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Deuteronomy Chapter Eleven                            

 

Deuteronomy 11 Outlines

Love and Obedience Rewarded (v.1~32)

New King James Version (NKJV)

 

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 11

In this chapter the exhortation to love the Lord and keep his commands is repeated and urged again and again from various considerations; as not only from the chastisement of Pharaoh and the wicked Egyptians but of such Israelites who offended the Lord and transgressed his law Deuteronomy 12:1 from the goodness and excellency of the land they were going to inherit Deuteronomy 11:8 from the blessing of rain that would come upon it and be productive of all good things for man and beast in case of obedience and a restraint of it in case of disobedience Deuteronomy 11:12 from the continuance of them and their offspring in the land should they be careful to observe the commands themselves and teach them their children Deuteronomy 11:18 and from the extensiveness of their conquests and dominions Deuteronomy 11:22 and from the different issue and effects of their conduct and behaviour a blessing upon them if obedient but a curse if disobedient Deuteronomy 11:26 and the chapter is concluded with an exhortation to pronounce the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal; the situation of which places is described when they should come into the land of Canaan of which they are assured Deuteronomy 11:29.

 

Deuteronomy 11:1   “Therefore you shall love the Lord your God and keep His charge His statutes His judgments and His commandments always.

  YLT  1`And thou hast loved Jehovah thy God and kept His charge and His statutes and His judgments and His commands all the days;

Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God .... Because he is so great and glorious in himself and because he had done such great and good things for them the Israelites particularly in the multiplication of them the last thing mentioned:

and keep his charge; whatsoever the Lord had charged them to observe even what follow:

and his statutes and his judgments and his commandments alway; all his laws ceremonial judicial and moral; and that constantly and continually all the days of their lives.

 

Deuteronomy 11:2   2 Know today that I do not speak with your children who have not known and who have not seen the chastening of the Lord your God His greatness and His mighty hand and His outstretched arm—

   YLT  2and ye have known to-day -- for it is not your sons who have not known and who have not seen the chastisement of Jehovah your God His greatness His strong hand and His stretched-out arm

And know you this day .... Take notice of and diligently attend unto what is now about to be delivered:

for I speak not unto your children which have not known and which have not seen the chastisement of the Lord your God; who have no knowledge and experience of the chastisement of the Lord on themselves or on their foes or friends; and with whom the argument drawn from it could not come with that force and make that impression as it might be thought it would being used with them who had perfect knowledge of it. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan render it doctrine which being children they were not instructed so perfectly in as they were who were adult persons to whom Moses directs his discourse:

his greatness his mighty hand and stretched out arm: the exceeding greatness of his power displayed in the following instances.

 

Deuteronomy 11:3   3 His signs and His acts which He did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to all his land;

   YLT  3and His signs and His doings which He hath done in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to all his land;

And his miracles and his acts which he did in the midst of Egypt .... The miraculous works done there the ten plagues inflicted on the Egyptians for refusing to let Israel go:

unto Pharaoh king of Egypt and unto all his land; for those plagues not only affected him and his court and his metropolis but all parts of the land the inhabitants of it everywhere.

 

Deuteronomy 11:4   4 what He did to the army of Egypt to their horses and their chariots: how He made the waters of the Red Sea overflow them as they pursued you and how the Lord has destroyed them to this day;

   YLT  4and that which He hath done to the force of Egypt to its horses and to its chariot when He hath caused the waters of the Red Sea to flow against their faces in their pursuing after them and Jehovah destroyeth them unto this day;

And what he did unto the army of Egypt unto their horses and to their chariots .... At the Red sea when they pursued Israel in order to bring them back or destroy them after they had let them go which army was very numerous; see Exodus 14:7.

how he made the water of the Red sea to overflow them; "or to flow over their faces"F2הציף־על פניהם "fecit inundare super facics eorum" Pagninus Junius & Tremellius Piscator. :

as they pursued after you; so that they could not see their way nor steer their course after them; and not only so but were covered with the waters of the sea drowned in them and sunk to the bottom of them: and how the Lord hath destroyed them unto this day; either continued to destroy them yet more and more by one means or another; or else the destruction made by the several plagues upon them and particularly that of their army at the Red sea which was the strength and glory of the nation was so general and extensive that they never recovered it to that day; and so were in no capacity of coming out against them and attacking them and doing them any hurt all the forty years they had been in the wilderness; of which no doubt they had knowledge and of their condition and circumstances there.

 

Deuteronomy 11:5   5 what He did for you in the wilderness until you came to this place;

   YLT  5and that which He hath done to you in the wilderness till your coming in unto this place;

And what he did unto you in the wilderness until ye came unto this place. Meaning not so much the good things he did for them in divers places as the chastisements and corrections he had exercised them with for their murmurings rebellions idolatry and uncleanness as at Taberah Kibrothhattaavah on the coast of Edom and plains of Moab; by fire by sword by plagues and fiery serpents; the instances both before and after being of this sort.

 

Deuteronomy 11:6   6 and what He did to Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab the son of Reuben: how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up their households their tents and all the substance that was in their possession in the midst of all Israel—

   YLT  6and that which He hath done to Dathan and to Abiram sons of Eliab sons of Reuben when the earth hath opened her mouth and swalloweth them and their houses and their tents and all that liveth which is at their feet in the midst of all Israel:

And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab the son of Reuben .... When they with Korah and his company quarrelled with Moses and Aaron about the priesthood Numbers 16:1 how the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up; the history of which see in Numbers 16:30.

and their households and their tents; not their houses and their tents as the Septuagint and some other versions; for though the word signifies houses and is often used for them yet here it must signify families their wives and children; since they had no houses but dwelt in tents all which were swallowed up with them:

and all the substance that was in their possession; gold silver cattle household goods and whatever they were possessed of:

or was at their feetF3אשר ברגליהם "quae erat in pedibus eorum" Pagninus Montanus Vatablus. ; or which followed them their living creatures; or was for them as Aben Ezra interprets it; for their use service and necessity: and this was done

in the midst of all Israel; openly and publicly they beholding it as follows; and therefore should be rendered "before all Israel"F4בקרב "coram omni Israele" Noldius p. 212. No. 975. ; and besides the tents of Dathan and Abiram Reubenites were not in the midst of Israel.

 

Deuteronomy 11:7   7 but your eyes have seen every great act of the Lord which He did.

   YLT  7`-- But [it is] your eyes which are seeing all the great work of Jehovah which He hath done;

But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord which he did; Even all before related with many others; and therefore the instruction they should learn from thence should be as follows.

 

Deuteronomy 11:8   8 “Therefore you shall keep every commandment which I command you today that you may be strong and go in and possess the land which you cross over to possess

   YLT  8and ye have kept all the command which I am commanding thee to-day so that ye are strong and have gone in and possessed the land whither ye are passing over to possess it

Therefore shall you keep all the commandments which I command you this day .... For the reasons before suggested as well as for what follow:

that ye may be strong; healthful in body and courageous in mind for sin tends to weaken both; whereas observance of the commands of God contributes to the health and strength of the body and the rigour of the mind; both which were necessary to the present expedition they were going upon:

and go in and possess the land whither ye go to possess it; the land of Canaan they were marching towards in order to possess it; and nothing would more inspire them with courage and cause them to enter it manfully without fear of their enemies than obedience to the commands of God; whose presence being promised them on that account they might expect it and so had nothing to fear from the inhabitants of the land.

 

Deuteronomy 11:9   9 and that you may prolong your days in the land which the Lord swore to give your fathers to them and their descendants ‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’[a]

   YLT  9and so that ye prolong days on the ground which Jehovah hath sworn to your fathers to give to them and to their seed -- a land flowing with milk and honey.

And that ye may prolong your days in the land .... Not only enter it and take possession of it but continue in it long which depended upon their obedience to the laws of God:

which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed; had promised with an oath so that they might be assured of the enjoyment of it though they could not be of their continuance in it unless they obeyed the divine commands:

a land that floweth with milk and honey; abounds with all good things whose fruits are fat as milk and sweet as honey; so the Targum of Jonathan.

 

Deuteronomy 11:10   10 For the land which you go to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come where you sowed your seed and watered it by foot as a vegetable garden;

   YLT  10`For the land whither thou art going in to possess it is not as the land of Egypt whence ye have come out where thou sowest thy seed and hast watered with thy foot as a garden of the green herb;

For the land whither thou goest in to possess it .... The land of Canaan they were about to take possession of:

is not as the land of Egypt from whence ye came out; either the whole land of Egypt or that part of it Rameses in which Israel dwelt and which was the best of it as Jarchi observes and yet Canaan exceeded that; though the design of this passage is not so much to set forth the superior excellency and fertility of the land of Canaan to that of Egypt which was certainly a very fruitful country; see Genesis 13:10 but to observe some things in which they differed whereby they both became fruitful and in which Canaan had the advantage:

where thou sowedst thy seed and wateredst it with thy foot as a garden of herbs; as a gardener when he has sowed his seed or planted his plants waters them that they may grow by carrying his water pot from bed to bed which requires much labour and toil. In Egypt rain seldom fell especially in some places it was very rare though that there was none at all is a vulgar mistake; See Gill on Zechariah 14:18 F5See also Vansleb's Relation of a Voyage to Egypt p. 213. who speaks of large rains in Egypt. . To supply the want of it the river Nile overflowed once a year which not only moistened the earth but left mud or slime upon it which made it fruitful; but this was not sufficient for what through the river not overflowing enough sometimes and so as to reach some places and through the heat of the sun hardening the earth again it was found necessary to cut canals from it and by water from thence to water it as a gardener waters his seed and plants; and it is to this watering that respect is here had not to the overflowing of the Nile for that was before the seed was sown; but to the watering of it out of the canals which was done after it was sown; the former was without any trouble of theirs the latter with much labour; the manner in which it is done is expressed by the phrase "with thy foot" which the Targum explains "by thyself" by their own labour and industry. Jarchi is more particular; "the land of Egypt had need to "have water brought from the Nile with thy foot; he seems to have understood the phrase to signify carrying water on foot from the Nile to the place where it was wanted; but the custom still in use in Egypt when they water their fields plantations or gardens will give us a clear understanding of this phrase; as a late traveller informs usF6Shaw's Travels p. 408. the water is drawn out of the river (Nile) by instruments and lodged in capacious cisterns; when plants require to be refreshed they strike out the plugs that are fixed in the bottoms of the cisterns and then the water gushing out is conducted from one rill to another by the gardener who is always ready as occasion requires to stop and divert the torrent by turning the earth against it "with his foot" and opening at the same time with his mattock a new trench to receive it: and to the same purpose another learned personF7Clayton's Chronology of the Hebrew Bible p. 478. has observed that at other times (than the flowing of the Nile) they are obliged to have recourse to art and to raise the water out of the river and some deep pits by the help of machines which water is afterwards directed in its course by channels cut in the ground which convey the water to those places where it is wanted; and when one part of the ground is sufficiently watered they then stop that channel by thrusting some earth into the entrance of it "with their foot" and then also "with their foot" open a passage into the next channel and so on: and Philo the JewF8De Confusione Ling p. 325. speaks of a machine with which they used to water fields and was worked with the feet by going up the several steps within which gave motion to it.

 

Deuteronomy 11:11   11 but the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys which drinks water from the rain of heaven

   YLT  11but the land whither ye are passing over to possess it [is] a land of hills and valleys; of the rain of the heavens it drinketh water;

But the land whither ye go to possess it is a land of hills and valleys .... And so could not be watered by the overflow of a river and by canals cut out of it and in the manner Egypt was; which was for the most part a plain and flat country but not so Canaan in which were many hills and mountains as those about Jerusalem Carmel Tabor Lebanon and others; and plains and valleys as the valley of Jezreel &c. and which made it more delightful and pleasant for prospects; see Deuteronomy 8:7 and drinketh water of the rain of heaven; by which it was watered refreshed and made fruitful; not by means of men but by the Lord himself and so with much more ease to men and without the toil and labour they were obliged to in Egypt as well as it was both more healthful and pleasant; for the damps that arose from the overflow of the Nile were sometimes prejudicial to health; and during the season of its overflow which was in the summer they were obliged to keep in their houses and could not walk abroad for weeks together; to which inconveniences the land of Canaan was not subject; but then as its fertility depended on rain from heaven the Israelites would be under the greater obligation to observe the commands of God who could give and withhold it at his pleasure and as they conducted themselves; which seems to be the general drift of this passage.

 

Deuteronomy 11:12   12 a land for which the Lord your God cares; the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year.

   YLT  12a land which Jehovah thy God is searching; continually [are] the eyes of Jehovah thy God upon it from the beginning of the year even unto the latter end of the year.

A land which the Lord thy God careth for .... In a very particular and special manner; otherwise he has a general care of the whole world and all the parts of it; for as the earth is his and the fulness thereof his providential care reaches everywhere; but as this spot was what he had chosen for his own residence and the place of his worship and for an habitation for his peculiar people; he exercised a more peculiar care over it to make it fruitful commodious and pleasant; or which "he seeketh"F9דרש "quaerit" Pagninus; "quaerens" Montanus. ; that is the good of it and to make it convenient useful and delightful to his people; yea which he sought for and desired for his own habitation Psalm 132:13

the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year; his eyes of providence to give the former and the latter rain and that there be seedtime and harvest in their seasons and that the fruits of it be produced at their proper time; some at the beginning others at the end of the year and others in the intervening months and all wisely suited to the good of the inhabitants of it.

 

Deuteronomy 11:13   13 ‘And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul

   YLT  13`And it hath been -- if thou hearken diligently unto My commands which I am commanding you to-day to love Jehovah your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul –

And it shall come to pass if you shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day .... In the name and by the authority of the Lord the only lawgiver:

to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul; see Deuteronomy 10:12. Jarchi interprets this of prayer; but it is not to be restrained to that only but includes the whole service of God in all the parts of it performed from a principle of love to him and in sincerity and truth.

 

Deuteronomy 11:14   14 then I[b] will give you the rain for your land in its season the early rain and the latter rain that you may gather in your grain your new wine and your oil.

   YLT  14that I have given the rain of your land in its season -- sprinkling and gathered -- and thou hast gathered thy corn and thy new wine and thine oil

That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season .... Such a quantity of it as the land required a sufficiency of it to make it fruitful and that in proper time:

the first rain and the latter rain; the former rain in Marchesvan the latter rain in Nisan as the Targum of Jonathan; the first fell about our October which was at or quickly after seedtime to water the seed that it might take root and grow and spring up; and the latter fell about March a little before harvest to ripen the corn and swell and plump the ears of it and make them yield more and better; See Gill on Joel 2:23

that thou mayest gather in thy corn and thy wine and thine oil; which were the principal things the land afforded for the sustenance of men; bread corn the stay and staff of human life and which strengthens man's heart and makes him fit for labour; wine which is his drink and makes the heart of man glad and cheerful; and oil which in these countries was used instead of butter and was fattening and made the face to shine Psalm 104:15. The ingathering of these fruits were at different times; the barley harvest first the wheat harvest next and after that the vintage and the gathering of the olives; and by means of rain in due season they were favoured with each of these.

 

Deuteronomy 11:15   15 And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock that you may eat and be filled.’

   YLT  15and I have given herbs in thy field for thy cattle and thou hast eaten and been satisfied.

And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle .... By giving plentiful showers of rain at proper times to cause it to spring up and grow that so there might be food for the cattle of every sort greater or lesser; see Psalm 104:13

that thou mayest eat and be full; which refers to the preceding verse as well as to this; and the sense is that the Israelites might eat of and enjoy the fruits of the earth to satiety; namely their corn wine and oil; and that their cattle might have grass enough to supply them with.

 

Deuteronomy 11:16   16 “Take heed to yourselves lest your heart be deceived and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them

   YLT  16`Take heed to yourselves lest your heart be enticed and ye have turned aside and served other gods and bowed yourselves to them

Take heed to yourselves that your heart be not deceived .... By observing the influence of the heavens upon the fruitfulness of the earth and so be drawn to the worship of the host of them the sun moon and stars; or by the examples of nations round about them; and by the plausible arguments they may make use of taken from the traditions of ancestors from antiquity and the consent of nations and the great numbers of worshippers and the like:

and ye turn aside; from the true God and the worship of him; or from the law as Jarchi which directs to the worship of one God and forbids idolatry or the worshipping of images:

and serve other gods and worship them; other gods than the one only living and true God; gods that made not the heavens and the earth and which cannot give rain nor any blessing and mercy of life nor help and deliver their worshippers when in distress.

 

Deuteronomy 11:17   17 lest the Lord’s anger be aroused against you and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain and the land yield no produce and you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.

   YLT  17and the anger of Jehovah hath burned against you and He hath restrained the heavens and there is no rain and the ground doth not give her increase and ye have perished hastily from off the good land which Jehovah is giving to you.

And then the Lord's wrath be kindled against you .... For their idolatry nothing being more provoking to him than that it being contrary to his nature and being as well as to his will and to his honour and glory:

and he shut up the heaven that there be no rain; the treasures and storehouses of it there or the windows of it the clouds which when opened let it down but when shut withhold it; the key of rain is one of the keys which the Jews sayF11Targum Jon. in Deut. xxviii. 12. the Lord keeps in his own hand and with it he opens and no man shuts and shuts and no man opens; see Deuteronomy 28:12.

and that the land yield not her fruit; which is unavoidably the case when rain is withheld:

and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you; for if the land does not yield its fruits sufficient to support the inhabitants of it they must in course perish.

 

Deuteronomy 11:18   18 “Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul and bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

   YLT  18`And ye have placed these my words on your heart and on your soul and have bound them for a sign on your hand and they have been for frontlets between your eyes;

Verses 18-20

Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul .... Treasure up the laws of God delivered to them in their minds retain them in their memories and cherish a cordial affection for them; which would be an antidote against apostasy idolatry and other sins Psalm 119:11.

and bind them for a sign upon your hand that they may be as frontlets between your eyes; of this and the two following verses; see Gill on Deuteronomy 6:7; see Gill on Deuteronomy 6:8; see Gill on Deuteronomy 6:9.

 

Deuteronomy 11:19   19 You shall teach them to your children speaking of them when you sit in your house when you walk by the way when you lie down and when you rise up.

   YLT  19and ye have taught them to your sons by speaking of them in thy sitting in thy house and in thy going in the way and in thy lying down and in thy rising up

 

Deuteronomy 11:20   20 And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates

   YLT  20and hast written them on the side-posts of thy house and on thy gates

 

Deuteronomy 11:21   21 that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them like the days of the heavens above the earth.

   YLT  21so that your days are multiplied and the days of your sons on the ground which Jehovah hath sworn to your fathers to give to them as the days of the heavens on the earth.

That your days may be multiplied .... Long life being a very desirable blessing and which is promised to those that obey and keep the law; see Deuteronomy 30:19.

and the days of your children; which are dear to parents and the continuance of whose lives next to their own is most desirable yea as desirable as their own; and especially it is desirable that they might have a posterity descending from them to enjoy for ever their estates and possessions; as it was to the people of Israel that they might have a seed always to dwell

in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them; the land of Canaan so often spoken of as the promise oath and gift of God:

as the days of heaven upon the earth; that is as long as the heavens and the earth shall be and the one shall be over the other as they will be to the end of time.

 

Deuteronomy 11:22   22 “For if you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you to do—to love the Lord your God to walk in all His ways and to hold fast to Him—

   YLT  22`For if ye diligently keep all this command which I am commanding you -- to do it to love Jehovah your God to walk in all His ways and to cleave to Him

For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you to do them .... Observe and take notice of them even all of them and so as not merely to have a theory or notional knowledge of them but to put them in practice:

to love the Lord your God; and show it by obeying his commands and which is the end of the commandment and the principle from which all obedience should flow:

to walk in all his ways and to cleave unto him; see Deuteronomy 10:12.

 

Deuteronomy 11:23   23 then the Lord will drive out all these nations from before you and you will dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves.

   YLT  23then hath Jehovah dispossessed all these nations from before you and ye have possessed nations greater and mightier than you;

Then will the Lord drive out all those nations from before you .... By little and little even all the seven nations which then inhabited the land of Canaan; and this he would do to make room for them that they might inherit the land; see Deuteronomy 7:1.

and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves; countries whose inhabitants were more in number and greater in strength than they; and therefore the conquest of them was not to be ascribed to themselves but to the Lord; this is often observed; see Deuteronomy 7:1.

 

Deuteronomy 11:24   24 Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon from the river the River Euphrates even to the Western Sea [c] shall be your territory.

   YLT  24every place on which the sole of your foot treadeth is yours; from the wilderness and Lebanon from the river the river Phrat even unto the farther sea is your border;

Every place wherein the soles of your feet shall tread .... Meaning in the land of Canaan; though the Jews vainly apply this to every land and country and place therein where any of them come; pleasing themselves with this foolish fancy that all shall be theirs that the foot of any of them have trod upon or they have dwelt in; but that it respects only the land of Canaan appears by the following description of it and its boundaries:

from the wilderness; the wilderness of Paran which lay to the south of it where Kadesh was from whence the spies were sent and was the southern border of it:

and Lebanon; which was a range of mountains to the north of it; and was the northern border of the land:

from the river the river Euphrates; which was the eastern border of it when it was carried to its utmost extent as in the days of Solomon 1 Kings 4:21.

even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be: the Mediterranean sea which was the western border of the land of Canaan or "the hinder sea" and so it is called Zechariah 14:8 it lay at the back of them; for if a man stands with his face to the east the south will be on his right hand and the north on his left and the west will be behind him or at the back of him.

 

Deuteronomy 11:25   25 No man shall be able to stand against you; the Lord your God will put the dread of you and the fear of you upon all the land where you tread just as He has said to you.

   YLT  25no man doth station himself in your presence; your dread and your fear doth Jehovah your God put on the face of all the land on which ye tread as He hath spoken to you.

There shall be no man able to stand before you .... Meaning not a single man such an one as Og or any of the sons of Anak the giants; because it could never be thought imagined or feared that one man only should be able to stand against 600 000 fighting men but any people or nation though greater and mightier than they:

for the Lord your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon: that is upon all the land of Canaan and the inhabitants of it; who should hear what wonderful things had been done for them in Egypt and at the Red sea and in the wilderness; and what they had done to Sihon and Og and to their countries and which accordingly was fulfilled Joshua 2:9.

as he hath said unto you; had promised them Deuteronomy 2:25 and which was prophesied of in the prophetic song at the Red sea; see Exodus 15:14.

 

Deuteronomy 11:26   26 “Behold I set before you today a blessing and a curse:

   YLT  26`See I am setting before you to-day a blessing and a reviling:

Behold I set before you this day a blessing and a curse .... Meaning the law of God and the statutes judgments and commandments of it; which if obeyed blessings would be bestowed upon them; but if disobeyed they would be liable to the curses of it as the following words explain it; see Deuteronomy 30:15 everyone of the Israelites were called upon to see and consider this matter it being an interesting one to them all.

 

Deuteronomy 11:27   27 the blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today;

   YLT  27the blessing when ye hearken unto the commands of Jehovah your God which I am commanding you to-day;

A blessing if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God .... That is a blessing should come upon them even all temporal blessings they stood in need of; they should be blessed in body and estate in their families and in their flocks in town and country; see Deuteronomy 28:1

which I command you this day; afresh repeated to them and enjoined them the observation of it in the name of the Lord.

 

Deuteronomy 11:28   28 and the curse if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God but turn aside from the way which I command you today to go after other gods which you have not known.

   YLT  28and the reviling if ye do not hearken unto the commands of Jehovah your God and have turned aside out of the way which I am commanding you to-day to go after other gods which ye have not known.

And a curse if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God .... Accursed in body and estate in basket and store; in their families flocks and herds; within doors and without; in city and country; going out or coming in; in this world and that to come if divine goodness prevent not; see Deuteronomy 28:15.

but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day; which the law he gave them and repeated to them directed them to walk in:

to go after other gods which ye have not known; to serve and worship the gods of other nations strange gods which neither they nor their fathers knew anything of or ever received any good thing from; and which indeed are no gods and nothing in the world as an idol is.

 

Deuteronomy 11:29   29 Now it shall be when the Lord your God has brought you into the land which you go to possess that you shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.

   YLT  29`And it hath been when Jehovah thy God doth bring thee in unto the land whither thou art going in to possess it that thou hast given the blessing on mount Gerizim and the reviling on mount Ebal;

And it shall come to pass when the Lord thy God hath bought thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it .... Which is often observed as being near at hand; and when and where many things were to be done which could not be done in the place and circumstances they now were particularly what follows:

that thou shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse upon Mount Ebal; that is pronounce the one on one mountain and the other on the other mountain or at least towards them or over against them. The Targum of Jonathan is"ye shall set six tribes on Mount Gerizim and six tribes on Mount Ebal; (#De 27:12 13) blessing they shall turn their faces against Mount Gerizim and cursing they shall turn their faces against Mount Ebal;'with which agrees the account given in the Misnah;"six tribes went to the top of Mount Gerizim and six to the top of Mount Ebal; and the priests and the Levites and the ark stood below in the middle; the priests surrounded the ark and the Levites the priests and all Israel were on this and on that side of the ark as in Joshua 8:33 then they turned their faces against Gerizim they opened with the blessing blessed is he that maketh not any graven or molten image and both answered "Amen"; then they turned their faces against Mount Ebal and opened with the curse Deuteronomy 27:15 and both answered AmenF19Sotah c. 7. sect. 5. ;'see the performance of this command in Joshua 8:33.

 

Deuteronomy 11:30   30 Are they not on the other side of the Jordan toward the setting sun in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the plain opposite Gilgal beside the terebinth trees of Moreh?

   YLT  30are they not beyond the Jordan behind the way of the going in of the sun in the land of the Canaanite who is dwelling in the plain over-against Gilgal near the oaks of Moreh?

Are they not on the other side Jordan .... Opposite to that where Moses now was in the plains of Moab even in Samaria; so in the MisnahF20Sotah c. 7. sect. 5. it is said "as soon as Israel passed over Jordan they came to Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal which are in Samaria;'but those mountains were not near Jordan nor Jericho to which the people of Israel came first but sixty miles from thence; though they were as Moses says on the other side from the place they now were:

by the way wherewith the sun goeth down; or as the Targum of Jonathan "after the way of the sun setting;'following that or taking their direction from thence signifying that they lay to the west of Jordan:

in the land of the Canaanites; of that particular tribe or nation which were eminently called Canaanites for these dwelt by the sea by the coast of Jordan Numbers 13:29 or as further described:

that dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal; in the plain open champaign country opposite to Gilgal; not that Gilgal Joshua encamped at before he came to Jericho which in Moses's time was not known by that name but another as Dr. LightfootF21Chorograph. Cent. c. 48. observes and he thinks Galilee is meant:

beside the plains of Moreh; near to Shechem Genesis 12:6 and that Gerizim one of these mountains was not far from Shechem is evident from Judges 9:6 and so in the MisnahF23Sotah c. 7. sect. 5. it is said that these mountains were on the side of Shechem which is in the plains of Moreh as in Deuteronomy 11:30 as the plains of Moreh here denote Shechem so there: Benjamin of Tudela saysF24Itinerarium p. 38 40. there is a valley between them in which lies Shechem; and in his time there were on Mount Gerizim fountains and orchards but Mount Ebal was dry like stones and rocks. The Targum of Jonathan here instead of Moreh reads Mamre; see Genesis 13:18.

 

Deuteronomy 11:31   31 For you will cross over the Jordan and go in to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you and you will possess it and dwell in it.

   YLT  31for ye are passing over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which Jehovah your God is giving to you; and ye have possessed it and dwelt in it

For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess the land Which the Lord your God giveth you .... They were now near it and by this they are assured they should pass over it in order to take possession of the land God had given them and which gift of his was a sufficient title to it:

and ye shall possess it and dwell therein: should not only take possession of it but make their abode in it; they are assured hereby of continuance in it on condition they obeyed the laws of God as follows.

 

Deuteronomy 11:32   32 And you shall be careful to observe all the statutes and judgments which I set before you today.

   YLT  32and observed to do all the statutes and the judgments which I am setting before you to day.

And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments .... Take notice of them and heed unto them so as to practise them:

which I set before you this day; repeated in order to them on the observance of which depended their continuance in the land of Canaan; and therefore this is so often repeated and urged.

 

──John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible

 

New King James Version (NKJV)

Footnotes:

  1. Deuteronomy 11:9 Exodus 3:8
  2. Deuteronomy 11:14 Following Masoretic Text and Targum; Samaritan Pentateuch Septuagint and Vulgate read He.
  3. Deuteronomy 11:24 That is the Mediterranean