Deuteronomy 12

De 12:1-15.

MONUMENTS OF

IDOLATRY TO

BE

DESTROYED.

1. These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe--Having

in the preceding chapter inculcated upon the Israelites the general

obligation to fear and love God, Moses here enters into a detail of

some special duties they were to practise on their obtaining possession

of the promised land.

2. 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;

Ho 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.

3. 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.

5. 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

(Nu 16:1-30).

7. there ye shall eat before the Lord--of the things mentioned

(De 12:6);

but of course, none of the parts assigned to the priests before the

Lord--in the place where the sanctuary should be established, and in

those parts of the Holy City which the people were at liberty to

frequent and inhabit.

12. ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God, ye, and your sons, and

your daughters, &c.--Hence it appears that, although males only were

commanded to appear before God at the annual solemn feasts

(Ex 23:17),

the women were allowed to accompany them

(1Sa 1:3-23).

15. Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy

gates--Every animal designed for food, whether ox, goat, or lamb, was

during the abode in the wilderness ordered to be slain as a peace

offering at the door of the tabernacle; its blood to be sprinkled, and

its fat burnt upon the altar by the priest. The encampment, being then

round about the altar, made this practice, appointed to prevent

idolatry, easy and practicable. But on the settlement in the promised

land, the obligation to slay at the tabernacle was dispensed with. The

people were left at liberty to prepare their meat in their cities or

homes.

according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given

thee--The style of living should be accommodated to one's condition

and means--profuse and riotous indulgence can never secure the divine

blessing.

the unclean and the clean may eat thereof--The unclean here are those

who were under some slight defilement, which, without excluding them

from society, yet debarred them from eating any of the sacred meats

(Le 7:20).

They were at liberty freely to partake of common articles of food.

of the roebuck--the gazelle.

and as of the hart--The Syrian deer (Cervus barbatus) is a species

between our red and fallow deer, distinguished by the want of a

bis-antler, or second branch on the horns, reckoning from below, and

for a spotted livery which is effaced only in the third or fourth year.

De 12:16-25.

BLOOD

PROHIBITED.

16. ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as

water--The prohibition against eating or drinking blood as an unnatural

custom accompanied the announcement of the divine grant of animal flesh

for food

(Ge 9:4),

and the prohibition was repeatedly renewed by Moses with reference to

the great objects of the law

(Le 17:12),

the prevention of idolatry, and the consecration of the sacrificial

blood to God. In regard, however, to the blood of animals slain for

food, it might be shed without ceremony and poured on the ground as a

common thing like water--only for the sake of decency, as well as for

preventing all risk of idolatry, it was to be covered over with earth

(Le 17:13),

in opposition to the practice of heathen sportsmen, who left it exposed

as an offering to the god of the chase.

22-28. Even as the roebuck and the hart is eaten, so shalt thou eat

them, &c.--Game when procured in the wilderness had not been required

to be brought to the door of the tabernacle. The people were now to be

as free in the killing of domestic cattle as of wild animals. The

permission to hunt and use venison for food was doubtless a great boon

to the Israelites, not only in the wilderness, but on their settlement

in Canaan, as the mountainous ranges of Lebanon, Carmel, and Gilead, on

which deer abounded in vast numbers, would thus furnish them with a

plentiful and luxuriant repast.

De 12:26-32.

HOLY

THINGS TO

BE

EATEN IN THE

HOLY

PLACE.

26. Only thy holy things which thou hast--The tithes mentioned

(De 12:17)

are not to be considered ordinary tithes, which belonged to the

Levites, and of which private Israelites had a right to eat; but they

are other extraordinary tithes or gifts, which the people carried to

the sanctuary to be presented as peace offerings, and on which, after

being offered and the allotted portion given to the priest, they

feasted with their families and friends

(Le 27:30).

29, 30. Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following

them . . . saying, How did these nations serve their

gods?--The Israelites, influenced by superstitious fear, too often

endeavored to propitiate the deities of Canaan. Their Egyptian

education had early impressed that bugbear notion of a set of local

deities, who expected their dues of all who came to inhabit the country

which they honored with their protection, and severely resented the

neglect of payment in all newcomers [WARBURTON].

Taking into consideration the prevalence of this idea among them, we

see that against an Egyptian influence was directed the full force of

the wholesome caution with which this chapter closes.