever since the fall: but Christ, having taken

away sin, invites us to come boldly to the throne of grace.

     

2. Their earnest request that God would henceforth speak to them by

Moses, with a promise that they would hear what he said as from God

himself, and do it,

v. 27.

It seems by this,

(1.) That they expected to receive further commands from God and were

willing to hear more from him.

(2.) That they thought Moses able to bear those discoveries of the

divine glory which they by reason of guilt were sensible of their

inability to stand up under. They believed him to be a favourite of

Heaven, and also one that would be faithful to them; yet at other times

they murmured at him, and but a little before this were ready to stone

him,

Exod. xvii. 4.

See how men’s convictions correct their passions.

(3.) That now they were in a good mind, under the strong convictions of

the word they heard. Many have their consciences startled by the law

that have them not purified; fair promises are extorted from them, but

no good principles fixed and rooted in them.

     

3. God’s approbation of their request.

(1.) He commends what they said,

v. 28.

They spoke it to Moses, but God took notice of it; for there is not a

word in our tongue but he knows it. He acknowledges, They have well

said. Their owning the necessity of a mediator to deal between them

and God was well said. Their desire to receive further directions from

God by Moses, and their promise to observe what directions should be

given them, were well said. And what is well said shall have its praise

with God, and should have with us. What is good, as far as it goes, let

it be commended.

(2.) He wishes they were but sincere in it: O that there were such a

heart in them!
v. 29.

[1.] Such a heart as they should have, a heart to fear God, and keep

his commandments for ever. Note, The God of heaven is truly and

earnestly desirous of the welfare and salvation of poor sinners. He has

given abundant proof that he is so: he gives us time and space to

repent, by his mercies invites us to repentance, and waits to be

gracious; he has sent his Son to redeem us, published a general offer

of pardon and life, promised his Spirit to those that pray for him, and

has said and sworn that he has no pleasure in the ruin of sinners.

[2.] Such a heart as they now had, or one would think they had. Note,

It would be well with many if there were always such a heart in them as

there seems to be sometimes, when they are under conviction of sin, or

the rebukes of Providence, or when they come to look death in the face:

How gracious will they be when these pangs come upon them! O

that there were always such a heart in them!

(3.) He appoints Moses to be his messenger to them, to receive the law

from his mouth and to communicate it to them,

v. 31.

Here the matter was settled by consent of both parties that God should

hence-forward speak to us by men like ourselves, by Moses and the

prophets, by the apostles and the evangelists, and, if we believe not

these, neither should we be persuaded though God should speak to us as

he did to Israel at Mount Sinai, or send expresses from heaven or

hell.

     

II. Hence he infers a charge to them to observe and do all that God had

commanded them,

v. 32, 33.

Seeing God had shown himself so tender of them, and so willing to

consider their frame and gratify them in what they desired, and withal

so ready to make the best of them,–seeing they themselves had desired

to have Moses for their teacher, who was now teaching them,–and seeing

they had promised so solemnly, and under the influence of so many good

causes and considerations, that they would hear and do, he charges them

to walk in all the ways that God had commanded them, assuring

them that it would be highly for their advantage to do so. The only way

to be happy is to be holy. Say to the righteous, It shall be well

with them.

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Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)

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