Deuteronomy 4:9

Only Not restriction to one point, but emphasis on the principle of the whole of the Law. For the use of this restrictive adverb so frequent in D see on Deuteronomy 10:15.

take heed to thyself Found in JE, Genesis 31:24, etc., but frequent in D 9 times thus, and 5 more generally.

keep thy soul diligently Rather, guard well thyself (cp. 23 Pl.) or thy life; cp. 1, that ye may live.

lest thou forget the things which thine eyes saw The experience of the nation as a whole is meant, and not only that of the generation addressed. So the prophets frequently call on their contemporaries to remember what happened to the nation long ago. Hence the transition in this verse to the Sg. is natural and does not imply another author. Similarly throughout the following discourse 5 11. See on Deuteronomy 10:21.

thy heart The seat not of the emotions but of the practical intellect, or, as here, of the memory. Cp. our -to get by heart," -lay to heart."

make them known unto thy children First instance of the frequent enforcement to hand on the religious tradition: 10, Deuteronomy 6:7; Deuteronomy 6:20 f., Deuteronomy 11:19; Deuteronomy 31:13; Deuteronomy 32:46.