271 Now Moses, with the elders of Israel, commanded the people, saying: "Keep all the commandments which I command you today. 2 And it shall be, on the day when you cross over the Jordan to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, that you shall set up for yourselves large stones, and whitewash them with lime. 3 You shall write on them all the words of this law, when you have crossed over, that you may enter the land which the Lord your God is giving you, 'a land flowing with milk and honey,' just as the Lord God of your fathers promised you. 4 Therefore it shall be, when you have crossed over the Jordan, that on Mount Ebal you shall set up these stones, which I command you today, and you shall whitewash them with lime. 5 And there you shall build an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones; you shall not use an iron tool on them. 6 You shall build with whole stones the altar of the Lord your God, and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God. 7 You shall offer peace offerings, and shall eat there, and rejoice before the Lord your God. 8 And you shall write very plainly on the stones all the words of this law." 9 Then Moses and the priests, the Levites, spoke to all Israel, saying, "Take heed and listen, O Israel: This day you have become the people of the Lord your God. 10 Therefore you shall obey the voice of the Lord your God, and observe His commandments and His statutes which I command you today."
11 And Moses commanded the people on the same day, saying, 12 "These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, when you have crossed over the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin; 13 and these shall stand on Mount Ebal to curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. 14 "And the Levites shall speak with a loud voice and say to all the men of Israel: 15 'Cursed is the one who makes a carved or molded image, an abomination to the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.'And all the people shall answer and say, 'Amen!' 16 'Cursed is the one who treats his father or his mother with contempt.'And all the people shall say, 'Amen!' 17 'Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor's landmark.'And all the people shall say, 'Amen!' 18 'Cursed is the one who makes the blind to wander off the road.'And all the people shall say, 'Amen!' 19 'Cursed is the one who perverts the justice due the stranger, the fatherless, and widow.'And all the people shall say, 'Amen!' 20 'Cursed is the one who lies with his father's wife, because he has uncovered his father's bed.'And all the people shall say, 'Amen!' 21 'Cursed is the one who lies with any kind of animal.'And all the people shall say, 'Amen!' 22 'Cursed is the one who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.'And all the people shall say, 'Amen!' 23 'Cursed is the one who lies with his mother-in-law.'And all the people shall say, 'Amen!' 24 'Cursed is the one who attacks his neighbor secretly.'And all the people shall say, 'Amen!' 25 'Cursed is the one who takes a bribe to slay an innocent person.'And all the people shall say, 'Amen!' 26 'Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law.'And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Deuteronomy 27:1-30
Commentary on Deuteronomy 27:1-10
(Read Deuteronomy 27:1-10)
As soon as they were come into Canaan, they must set up a monument, on which they must write the words of this law. They must set up an altar. The word and prayer must go together. Though they might not, of their own heads, set up any altar besides that at the tabernacle; yet, by the appointment of God, they might, upon special occasion. This altar must be made of unhewn stones, such as they found upon the field. Christ, our Altar, is a stone cut out of the mountain without hands, refused by the builders, as having no form or comeliness, but accepted of God the Father, and made the Head of the corner. In the Old Testament the words of the law are written, with the curse annexed; which would overcome us with horror, if we had not, in the New Testament, an altar erected close by, which gives consolation. Blessed be God, the printed copies of the Scriptures among us, do away the necessity of such methods as were presented to Israel. The end of the gospel ministry is, and the end of preachers ought to be, to make the word of God as plain as possible. Yet, unless the Spirit of God prosper such labours with Divine power, we shall not, even by these means, be made wise unto salvation: for this blessing we should therefore daily and earnestly pray.
Commentary on Deuteronomy 27:11-26
(Read Deuteronomy 27:11-26)
The six tribes appointed for blessing, were all children of the free women, for to such the promise belongs, Galatians 4:31. Levi is here among the rest. Ministers should apply to themselves the blessing and curse they preach to others, and by faith set their own Amen to it. And they must not only allure people to their duty with the promises of a blessing, but awe them with the threatenings of a curse, by declaring that a curse would be upon those who do such things. To each of the curses the people were to say, Amen. It professed their faith, that these, and the like curses, were real declarations of the wrath of God against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, not one jot of which shall fall to the ground. It was acknowledging the equity of these curses. Those who do such things deserve to fall, and lie under the curse. Lest those who were guilty of other sins, not here mentioned, should think themselves safe from the curse, the last reaches all. Not only those who do the evil which the law forbids, but those also who omit the good which the law requires. Without the atoning blood of Christ, sinners can neither have communion with a holy God, nor do any thing acceptable to him; his righteous law condemns every one who, at any time, or in any thing, transgresses it. Under its awful curse we remain as transgressors, until the redemption of Christ is applied to our hearts. Wherever the grace of God brings salvation, it teaches the believer to deny ungodliness and wordly lusts, to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, consenting to, and delighting in the words of God's law, after the inward man. In this holy walk, true peace and solid joy are to be found.