1Na, whakarongo mai ra inaianei, e Iharaira, ki nga tikanga, ki nga whakaritenga e whakaako atu nei ahau ki a koutou kia mahia; kia ora ai koutou, kia tae atu ai, kia noho ai hoki ki te whenua e homai nei e Ihowa, e te Atua o o koutou matua, ki a koutou. 2Ko te kupu, e whakahaua atu nei e ahau ki a koutou, kaua e tapiritia ki etahi atu, kaua ano e kinitia atu tetahi wahi ona; kia rite ai i a koutou nga whakahau a Ihowa, a to koutou Atua, e whakahaua nei e ahau ki a koutou. 3Kua kite o koutou kanohi i ta Ihowa i mea ai mo Paarapeoro: ko nga tangata katoa hoki i whai i a Paarapeoro whakamatea rawatia iho ratou e Ihowa, e to koutou Atua, i roto i a koutou. 4Ko koutou ia, i awhi ra ki a Ihowa, ki to koutou Atua, e ora katoa ana i tenei ra. 5Titiro, kua whakaako ahau i a koutou ki nga tikanga, ki nga whakaritenga, ki a Ihowa, ki a toku Atua i ako ai ki ahau, hei mahi ma koutou i waenganui o te whenua e haere atu nei koutou ki reira ki te tango. 6Na puritia, mahia: ko to koutou whakaaro nui hoki ia, me to koutou mohio ki te titiro mai a nga tauiwi, a nga mea e rongo ana ki enei tikanga katoa, a ka mea ratou, Koia hoki, he hunga mohio, he hunga tupato tenei iwi nui. 7Ko wai hoki te iwi nui, e whiwhi ana ki te atua penei te tata ki a ratou me Ihowa, me to tatou Atua, e tata mai nei i a tatou karangaranga katoa ki a ia? 8Ko wai hoki te iwi nui, i a ia nei nga tikanga me nga whakaritenga tika, penei me tenei ture katoa e hoatu nei e ahau ki to koutou aroaro i tenei ra? 9Mau ia koe e tiaki, me tiaki marie ano tou wairua, kei wareware ki nga mea i kite ai ou kanohi, kei riro atu hoki i roto i tou ngakau, i nga ra katoa e ora ai koe; engari me whakaako au tama, me nga tama hoki a au tama ki ena mea; 10Ki te ra ano hoki i tu ai koe i te aroaro o Ihowa, o tou Atua, i Horepa, i ta Ihowa meatanga mai ki ahau, Huihuia mai te iwi ki ahau, a maku e mea kia rongo ratou i aku korero, kia whakaakona ai kia wehi i ahau i nga ra katoa e ora ai ratou i ru nga i te whenua, hei whakaako atu ma ratou ki a ratou tama. 11Na ka whakatata koutou, ka tu hoki i raro iho o te maunga; ko te maunga hoki ka tonu i te ahi, a kakati noa ki waenganui o te rangi, te pouri! te kapua! na, pouri kerekere. 12Na ka korero mai a Ihowa ki a koutou i waenganui o te ahi: ko te puakanga mai o nga kupu ta koutou i rongo ai, tena ko tetahi ahau kihai i kitea; heoi ano ko te reo kau. 13Na ka kauwhautia e ia ki a koutou tana kawenata, i whakahaua e ia ki a koutou kia whakaritea, ara nga ture kotahi tekau, a tuhituhia iho e ia ki nga papa kohatu e rua. 14I whakahau ano a Ihowa i ahau i taua wa, kia whakaakona koutou ki nga tikanga, ki nga whakaritenga, hei mahi ma koutou ki te whenua e haere atu nei koutou ki reira ki te tango. 15Tiakina marietia ra o koutou wairua; kihai hoki koutou i kite i tetahi ahua, me he aha, me he aha, i te ra i korero ai a Ihowa ki a koutou i Horepa, i waenganui o te ahi; 16Kei he koutou, kei hanga i te whakapakoko ma koutou, i te ritenga o tetahi tauira, i te ahua o te tane, o te wahine ranei; 17I te ahua o tetahi kararehe o te whenua, i te ahua o tetahi manu whai parirau e rererere ana i te rangi, 18I te ahua o tetahi mea e ngokingoki ana i te whenua, i te ahua o tetahi ika i roto i te wai i raro iho o te whenua: 19Kei anga ake ranei ou kanohi ki te rangi, ka kite i te ra, i te marama ranei, i nga whetu, i te ope katoa o te rangi, na ka takina atu koe ki te koropiko atu ki ena mea, ki te mahi atu hoki ki ena mea, i tuwhaina mai nei e Ihowa, e tou Atua, mo nga iwi katoa i raro o te rangi, puta noa, puta noa. 20Na Ihowa ia koutou i tango, nana hoki koutou i whakaputa mai i roto i te oumu rino, i Ihipa, kia waiho ai hei iwi tupu mana, me koutou inaianei. 21I riri mai ano a Ihowa ki ahau mo ta koutou hoki, a oati mai ana e kore ahau e whiti i Horano, e kore ano e tae ki te whenua pai, ka homai nei e Ihowa, e tou Atua, ki a koe hei kainga tupu. 22Engari ka mate ahau ki tenei whenua, e kore ahau nei e whiti i Horano: ko koutou ia ka whiti, ka tango hoki i taua whenua pai. 23Kia tupato, kei wareware ki te kawenata a Ihowa, a to koutou Atua, i whakaritea e ia ki a koutou, kei hanga hoki he whakapakoko ma koutou ki te ritenga o tetahi mea i riria mai nei koe e Ihowa, e tou Atua. 24Ko Ihowa hoki, ko tou Atua, he ahi e ki ana, he Atua hae ia. 25E whanau au tamariki me nga tamariki a au tamariki, a ka roa to koutou noho ki te whenua, a ka taka koutou, ka hanga hoki i te whakapakoko ki te ahua o tetahi mea, a ka mahi i te mea e kino ana ki te titiro a Ihowa, a tou Atua, hei whakapatarita ri i a ia: 26Ka waiho e ahau i tenei ra te rangi me te whenua hei kaititiro mo koutou, mo te matenga hoki e hohoro ai koutou te mate atu i te whenua e whiti atu nei koutou i Horano ki reira, ki te tango; e kore e roa o koutou ra ki reira, engari ka tino ngar o rawa koutou. 27A ka whakamarara a Ihowa i a koutou ki nga tauiwi, a he hunga torutoru o koutou e toe i roto i nga tauiwi, e kawea atu ai koutou e Ihowa ki reira. 28A ka mahi koutou i reira ki nga atua i hanga e nga ringa tangata, ki te rakau, ki te kohatu, e kore nei e kite, e kore e rongo, e kore e kai, e kore ano e hongi. 29Otiia ki te rapu koe i reira i a Ihowa, i tou Atua, na ka kitea e koe, ki te whakapaua katoatia tou ngakau me tou wairua ki te rapu i a ia. 30Ki te mate koe, a ka pono ki a koe enei mea katoa i nga ra a muri ake nei, ka hoki koe ki a Ihowa, ki tou Atua, ka whakarongo ano hoki ki tona reo; 31He atua tohu hoki a Ihowa, tou Atua; e kore ia e whakarere i a koe, e kore ano hoki e whakangaro i a koe, e kore hoki e wareware ki te kawenata ki ou matua, i oati ai ia ki a ratou. 32Ui atu hoki ki nga rangi onamata, o mua i a koe, o te ra i hanga ai e te Atua te tangata ki runga ki te whenua, i tetahi pito o te rangi paku noa ki tetahi pito o te rangi, i puta mai ranei tetahi mea hei rite mo tenei mea te nui, i rangona rane i he rite ki tenei? 33I rongo ranei tetahi iwi i te reo o te Atua e korero mai ana i waenganui o te ahi, me tau i rongo ai, a ora ake? 34I whakamatau ranei te Atua te haere iho, te tango i tetahi iwi mana i waenganui i tetahi iwi ke, i runga i nga whakamatau, i nga tohu, i nga merekara, i te whawhai, i te ringaringa kaha, i te ringaringa maro, i nga whakawehi nui, i nga mea katoa i mea ai a Ihowa, to koutou Atua ki a koutou, ki to koutou aroaro i Ihipa? 35I whakakitea mai ai ena mea ki a koe kia mohio ai koe ki a Ihowa, ko ia te Atua; kahore ke atu i a ia. 36I meatia koe e ia kia rongo ki tona reo i te rangi, hei whakaako i a koe: a i te whenua i whakakitea e ia tana ahi nui ki a koe; ko ana kupu hoki i rangona e koe i waenganui i te ahi. 37A, no te mea i aroha ia ki ou matua, koia i whiriwhiria ai e ia o ratou uri i muri i a ratou, i whakaputaina mai ai hoki koe i Ihipa, me tana titiro tonu iho, i runga ano i tona kaha nui; 38I mea ai ki te pei i nga iwi he nui, he kaha i a koe i tou aroaro, ki te kawe i a koe, ki te hoatu i to ratou oneone ki a koe hei kainga pumau; koia tenei inaianei. 39Na kia mohio koe i tenei ra, kia whakaaro hoki i roto i tou ngakau, ko Ihowa, ko ia te Atua i te rangi i runga, i te whenua hoki i raro; kahore ke atu. 40Na kia mau ki ana tikanga, ki ana whakahau, e whakahaua nei e ahau i tenei ra ki a koe, hei pai hoki mou, mo au tama i muri i a koe, kia roa ai ou ra ki te whenua ka hoatu nei e Ihowa, e tou Atua ki a koe a ake tonu atu. 41Katahi a Mohi ka motuhake i nga pa e toru i tenei taha o Horano, whaka te rawhiti; 42Hei rerenga atu mo te tangata whakamate, i whakamate i tona hoa, otiia ehara i te mea ata whakaaro, ehara hoki i te hoariri nona i mua; na ka rere ia ki tetahi o aua pa, a ka ora; 43Ara i Pehere i te koraha, i te whenua mania, mo nga Reupeni; i Ramoto i Kireara, mo nga Kari; i Korana i Pahana, mo nga Manahi. 44A, ko te ture tenei i hoatu e Mohi ki te aroaro o nga tama a Iharaira: 45Ko nga whakaaturanga ano enei, me nga tikanga, me nga whakaritenga i korerotia e Mohi ki nga tama a Iharaira, i to ratou putanga mai i Ihipa, 46I tenei taha o Horano, i te raorao i te ritenga atu o Petepeoro, i te whenua o Hihona, o te kingi o nga Amori, i noho ra i Hehepona, i patua ra e Mohi ratou ko nga tama a Iharaira, i to ratou putanga mai i Ihipa; 47A tangohia ana tona whenua e ratou, me te whenua hoki o Oka, o te kingi o Pahana, to nga kingi tokorua o nga Amori, i tenei taha o Horano, whaka te rawhiti; 48O Aroera i te taha o te awa o Aranona, a Maunga Hiona, ara a Heremona, 49Me te Arapaha katoa i tera taha o Horano, whaka te rawhiti, a tae noa ki te moana o te Arapaha, i raro iho i nga titahatanga o Pihika.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 AN EXHORTATION TO OBEDIENCE. (
Deut 4:1-
Deut 4:13)
hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you--By statutes were meant all ordinances respecting religion and the rites of divine worship; and by judgments, all enactments relative to civil matters. The two embraced the whole law of God.
2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you--by the introduction of any heathen superstition or forms of worship different from those which I have appointed (
Deut 12:32;
Num 15:39;
Matt 15:9).
neither shall ye diminish aught from it--by the neglect or omission of any of the observances, however trivial or irksome, which I have prescribed. The character and provisions of the ancient dispensation were adapted with divine wisdom to the instruction of that infant state of the church. But it was only a temporary economy; and although God here authorizes Moses to command that all its institutions should be honored with unfailing observance, this did not prevent Him from commissioning other prophets to alter or abrogate them when the end of that dispensation was attained.
3 Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal-peor . . . the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you--It appears that the pestilence and the sword of justice overtook only the guilty in that affair (
Num 25:1-
Num 25:9) while the rest of the people were spared. The allusion to that recent and appalling judgment was seasonably made as a powerful dissuasive against idolatry, and the fact mentioned was calculated to make a deep impression on people who knew and felt the truth of it.
5 this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes--Moses predicted that the faithful observance of the laws given them would raise their national character for intelligence and wisdom. In point of fact it did do so; for although the heathen world generally ridiculed the Hebrews for what they considered a foolish and absurd exclusiveness, some of the most eminent philosophers expressed the highest admiration of the fundamental principle in the Jewish religion--the unity of God; and their legislators borrowed some laws from the constitution of the Hebrews.
7 what nation is there so great--Here he represents their privileges and their duty in such significant and comprehensive terms, as were peculiarly calculated to arrest their attention and engage their interest. The former, their national advantages, are described (
Deut 4:7-
Deut 4:8), and they were twofold: 1. God's readiness to hear and aid them at all times; and 2. the excellence of that religion in which they were instructed, set forth in the "statutes and judgments so righteous" which the law of Moses contained. Their duty corresponding to these pre-eminent advantages as a people, was also twofold: 1. their own faithful obedience to that law; and 2. their obligation to imbue the minds of the young and rising generation with similar sentiments of reverence and respect for it.
10 the day that thou stoodest before the Lord . . . in Horeb--The delivery of the law from Sinai was an era never to be forgotten in the history of Israel. Some of those whom Moses was addressing had been present, though very young; while the rest were federally represented by their parents, who in their name and for their interest entered into the national covenant.
12 ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude--Although articulate sounds were heard emanating from the mount, no form or representation of the Divine Being who spoke was seen to indicate His nature or properties according to the notions of the heathen.
15 A PARTICULAR DISSUASIVE AGAINST IDOLATRY. (Deu. 4:14-40)
Take . . . good heed . . . for ye saw no manner of similitude--The extreme proneness of the Israelites to idolatry, from their position in the midst of surrounding nations already abandoned to its seductions, accounts for their attention being repeatedly drawn to the fact that God did not appear on Sinai in any visible form; and an earnest caution, founded on that remarkable circumstance, is given to beware, not only of making representations of false gods, but also any fancied representation of the true God.
16 Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image--The things are here specified of which God prohibited any image or representation to be made for the purposes of worship; and, from the variety of details entered into, an idea may be formed of the extensive prevalence of idolatry in that age. In whatever way idolatry originated, whether from an intention to worship the true God through those things which seemed to afford the strongest evidences of His power, or whether a divine principle was supposed to reside in the things themselves, there was scarcely an element or object of nature but was deified. This was particularly the case with the Canaanites and Egyptians, against whose superstitious practices the caution, no doubt, was chiefly directed. The former worshipped Baal and Astarte, the latter Osiris and Isis, under the figure of a male and a female. It was in Egypt that animal-worship most prevailed, for the natives of that country deified among beasts the ox, the heifer, the sheep, and the goat, the dog, the cat, and the ape; among birds, the ibis, the hawk, and the crane; among reptiles, the crocodile, the frog, and the beetle; among fishes, all the fish of the Nile; some of these, as Osiris and Isis, were worshipped over all Egypt, the others only in particular provinces. In addition they embraced the Zabian superstition, the adoration of the Egyptians, in common with that of many other people, extending to the whole starry host. The very circumstantial details here given of the Canaanitish and Egyptian idolatry were owing to the past and prospective familiarity of the Israelites with it in all these forms.
20 But the Lord hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace--that is, furnace for smelting iron. A furnace of this kind is round, sometimes thirty feet deep, and requiring the highest intensity of heat. Such is the tremendous image chosen to represent the bondage and affliction of the Israelites [ROSENMULLER].
to be unto him a people of inheritance--His peculiar possession from age to age; and therefore for you to abandon His worship for that of idols, especially the gross and debasing system of idolatry that prevails among the Egyptians, would be the greatest folly--the blackest ingratitude.
26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you--This solemn form of adjuration has been common in special circumstances among all people. It is used here figuratively, or as in other parts of Scripture where inanimate objects are called up as witnesses (
Deut 32:1;
Isa 1:2).
28 there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands--The compulsory measures of their tyrannical conquerors would force them into idolatry, so that their choice would become their punishment.
30 in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God--either towards the destined close of their captivities, when they evinced a returning spirit of repentance and faith, or in the age of Messiah, which is commonly called "the latter days," and when the scattered tribes of Israel shall be converted to the Gospel of Christ. The occurrence of this auspicious event will be the most illustrious proof of the truth of the promise made in
Deut 4:31.
41 Then Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan--(See on
Josh 20:7).
44 this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel--This is a preface to the rehearsal of the law, which, with the addition of various explanatory circumstances, the following chapters contain.
46 Beth-peor--that is, "house" or "temple of Peor." It is probable that a temple of this Moabite idol stood in full view of the Hebrew camp, while Moses was urging the exclusive claims of God to their worship, and this allusion would be very significant if it were the temple where so many of the Israelites had grievously offended.
49 The springs of Pisgah--more frequently, Ashdoth-pisgah (
Deut 3:17;
Josh 12:3;
Josh 13:20), the roots or foot of the mountains east of the Jordan.