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Deuteronomy Chapter Twenty-six                            

 

Deuteronomy 26 Outlines

Offerings of Firstfruits and Tithes (v.1~15)

A Special People of God (v.16~19)

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)

Footnotes:

  1. Deuteronomy 26:3 Septuagint reads my.
  2. Deuteronomy 26:5 Or Aramean
  3. Deuteronomy 26:9 Exodus 3:8
  4. Deuteronomy 26:15 Exodus 3:8