Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy is Moses' last word: a series of sermons preached to a new generation on the edge of the Promised Land, calling them to remember what God has done and to love and obey Him with all their heart. Jesus quoted it more than almost any other book. This commentary walks through it verse by verse.
About This Commentary
Deuteronomy restates the law for the generation about to enter Canaan, but it is far more than a legal review. It is preaching, warm and urgent, calling Israel to love the LORD with all their heart (Deuteronomy 6:5) and to obey Him out of gratitude for His salvation. It looks back at the wilderness and forward to the land, and it sets before the people life and death, blessing and cursing.
This commentary covers Deuteronomy verse by verse, with the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, verified background, and an Apostolic reading that keeps Christ in view. Jesus answered every temptation in the wilderness with words from this book (Matthew 4:1-11) and named its command to love God the greatest of all. References are given at the foot of each chapter.
This commentary is now complete: all thirty-four chapters of Deuteronomy, verse by verse. With it, the five books of Moses, the Torah, are finished, from Genesis through Deuteronomy.
Author
Moses, by the historic testimony of Scripture; his farewell sermons.
Written
In the time of Moses, traditionally the 15th to 13th century BC.
Setting
On the plains of Moab, east of the Jordan, at the end of Moses' life.
Theme
Remember, love, and obey the LORD, who redeemed you.
Translation
King James Version (KJV) throughout.
The Chapters
Deuteronomy Commentary
The chapters below are available now. The rest are being written and will open here as they are finished and verified.
Deuteronomy 1:1-46
Moses Remembers
Moses begins his farewell sermon by remembering the command at Horeb to go take the land, and the unbelief at Kadesh that cost a generation the promise.
Read Chapter 1 →Deuteronomy 2:1-37
Through the Lands of Kinsmen
God leads Israel around Edom, Moab, and Ammon whose lands He had given to others, testifies that through forty years they lacked nothing, and delivers Sihon into their hand with the word, begin to possess.
Read Chapter 2 →Deuteronomy 3:1-29
The LORD Shall Fight for You
God delivers the giant Og of Bashan, the land east of Jordan is divided, the LORD promises to fight for His people, and Moses is forbidden to cross while Joshua is charged to lead them in.
Read Chapter 3 →Deuteronomy 4:1-49
The LORD He Is God; There Is None Else
Moses calls Israel to keep God's word without adding or diminishing, warns against images because they saw no form at Horeb, and declares the great truth that the LORD alone is God and there is none else.
Read Chapter 4 →Deuteronomy 5:1-33
The Ten Commandments Restated
Moses rehearses the Ten Commandments to a new generation, from I am the LORD thy God and none other gods to honouring parents and loving neighbour, closing with God's cry, O that there were such an heart in them.
Read Chapter 5 →Deuteronomy 6:1-25
Hear, O Israel: The LORD Our God Is One
The Shema: the LORD our God is one LORD, and love Him with all thine heart; the warning not to forget God in plenty, the words Jesus used against the tempter, and the charge to teach the children.
Read Chapter 6 →Deuteronomy 7:1-26
Not Because Ye Were Many, but Because He Loved You
Israel a holy people chosen as God's special treasure, not for their greatness but because the LORD loved them and kept His oath, and the promise that they need not fear, for God is among them.
Read Chapter 7 →Deuteronomy 8:1-20
Man Doth Not Live by Bread Only
God humbled Israel in the wilderness to teach that man lives by every word of God, calls them to bless the LORD in the good land, and warns against the pride that says my own power got me this wealth.
Read Chapter 8 →Deuteronomy 9:1-29
Not for Thy Righteousness
Israel receives the land not for their righteousness but by grace, for they are a stiffnecked people; the memory of the golden calf, and Moses falling down forty days to intercede for a guilty people.
Read Chapter 9 →Deuteronomy 10:1-22
Circumcise the Foreskin of Your Heart
What the LORD requires of His people, the call to circumcise the heart and be no more stiffnecked, and the God of gods who defends the fatherless and widow and loves the stranger.
Read Chapter 10 →Deuteronomy 11:1-32
A Blessing and a Curse Set Before You
The land the LORD cares for and waters from heaven, the charge to lay up God's words in the heart and teach the children, and the blessing and the curse set before Israel.
Read Chapter 11 →Deuteronomy 12:1-32
Worship at the Place the LORD Chooses
Worship at the place the LORD chooses rather than every man doing what is right in his own eyes, the command not to eat the blood for the blood is the life, and the warning not to worship God after the nations' ways.
Read Chapter 12 →Deuteronomy 13:1-18
Cleave unto the LORD Alone
The false prophet whose sign comes to pass yet leads to other gods, the enticer who may be the closest of kin, and the apostate city, all testing whether Israel will cleave to the LORD alone.
Read Chapter 13 →Deuteronomy 14:1-29
Ye Are the Children of the LORD
Israel as the children of the LORD, a holy and peculiar people, the food laws that set them apart, and the tithe that taught them to fear the LORD and to care for the Levite and the needy.
Read Chapter 14 →Deuteronomy 15:1-23
The Year of Release
The seventh-year release that cancelled debts, the open hand that would not shut against the poor, and the freed servant who loved his master and chose to serve for ever.
Read Chapter 15 →Deuteronomy 16:1-22
The Feasts and the Call to Justice
The Passover that remembered redemption, the feasts of Weeks and Tabernacles where none appeared before the LORD empty, and the charge to judges to follow that which is altogether just.
Read Chapter 16 →Deuteronomy 17:1-20
The Law of the King
Justice established by two or three witnesses, the king the LORD would choose who must not multiply horses, wives, or gold, and the charge that the king write out and read God's law all his days.
Read Chapter 17 →Deuteronomy 18:1-22
The Prophet Like Moses
The LORD Himself as the inheritance of the Levites, the strict ban on witchcraft and every dark art, and the great promise of the Prophet like Moses, fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
Read Chapter 18 →Deuteronomy 19:1-21
A Way Prepared, and Justice Kept
The cities of refuge with a way prepared for the manslayer, the command not to remove a neighbour's landmark, and the justice that required two witnesses and repaid the false witness in kind.
Read Chapter 19 →Deuteronomy 20:1-20
The LORD Goes With You to Battle
The promise that the LORD goes with His people to fight for them, the fearful and distracted sent home before battle, and the command to offer a city peace before making war.
Read Chapter 20 →Deuteronomy 21:1-23
Accursed on the Tree
The atonement for an unsolved murder that put away innocent blood, the firstborn's rightful inheritance, and the word that he who hangs on a tree is accursed of God, fulfilled when Christ was made a curse for us.
Read Chapter 21 →Deuteronomy 22:1-30
Do Not Hide Yourself
The duty not to hide from a brother's need, mercy toward the mother bird, a battlement to guard life on the roof, and the call to honor the distinctions God has made.
Read Chapter 22 →Deuteronomy 23:1-25
The Curse Turned into a Blessing
God turning Balaam's intended curse into a blessing because He loved Israel, the call to keep the camp holy because the LORD walks in its midst, and the command to pay what you vow.
Read Chapter 23 →Deuteronomy 24:1-22
Mercy Toward the Poor
Returning a poor man's pledge so he can sleep warm, paying the laborer his wages the same day, and leaving the gleanings for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.
Read Chapter 24 →Deuteronomy 25:1-19
The Ox, the Balance, and Amalek
Not muzzling the ox that treads the corn, which Paul applies to supporting gospel workers, keeping perfect and just weights, and remembering Amalek who preyed on the weak.
Read Chapter 25 →Deuteronomy 26:1-19
Firstfruits and a Mutual Covenant
Bringing the firstfruits with a confession of God's redemption, the tithe that reached the Levite and the needy, and the covenant in which Israel avouched the LORD and the LORD avouched them as His treasured people.
Read Chapter 26 →Deuteronomy 27:1-26
The Altar on the Mount of Cursing
The altar of unhewn stones built on Mount Ebal, the declaration that Israel had become the people of the LORD, and the twelve curses answered by the people's Amen, pointing to the curse Christ bore for us.
Read Chapter 27 →Deuteronomy 28:1-68
Blessing and Curse
The blessings that follow obedience, the curses that follow disobedience, the piercing word that judgment came because Israel served God without joy, and the scattering foretold long before it happened.
Read Chapter 28 →Deuteronomy 29:1-29
The Secret Things Belong to the LORD
The covenant made not only with those present but with generations to come, the warning against a hidden root of bitterness, and the truth that the secret things belong to God while the revealed belong to us.
Read Chapter 29 →Deuteronomy 30:1-20
Choose Life
God's promise to circumcise the heart, the word that is very nigh, in the mouth and the heart, which Paul calls the word of faith, and the great call to choose life.
Read Chapter 30 →Deuteronomy 31:1-30
He Will Not Fail Thee nor Forsake Thee
Moses handing leadership to Joshua with the promise that God will not fail nor forsake His people, the reading of the law to all so they may hear and learn, and the song given as a witness.
Read Chapter 31 →Deuteronomy 32:1-52
The Song of Moses: He Is the Rock
God the faithful Rock whose work is perfect, Israel who grew fat and forsook the Rock of their salvation, and the LORD's declaration, I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me.
Read Chapter 32 →Deuteronomy 33:1-29
The Everlasting Arms
Moses' blessing of the tribes with the promise that as thy days, so shall thy strength be, the assurance that the eternal God is our refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms, and the joy of a people saved by the LORD.
Read Chapter 33 →Deuteronomy 34:1-12
The Death of Moses
Moses viewing the promised land from Mount Nebo, his death and burial by the hand of God, and the testimony that no prophet arose like Moses, until the Prophet greater than Moses, Jesus Christ.
Read Chapter 34 →