Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Deuteronomy
Chapter 27: The Altar on the Mount of Cursing
Israel is told what to do the day they cross into the land: set up great stones and write the law plainly on them, and build an altar of uncut stone on Mount Ebal. Ebal was the mountain of cursing, and yet there, where the curses would be pronounced, God commanded an altar of sacrifice and peace offerings. Then the Levites recited twelve curses on those who break God's law, hidden sins and open ones alike, and all the people answered, 'Amen.' It is a chapter about an altar raised on the mount of cursing, and a law that leaves every breaker of it under a curse, pointing us to the One who bore that curse for us.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Deuteronomy chapter 27. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. The chapter commands an altar of unhewn stones on Mount Ebal, declares Israel the people of the LORD, and records the twelve curses answered by the people's Amen. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
Of Whole Stones
An altar of uncut stone, untouched by iron tools, was built on Mount Ebal.
On the Mount of Cursing
The altar of sacrifice stood on Ebal, the very mountain where the curses were pronounced.
Become His People
That day Israel was declared to have become the people of the LORD their God.
All the People Say Amen
Twelve curses on lawbreakers were recited, and the people answered each with Amen.
An Altar of Whole Stones on Ebal (Deuteronomy 27:1-8)
On the mountain where the curses would be spoken, God commanded an altar of uncut stone and offerings of peace, a place of sacrifice raised amid the cursing.
Build the Altar of Whole Stones
"And Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commandments which I command you this day. And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaister them with plaister: And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law, when thou art passed over, that thou mayest go in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, a land that floweth with milk and honey; as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee. Therefore it shall be when ye be gone over Jordan, that ye shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in mount Ebal, and thou shalt plaister them with plaister. And there shalt thou build an altar unto the LORD thy God, an altar of stones: thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them. Thou shalt build the altar of the LORD thy God of whole stones: and thou shalt offer burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD thy God: And thou shalt offer peace offerings, and shalt eat there, and rejoice before the LORD thy God. And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly."
Hebrew Study
"whole," shalem (שָׁלֵם). Whole, complete, unbroken, from the same root as shalom, peace. The altar stones were to be whole and untouched by tools. There is a fitting picture here: peace with God comes not by what human hands shape and improve, but by what God provides whole and complete.
Explanation
When Israel crossed the Jordan, they were to set up great plastered stones and write on them "all the words of this law very plainly," so the covenant stood in the open for all to read. Then they were to build an altar on Mount Ebal, "an altar of stones: thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them." It was to be of "whole stones," and on it they were to offer burnt offerings and peace offerings, and rejoice before the LORD. The same rule had been given at Sinai: an altar was not to be shaped with tools, "for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it" (Exodus 20:25). The place of sacrifice was to be of stones just as God made them, unimproved by human hands.
Gospel Focus
Two things in this altar preach the gospel. First, it was made of whole, uncut stone, untouched by human tools. The altar, the place of atonement and peace with God, was not to bear the marks of human workmanship, a quiet picture that our peace with God is not something we shape or improve by our own effort, but something He provides whole and complete. Salvation is not of works, "lest any man should boast." Second, and more striking, this altar of sacrifice was commanded on Mount Ebal, the mountain of cursing. On the very mount where the curses of the broken law were pronounced, God set an altar where blood could be shed and peace offerings made. Where the curse fell, there was also a place of atonement. This is the pattern fulfilled at Calvary, where, under the full weight of the curse we deserved, the true Sacrifice was offered and peace with God was made. On the mountain of cursing, God provided an altar; at the cross, He provided the Lamb. Peace with God is His whole and finished work, offered where the curse was borne.
This Day Thou Art Become His People (Deuteronomy 27:9-10)
Moses and the priests declared that on that day Israel had become the people of the LORD, and were therefore to obey His voice.
Thou Art Become the People of the LORD
"And Moses and the priests the Levites spake unto all Israel, saying, Take heed, and hearken, O Israel; this day thou art become the people of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the LORD thy God, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day. And Moses charged the people the same day, saying, These shall stand upon mount Gerizim to bless the people, when ye are come over Jordan; Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin: And these shall stand upon mount Ebal to curse; Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. And the Levites shall speak, and say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice, Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen. Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that lieth with his father's wife; because he uncovereth his father's skirt. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that lieth with any manner of beast. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that lieth with his mother in law. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbour secretly. And all the people shall say, Amen. Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say, Amen."
Hebrew Study
At the covenant ceremony Moses declares, "This day thou art become the people of the LORD thy God." A rescued mob of former slaves is constituted, by covenant, as God's own nation — with an altar of unhewn stones on Mount Ebal and the law written plainly for all to read. The moment is momentous: identity is conferred by God's covenant word. "Therefore thou shalt obey" — belonging to God is the ground of obedience, not the reward for it.
Explanation
In the midst of these solemn commands comes a word of identity: "this day thou art become the people of the LORD thy God." As they stood on the edge of the land and renewed the covenant, Moses declared what they had become, God's own people. And from that identity flowed the call to obedience: "Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the LORD thy God, and do his commandments." Because they belonged to Him, they were to live as His.
Gospel Focus
Once again the order is identity first, then obedience. "This day thou art become the people of the LORD thy God," and "thou shalt therefore obey." God does not say, obey and thereby become My people; He says, you have become My people, therefore obey. Our obedience flows from belonging, not the other way around. The believer keeps God's commandments not to earn a place among His people, but because he already has one, bought by grace. "Ye are... a people for God's own possession," and that new identity is the wellspring of a new life. Know first who you are, a child and possession of God, and let obedience follow as the natural response of one who belongs to Him. Live out of your identity, not toward it.
All the People Shall Say, Amen (Deuteronomy 27:11-26)
The Levites recited twelve curses on those who break God's law, secret sins and open ones alike, and all the people sealed each one with their Amen.
Cursed Be He That Confirmeth Not All the Words
"Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen."
Hebrew Study
From Mount Ebal the Levites pronounce twelve curses, and to each the whole people answer "Amen," binding themselves. The list climbs to a sweeping close: "Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them." Paul builds on that very verse: the law demands perfect, complete obedience, and so "as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse" (Galatians 3:10). The thunder from Ebal was meant to drive sinners to seek a Redeemer from the curse.
Explanation
Six tribes were to stand on Mount Gerizim to bless, and six on Mount Ebal to curse. Then the Levites pronounced twelve curses, and after each one "all the people shall say, Amen." The curses reached both hidden and open sins: the secret idol, dishonoring parents, moving a neighbour's landmark, misleading the blind, perverting justice for the vulnerable, immorality, secret violence, taking a bribe to kill the innocent. Many were sins no human court could catch, "he that smiteth his neighbour secretly." The final curse gathered them all: "Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them." And to every one, the whole nation answered, "Amen," agreeing that this was just.
Gospel Focus
That last curse is one Paul builds a whole argument on. The law required "all the words" to be kept, and cursed anyone who failed, and no one keeps all of it. So Paul writes, "as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them" (Galatians 3:10). The people said "Amen" to the curse, and the terrible truth is that the curse falls on us all, for none of us has kept every word. The law by itself leaves the whole human race under a curse it cannot lift. But the gospel does not leave us there. The next breath in Paul is grace: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us" (Galatians 3:13). And so this chapter's two halves come together: the curse pronounced on Ebal, and the altar of sacrifice raised on that same mountain. The curse we all say "Amen" to fell on Christ, who was offered as our sacrifice, so that the peace offering could be made where the curse was borne. The law shows us the curse; the cross carries it away.
A Note on History
On Mount Ebal itself, the mountain of this chapter, the archaeologist Adam Zertal's excavations in the 1980s uncovered a large rectangular structure of unhewn stones, filled with ash and the burnt bones of kosher animals, dated to the early Iron Age (late thirteenth to twelfth century BC). Zertal identified it with the altar Joshua built on Mount Ebal in obedience to the command given here (Joshua 8:30-31; Deuteronomy 27:4-6). The identification is debated among scholars, but the site is real, excavated, and published, and its altar of unhewn stone matches the very detail this chapter specifies.
Chapter 27 in Review
Deuteronomy 27 prepares Israel for the day they enter the land. They were to write the law plainly on great stones and build an altar of whole, uncut stone on Mount Ebal, the mount of cursing, offering there burnt and peace offerings. Moses declared that they had become the people of the LORD and must therefore obey Him. And from Ebal the Levites pronounced twelve curses on lawbreakers, secret and open, to which all the people answered, "Amen," ending with the curse on everyone who fails to keep "all the words of this law."
For the Apostolic reader, this chapter is full of the cross. The altar of whole stones, untouched by human tools, pictures a peace with God that we do not shape but receive, and it was raised on the very mountain of cursing, where the curse would fall. The final curse on all who fail to keep the whole law is the curse Paul says rests on us all, for none of us keeps it. But Christ was made a curse for us, offered as the sacrifice on the mount of cursing, so that peace with God is made where the curse was borne. Our obedience flows from having become His people; our peace rests on the Lamb who carried our curse. Say "Amen" to the justice of the law, and then flee to the Christ who redeemed you from its curse.
- The altar was of "whole stones," untouched by tools; peace with God is His work, not ours (27:6; Exodus 20:25).
- The altar of sacrifice stood on Ebal, the mount of cursing, where atonement met the curse (27:5-7).
- Identity first: "this day thou art become the people of the LORD," therefore obey (27:9-10).
- The law's final curse falls on all who fail to keep every word (27:26; Galatians 3:10).
- Christ was made a curse for us, bearing on the cross what we could not (Galatians 3:13).
Questions for Reflection
- Do you rest in a peace with God that He provides whole, or one you try to shape by your own works?
- Does your obedience flow from already belonging to God, or from trying to earn His acceptance?
- Have you fled to the Christ who was made a curse for you, since the law leaves us all under its curse?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon. Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The Mount Ebal altar excavation (identification debated): A. Zertal, Biblical Archaeology Review (1985).
- The altar of whole stones on the mount of cursing: Deuteronomy 27:1-8; Exodus 20:25.
- Become the people of the LORD, therefore obey: Deuteronomy 27:9-10.
- The curse of the law, borne by Christ: Deuteronomy 27:11-26; Galatians 3:10, 13.