Deuteronomy5
New American Standard
1Now Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: “Listen, Israel, to the statutes and ordinances which I am speaking today for you to hear, so that you may learn them and be careful to do them.
2The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb.
3The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, all of us who are alive here today.
4The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain from the midst of the fire,
5while I was standing between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord; for you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up on the mountain. He said,
6‘I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
7‘You shall have no other gods besides Me.
8‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.
9You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, inflicting the punishment of the fathers on the children, even on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
10but showing favor to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
11‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave unpunished the one who takes His name in vain.
12‘Keep the Sabbath day to treat it as holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.
13For six days you shall labor and do all your work,
14but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; you shall not do any work that day, you or your son or your daughter, or your male slave or your female slave, or your ox, your donkey, or any of your cattle, or your resident who stays with you, so that your male slave and your female slave may rest as well as you.
15And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to celebrate the Sabbath day.
16‘Honor your father and your mother, just as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well for you on the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
17‘You shall not murder.
18‘You shall not commit adultery.
19‘You shall not steal.
20‘You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
21‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male slave or his female slave, his ox, his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’
22“These words the Lord spoke to your whole assembly at the mountain from the midst of the fire, from the cloud, and from the thick darkness, with a great voice, and He added nothing more. He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.
23And when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you approached me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders.
24You said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire; we have seen today that God speaks with mankind, yet he lives.
25Now then, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer, then we will die!
26For who is there of humanity who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?
27Go near and listen to everything that the Lord our God says; then speak to us everything that the Lord our God speaks to you, and we will listen and do it.’
28“Now the Lord heard the sound of your words when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me, ‘I have heard the sound of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken.
29If only they had such a heart in them, to fear Me and keep all My commandments always, so that it would go well with them and with their sons forever!
30Go, say to them, “Return to your tents.”
31But as for you, stand here by Me, that I may speak to you all the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which you shall teach them, so that they may follow them in the land which I am giving them to possess.’
32So you shall be careful to do just as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left.
33You shall walk entirely in the way which the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and that it may be well for you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you will possess.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Deuteronomy 5.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The covenant in Horeb. (1–5). The ten commandments repeated. (6–22). The request of the people that the law might be delivered through Moses. (23–33).
vv1-5
Moses demands attention. When we hear the word of God we must learn it; and what we have learned we must put in practice, for that is the end of hearing and learning; not to fill our heads with notions, or our mouths with talk, but to direct our affections and conduct.
vv6-22
There is some variation here from Ex 20 as between the Lord's prayer in Mt 6 and Lu 11. It is more necessary that we tie ourselves to the things, than to the words unalterably. The original reason for hallowing the sabbath, taken from God's resting from the work of creation on the seventh day, is not here mentioned. Though this ever remains in force, it is not the only reason. Here it is taken from Israel's deliverance out of Egypt; for that was typical of our redemption by Jesus Christ, in remembrance of which the Christian sabbath was to be observed. In the resurrection of Christ we were brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God, with a mighty hand, and an outstretched arm. How sweet is it to a soul truly distressed under the terrors of a broken law, to hear the mild and soul-reviving language of the gospel!
vv23-33
Moses refers to the consternation caused by the terror with which the law was given. God's appearances have always been terrible to man, ever since the fall; but Christ, having taken away sin, invites us to come boldly to the throne of grace. They were in a good mind, under the strong convictions of the word they heard. Many have their consciences startled by the law who have them not purified; fair promises are extorted from them, but no good principles are fixed and rooted in them. God commended what they said. He desires the welfare and salvation of poor sinners. He has given abundant proof that he does so; he gives us time and space to repent. He has sent his Son to redeem us, promised his Spirit to those who pray for him, and has declared that he has no pleasure in the ruin of sinners. It would be well with many, if there were always such a heart in them, as there seems to be sometimes; when they are under conviction of sin, or the rebukes of providence, or when they come to look death in the face. The only way to be happy, is to be holy. Say to the righteous, It shall be well with them. Let believers make it more and more their study and delight, to do as the Lord God hath commanded.
Key Words
מֹשֶׁה: Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiver
קָרָא: to call out to (i.e. properly, address by name, but used in a wide variety of applications)
כֹּל: properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense)
יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
שָׁמַע: to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.)
חֹק: an enactment; hence, an appointment (of time, space, quantity, labor or usage)
מִשְׁפָּט: properly, a verdict (favorable or unfavorable) pronounced judicially, especially a sentence or formal decree (human or (participant's) divine law, individual or collective), including the act, the place, the suit, the crime, and the penalty; abstractly, justice, including a participant's right or privilege (statutory or customary), or even a style
אֲשֶׁר: who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.
דָבַר: perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue
Cross References
Deuteronomy 5The primary parallel text containing the original delivery of the Ten Commandments at Sinai.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
Contrasts the creation-focused Sabbath motive of Exodus with the redemption-focused motive in Deuteronomy.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
Identifies Moses standing between God and Israel as a type of Christ's mediatorial role.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Paul directly quotes this specific Deuteronomy promise clause in his instructions to children.
Supported by JFB
Highlights the slight variation in word order regarding coveting a wife versus a house.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Contrasts the terrifying, fiery giving of the old covenant with the grace of the new.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The initial historic account of the people's terror and their request for Moses' mediation.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB