Deuteronomy 4:9

_AND WHAT NATION IS THERE SO GREAT, THAT HATH STATUTES AND JUDGMENTS SO RIGHTEOUS AS ALL THIS LAW, WHICH I SET BEFORE YOU THIS DAY?_ No JFB commentary on these verses....

9._Only take heed to thyself _The same particle, רק, _rak, _of which I have just spoken, is used here, and its meaning in this place is, as if Moses had said, that this _only _remained; unless it is preferred to translate it _nevertheless. _What follows means literally “Guard _(custodi) _thyself, and guard thy soul;” wherein Moses advances by degrees, reminding them that they needed no common heedfulness, but that they must beware with extreme vigilance and diligence lest they should fail through the want of them; for the slothfulness of the flesh must be spurred on by such instigations as these, and at the same time our weakness must be fortified, and we must take measures against our unsteadfastness; for nothing is more easy than that all our zeal should suddenly be forgotten, or should gradually grow cold. God had established the certainty of His law, as far as was necessary, for the...

1-23 The power and love of God to Israel are here made the ground and reason of a number of cautions and serious warnings; and although there is much reference to their national covenant, yet all may be applied to those who live under the gospel. What are laws made for but to be observed and obeyed? Our obedience as individuals cannot merit salvation; but it is the only evidence that we are partakers of the gift of God, which is eternal life through Jesus Christ, Considering how many temptations we are compassed with, and what corrupt desires we have in our bosoms, we have great need to keep our hearts with all diligence. Those cannot walk aright, who walk carelessly. Moses charges particularly to take heed of the sin of idolatry. He shows how weak the temptation would be to those who thought aright; for these pretended gods, the sun, moon, and stars, were only blessings which the Lord...

Verse Deuteronomy 4:9. _ONLY TAKE HEED TO THYSELF_] Be circumspect and watchful. _KEEP THY SOUL DILIGENTLY_] Be mindful of thy eternal interests. Whatever becomes of the _body_, take care of the _soul_. _LEST THOU FORGET_] God does his work that they may be had in everlasting _remembrance_; and he that _forgets_ them, forgets his own mercies. Besides, if a man forget the work of God on his soul, he loses that work. _LEST THEY DEPART FROM THY HEART_] It is not sufficient to lay up Divine things in the _memory_, they must be laid up in the _heart_. _Thy word have I hidden in my heart_, says David, _that I might not_ _sin against thee_. The life of God in the soul of man can alone preserve the soul to life everlasting; and this grace must be retained

A full stop should end Deuteronomy 4:9; and Deuteronomy 4:10 begin, At the time that thou stoodest, etc. Deuteronomy 4:11 then ye came near, etc. Moses, exhorting to heedful observance of the Law, strives to renew the impressions of that tremendous scene which attended its promulgation at Sinai....

EXPOSITION DEUTERONOMY 4:1 ADMONITIONS AND EXHORTATIONS. Moses, having presented to the people certain facts in their recent history which had in them a specially animating and encouraging tendency, proceeds to direct his discourse to the inculcation of duties and exhortations to obedience to the Divine enactments. This portion also of his address is of an introductory character as well as what precedes. DEUTERONOMY 4:1 _Exhortation to the observance of the Law generally_._ _The Law was to be kept as a complete whole; nothing was to be taken from it or added to it; it comprised the commandments of Jehovah, and therefore they were not only to do it as what Moses, thei

ONLY TAKE HEED TO THYSELF,.... To walk according to this law, and not swerve from it: AND KEEP THY SOUL DILIGENTLY; from the transgressions and breaches of it: LEST THOU FORGET THE THINGS WHICH THINE EYES HAVE SEEN; either the statutes and judgments set before them, and the circumstances of the delivery of them; or the punishment inflicted on the breakers of them; or the favours bestowed on those that observed them: AND LEST THEY DEPART FROM THY HEART ALL THE DAYS OF THY LIFE; out of thy mind and memory, and have no place in thy affections, through a neglect and disuse of them: BUT TEACH THEM THY SONS, AND THY SONS' SONS; their children and grandchildren, that they may be trained up in them in their youth, and so not depart from them when grown up, and in years; see Deuteronomy 6:7....

3. HEARKEN, O ISRAEL! CHAPTER 4 _ 1. Obedience demanded (Deuteronomy 4:1)_ 2. The covenant to be observed (Deuteronomy 4:9) 3. Take heed unto yourselves lest ye forget (Deuteronomy 4:15) 4. The warning (Deuteronomy 4:25) 5. Israel, the chosen nation (Deuteronomy 4:32) “Now therefore hearken, O Israel” marks the beginning of the exhortation to keep the law of the Lord. First he had shown the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord and upon that Moses admonishes them to

SECOND PART OF MOSES-' FIRST ADDRESS. This contains exhortations to obedience from motives of self-interest and of gratitude to Yahweh, and forms an apparent logical unity with Deuteronomy 1:6 to Deuteronomy 3:29: but the two pieces had probably a separate origin. The lessons in Deuteronomy 4:1 are not drawn immediately from chs. 1- 3. The writer of 1- 3 has in mind the events which followed the departure from Horeb: that of Deuteronomy 4:1 concentrates attention upon the theophany on Horeb. Deuteronomy 4:27 see

TAKE HEED. Note the three occurrences in this chapter (verses: Deuteronomy 4:9; Deuteronomy 4:15; Deuteronomy 4:23). THY SOUL. thyself. Hebrew thy _nephesh_....