Deuteronomy 27 · Adam Clarke
Introduction Moses commands the people to write the law upon stones, when they shall come to the promised land, Deu 27:1-3 . And to set up these stones on Mount Ebal, Deu 27:4 ; and to build an altar of unhewn stones, and to offer on it burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, Deu 27:5-7 . The words to be written plainly, and the people to be exhorted to obedience, Deu 27:8-10 . The six tribes which should stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, Deu 27:11 , Deu 27:12 . Those who are to stand upon Mount Ebal to curse the transgressors, Deu 27:13 . The different transgressors against whom the curses are to be denounced, Deu 27:14-26 .
Verse 2 Thou shalt set thee up great stones - How many is not specified, possibly twelve, and possibly only a sufficient number to make a surface large enough to write the blessings and the curses on. Plaster them with plaster - Perhaps the original ושדת אתם בשיד vesadta otham bassid should be translated, Thou shalt cement them with cement, because this was intended to be a durable monument. In similar cases it was customary to set up a single stone, or a heap, rudely put together, where no cement or mortar appears to have been used; and because this was common, it was necessary to give particular directions when the usual method was not to be followed. Some suppose that the writing was to be in relievo, and that the spaces between the letters were filled up by the mortar or cement. This is quite a possible case, as the Eastern inscriptions are frequently done in this way. There is now before me a large slab of basaltes, two feet long by sixteen inches wide, on which there is an inscription in Persian, Arabic, and Tamul; in the two former the letters are all raised, the surface of the stone being dug out, but the Tamul is indented. A kind of reddish paint had been smeared over the letters to make them more apparent. Two Arabic marbles in the University of Oxford have the inscriptions in relievo, like those on the slab of basalt in my possession. In the opinion of some even this case may cast light upon the subject in question
Verse 3 All the words of this law - After all that has been said by ingenious critics concerning the law ordered to be written on these stones, some supposing the whole Mosaic law to be intended, others, only the decalogue, I am fully of opinion that the (תורה torah) law or ordinance in question simply means the blessings and curses mentioned in this and in the following chapter; and indeed these contained a very good epitome of the whole law in all its promises and threatenings, in reference to the whole of its grand moral design. See at the end of this chapter, Deu 27:26 (note).
Verse 4 Set up these stones - in Mount Ebal - So the present Hebrew text, but the Samaritan has Mount Gerizim. Dr. Kennicott has largely defended the reading of the Samaritan in his second dissertation on the present state of the Hebrew text, and Dr. Parry has defended the Hebrew against the Samaritan in his Case between Gerizim and Ebal fairly stated. So has J. H. Verschuir, in his Dissert. Critica. Many still think Dr. Kennicott's arguments unanswerable, and have no doubt that the Jews have here corrupted the text through their enmity to the Samaritans. On all hands it is allowed that Gerizim abounds with springs, gardens, and orchards, and that it is covered with a beautiful verdure, while Ebal is as naked and as barren as a rock. On this very account the former was highly proper for the ceremony of blessing, and the latter for the ceremony of cursing.
Verse 12 These shall stand upon Mount Gerizim to bless the people - Instead of upon Mount, etc., we may translate by, as the particle על al is sometimes used; for we do not find that the tribes did stand on either mount, for in Jos 8:33 , when this direction was reduced to practice, we find the people did not stand on the mountains, but over against them on the plain. See the observations at the end of this chapter, Deu 27:26 (note).
Verse 15 Cursed be the man, etc. - Other laws, previously made, had prohibited all these things; and penal sanctions were necessarily understood; but here God more openly declares that he who breaks them is cursed - falls under the wrath and indignation of his Maker and Judge. See the note on Exo 20:4 .
Verse 16 Setteth light by his father or his mother - See the note on Exo 20:12 .
Verse 17 Removeth his neighbor's landmark - See before on Deu 19:14 (note), and on Exo 20:17 (note). And for all the rest of these curses, see the notes on Exodus 20 (note), and the observations at the end of it.
Verse 18 The blind to wander out of the way - A sin against the sixth commandment. See on Exo 20:13 (note).