Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Deuteronomy 27:9 - 27:26

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Deuteronomy 27:9 - 27:26


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The Curse Pronounced from Mount Ebal

v. 9. And Moses and the priests, the Levites,
the children of Levi, spake unto all Israel, saying, take heed and hearken, listen very quietly, in order not to lose one word, O Israel; this day thou art become the people of the Lord, thy God, by the solemn establishing of the Law in Canaan the covenant with Jehovah was renewed.

v. 10. Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the Lord, thy God, and do His commandments and His statutes which I command thee this day.
This was the obligation which was laid upon Israel as the people of the covenant.

v. 11. And Moses charged the people the same day, saying,


v. 12. These shall stand upon Mount Gerizim,
the mountain just south of Mount Ebal, separated from it by a narrow valley, to bless the people, when ye are come over Jordan: Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin, the sons more highly esteemed in the family of Jacob;

v. 13. and these shall stand upon Mount Ebal to curse,
to pronounce the curse upon the transgressors: Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali, the sons of the handmaids and those less highly esteemed in the family of Jacob.

v. 14. And the Levites shall speak,
the Levitical priests, the duty of whose position it was, and say unto all the men of Israel, assembled on the two mountains, with a loud voice,

v. 15. Cursed be them an that maketh any grave nor molten image,
Exo_20:4-23; Exo_34:17, an abomination unto the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, Isa_44:12-13, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen, thus signifying their full assent to the curse.

v. 16. Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother,
Exo_21:17. And all the people shall say, Amen.

v. 17. Cursed be he that removeth his neighbor's landmark,
Deu_19:14. And all the people shall say, Amen.

v. 18. Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way,
Lev_19:14. And all the people shall say, Amen.

v. 19. Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow,
Deu_24:17. And all the people shall say, Amen.

v. 20. Cursed be he that lieth with his father's wife; because he uncovereth his father's skirt,
Deu_23:1; Lev_18:8. And all the people shall say, Amen.

v. 21. Cursed be he that lieth with any manner of beast,
Lev_18:23. And all the people shall say, Amen.

v. 22. Cursed be he that lieth with his sister,
stepsister, half-sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother, Lev_18:9. And all the people shall say, Amen.

v. 23. Cursed be he that lieth with his mother-in-law,
Lev_18:17. And all the people shall say, Amen.

v. 24. Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbor secretly,
Exo_20:13. And all the people shall say, Amen.

v. 25. Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person,
hired to commit cold-blooded murder, Exo_23:7-8. And all the people shall say, Amen.

v. 26. Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this Law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.
This last curse, which condemns any and every transgression of the divine Law, shows that the individual cases mentioned in the preceding curses are only examples, and for the most part such as imply a secret transgression. The curses only are mentioned in this list, because it was the object of the Law to awaken a desire for the Messiah, who would take the curse away and bring the true blessing. We see here also that the office of the Law is that of proclaiming the divine curse and damnation, from which only He who became a curse for us is able to deliver all men, Gal_3:10-13.