Deuteronomy 4:1

And now Emphatic call to the practical purpose of the discourse; the same in Deuteronomy 10:12, the beginning of the last stage of the second introduction to the Code.

O Israel, hearken Sg. imper. confirmed by Sam. and LXX in a context using the Pl. form of address; an instance of the natural transition by the same author from one to the other, cp. Deuteronomy 4:5 and Deuteronomy 1:8.

the statutes and … the judgements Heb. ḥuḳḳîmand mishpaṭîm, a common title for the deuteronomic Laws, Deuteronomy 4:1; Deuteronomy 4:5; Deuteronomy 4:8; Deuteronomy 4:14; Deuteronomy 5:1; Deuteronomy 11:32; Deuteronomy 12:1; Deuteronomy 26:16; sometimes combined with or varied by miṣwah, commandment, and -edwôth, solemnly pronounced decrees(see on Deuteronomy 4:45). Ḥôḳmeans engravenor instituted, a statutecovering -positive institutions or enactments, moral, ceremonial, civil (e.g. Deuteronomy 7:1-3; Deuteronomy 7:12; Deuteronomy 7:14; Deuteronomy 7:16 f. etc.)"; mishpaṭ, lit. judgement, judicial decision, -the provisions of the civil and criminal law" (Driver).

which I teach you The participle, am about to teach you; cp. Deuteronomy 4:5. It is remarkable that in the Pent. D alone uses this verb teach and learn of religion and the Law, and this no fewer than 17 times. The idea is the same as that of the prophets, especially Hosea and Jeremiah, that true religion rests on the knowledge of God, the people sinning because not understanding with the heart(Heb. for the practical intellect) what God is and demands; and perishing for lack of knowledge.

that ye may live as a nation! That the national existence depends on the keeping of the Law is a principle of the deuteronomic writers. Understood in a thoroughly spiritual temper it is uncontestable. Every nation lives by loyalty to law, and the people who were loyal to the spirit of this law would be strong and survive. As a matter of fact Israel preserved its identity among the nations and survived the influences which overwhelmed the religions of its neighbours by its obedience. The Law was a fence about the people. But their danger was to substitute the letter for the spirit, as according to both Jeremiah and Jesus they did. On livecp. Deuteronomy 30:6.