Deuteronomy 31:10

_AND MOSES COMMANDED THEM, SAYING, AT THE END OF EVERY SEVEN YEARS, IN THE SOLEMNITY OF THE YEAR OF RELEASE, IN THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES,_ At the end of every seven years ... thou shalt read this law. At the return of the Sabbatic year, and during the feast of tabernacles, the law was to be publicly read. This order of Moses was a future and prospective arrangement; for the observance of the Sabbatic year did not commence until the conquest and peaceful occupation of Canaan. Some think that this order for the public rehearsal of the law was addressed to the priests, particularly the high priest, and the prevailing opinion is, that the office was performed by them; while others maintain that it was on the temporal rulers the duty devolved (2 Kings 23:2; Nehemiah 8:1). The passage seems

10._And Moses commanded them. _The object of this precept is the same as that of the foregoing. He would have (the Law (238)) represented, and constantly kept before their eyes; now He commands that it should also be recited every seventh year, lest the knowledge of it should ever depart. But let us follow the order of the words. First of all, Moses says that “he wrote” the Law. Before this, the doctrines of religion had only been expressed by word of mouth, for their fathers had handed down traditionally to their children whatever had been declared to them from heaven. Thus the religion and faith of the people in Egypt was only founded on ancient revelations _(oraculis) _and the traditions of their fathers. But, forasmuch as nothing is more easy than for men’s minds, in their vanity, speedily to forget true doctrine, and to involve themselves in manifold errors, God, willing to provide...

9-13 Though we read the word in private, we must not think it needless to hear it read in public. This solemn reading of the law must be done in the year of release. The year of release was typical of gospel grace, which is called the acceptable year of the Lord; for our pardon and liberty by Christ, engage us to keep his commandments. It must be read to all Israel, men, women, children, and to the strangers. It is the will of God that all people should acquaint themselves with his word. It is a rule to all, therefore should be read to all. Whoever has read of the pains taken by many persons to get scraps of the Scriptures, when a whole copy could not be obtained, or safely possessed, will see how thankful we should be for the thousands of copies amongst us. They will also understand the very different situation in which the Israelites were placed for many ages. But the heart of man is...

Verse Deuteronomy 31:10-5. _AT THE END OF_ EVERY _SEVEN YEARS-THOU SHALT READ_ _THIS LAW_] Every _seventh year_ was a year of _release_, Deuteronomy 15:1, at which time the people's minds, being under a peculiar degree of solemnity, were better disposed to hear and profit by the words of God. I suppose on this ground also that the whole book of _Deuteronomy_ is meant, as it alone contains an epitome of the whole Pentateuch. And in this way some of the chief Jewish rabbins understand this place. It is strange that this commandment, relative to a _public_ reading of the law every seven years, should have been rarely attended to. It does not appear that from the time mentioned...

PART IV.—FAREWELL ADDRESS OF MOSES, WITH HIS PARTING SONG AND BENEDICTION. CHAPTERS 31-33. EXPOSITION _Moses _had now finished his work as the legislator and ruler and leader of Israel. But ere he finally retired from his place, he had to take order for the carrying forward of the work by the nomination of a successor to himself in the leadership; by committing the keeping of the Law to the priests; and by anew admonishing the people to obedience, encouraging them to go forward to the conquest of Canaan, animating them with the assurance of the Divine favor and blessing, and pronouncing on them his parting benediction. Deuteronomy

AND MOSES COMMANDED THEM,.... The priests and the elders, to whom the law was delivered: SAYING; as follows: AT THE END OF [EVERY] SEVEN YEARS; every seventh year was a year of rest to the land, and of remission of debts to poor debtors: at the close of this year or going out of it, according to the Misnah t, even on the eighth year coming in, the following was to be done, namely, the reading of the law; and so Jarchi interprets it of the first year of release, the eighth, that is, the first year after the year of release; but Aben Ezra better interprets it of the beginning of the seventh year; for as he elsewhere observes on Deuteronomy 15:1; the word signifies the extremity of the year, and there are two extremities of it, the beginning and the end, and the first extremity is meant; which is more likely than that the reading of the law should b

III. THE FINAL WORDS OF MOSES AND THE VISION OF THE FUTURE 1. Moses' Final Charge, The Written Law Delivered, and Jehovah's Word to Moses CHAPTER 31 _ 1. The final charge of Moses (Deuteronomy 31:1)_ 2. The written law delivered (Deuteronomy 31:9) 3. Jehovah's word to Moses--Moses to Joshua (Deuteronomy 31:14) 4. A prophecy (Deuteronomy 31:24) The final words of Moses to the people are full of tenderness and affection. There he stood, an hundred and twenty years old, a witness to the grace of His God. His eye was still the eye of youth, for it knew

Part of D according to Kuenen, Dillmann, etc. It is this law (D) which is to be read at Tabernacles (Deuteronomy 16:13) and septennially in the year of release (Deuteronomy 15:1 ff.*). Deuteronomy 31:11. appear before: Deuteronomy 16:16 *. Deuteronomy 31:12. See Deuteronomy 29:11. Deuteronomy 31:

AT THE END, &C. Compare Deuteronomy 15:1. SOLEMNITY. appointed time. Hebrew. _mo'ed._ YEAR OF RELEASE. So called in Deuteronomy 15:9. The "release" is referred to in Deuteronomy 15:1; Deuteronomy 15:2; Deuteronomy 15:3. The noun "release" occurs only in these two passages. The verb occurs in Exodus 23:11. TABERNACLES. booths....

The Law written and delivered to the Levites, etc. Moses wrote this Law and gave it to the priests and elders, charging them to read it every seventh year at the Feast of Booths to all Israel, women, little ones and _gerim_included, that they and their children might evermore fear God and do its words upon the land. The language is almost purely deuteronomic, and the passage may be original to D (Dillm. Dri., etc.) or from the edition of D, introduced by 1 3 (-not impossible," Berth. Marti). Steuern. takes parts of it as original to his Sg. author, the rest due to later expansion, but his analysis is precarious; Cullen (147, 159) as part of the epilogue to the Torah. The order of the passage, between two others relating the commission to Joshua, is inexplicable, unless we suppose that in place of _the priests, the sons of Levi … and the elders_, to whom Deuteronomy 31:9 descr