Deuteronomy 12 commentary

DEUTERONOMY 12 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
The One Place of Worship
1 These are the decrees and laws you must be
careful to follow in the land that the Lord, the
God of your ancestors, has given you to
possess—as long as you live in the land.
BARNES, "Moses now passes on to apply Deut. 12–26 the leading principles of
the Decalogue to the ecclesiastical, civil, and social life of the people. Particulars will
be noticed which are unique to the Law as given in Deuteronomy; and even in laws
repeated from the earlier books various new circumstances and details are
introduced. This is only natural. The Sinaitic legislation was nearly 40 years old and
had been given under conditions of time, place, and circumstance different and
distant from those now present. Yet the Sinaitic system, far from being set aside or in
any way abrogated, is on the contrary throughout presupposed and assumed. Its
existence and authority are taken as the starting-point for what is here prescribed,
and an accurate acquaintance with it on the part of the people is taken for granted.
GILL, "These are the statutes and judgments which ye shall observe to
do,.... Which are recorded in this and the following chapters; here a new discourse
begins, and which perhaps was delivered at another time, and respects things that
were to be observed:
in the land which the Lord God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it; the
land of Canaan, often described by this circumlocution, to put them in mind that it
was promised to their fathers by their covenant God, was his gift to them, and which
they would quickly be in the possession of; and therefore when in it should be careful
to observe the statutes and judgments of God constantly:
even all the days that ye live upon the earth; or land, the land of Canaan; for
though there were some laws binding upon them, live where they would, there were
others peculiar to the land of Canaan, which they were to observe as long as they and
their posterity lived there; see 1Ki_8:40.
HENRY, "From those great original truths, That there is a God, and that there is but
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one God, arise those great fundamental laws, That that God is to be worshipped, and
he only, and that therefore we are to have no other God before him: this is the first
commandment, and the second is a guard upon it, or a hedge about it. To prevent a
revolt to false gods, we are forbidden to worship the true God in such a way and
manner as the false gods were worshipped in, and are commanded to observe the
instituted ordinances of worship that we may adhere to the proper object of worship.
For this reason Moses is very large in his exposition of the second commandment.
What is contained in this and the four following chapters mostly refers to that. These
are statutes and judgments which they must observe to do (Deu_12:1), 1. In the days
of their rest and prosperity, when they should be masters of Canaan. We must not
think that our religion is instituted only to be our work in the years of our servitude,
our entertainment in the places of our solitude, and our consolation in affliction; no,
when we come to possess a good land, still we must keep up the worship of God in
Canaan as well as in a wilderness, when we have grown up as well as when we are
children, when we are full of business as well as when we have nothing else to do. 2.
All the days, as long as you live upon the earth. While we are here in our state of trial,
we must continue in our obedience, even to the end, and never leave our duty, nor
grow weary of well-doing.
JAMISON, "
COFFMAN, "Here we come to a major division in our study of Deuteronomy.
Wright stated that Deuteronomy 12:1 "is the title of this section (Deuteronomy
12:12-28), and we do not encounter another major title until we come to
Deuteronomy 29:1."[1] This strongly indicates that Moses considered this rather
long section as a unit. Any orderly progression of the topics here considered is
difficult to see, but, as Dummelow remarked: "As far as any orderly
arrangement can be discovered, Deuteronomy 12-16 deals with strictly religious
duties; Deuteronomy 17-20 is concerned with duties; and the rest of the section
(Deuteronomy 21-28) discusses social and domestic regulations."[2]
As for what connection all this has with previous parts of Deuteronomy, Kline
stated that, "It resumes that part of the mandate of conquest which required the
obliteration of Canaanite cultic centers and installations (Deuteronomy 7:5,25;
Exodus 23:24; 34:13)."[3]
Moses' application of the Law of God as previously given at Sinai is
characterized by certain modifications and relaxations due to the changed
circumstances which were about to be brought in by Israel's possession of the
land. However, "The authority of the Sinaitic system, far from being set aside or
in any way abrogated, is taken as the starting point for all that is here
prescribed; and an accurate acquaintance with it on the part of the people is
taken for granted."[4]
CRITICAL USE OF THIS CHAPTER
2

Of course, this chapter is the focal point of the critical attacks against
Deuteronomy. The theory is that Moses had nothing to do with writing
Deuteronomy; it was a forgery fraudulently passed off as Moses' book by priests
of the eighth or ninth century B.C. who initiated a campaign to "eradicate the
evils of syncretistic worship at the high places, which up until that time (in their
view) was perfectly legitimate."[5] This theory is as irresponsible and
complicated as any barrel of scorpions ever opened, but some of the features of it
assert: (1) that the priests then hid this forgery in the temple and had it
"discovered" during the reign of Josiah; and (2) that it was this book that really
was the first of the Pentateuch! Note the very noble and commendable motives
assigned to these unscrupulous, crooked priests. They were trying to purify
God's worship! Did any bitter fountain ever send forth sweet waters? In the halls
of criticism, it is only the bitter fountains that produce the sweet waters. The
theory also is credited with establishing Jerusalem as the only place where God
could be worshipped.
Now we simply don't have time or space to explore all of the ramifications of this
crooked little fairy tale, but we shall include this excellent summary of a
reputable and dependable scholar writing in 1979 and giving a few of the dozens
of reasons why it is impossible to believe any of the allegations of this crooked
theory:
(1) This passage, and indeed the whole Book of Deuteronomy, has not a single
reference to "Jerusalem."
(2) The emphasis in Deuteronomy 12 is not on having only one place of worship,
but upon purity of worship.
(3) There is no specific reference to worship at the high places (supposedly their
chief concern).
(4) Deuteronomy assumes a plurality of altars.
(5) God specifically commanded that an altar be erected on Mount Ebal
(Deuteronomy 27:1-8), NOT at Jerusalem.
(6) The view that God in any sense whatever ever approved of any syncretistic
worship at the high places is nonsense. The minor prophets remove any question
whatever about this. God never approved of His worship being mixed with the
rites of the Canaanites.
(7) Contrary to critical opinion, there is visible in Deuteronomy no indication
whatever that the author had any intention of "centralizing the cultus." Of
course the critics need such an "intention," so they get it in Deuteronomy 12:5,
where "the place" is mentioned! But can that mean there is only one place? NO!
Look at Deuteronomy 23:16, where "the place" a slave may choose to live is
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mentioned. Subsequent references show that it simply means "any place" a slave
may choose, and so the reference to "the place" God may choose to record His
name means "any place" He may choose.[6]
"These are the statutes and the ordinances which ye shall observe to do in the
land which Jehovah, the God of thy fathers, hath given thee to possess it, all the
days that ye live upon the earth. Ye shall surely destroy all the places wherein the
nations that ye shall dispossess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and
upon the hills, and under every green tree: and ye shall break down their altars,
and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their Asherim with fire; and ye shall
hew down the graven images of their gods; and ye shall destroy their name out of
that place. Ye shall not do so unto Jehovah your God. But unto the place which
Jehovah your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, even
unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither shalt thou come; and thither shalt
thou bring your burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and the
heave-offering of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill-offering, and the
firstlings of your herds and of your flock: and there ye shall eat before Jehovah
your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your
households, wherein Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee."
"High mountains ... hills ... under every green tree ..." (Deuteronomy 12:2). "The
choice of such places for worship by most of the heathen nations was due to the
widespread belief that men were closer to Deity in such places."[7] Also, the awe
inspired by deep shade, as well as the privacy such places afforded, were
probably other factors entering in to such choices.
"Ye shall not do so unto Jehovah your God ... (Deuteronomy 12:4). Keil says this
means, "Ye shall not build altars and offer sacrifices in any place you choose."[8]
Many scholars have pointed out the significant corollary that worshippers today
should derive from these instructions. "The possession of our inheritance
necessitates the most rigid dealing with idolatry."[9] "The idea that we may
worship God any way we like is refuted here, for worship to be worship it must
conform to God's wishes and instructions."[10] No more serious indictment
against modern Christianity is possible than that which derives from "the
traditions and teachings of men" which churches have adopted instead of and
contrary to the doctrine of Christ (Matthew 15:9).
"But unto the place ... (Deuteronomy 12:5). Here is where the critics find all that
nonsense about this meaning Jerusalem and nowhere else! God had already
spoken on this subject, and all of the people already knew that God's name was
recorded in many, many places. How could any people have followed the
moveable tabernacle for forty years, giving the demonstration that God's name
had been recorded in at least the "forty-two stations" of the wilderness
wanderings! Moreover, there is the strongest statement in Exodus 20:24 on this
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subject, "In every place where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will
bless thee." The obvious meaning of "the place" in this passage is "any place."
(See the chapter introduction for more on this.) It is simply untrue that
Deuteronomy here designated Jerusalem as the ONLY place to worship God.
Harrison pointed out that Ebal, Shiloh, Shechem, etc, were other places where
God had authorized His worship to be conducted.[11]
It was NEVER any part of God's intention that His Holy Name should be known
and associated with only one place on earth! What a ridiculous assertion! "As
God of the whole earth, wherever it might be necessary for the preservation and
promotion of his kingdom, God could and did make his presence known."[12]
Therefore, "to understand `the place which Jehovah shall choose' as relating
exclusively to Jerusalem is a perfectly arbitrary assumption."[13] We might add
that it is a totally false and unjustifiable assumption.
BENSON, "Deuteronomy 12:1. These are the statutes — Moses, being still
deeply impressed with a sense of the great danger his nation would be in of
falling into idolatrous practices, after their settlement in the promised land, in
the neighbourhood of so many superstitious nations, begins here a new
exhortation to them, reminding them of the laws provided against it, as the
indispensable conditions of their happy and peaceful enjoyment of that fruitful
country.
HAWKER, "Verse 1
CONTENTS
This chapter differs in some degree from what went before. It is certainly the
continuation of Moses' Sermon, but is not so much in a way of exhortation as in
precept. He here directs to the observance of certain duties which the LORD had
appointed to be regarded in Canaan; such as the throwing down all the
idolatrous monuments the people should find in the land; appointing a certain
spot to be peculiarly dedicated to the service of the LORD cautiously abstaining
from the use of blood in their sacrifices; and eating them, holy things in the
precise place which the LORD had commanded; together with observing due
attention to the person of the Levite; and being so exceedingly tenacious of their
attachment to the GOD of their Fathers, as not even to enquire after the mode of
worship which the idolaters of Canaan followed.
Deuteronomy 12:1
Sweet thought arising out of this verse, that our religion founded in JESUS the
chief corner stone, is of daily obligation and of never ceasing importance. If
JESUS be the statute of my soul this day, so is he tomorrow, and so will he be
forever. Hebrews 13:8.
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CONSTABLE, "The central sanctuary 12:1-14
When Israel entered the land the people were to destroy all the places and
objects used in pagan worship by the Canaanites (Deuteronomy 12:2-4). Pagan
peoples generally have felt that worshipping on elevated sites brings them into
closer contact with their gods than is the case when they worship in low-lying
places, unless those places had been the sites of supernatural events. The
Canaanites typically visualized their gods as being above them.
"'Places' (hammeqomot) is a quasi-technical term referring to sites thought to be
holy because of a special visitation by deity. These were usually in groves of trees
(representing fertility) and on high hills, esteemed by the very height to be in
closer proximity to the gods. In contrast to such 'places' would be the 'place'
where the Lord must be worshipped. Seven times (Deuteronomy 12:5;
Deuteronomy 12:11; Deuteronomy 12:13-14; Deuteronomy 12:18; Deuteronomy
12:21; Deuteronomy 12:26) this single place (maqom) is mentioned in this
passage in which the exclusiveness of the Lord is emphasized." [Note: Merrill,
Deuteronomy, p. 220.]
"The centralization requirement must also be understood in terms of
Deuteronomy's nature as a suzerainty treaty. Such treaties prohibited the
vassal's engaging in any independent diplomacy with a foreign power other than
the covenant suzerain. In particular, the vassal must not pay tribute to any other
lord. Similarly, all the requirements and prohibitions of Deuteronomy 12 were
calculated to secure for the Lord all Israel's tributary sacrifice and offering.
Israel must not pay any sacrificial tribute to other gods, for such an impossible
attempt to serve two masters would be rebellion against the great commandment
of God's covenant." [Note: Kline, "Deuteronomy," p. 171.]
Israel was only to worship Yahweh at the one central sanctuary that He had
appointed, the tabernacle, and later the temple (Deuteronomy 12:5-14).
"The emphasis is not upon one place so much as it is upon the place the Lord
chooses.... The central activity of Israel's life, the worship of the Lord, is fully
shaped and determined by the Lord." [Note: Miller, pp. 131-32.]
This law governed public worship. Israelites could, of course, pray to God
anywhere. This restriction distinguished Yahweh worship from Canaanite
worship that was polytheistic and pantheistic. Later in Israel's history the people
broke this law and worshipped God at various "high places." The "high places"
were sites of pagan worship or places modeled after them (1 Kings 14:23; 1
Kings 15:14; 1 Kings 22:43; et al.).
"The contrast with Canaanite worship, with its multitude of temples and open-
air shrines (Deuteronomy 12:2), is enormous. It is a very common pattern for
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conquerors and invaders of a country to take over old shrines for their own
forms of worship..." [Note: David F. Payne, Deuteronomy, p. 79.]
The tabernacle was to be the place of Israel's national worship because God's
name was there (Deuteronomy 12:5). That is, God manifested His immediate
presence there as nowhere else in Israel. When the Israelites came to the
tabernacle, they came to God. The Israelites erected the tabernacle first in the
land at Gilgal (Joshua 4:19; Joshua 5:10; Joshua 9:6; et al.). [Note: See Daniel I.
Block, "The Joy of Worship: The Mosaic Invitation to the Presence of God
(Deuteronomy 12:1-14)," Bibliotheca Sacra 162:646 (April-June 2005):131-49.]
LANGE, "1. Deuteronomy 12:1-14. The connection with the foregoing
( Deuteronomy 11:32) as Deuteronomy 6:1. Deuteronomy 12:1 serves as a title to
introduce what follows. Comp. Deuteronomy 4:5; Deuteronomy 4:10;
Deuteronomy 5:29. We feel that we have reached a new topic, hence the absence
of the ְ‫,ו‬ as Deuteronomy 6:4. Deuteronomy 12:2 refers back substantially to what
was said upon the first command, with this difference, that the places of the false
worship of God are here prominent, and thus the connection with the second
command is made apparent. Utterly destroy, i.e., destroy utterly and entirely as
places of the cultus (Knobel), mountains, especially high mountains, but also hills
in which they believed themselves nearer the heavenly powers, as upon the
natural altars of the earth. Green trees are at the same time leafy, as this lies in
the radical signification of the word ‫ן‬ַ‫ﬠ‬ ָ‫,ר‬ and is rejected erroneously by Schultz.
They represent the oaks with their dense shade, ( Ezekiel 6:13; Ezekiel 20:28). It
is not truly the vivid fulness of color, but the mysterious rustling of the foliage
which comes into view here, as in the high places it is the all-overpowering
elements of air and light. Upon Deuteronomy 12:3 comp. Deuteronomy 7:5;
Deuteronomy 7:25. The destruction of theirnames, i.e., that the places of the
cultus should no longer be named after the idols previously honored in them,
shows already, since it brings out the connection of the places with the idol
images, and thus connects it with the second command, that Moses now passes
over to the third command, that chap 12 treats of the name of Jehovah, before
which all other names of the deities mast retire ( Acts 4:12). Comp. Deuteronomy
7:24. Hence Deuteronomy 12:4 ( Deuteronomy 12:31) introductory: Since you
cannot rest in the places and names of a false cultus, you should not especially
take examples from them of the true worship of God. For as Jehovah is the one
only in opposition to these many, so also the place of His only name should be
freed from all subjective arbitrariness (Intro, § 4, 123). Deuteronomy 12:5.
Which Jehovah shall choose. The manner and method how all will-worship
reveals itself in opposition to this choice of Jehovah, is fixed by that choice,
whether it is effected in some extraordinary way, or by the mere arrangement of
circumstances. It is enough that he will select and define the place, and indeed
one place, as the addition, out of all your tribes, shows, (the unity of all in the
7

Lord) and thus certainly with reference to Leviticus 17:3 sq, namely, to the
oneness of the tabernacle. But at the same time the mention of the name of
Jehovah in the destination of the place in question, touches upon the more
general and indefinite passage, Exodus 20:24, which however for the usual
arrangement of things must be more closely limited by ‫ָשׂוּם‬‫ל‬ and ‫נוֹ‬ ְ‫כ‬ ִ‫שׁ‬ְ‫.ל‬ Upon the
name comp. Deuteronomy 5:11. The heathen deity abides in nature, Jehovah, on
the contrary, is Spirit, manifest in word and deed, which personal revelation
embraces and constitutes His name, by which He calls Himself among His
people, which He makes for and in His people. To put there, i.e., to take, order,
to settle it there; for that which is customary (the discourse indeed is of the usual
cultus), without any allusion to extraordinary cases ( Exodus 20), but also
without excluding them. To his habitation—‫ן‬ַ‫כ‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ to settle, dwell. The infinitive
separated by the accent from the foregoing, although it may define it more
closely ( Exodus 25:8; Exodus 29:44 sq.) and in Deuteronomy 12:11, ‫ן‬ֵ‫בּ‬ ַ‫שׁ‬ְ‫ל‬ stands
for ‫ָשׂוּם‬‫ל‬. But just precisely on account of this latter (and ‫ן‬ֵ‫בּ‬ ַ‫שׁ‬ְ‫ל‬ is to permit to
dwell), the connection with ‫שׁוּ‬ ְ‫ר‬ ְ‫ד‬ ִ‫תּ‬ pointed out by the accents is to be preferred. ְ‫ל‬
resumes in an abbreviated form the ‫ל‬ ֶ‫א‬ at the beginning. Understanding the
infinitive thus substantively of the place, which represents the dwelling of
Jehovah or of His name, with a clear reference to the Shechinah since the
erection of the tabernacle, over which the pillar of cloud tarried or dwelt, when
Israel rested in the march, it is neither Jerusalem nor the temple which is the
dwelling in view, (Knobel) but the infinitive rather leaves the locality
undetermined, provided only that some one permanent position is kept in view.
[The fixing of one place is not, as Schroeder intimates, entirely new. It is implied
in Exodus 20:24, and was actually observed during the wanderings in the desert,
Leviticus 17:1 sq. It is precisely in accordance with the object in Deuteronomy,
which regards the future of Israel, and especially when scattered through the
land of promise, that this revelation should be insisted upon with so much
definiteness and stringency. The command does not conflict with the worship of
God in those places in which the worshippers had express divine authority. As
e.g., the offerings of Gideon, Manoah, David.—Wordsworth well asks: “If
Deuteronomy is not the work of Moses, how is it possible that it could have been
received when all the kings of Israel, and often those of Judah, were living in
violation of this command? If it had been a forgery, they would surely have
exposed it.”—A. G.]. ‫שׁ‬ ַ‫ר‬ ָ‫דּ‬ ( Deuteronomy 11:12), the idea of something urgent lies
in the root, perhaps with reference to the difficulties (out of all the tribes) when
the people dwelt scattered in Canaan: to seek, to search after, to turn one’s self
thither, to keep, abide there, as directed for the ordinary cultus, public and
individual, hence shall ye seek, and thou shalt come, ye and thou. Deuteronomy
12:6. Brings up the altar instituted with the tabernacle ( Exodus 29:44; Exodus
20:24). [As to the difficulties in bringing the offerings from the distance, they are
partly met by the provision in Numbers 25-14:24 , and partly by the mere
statement of the fact that the distance at the greatest was less than a hundred
8

miles; so that what was required was nothing impossible. Moreover, we must
bear in mind here the whole spirit of the law. God always required mercy and
not sacrifice. Obviously the sick, and those detained by any special providences,
would be regarded as fulfilling the law, if they brought their offerings at other
than the stated times. They could not present it at any but the chosen place, but
they might reserve it until they could bring it there. The time is not fixed, except
at the three great feasts. And even then there must have been exceptions
provided for, in the spirit if not in the letter, of the law.—A. G.] Bring, generally,
under the presumption that whatever concerns the time, procedure, etc., was
already known from the law and customs (comp. chap, 16). The offerings as a
whole are embraced in the number seven. Beginning with the burnt-offering and
“sacrifices” as the principal ( Leviticus 17:8; Exodus 10:25; Numbers 15:3).
Comp. Leviticus 1:3 sq. ‫,זבח‬ especially praise and thank-offerings, Leviticus 3:7;
Leviticus 3:12; Numbers 15:4 sq. (perfect concession and joy of salvation, ‫שלמים‬
‫.)זבח‬ Upon the tithe comp. Introd. § 4, I:19. [“These supposed discrepancies”
(Wordsworth) are evidences of the unity of plan of the Pentateuch. The author
takes for granted here that his hearers were familiar with what had been said by
him in the earlier parts of his work, and what had become a usage among them
(as the sacred feast, Deuteronomy 12:17-18), and does not repeat it, but proceeds
at once to speak of the tithes he had in view. Distingue tempora et concordabis
Scripturas is a sound maxim.”—A. G.] Heave what the hand takes up as a free
gift to Jehovah from the fruits of the ground, besides the tithes and the first-
born. Vows and free-will [gifts] offerings, Leviticus 7:16. Upon the first-born
comp. Exodus 13; Numbers 18 (and upon Deuteronomy 15:19). Deuteronomy
12:7. Thus sacred and joyful meals ( Exodus 18:12). All that you put your hand
unto.—Concrete (comp. Isaiah 11:14) for every thing which they could put their
hand to, which was proper and due to them. The gains, acquisitions (Knobel,
Keil) made through the hand cannot well be alluded to here, since it is precisely
with reference to these that the blessing of God is spoken of. Since Moses
includes himself, Deuteronomy 12:8, he cannot refer here to unlawful courses,
but intends those procedures namely, in opposition to the oneness of the
sanctuary, perhaps still more particularly what concerns the meals, as
Deuteronomy 12:9 expressly excuses these on the ground that the wanderers had
not yet come to their rest. Upon Deuteronomy 12:10 comp. Exodus 34:23-24.
Upon Deuteronomy 12:11 comp. Deuteronomy 12:5-6. ‫קוֹם‬ ָ‫מּ‬ַ‫—ה‬placed first here
for the emphasis. ‫מבחר‬ ‫—וכל‬a comprehensive term, as they must then be selected
or chosen. On the other hand, Deuteronomy 12:12 more in detail than
Deuteronomy 12:7 ( Exodus 20:10; Deuteronomy 5:14; comp. Deuteronomy 10:9.
See Introd. § 4, I:21). The wives as evidently included are not mentioned
(Knobel). Deuteronomy 12:13-14. A final inculcation of the oneness of the
sanctuary, with regard to the burnt-offering, as instar omnium.
2. [Bib. Com.: This caution is based upon the notion generally entertained in the
9

ancient heathen world that each country had its own tutelary deities, whom it
would be perilous to neglect, 1 Kings 20:23; 2 Kings 17:26. Hence even in
conquered districts the worship of the local deities was wont to be scrupulously
maintained. But Israel was to shun such superstitions.—A. G.]
BI 1-3, "If there arise among you a prophet.
On the criterion of a false miracle
I. The evidence drawn from miracles, in favour of any Divine revelation, rests in
general on the testimony of those who saw the miracles performed. But in addition to
this, it is important to inquire, whether some consideration may not be at the same
time due to the nature and tendency of the doctrines themselves, and whether there
may not be in them some internal marks, which, in some cases at least, may enable
us to distinguish false miracles from true. That such a criterion was given to the Jews
appears plain from the words of the text, according to which, though a miracle
should actually be performed, yet if its intention was to teach the doctrine of idolatry,
it was not to be considered as a miracle authorised by God.
II. Yet the text does not appear to be confined merely to fictitious miracles of human
contrivance, but to extend to real miracles actually performed, either by men
permitted so to act, or by the agency of superior intellectual beings, with the
permission indeed of God, but not by His authority. Not only no human art or
deception, but also no superior, or supernatural power should undermine our faith,
or draw us from the allegiance which we owe to God.
III. I cannot dismiss the subject without taking notice of a difficulty which may
possibly be thought to attend the foregoing theory. It relates to the assertion that no
internal doctrine can be brought in proof of a miracle. For it may be said, that there
are certain doctrines conveyed by the help of miracles, which no human reason could
ever have discovered; such are, that God on certain conditions will freely forgive sins,
and that to the sincere, penitent, and faithful believer in Jesus Christ, He will grant
life eternal. The answer is, that though the truth of these things be beyond the reach
of the human reason to discover, yet the things themselves are not beyond the reach
of the human imagination to conceive. Their truth therefore must depend on the
evidence of the miracles which were wrought in their support, and the miracles must
first be distinctly proved, before we can give an admission to the doctrines. (W.
Pearce, D. D.)
The objection of the Jews to Christianity, as founded on this passage,
answered
It has commonly, and with justice, been thought, that the two great pillars on which a
revelation from God must stand, are miracles and prophecies. Without these we
cannot be assured that any discovery which may have been made in man is really
Divine. We must, indeed, inspect the matter of the thing revealed to see whether it be
worthy of Him from whom it is said to come; and from its internal evidence our faith
will derive great strength; but still in the first instance we look rather to external
proofs. But the Jews imagine that they are precluded from judging of Christianity on
such grounds as these, since Moses, in this passage, guards them against any such
inferences as we are led to draw from the prophecies and miracles on which our
religion is founded. He concedes that some prophecies may be uttered, and some
miracles be wrought in favour of a false religion; and that, even if that should be the
case, the Jews are not to regard any evidences arising from those sources, but to hold
10

fast their religion in opposition to them. First, mark the supposition here made,
namely, that God may permit miraculous and prophetic powers to be exercised even
in support of a false religion. We are not indeed to imagine that God Himself will
work miracles in order to deceive His people and to lead them astray; nor are we to
imagine that He will suffer Satan to work them in such an unlimited way as to be a
counterbalance to the miracles by which God has confirmed His own religion; but He
will, for reasons which we shall presently consider, permit some to be wrought, and
some prophecies to come to pass, notwithstanding they are designed to uphold an
imposture. The magicians of Pharaoh, we must confess, wrought real miracles. They
were permitted to do so much as should give Pharaoh an occasion for hardening his
own heart, but not sufficient to show that they could at all come in competition with
Moses. In every age there were also false prophets, who endeavoured to draw the
people from their allegiance to God; and in the multitude of prophecies that they
would utter, it must be naturally supposed that some would be verified in the event.
Now then, in the next place, let us notice the injunction given to the Jews
notwithstanding this supposition. God commands them not to give heed to that
prophet or that dreamer of dreams, even though his predictions should be verified, if
his object be to turn them from Him; for that He Himself suffers these illusions to be
practised upon them in order that their fidelity to Him may be tried, and their love to
Him approved. It may seem strange that God should suffer such stumbling blocks to
be cast in the way of His people; but it is not for us to say what Jehovah mayor may
not do; we are sure that “He tempteth no man,” so as to lead him into sin (Jas_1:13),
and that the “Judge of all the earth will do nothing but what is right.” But it is a fact
that He thus permitted Job to be tried, in order that he might approve himself a
perfect man; and in like manner He tried Abraham, in order that it might appear,
whether his regard for God’s authority and his confidence in God’s Word were
sufficient to induce him to sacrifice his Isaac, the child of promise (Gen_22:1-2;
Gen_22:12). It was for similar ends that God permitted His people to be tried for
forty years in the wilderness (Deu_8:2), and in the same way He has tried His
Church in every period of the world. It is God’s express design in the whole
constitution of our religion to discover the secret bent of men’s minds; and whilst to
the humble He gives abundant evidence for their conviction, He has left to the proud
sufficient difficulties to call forth their latent animosity, and to justify in their own
apprehensions their obstinate unbelief (Luk_2:34-35). He gave originally to the
Jews, as He has also given to us, sufficient evidence to satisfy any candid mind; and
this is all that we have any right to expect. The argument founded on this injunction
comes now before us with all the force that can be given to it. A Jew will say, “You
Christians found your faith on prophecies and on miracles; and admitting that Jesus
did work some miracles, and did foretell some events which afterwards came to pass,
God permitted it only to try us, and to prove cur fidelity to Him. He has cautioned us
beforehand not to be led astray from Him by any such things as these; and therefore,
however specious your reasonings appear, we dare not listen to them or regard
them.” Having thus given to the objection all the force that the most hostile Jew can
wish, I now come, in the second place, to offer what we hope will prove a satisfactory
answer to it. It cannot but have struck the attentive reader that in this objection there
are two things taken for granted; namely, that in calling Jews to Christianity we are
calling them from Jehovah; and that our authority for calling them to Christianity is
founded on such miracles as an impostor might work, and such prophecies as an
impostor might expect to see verified. But in answer to these two points we declare,
first, that we do not call them from Jehovah but to Him; and next, that our authority
is not founded on such miracles and prophecies as might have issued from an
impostor, but such as it was impossible for an impostor to produce; and lastly, that,
in calling them to Christ, we have the express command of God Himself.
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1. We do not call our Jewish brethren from Jehovah, but to Him. We worship the
very same God whom the Jews worship; and we maintain His unity as strongly as
any Jew in the universe can maintain it. As for idols of every kind, we abhor them
as much as Moses himself abhorred them. Moreover, we consider the law which
was written on the two tables of stone as binding upon us, precisely as much as if
it were again promulgated by an audible voice from heaven. With respect to the
ceremonial law, we do indeed call you from the observance of that; and we have
good reason so to do; for you yourselves know that all the essential part of your
religion existed before the ceremonial law was given; and that Abraham, and
Isaac, and Jacob, who lived hundreds of years before the ceremonial law was
given, were saved simply and entirely by faith in that promised seed, in whom all
the nations of the earth are blessed. If you ask, Why then was the ceremonial law
given? I answer, To shadow forth your Messiah, and to lead you to Him; and
when He should come and fulfil it in all its parts, it was then to cease; and you
yourselves know that it was intended by God Himself to cease at that appointed
time. If then we call you from the outward observances of the law, it is not from
disrespect to that law, but from a conviction that it has been fulfilled and
abrogated by the Lord Jesus. We call you only from shadows to the substance. We
call you to Christ as uniting in Himself all that the ceremonial law was intended
to shadow forth. I am aware that in calling you to worship the Lord Jesus Christ
we appear to you to be transferring to Him the honour due to God alone. But if
you will look into your own Scriptures you will find that the person who was
foretold as your Messiah is no other than God Himself. Receive Him in the
character in which the prophet Isaiah foretold His advent, as “the Child born, the
Son given, the wonderful Counsellor, the mighty God, the Prince of peace.” Call
Him, as another prophet instructs you, “Jehovah our Righteousness,” and know
that in thus “honouring Christ you will honour the Father who sent Him.”
2. The next thing which we proposed to show was, that our authority for calling
you thus to Christ is not founded on such prophecies or miracles as might have
issued from an impostor, but on such as it was impossible for an impostor to
produce. Consider the prophecies; they were not some few dark predictions of
mysterious import and of doubtful issue, uttered by our Lord Himself; but a
continued series of prophecies from the very fall of Adam to the time of Christ; of
prophecies comprehending an almost infinite variety of subjects, and those so
minute, as to defy all concert either in those who uttered, or those who fulfilled
them. Consider the miracles also; these were beyond all comparison greater and
more numerous than Moses ever wrought. The whole creation, men, devils,
fishes, elements, all obeyed His voice; and at His command the dead arose to life
again. But there is one miracle alone which in particular we will mention. Jesus
said, “I have power to lay down My life, and I have power to take it again”; and
the former of these He proved by speaking with a loud voice the very instant He
gave up the ghost, showing thereby that He did not die in consequence of His
nature being exhausted, but by a voluntary surrender of His life into His Father’s
hands. And at the appointed time He proved the latter also, notwithstanding all
the preparations made to defeat His purpose, all which proved in the issue the
strongest testimonies to the truth of His word. We therefore confidently call you
to believe in Him, and to embrace the salvation which He offers you in the
Gospel. But there is one great argument which we have reserved till now, in order
that it may bear upon you with the greater weight.
3. We declare to you, then, in the last place, that in calling you to Christ we have
the express command of God Himself. Moses, in chap. 13, bids you, as we have
seen, not to listen to any false prophet; but in Deu_18:18-19, he most explicitly
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declares that a prophet should arise, to whom you should attend. Now I ask you,
who is the prophet here spoken of Where was there ever, besides Moses, a
prophet that was a Mediator, a Lawgiver, a Ruler, a Deliverer? Was there ever
such an one except Jesus? And was not Jesus such an one in all respects? Yes; He
has wrought for yell not a mere temporal deliverance like Moses, but a spiritual
and eternal deliverance from sin and Satan, death and hell; He has redeemed you,
not by power only, but by price also, even the inestimable price of His own blood.
When therefore you plead the authority of Moses, we join issue with you, and say,
Be consistent. Renounce false prophets, because he bids you; but believe in the
true Prophet, whom God, according to His Word, has raised up to you, because
He bids you. Let His authority weigh equally with you in both cases; and then we
shall not fear, but that you will embrace the salvation offered you in the Gospel,
and be the spiritual children, as ye already are the natural descendants of
believing Abraham. (C. Simeon, M. A.)
The only pulpit worth having
I. That no instrumentality is of any real service to man, as man, that does not
promote in him a right sovereign affection.
1. Every man is under some one dominant affection. Love of—
(1) Pleasure.
(2) Money.
(3) Power.
(4) Knowledge. Man’s loves are his sovereign laws.
2. A wrong dominant affection in a man will neutralise the highest services that
may be rendered to him.
II. That the only right sovereign affection is supreme love for the supremely good. All
goodness streams from God as all light from the sun. Ought He not, then, to be
extremely loved?
III. That the only pulpit that is of any real service to man is that which generates and
fosters this sovereign affection.
1. It is the pulpit that works into man the conviction that God loves men, though
sinners.
2. It is the pulpit that exhibits God as essentially good and benevolent in Himself.
(Homilist.)
Danger and security
This passage, by the inspiration of God, touches upon all the possible points of
danger in a religious course.
I. What are the points of danger?
1. The first may be described as being somewhat after a philosophical sort. There
is nothing rude in the assault, nothing violent or startling, from a merely physical
point of view; it is a very delicate encroachment upon religious thought; it is
impalpable as a dream. Surely this is harmless: it is more than harmless; it is
instructive: it may be a lesson in the deeper philosophy; it may be the beginning
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of a widening revelation. The mischief is this, that a man who would listen to
such a dreamer, or seer of visions, and allow his religion to be affected by the
nightmare, would turn the man out of his presence if he attempted to offer him a
single idea upon any practical subject under heaven. We are easily beguiled from
the religious point. “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you?” It would seem
as if it were easier to murder the soul than to kill the body. The first point of
danger, therefore, is thus clouded in a golden veil; and the man who may be said
to be preparing for that danger is dreamy, hazy-minded, speculative, always
looking into a mist if, haply, he may find a star; such a gentle, dozing creature, so
harmless, and really so very attractive in many qualities of his character.
2. What is the second point of danger? It is not at all philosophical; it may be
ranked among the social forces that are constantly operating upon life (verse 6).
Social influences are constantly operating upon our faith. The youngest member
of the family has been reading a book, and has invited the head of the house to go
and listen to some new speaker of theories, speculations, and dreams; the service
is so beautiful; the idea is so novel; a great deal of the rush and tumult common
to elementary religious life is totally escaped; the intellectual brother—the man
supposed to have all the brains of the family—has got a new idea—an idea which
in nowise associates itself with historical churches and traditional creeds, but a
brand new idea, altogether sparkling and daring, and whosoever professes it will
at once take his place in the synagogue of genius; or the darling friend has caught
a voice down some byway, and he will have his other self go with him in the
evening to hear this speaker of anti-Christian ideas—a man who has undertaken
to reconstruct so much of the universe as will allow him to touch it; a person of
exquisite mind, of dainty taste, and of quiet latent power. The subtle purpose is to
draw men away from the old altar, the old Book, the God of deliverance and
beneficence, of mercy and redemption, to another God who will condescend to be
measured for a creed, and who is not above sitting for his portrait. Do not follow
a multitude to do evil. Do not always be at the string end, led about by those who
are of more forceful and energetic will than yourselves. Be sure as to what they
are taking you to; have a clear understanding before you begin. You would not
allow those persons to interfere with anything practical: when the discussion of
commercial questions arises, you stand at the front and say, There I can bear
testimony, and there I ought to be heard. Why claim such a solemn responsibility
in the settlement of nothing, and allow anybody to settle for you the great
questions of religious truth and personal destroy?
3. What is the third point of danger? It is not philosophical; it is not, in the
narrow sense of the term, social; it is a point of” danger which may be
characterised as public sentiment, public opinion—a general turning round, and a
wholesale abandonment of old theologies and old forms of worship (verses 12,
13). Some men may have courage to laugh at the dreamer; others may have virtue
enough to resist the blandishments of the nearest friend; but who can resist the
current or tendency of public opinion?
II. What is the course to be taken under circumstances of danger? Moses had no
difficulty about his reply: let us see what it was, and consider whether we can adopt
it. “And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death” (verse 5). The
seducer in the family brings upon himself this penalty. “Neither shall thine eye pity
him neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: but thou shalt surely
kill him” (verses 8, 9); “thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die” (verse 10). And
as for the city—representative of public opinion—“Thou shalt surely smite the
inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword,” etc. (verses 15-17). That was a
drastic course; there is no touch of compromise in that stern provision; there is no
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line of toleration in that tremendous answer. The same course is to be taken today, as
to its spiritual meaning. Physical violence there must be none; the day of physical
pains and penalties for spiritual offences has closed; but the great lesson of
destruction remains forever. What penalty, then, shall we inflict upon men who seek
to destroy our faith? I hesitate not in my reply: Avoid them; pass by them; they
would injure your soul. (J. Parker, D. D.)
True tests are unfailing discoverers
Every substance is discoverable by some “test,” which usually neutralises it, or
rather, by uniting with it, forms a new compound. The whole fabric of chemistry
rests upon this wonderful principle as one of its cornerstones. Thus if the least
fragment of copper be dissolved in acid, and the fluid be then diluted with water until
no trace of colour remains, so potent, nevertheless, is the affinity of the well-known
fluid called “ammonia” for the copper, that a single drop of the latter fluid will
immediately reveal the presence of the metal by uniting with it and forming a new
substance of the loveliest violet colour. Similarly, if a morsel of lead be dissolved in
acid, and the acid be then diluted with water, a single drop of a solution of iodide of
potassium will turn the whole to a brilliant crocus-yellow. The presence of iron, after
the same manner, is discovered by the least drop of tincture of galls, which blackens
it upon contact; that of silver by a little solution of common salt, which causes flakes
of imitative snow to make their appearance; that of mercury again with iodide of
potassium, which turns the fluid containing it to a beautiful red. (Scientific
Illustrations.)
Deuteronomy 12:2
Destroy all the places.
Destruction of evil
The first thing Israel had to do appears to be a work of violence. All idols were to be
destroyed. Israel could understand no other language. This is not the language of
today; but the thing inculcated upon Israel is the lesson for the present time: words
change, but duties remain. Violence was the only method that could commend itself
to infantile Israel. The hand was the reasoner; the breaking hammer was the
instrument of logic in days so remote and so unfavoured. Forgetting this, how many
people misunderstand instructions given to the ancient Church; they speak of the
violence of those instructions, the bloodthirstiness even of Him who gave the
instructions to Israel. Hostile critics select such expressions and hold them up as if in
mid-air, that the sunlight may get well round about them; and attention is called to
the barbarity, the brutality, the revolting violence of so-called Divine
commandments. It is false reasoning on the part of the hostile critic. We must think
ourselves back to the exact period of time and the particular circumstances at which
and under which the instructions were delivered. But all the words of violence have
dropped away. “Destroy,” “overthrow,” “burn,” “hew down,” are words which are not
found in the instructions given to Christian evangelists. Has the law then passed
away? Not a jot or tittle of it. Is there still to be a work of this kind accomplished in
heathen nations? That is the very work that must first be done. This is the work that
is aimed at by the humblest and meekest teacher who shoulders the Gospel yoke and
proceeds to Christianise the nations. Now we destroy by reasoning, and that is a far
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more terrible destruction than the supposed annihilation that can be wrought by
manual violence. You cannot conquer an enemy by the arm, the rod, or the weapon of
war; you subdue him, overpower him, or impose some momentary restraint upon
him; fear of you takes possession of his heart, and he sues for peace because he is
afraid. That is not conquest; there is nothing eternal in such an issue. How, then, to
destroy an enemy? By converting him—by changing his motive, by penetrating into
his most secret life, and accomplishing the mystery of regeneration in his affections.
That mystery accomplished, the conquest is complete and everlasting; the work of
destruction has been accomplished; burning and hewing down, and all actions
indicative of mere violence have disappeared. (J. Parker D. D.)
PETT, "Introduction
The Covenant Stipulations, Covenant Making at Shechem, Blessings and
Cursings (Deuteronomy 12:1 to Deuteronomy 29:1).
In this section of Deuteronomy we first have a description of specific
requirements that Yahweh laid down for His people. These make up the second
part of the covenant stipulations for the covenant expressed in Deuteronomy
4:45 to Deuteronomy 29:1 and also for the covenant which makes up the whole
book. They are found in chapters 12-26. As we have seen Deuteronomy 1:1 to
Deuteronomy 4:44 provide the preamble and historical prologue for the overall
covenant, followed by the general stipulations in chapters 5-11. There now,
therefore, in 12-26 follow the detailed stipulations which complete the main body
of the covenant. These also continue the second speech of Moses which began in
Deuteronomy 5:1.
Overall in this speech Moses is concerned to connect with the people. It is to the
people that his words are spoken rather than the priests so that much of the
priestly legislation is simply assumed. Indeed it is remarkably absent in
Deuteronomy except where it directly touches on the people. Anyone who read
Deuteronomy on its own would wonder at the lack of cultic material it contained,
and at how much the people were involved. It concentrates on their interests, and
not those of the priests and Levites, while acknowledging the responsibility that
they had towards both priests and Levites.
And even where the cultic legislation more specifically connects with the people,
necessary detail is not given, simply because he was aware that they already had
it in writing elsewhere. Their knowledge of it is assumed. Deuteronomy is
building on a foundation already laid. In it Moses was more concerned to get
over special aspects of the legislation as it was specifically affected by entry into
the land, with the interests of the people especially in mind. The suggestion that
it was later written in order to bring home a new law connected with the Temple
does not fit in with the facts. Without the remainder of the covenant legislation in
Exodus/Leviticus/Numbers to back it up, its presentation often does not make
sense from a cultic point of view.
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This is especially brought home by the fact that when he refers to their approach
to God he speaks of it in terms of where they themselves stood or will stand when
they do approach Him. They stand not on Sinai but in Horeb. They stand not in
the Sanctuary but in ‘the place’, the site of the Sanctuary. That is why he
emphasises Horeb, which included the area before the Mount, and not just Sinai
itself (which he does not mention). And why he speaks of ‘the place’ which
Yahweh chose, which includes where the Tabernacle is sited and where they
gather together around the Tabernacle, and not of the Sanctuary itself. He wants
them to feel that they have their full part in the whole.
These detailed stipulations in chapters 12-26 will then be followed by the details
of the covenant ceremony to take place at the place which Yahweh has chosen at
Shechem (Deuteronomy 27), followed by blessings and cursings to do with the
observance or breach of the covenant (Deuteronomy 28).
I. INSTRUCTION WITH REGARD TO WORSHIP AND RIGHTNESS
BEFORE YAHWEH (Deuteronomy 12:1 to Deuteronomy 16:17).
In this first group of regulations in Deuteronomy 12:1 to Deuteronomy 16:7
emphasis is laid on proper worship and rightness before Yahweh, looked at from
the people’s point of view. They include:
· Regulations with regard to the Central Sanctuary as the one place where
Yahweh is to be officially worshipped with emphasis on the people’s side of
things and their participation. They are to worship there joyfully (Deuteronomy
12).
· Regulations with regard to avoidance of idolatry as it affects the people
lest they lose their cause for joy (Deuteronomy 13).
· Regulations for the people with regard to ritual wholeness and cleanness
so that they might reveal themselves as suited to worship joyfully in the place
which Yahweh would choose (Deuteronomy 14:1-21).
· Regulations for the people with regard to tithing mainly ignoring levitical
aspects (Deuteronomy 14:22-27). Here they were to share their joy with others
who would thus be able to rejoice with them.
· Regulations with regard to poverty as a slur on Yahweh (Deuteronomy
14:28 to Deuteronomy 15:11). This was to be allayed by a special use of the tithe
every third year and a release from debt every seventh year. To allow unrelieved
poverty in the land would prevent their being able to approach Yahweh with joy
and to enjoy His prosperity.
· Regulations with regard to Israelite Habiru bondsmen and bondswomen
and how they were to be their treated (Deuteronomy 15:12-18). Again the
emphasis is on generosity towards those whose need was greatest.
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· Regulations with regard to firstlings, who represented their own relief
from bondage, with the emphasis on their being Yahweh’s and thus to be royally
treated, and to be eaten joyfully in the place which Yahweh would choose. The
emphasis is on the people’s participation (Deuteronomy 15:19-23).
· Regulations with regard to the three main feasts, with emphasis on the
fact that they must be eaten at the place which Yahweh will choose and that the
last two of them must be celebrated joyfully, again with the emphasis on the
people’s participation throughout (Deuteronomy 16:1-17).
But central to it all is the Central Sanctuary, the place where Yahweh sets His
name. The place where He meets with His people, and they with Him, and the
need for them to be in the right spirit so as to do so joyfully.
Chapter 12 One Place of Worship To Be Chosen By Yahweh Himself - The
Central Sanctuary.
The contents of this chapter are crucial. It basically deals with the fact that Israel
was to worship at one sanctuary, and one sanctuary only, in contrast with the
many altars and the many sanctuaries of the Canaanites. For Yahweh was One
and could not be divided up (Deuteronomy 6:4). As we have seen in the
introduction, the only legitimate exception to this was when the Ark left the
tabernacle for specific purposes, and thus Yahweh was seen as travelling with it,
or when Yahweh actually appeared in a theophany, and was thus clearly there in
the place where the offering was offered.
And even more importantly (and constantly emphasised) was that the place in
which that sanctuary would be set up was to be one chosen by Yahweh. Unlike
the gods of the nations He controlled His own destiny. He was not subject to the
will of men or of priests, but brought about all in accordance with His own will,
and chose where He would reveal Himself and where He should be officially
worshipped. While He was over all He could not be found on every high hill and
in every green tree. He could not be so limited. He was not a part of nature but
above it.
The concept of ‘the place which He shall choose’ is a magnificent one. All was to
be seen as under His sovereign control and when He dwelt among men it was
because He chose to do so, and where He chose to do so. And He revealed
Himself as He chose to do so. The glory went not to the place but to the One Who
chose it.
This dwelling among men did not in any way limit Yahweh. Moses has shown
earlier, especially in Egypt and in the wilderness, that He could act where He
would, He could speak where He would, and He knew all that happened
everywhere even to the extent of knowing people’s minds. Thus men could pray
to Him wherever they were and He would hear them. But it stressed that there
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was only one physical place of approach to Him by men, not through nature but
in the place that He chose, where He came to them in His invisible presence, the
heavenly coming in contact with the earthly. This emphasised His distinctiveness.
We could see this chapter as based on the first commandment, ‘you shall have no
other gods before My face’.
That is one reason why Moses here speaks of ‘the place which Yahweh your God
will choose’. The term ‘the place (maqom)’ was sanctified by ancient usage for
the site at which worship took place. When Abraham himself came to Canaan he
set up an altar in ‘the place (maqom) of Shechem’ (Deuteronomy 12:6). It is
surely from this no coincidence that in Deuteronomy, on entering the land, Israel
were to gather at Shechem (Deuteronomy 27). Later in Genesis 13 Abraham
returned to ‘the place (maqom) of the altar which he had made there (at Bethel)
at the first’ (Deuteronomy 13:4). It was in ‘the place (maqom) of which Yahweh
had told him’ (the place of Yahweh’s choice) that Abraham prepared to offer
Isaac (Genesis 22:3), a ‘place’ which became known as Yahweh yireh, ‘in the
Mount of Yahweh it will be provided’ (Genesis 22:14). And Jacob when he had
had his first awesome experience of Yahweh could say, ‘Yahweh is in this place
(maqom), and I knew it not -- how awesome is this place (maqom)’ (Genesis
28:16-17). Again it was a place that Yahweh had chosen. Compare also Genesis
32:2; Genesis 32:30; Genesis 35:7; Genesis 35:14. The word ‘place’ (maqom) thus
had a firm and sacred connection with patriarchal ‘holy places’ and with
treasured experiences of Yahweh and the idea of a place chosen by Yahweh.
That was why it was a very suitable term to use in connection with the site of His
‘dwellingplace’ (of His mishkan, often translated ‘Tabernacle’) in the land which
was being given to their descendants for their sakes. Like the patriarchs they
would have a ‘place’ which Yahweh their God had chosen. The court of the
Tabernacle was also regularly described as a holy ‘place’ (Leviticus 6:16;
Leviticus 6:25 and often).
Thus the people who were fully familiar with these ancient traditions would tie
themselves in with their fathers in recognition of the chosen ‘place’ as a holy
place of worship. And they would in the light of Deuteronomy 11 and
Deuteronomy 27 see themselves as following in Abraham’s footsteps to ‘the place
(maqom) of Shechem’. Yet Moses does not mention Shechem here (although he
does later by inference), for here it was not necessarily Shechem that was in
mind but ‘the place’ that Yahweh would choose, wherever it might be, which
might vary from time to time, and was dependent on His will.
We should note with regard to this that what follows was not just guidance
given. Note the constant repetition of ‘you shall’ and ‘you shall not’. It was
apodictic law. It was imperative that it be obeyed.
That there was one and one only ‘place’ for worship signified the Oneness of
God. We too worship One God, although we do not come through one place but
through One Lord Jesus Christ, the One Mediator between God and man (1
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Timothy 2:5), our One Lord. As the sanctuary united Israel, so does Christ today
unite His people as one. We may therefore apply the teaching about the one
sanctuary to our One Saviour. It is to Him, and to Him alone that we must look,
and we all find our unity in His oneness.
This chapter is carefully constructed on a chiastic pattern, (a to e then e to a),
stressing its unity:
a These are the statutes and the judgments which you shall observe to do
(Deuteronomy 12:1).
b All idolatrous places to be destroyed - shall not do so to Yahweh my God
(Deuteronomy 12:2-4).
c Must seek to the place ‘which Yahweh your God will choose’ and bring
whole burnt offerings, sacrifices, tithes etc. (Deuteronomy 12:5-6).
d Shall eat before Yahweh and rejoice in all they put their hand to in which
Yahweh has blessed them, not doing what they do now, doing what is right in
their own eyes (Deuteronomy 12:7-9).
e When they go over Jordan and dwell in the land which ‘Yahweh your
God’ causes them to inherit -- they shall bring whole burnt offering and
sacrifices etc. to ‘the place which Yahweh your God shall choose’ and rejoice
before Yahweh (Deuteronomy 12:10-12).
f Must ‘take heed’ not to offer whole burnt offerings anywhere but only in
the place which Yahweh their God chooses (Deuteronomy 12:13-14).
g May kill and eat flesh within their gates as they desire but must not eat
the blood (15-16).
g Must eat their tithes before Yahweh their God in the place which Yahweh
their God chooses and rejoice befor Him (Deuteronomy 12:17-18). (Note how g is
the reversal of e).
f Must ‘take heed’ that they do not forsake the Levite as long as they live
(Deuteronomy 12:19).
e When ‘Yahweh your God’ enlarges their borders as He has promised -- if
‘the place which Yahweh your God shall choose’ be too far they may eat within
their gates all that they desire (Deuteronomy 12:20-22).
d Must not eat the blood but must pour it on the ground (Deuteronomy
12:23-25)
c Must take holy things and vows to the place ‘which Yahweh your God
will choose’ and offer whole burnt offerings and pour out blood before altar, and
observe His commandments (Deuteronomy 12:26-28).
b Idols not to be sought to once they have been destroyed - shall not do so to
Yahweh your God (Deuteronomy 12:29-31).
a Whatever I command, you will observe to do (Deuteronomy 12:32).
20

In ‘a’ and its parallel they must ‘observe to do’ what He commands. In ‘b’ and its
parallel all idolatrous places to be destroyed and not sought for - they shall not
do so to Yahweh their God. In ‘c’ and its parallel they are to offer whole burnt
offerings etc. at the place which Yahweh chooses. In ‘d’ they must eat before
Yahweh and not do what is right in their own eyes, and in the parallel they must
not eat the blood but must pour it on the ground. In ‘e’ when they inherit they
must offer whole burnt offerings and rejoice (and therefore eat) before Yahweh
at the place which He will choose, but in the parallel when their borders are
enlarged they may eat within their gates if the place which Yahweh has chosen is
too far off. In ‘f’ they must ‘take heed’ that they only make offerings at the place
which Yahweh chooses, and in the parallel they must ‘take heed’ that they do not
forsake the Levites as long as they live. Thus they must centralise their worship
and look to the Levites constantly for guidance. In ‘g’ we have a reversal of ‘e’.
2 Destroy completely all the places on the high
mountains, on the hills and under every
spreading tree, where the nations you are
dispossessing worship their gods.
GILL, "Ye shall utterly destroy all the places wherein the nations which
ye shall possess served their gods,.... The temples erected for the worship of
them by the Canaanites, of which there were many, as appears by the various names
of places given them from the temples in them, as Bethshemesh, Bethbaalmeon,
Bethpeor, and others:
upon the high mountains and upon the hills: which they chose to worship on,
being nearer the heavens, and which they thought most acceptable to their gods; and
some of them had their names from hence, as Baalpeor, in like manner as Jupiter
Olympius was called by the Greeks; see Jer_2:20,
and under every green tree; which being shady and solitary, and pleasant to the
sight, they fancied their gods delighted in, and this notion prevailed among other
nations; and there is scarcely any deity but what had some tree or another devoted to
it; as the oak to Jupiter, the laurel to Apollo, the ivy to Bacchus, the olive to Minerva,
the myrtle to Venus, &c. see Jer_2:20.
HENRY 2-3, "I. They are here charged to abolish and extirpate all those things
that the Canaanites had served their idol-gods with, Deu_12:2, Deu_12:3. Here is no
mention of idol-temples, which countenances the opinion some have, that the
21

tabernacle Moses reared in the wilderness was the first habitation that ever was
made for religious uses, and that from it temples took their rise. But the places that
had been used, and were now to be levelled, were enclosures for their worship on
mountains and hills (as if the height of the ground would give advantage to the
ascent of their devotions), and under green trees, either because pleasant or because
awful: whatever makes the mind easy and reverent, contracts and composes it, was
thought to befriend devotion. The solemn shade and silence of a grove are still
admired by those that are disposed to contemplation. But the advantage which these
retirements gave to the Gentiles in the worship of their idols was that they concealed
those works of darkness which could not bear the light; and therefore they must all
be destroyed, with the altars, pillars, and images, that had been used by the natives in
the worship of their gods, so as that the very names of them might be buried in
oblivion, and not only not be remembered with respect, but not remembered at all.
They must thus consult, 1. The reputation of their land; let it never be said of this
holy land that it had been thus polluted, but let all these dunghills be carried away, as
things they were ashamed of. 2. The safety of their religion; let none be left
remaining, lest profane unthinking people, especially in degenerate ages, should
make use of them in the service of the God of Israel. Let these pest-houses be
demolished, as things they were afraid of. He begins the statutes that relate to divine
worship with this, because there must first be an abhorrence of that which is evil
before there can be a steady adherence to that which is good, Rom_12:9. The
kingdom of God must be set up, both in persons and places, upon the ruins of the
devil's kingdom; for they cannot stand together, nor can there be any communion
between Christ and Belial.
JAMISON, "Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations
which ye shall possess served their gods — This divine command was founded
on the tendencies of human nature; for to remove out of sight everything that had
been associated with idolatry, that it might never be spoken of and no vestige of it
remain, was the only effectual way to keep the Israelites from temptations to it. It is
observable that Moses does not make any mention of temples, for such buildings
were not in existence at that early period. The “places” chosen as the scene of heathen
worship were situated either on the summit of a lofty mountain, or on some artificial
mound, or in a grove, planted with particular trees, such as oaks, poplars, and elms
(Isa_57:5-7; Hos_4:13). The reason for the selection of such sites was both to secure
retirement and to direct the attention upward to heaven; and the “place” was nothing
else than a consecrated enclosure, or at most, a canopy or screen from the weather.
ELLICOTT, "(2) Ye shall utterly destroy.—First of all these requirements is the
destruction of every vestige of idolatry. In the land of Jehovah there must be no
trace of any other god but Him. The non-fulfilment of this command in the early
history of Israel has led some to suppose that the command itself belongs to later
times. But it must be observed that the destruction of these things is inextricably
connected with the conquest of the country in detail. It was part of the work
assigned to the several tribes of Israel when the land had been divided by
Joshua. His work was to conquer the Canaanitish armies, and give Israel
possession of their chief cities. He then assigned the land to the several tribes, to
make it their own throughout. Obviously, if every tribe had insisted upon
22

destroying all monuments of idolatry in its own territory, one of two results must
have followed: either the remnant of the Canaanitish nations must have been
excited to fresh acts of rebellion and hostility, resulting in their extermination, or
else they must have yielded themselves entirely to the worship of Jehovah. But
Israel disobeyed the order. They did not themselves yield to idolatry in Joshua’s
time. The disturbance made respecting the altar Ed (see Joshua 22) is quite
sufficient of itself to prove the strictness of the law against strange altars. But the
Canaanites being left undisturbed after they ceased to resist openly, and their
objects of worship being left unmolested, there were constant temptations to
idolatry, to which Israel yielded. And thus it was not until the times of Heze-kiah
and Josiah that these laws were carried out. But this does not prove the law to
have come into existence then, any more than the present condition of the human
race proves that man was not made in God’s image in Paradise.
BENSON, "Deuteronomy 12:2. Ye shall destroy all the places — Temples,
chapels, altars, groves, as appears from other scriptures. Green tree — As the
Gentiles consecrated divers trees to their false gods, so they worshipped these
under them. Pillars — Upon which their images were set. Names — That is, all
the memorials of them, and the very names given to the places from the idols.
Not do so — That is, not worship him in several places, mountains, and groves.
COKE, "Ver. 2. And under every green tree— The use of sacred groves for the
celebration of mysteries is of very great antiquity, and, perhaps, of all others, the
most universal. At first, there were in these groves neither temples nor altars;
they were simple retreats, to which there was no access for the profane, i.e. such
as were not devoted to the service of the gods. Afterwards they built chapels and
temples in them: in future times they became extremely frequented on holidays;
and, after the celebration of the mysteries, public entertainments, accompanied
with dancing, were held in them. See Tibullus, lib. 1: Elegy 11: ver. 51. They
decked these groves with flowers, chaplets, garlands, and nosegays, and hung
them about with donations and offerings, most lavishly, says Abbe Banier, in his
Mythol. b. 3: ch. 7 on the sacred groves. See also Callimachus's Hymn to Diana,
ver. 200 and Spanheim's note.
3 Break down their altars, smash their sacred
stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire;
cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out
23

their names from those places.
CLARKE, "Ye shall overthrow their altars - Where unholy sacrifices have
been offered; and break their pillars, probably meaning statues and representations
of their gods cut out of stone; and burn their groves, such as those about the temple
of Ashtaroth, the Canaanitish Venus, whose impure rites were practiced in different
parts of the enclosures or groves round her temples; and ye shall hew down the
graven images, probably implying all images carved out of wood; and destroy the
names of them, which were no doubt at first graven on the stones, and carved on the
trees, and then applied to the surrounding districts. In various instances the names
of whole mountains, valleys, and districts were borrowed from the gods worshipped
there.
GILL, "And you shall overthrow their altars,.... Which were of stone, as Jarchi
observes; whereas the altar ordered to be made by the Lord, before the altar of burnt
offering in the tabernacle was made, was of earth, Exo_20:24 these were to be
demolished, lest the Israelites should be tempted to make use of them; and besides,
the Lord would not have any remains of idolatry in the land where his tabernacle and
worship were, as being abominable to him:
and break down their pillars; or statues erected to the honour of their idols;
according to Jarchi it was a single stone hewed out at first for the basis of a statue
(y); perhaps such as were called Baetulia, in imitation of the stone Jacob set up for a
pillar at Bethel, Gen_28:18.
and burn their groves with fire; which were planted about their temples, and
under which also their idols were placed, and where they privately committed the
most abominable lewdness under the notion of religion. The Targum of Jonathan
renders the word "abominations", meaning idols; and so Jarchi interprets it by a tree
that is worshipped; See Gill on Deu_7:5.
and you shall hew down the graven images of their gods; which were made
of wood:
and destroy the names of them out of the place; by never making any mention
of them in common discourse, and by changing the names of places called from
them; and especially by destroying all the relics of them, and whatever appertained to
them, which might lead to the mention of them; see Hos_2:17.
JAMISON, "And ye shall overthrow their altars — piles of turf or small
stones.
and break their pillars — Before the art of sculpture was known, the statues of
idols were only rude blocks of colored stones.
24

ELLICOTT, "(3) Destroy the names.—The substitution in later times of bosheth
for baal in the names Jerubbaal (Jerubbesheth), Eshbaal (Ishbosheth),
Meribbaal (Mephibosheth), is a curious example of the literal fulfilment of this
command, or, perhaps, rather of the command in Exodus 23:13, of which the
spirit and purport agree with this.
K&D, "Deu_12:2-3
Ye shall destroy all the places where the Canaanites worship their gods, upon the
high mountains, upon the hills, and under every green tree (cf. Jer_2:20; Jer_3:6;
Jer_17:2; 2Ki_16:4; 2Ki_17:10). The choice of mountains and hills for places of
worship by most of the heathen nations, had its origin in the wide-spread belief, that
men were nearer to the Deity and to heaven there. The green trees are connected with
the holy groves, of which the heathen nations were so fond, and the shady gloom of
which filled the soul with holy awe at the nearness of the Deity. In the absence of
groves, they chose green trees with thick foliage (Eze_6:13; Eze_20:28), such as the
vigorous oak, which attains a great age, the evergreen terebinth (Isa_1:29-30; Isa_
57:5), and the poplar or osier, which continues green even in the heat of summer
(Hos_4:13), and whose deep shade is adapted to dispose the mind to devotion.
Deu_12:3
Beside the place of worship, they were also to destroy all the idols of the
Canaanitish worship, as had already been commanded in Deu_7:5, and to blot out
even their names, i.e., every trace of their existence (cf. Deu_7:24).
4 You must not worship the Lord your God in
their way.
BARNES, "i. e., “The idolaters set up their altars and images on any high hill, and
under every green tree at their pleasure, but ye shall not do so; the Lord Himself shall
determine the spot for your worship, and there only shall ye seek Him.” The religion
of the Canaanites was human; its modes of worship were of man’s devising. It fixed
its holy places on the hills in the vain thought of being nearer heaven, or in deep
groves where the silence and gloom might overawe the worshipper. But such
superstitious appliances were not worthy of the true religion. God had revealed
Himself to people in it, and manifested among them His immediate presence and
power. He would Himself assign the sanctuary and the ritual of His own service.
25

GILL, "Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God. Not sacrifice to him on
hills and mountains, and under green trees; though the Jews commonly refer this to
the destruction of the names of God, and of any thing appertaining to the temple;
that though the temples and the altars of the Heathens were to be overthrown, yet
not a stone was to be taken from the house of God, or that belonged to it, nor any of
his names to be blotted out; so the Targum of Jonathan and Maimonides (z), who
also observes (a), that whoever removes a stone by way of destruction from the altar,
or from the temple, or from the court, is to be beaten; so he that burns the holy wood.
HENRY, "II. They are charged not to transfer the rites and usages of idolaters
into he worship of God; no, not under colour of beautifying and improving it (Deu_
12:4): You shall not do so to the Lord your god, that is, “you must not think to do
honour to him by offering sacrifices on mountains and hills, erecting pillars, planting
groves, and setting up images; no, you must not indulge a luxurious fancy in your
worship, nor think that whatever pleases that will please God: he is above all gods,
and will not be worshipped as other gods are.”
CALVIN, "4Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God. The principal
distinction, as far as regards the external exercises of devotion, is here laid down
between the legitimate worship of God, and all the fictitious rites which the
Gentiles have invented; viz., that God would have but one sanctuary and one
altar, which might be a symbol of the difference between Himself and all idols;
and thus that true religion should have no affinity to superstitions. To this refers
the prohibition, that the Israelites should not conduct themselves towards God as
the Gentiles did towards their idols; but that a barrier should be raised, which
would separate (103) them from the whole world. The whole external profession
of God’s worship is fitly annexed to the Second Commandment, because upon
that it depends, and has no other object than its due observation. But when I
begin to speak of the tabernacle, the priesthood, and the sacrifices, I am entering
on a deep and vast ocean, in which many interpreters, whilst indulging their
curiosity, have pursued a wild and wandering course. Admonished, therefore, by
their example, I will take in my sails, and only touch upon a few points which
tend to edification in the faith. But my readers must now be requested, not only
to pardon me for abstaining from subtle speculations, but also themselves
willingly to keep within the bounds of simplicity. Many have itching ears; and in
our natural vanity, most men are more delighted by foolish allegories, than by
solid erudition. But let those who shall desire to profit in God’s school, learn to
restrain this perverse desire of knowing more than is good for them, although it
may tickle their minds. Now let us consider the words of Moses.
COKE, "Ver. 4. Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God— That is, "Ye shall
not adore him upon mountains, upon hills, and under every green tree; but you
shall serve him publicly in one place which he shall choose." That this is the
26

sense, appears from the following verse. Notwithstanding this prohibition, the
sacred history shews us how prone the Israelites were to choose mountains and
groves for the places of their worship, and therein to set up images, after the
example of their heathen neighbours. 2 Kings 17:10-11. Ezekiel 20:28. Hosea
4:13.
K&D 4-5, "Deu_12:4-5
“Ye shall not do so to Jehovah your God,” i.e., not build altars and offer sacrifices
to Him in any place you choose, but (Deu_12:5.) shall only keep yourselves (‫ל‬ ֶ‫א‬ ‫שׁ‬ ַ‫ר‬ ָ )
to the place “which He shall choose out of all the tribes to put His name there for His
dwelling.” Whereas the heathen seeks and worships his nature-gods, wherever he
thinks he can discern in nature any trace of Divinity, the true God has not only
revealed His eternal power and Godhead in the works of creation, but His personal
being, which unfolds itself to the world in love and holiness, in grace and
righteousness, He has made known to man, who was created in His image, in the
words and works of salvation; and in these testimonies of His saving presence He has
fixed for Himself a name, in which He dwells among His people. This name presents
His personality, as comprehended in the word Jehovah, in a visible sign, the tangible
pledge of His essential presence. During the journeying of the Israelites this was
effected by the pillar of cloud and fire; and after the erection of the tabernacle, by the
cloud in the most holy place, above the ark of the covenant, with the cherubim uon it,
in which Jehovah had promised to appear to the high priest as the representative of
the covenant nation. Through this, the tabernacle, and afterwards Solomon's temple,
which took its place, became the dwelling-place of the name of the Lord. But if the
knowledge of the true God rested upon direct manifestations of the divine nature, -
and the Lord God had for that very reason made Himself known to His people in
words and deeds as their God-then as a matter of course the mode of His worship
could not be dependent upon any appointment of men, but must be determined
exclusively by God Himself. The place of His worship depended upon the choice
which God Himself should make, and which would be made known by the fact that
He “put His name,” i.e., actually manifested His own immediate presence, in one
definite spot. By the building of the tabernacle, which the Lord Himself prescribed as
the true spot for the revelation of His presence among His people, the place where
His name was to dwell among the Israelites was already so far determined, that only
the particular town or locality among the tribes of Israel where the tabernacle was to
be set up after the conquest of Canaan remained to be decided. At the same time,
Moses not only speaks of the Lord choosing the place among all the tribes for the
erection of His sanctuary, but also of His choosing the place where He would put His
name, that He might dwell there (‫ּו‬‫נ‬ ְ‫כ‬ ִ‫שׁ‬ ְ‫ל‬ from ‫ן‬ ַ‫כ‬ ְ‫,שׁ‬ for ‫ּו‬‫נ‬ ִ‫כ‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ from ‫ּן‬‫כ‬ ְ‫.)שׁ‬ For the presence
of the Lord was not, and was not intended, to be exclusively confined to the
tabernacle (or the temple). As God of the whole earth, wherever it might be
necessary, for the preservation and promotion of His kingdom, He could make
known His presence, and accept the sacrifices of His people in other places,
independently of this sanctuary; and there were times when this was really done. The
unity of the worship, therefore, which Moses here enjoined, was not to consist in the
fact that the people of Israel brought all their sacrificial offerings to the tabernacle,
but in their offering them only in the spot where the Lord made His name (that is to
say, His presence) known.
What Moses commanded here, was only an explanation and more emphatic
repetition of the divine command in Exo_20:23-24 (Deu_12:21 and Deu_12:22); and
to understand “the place which Jehovah would choose” as relating exclusively to
27

Jerusalem or the temple-hill, is a perfectly arbitrary assumption. Shiloh, the place
where the tabernacle was set up after the conquest of the land (Jos_18:1), and where
it stood during the whole of the times of the judges, was also chosen by the Lord (cf.
Jer_7:12). It was not till after David had set up a tent for the ark of the covenant
upon Zion, in the city of Jerusalem, which he had chosen as the capital of his
kingdom, and had erected an altar for sacrifice there (2Sa_6:17; 1Ch_16:1), that the
will of the Lord was made known to him by the prophet Gad, that he should build an
altar upon the threshing-floor of Araunah, where the angel of the Lord had appeared
to him; and through this command the place was fixed for the future temple (2Sa_
24:18; 1Ch_21:18). ‫שׁ‬ ַ‫ר‬ ָ with ‫ל‬ ֶ‫,א‬ to turn in a certain direction, to inquire or to seek. ‫ת־‬ ֶ‫א‬
‫ּו‬‫מ‬ ִ‫שׁ‬ ‫,שׂוּם‬ “to put His name,” i.e., to make known His presence, is still further defined
by the following word ‫ּו‬‫נ‬ ְ‫כ‬ ִ‫שׁ‬ ְ‫,ל‬ as signifying that His presence was to be of permanent
duration. It is true that this word is separated by an athnach from the previous clause;
but it certainly cannot be connected with ‫שׁוּ‬ ְ‫ר‬ ְ‫ד‬ ִ‫ת‬ (ye shall seek), not only because of the
standing phrase, ‫ם‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ ‫ּו‬‫מ‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ ‫ן‬ ֵⅴ ַ‫שׁ‬ ְ‫ל‬ (“to cause His name to dwell there,” Deu_12:11; Deu_
14:23; Deu_16:2, Deu_16:6, etc.), but also because this connection would give no
fitting sense, as the infinitive ‫ן‬ ַ‫כ‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ does not mean “a dwelling-place.”
PETT, "They Must Be Obedient to His Covenant and Destroy All That Is Related To
Idolatry (Deuteronomy 12:1-4).
Deuteronomy 12:1
‘These are the statutes and the ordinances which you (ye) shall observe to do in the
land which Yahweh, the God of your (thy) fathers, has given you (thee) to possess it,
all the days that you (ye) live on the earth.’
(Note the combination of ‘ye’ and ‘thee, thy’ in the one virtually indivisible sentence.
The ‘ye’ stresses their plurality, the ‘thee’ their oneness as a nation which has been
given the land and with a special emphasis on each individual’s need to respond to
Yahweh. This will be followed by ‘ye’ in Deuteronomy 12:2-12, and ‘thou’ in
Deuteronomy 12:13-31, with the exception of Deuteronomy 12:16 where in MT ‘none
of ye’ is required. Deuteronomy 12:32 reverts to ‘ye’. The subtle distinctions
continue).
Here Moses introduces the whole section. It continues on from the previous chapter.
He had closed off chapter 11 with ‘you (ye) shall observe to do all the statutes and
ordinances which I set before you this day’, now he says, ‘these are the statutes and
ordinances which you (ye) shall observe to do --’. In pursuance of what had gone
before he will now outline the statutes and ordinances, the written regulations and
the judgments based on them, which they must ‘observe to do’ in the land which
Yahweh, the God of their fathers has given them. Here we again have the main basis
of their entry. It is Yahweh’s land. He is giving it to them for the sake of their fathers.
They must therefore hear His voice and walk in His ways by their obedience to His
statutes and ordinances. Thus will it be theirs (and their children’s) as long as they
remain on the earth. Conditional on obedience, possession will be permanent, but it
is conditional on obedience. They are entering under the kingly rule of Yahweh in His
land, from which all that is evil will be spued out.
28

For us it is the Kingly Rule of God that is at stake. If we would be permanently under
His kingly rule, we must obey Him, for that is what being ‘in His kingdom’ is all
about. In fact whenever we read the words ‘the land’ we can for our part read ‘the
kingly rule of God’, for that is what the land represented.
Destruction of All Canaanite Sanctuaries And The Setting Up Of The One Sanctuary
(Deuteronomy 12:2-14).
Deuteronomy 12:2-3
‘You shall surely destroy (‘destroying you shall destroy’) all the places in which the
nations that you will dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains, and on the
hills, and under every green tree, and you shall break down their altars, and dash in
pieces their pillars, and burn their Asherim with fire, and you shall hew down the
graven images of their gods, and you shall destroy their name out of that place.’
Possession of the land for Yahweh was to be ensured by their total destruction from
the land of all traces of the false and depraved religion of the Canaanites. All areas
must have their idolatry removed and be put under Yahweh’s control. They must
destroy all ‘the places’ (meqomoth - plural of maqom). This is probably a technical
term for holy places which later became replaced by ‘high places’ (bamoth ) to
distinguish them from Yahweh’s ‘holy place’. There they served their gods, whether
on the high mountains (a favourite place for idolatrous worship for they were seen as
abodes of the gods), on the hills (ditto), or under every green tree (certain living trees
were seen in themselves to possess a kind of divinity and as promoting fertility. This
included green trees with thick foliage (Ezekiel 6:13; Ezekiel 20:28), like the vigorous
oak which attains a great age (Isaiah 1:29; Isaiah 57:5), and the poplar or terebinth,
which continues green even in the heat of summer (Hosea 4:13)). The threefold
description expressed completeness, covering all abodes of the gods.
The altars built up in such places were to be broken down, their pillars (stones set up
to represent the divine for worship) were to be smashed to pieces, their Asherah-
images burned with fire (these were images or poles made of wood, set up next to the
altars and the pillars, evidence for which has been found in many places), their
graven images to be cut down, and the very name of the gods was to be destroyed
from each of those places. ‘Destroying the name of their gods’ indicated that the
places were not to be seen as having any remnants of ‘holiness’ or association with
these gods left. Each ‘place’ was to be emptied of significance so that they would
become ‘common’ places, not revered by men. It is noteworthy that no instruction is
given that they should be ‘defiled’. That idea comes later (2 Kings 23:8; 2 Kings
23:10; 2 Kings 23:13). Here the gods were to be removed as nonentities and had not
been worshipped by Israel.
The ‘pillars’ (matstseboth) that were to be condemned were those set up that men
might worship before them, examples of which have been discovered in a number of
Canaanite cities, especially at Hazor. Jacob in contrast set up memorial pillars to
Yahweh (Genesis 28:18; Genesis 31:13; Genesis 31:45; although gratitude could be
expressed at them by pouring a libation over them - Genesis 35:14) and Isaiah spoke
of a similar memorial pillar being set up on the borders of Egypt when Egypt had
begun to seek Yahweh (Isaiah 19:19), both of which were acceptable. We can
compare with this the memorial altar in Joshua 22:26-27 on the border of
29

Transjordan. Memorial pillars were common (Genesis 31:45-54; Genesis 35:20;
Exodus 24:4; Joshua 4:1-9; Joshua 24:26-27; 2 Samuel 18:18). But men were not to
worship before them.
For us the gods to be rejected may be different ones. Our ‘gods’ are anything that
comes between us and God. Let us but find something that hinders our worship of
Him and our joyful service for Him and that is our false god that must be destroyed.
Beware especially of covetousness, says Paul, for that is idolatry of the worst kind
(Colossians 3:5). Those who come under the Kingly Rule of God must avoid all
covetousness.
Deuteronomy 12:4
‘You shall not do so to Yahweh your God.’
It was to be very different with the worship of Yahweh. That is not how they were to
worship Him, at hundreds of different ‘places’ spread throughout the land wherever
they desired. He could only be officially worshipped in one ‘place’.
5 But you are to seek the place the Lord your
God will choose from among all your tribes to
put his Name there for his dwelling. To that
place you must go;
GILL, "But unto the place which the Lord your God,.... The Targum of
Jonathan is, that the Word of the Lord your God:
shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there; to place his
tabernacle, set up his worship, take up his residence, and cause the Shechinah, or his
divine Majesty, to dwell there, as the next clause explains it; out of what tribe it
should be chosen, and where it should be, is not said. Maimomides (b) gives three
reasons for it; he says there are three great mysteries why the place is not clearly, but
obscurely mentioned;1) lest the Gentiles should seize upon it, and make war for the
sake of it, supposing this place to be the end of the law; 2) lest they in whose hands
the place then was should by all means waste and destroy it; 3) which is the chief, lest
every tribe should desire to have it in its own lot and jurisdiction; and so strifes
might arise among them on account of it, as happened to the priesthood:
even unto his habitation shall ye seek; the temple at Jerusalem is meant, where
the Lord took up his dwelling, and whither men were to come and seek unto him by
prayer and supplication for whatsoever they needed, and to inquire of him in matters
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doubtful, and they wanted counsel in:
and thither thou shall come: with sacrifices of every sort, where they were to be
slain and offered to the Lord, and become acceptable to him, as is more largely
declared in the following part of this chapter.
HENRY, "There is not any one particular precept (as I remember) in all the law of
Moses so largely pressed and inculcated as this, by which they are all tied to bring
their sacrifices to that one altar which was set up in the court of the tabernacle, and
there to perform all the rituals of their religion; for, as to moral services, then, no
doubt, as now, men might pray every where, as they did in their synagogues. The
command to do this, and the prohibition of the contrary, are here repeated again and
again, as we teach children: and yet we are sure that there is in scripture no vain
repetition; but all this stress is laid upon it, 1. Because of the strange proneness there
was in the hearts of the people to idolatry and superstition, and the danger of their
being seduced by the many temptations which they would be surrounded with. 2.
Because of the great use which the observance of this appointment would be of to
them, both to prevent the introducing of corrupt customs into their worship and to
preserve among them unity and brotherly love, that, meeting all in one place, they
might continue both of one way and of one heart. 3. Because of the significancy of
this appointment. They must keep to one place, in token of their belief of those two
great truths, which we find together (1Ti_2:5), That there is one God, and one
Mediator between God and man. It not only served to keep up the notion of the unity
of the Godhead, but was an intimation to them (though they could not stedfastly
discern it) of the one only way of approach to God and communion with him, in and
by the Messiah.
JAMISON, "unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose ... to
put his name there ... thou shalt come — They were forbidden to worship either
in the impure superstitious manner of the heathen, or in any of the places frequented
by them. A particular place for the general rendezvous of all the tribes would be
chosen by God Himself; and the choice of one common place for the solemn rites of
religion was an act of divine wisdom, for the security of the true religion. It was
admirably calculated to prevent the corruption which would otherwise have crept in
from their frequenting groves and high hills - to preserve uniformity of worship and
keep alive their faith in Him to whom all their sacrifices pointed. The place was
successively Mizpeh, Shiloh, and especially Jerusalem. But in all the references made
to it by Moses, the name is never mentioned. This studied silence was maintained
partly lest the Canaanites within whose territories it lay might have concentrated
their forces to frustrate all hopes of obtaining it; partly lest the desire of possessing a
place of such importance might have become a cause of strife or rivalry amongst the
Hebrew tribes, as about the appointment to the priesthood (Num_16:1-30).
CALVIN, "5But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose. It is
asked why God would have sacrifices offered to Him only on one altar? Besides
the reason which I have lately advanced, it is not to be doubted but that He in
this way had regard to believers, that He might cherish in them an agreement in
the unity of the faith. This place, then, was like a standard to gather together the
31

people, lest their religion should be torn by divisions, and lest any diversities
should insinuate themselves. Moreover, God, by claiming His right and authority
to choose the place, commends obedience, on which also the purity of worship
depends. But, again, another question arises; because, before the time of David,
the Ark had nowhere a fixed resting-place, but traveled about, as it were, to
various lodgings, therefore, if the chosen place is understood to be Mount Zion,
the people were free in the intermediate time to perform the sacrifices wherever
they pleased. I reply, that the place was not, chosen until the Ark was placed in
Zion; for not till then was fulfilled what is said in the Psalm,
"I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord;
our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem,”
(Psalms 122:1;)
in which words the Prophet intimates that there was before no resting-place,
because God had not yet pointed out the place in which He would be
worshipped. Therefore it is expressly said, “out of all your tribes,” or “in one of
your tribes,” whereby a special privilege is referred to, which was to be
conferred on one of their tribes, to the exclusion of the others. And to this relates
what is said in another Psalm,
"Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of
Ephraim, but chose the tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion which he loved: and he
built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth, which he hath established for
ever.”
(Psalms 78:67)
To the same effect the faithful elsewhere congratulate themselves, after the Ark
was deposited with David, “We will go into his tabernacles, we will worship at
his footstool;” and, on the other hand, the Spirit declares,
"The Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my
rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it ” (Psalms 132:13.)
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Deuteronomy 12 commentary

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Deuteronomy 12 commentary