Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 26:16–end
Two things Moses here urges to enforce all these precepts: - 1. That they were the commands of God, Deu 26:16. They were not the dictates of his own wisdom, nor were they enacted by any authority of his own, but infinite wisdom framed them, and the power of the King of kings made them binding to them: "The Lord thy God commands thee, therefore thou art bound in duty and gratitude to obey him, and it is at thy peril if thou disobey. They are his laws, therefore thou shalt do them, for to that end were they given thee: do them and not dispute them, do them and not draw back from them; do them not carelessly and hypocritically, but with thy heart and soul, thy whole heart and thy whole soul." 2…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Deuteronomy 26:14
I have not eaten thereof in my mourning--in a season of sorrow, which brought defilement on sacred things; under a pretense of poverty, and grudging to give any away to the poor.
neither . . . for any unclean use--that is, any common purpose, different from what God had appointed and which would have been a desecration of it.
nor given ought thereof for the dead--on any funeral service, or, to an idol, which is a dead thing.
Next: Deuteronomy Chapter 27
John Gill on Deuteronomy 26:19
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…
Read the whole note in the consoleJohn Calvin
