Verse-by-Verse Bible CommentaryDeuteronomy 11:26
"See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: Jump to: Clarke Commentary • Gill's Exposition • Wesley's Notes • Calvin's Commentary • Trapp's Commentary • Coke's Commentary • Poole's Annotations • Whedon's Commentary • Benson's Commentary • Haydock's Catholic Commentary • Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes • Commentary Critical and Explanatory - Unabridged • Ellicott's Commentary • Treasury of Knowledge Other Authors
Adam Clarke CommentaryBehold, I set before you - a blessing and a curse - If God had not put it in the power of this people either to obey or disobey; if they had not had a free will, over which they had complete authority, to use it either in the way of willing or nilling; could God, with any propriety, have given such precepts as these, sanctioned with such promises and threatenings? If they were not free agents, they could not be punished for disobedience, nor could they, in any sense of the word, have been rewardable for obedience. A Stone is not rewardable because, in obedience to the laws of gravitation, it always tends to the center; nor is it punishable be cause, in being removed from that center, in its tending or falling towards it again it takes away the life of a man. That God has given man a free, self-determining Will, which cannot be forced by any power but that which is omnipotent, and which God himself never will force, is declared in the most formal manner through the whole of the sacred writings. No argument can affect this, while the Bible is considered as a Divine revelation; no sophistry can explain away its evidence, as long as the accountableness of man for his conduct is admitted, and as long as the eternal bounds of moral good and evil remain, and the essential distinctions between vice and virtue exist. If ye will obey, (for God is ever ready to assist), ye shall live; if ye will disobey and refuse that help, ye shall die. So hath Jehovah spoken, and man cannot reverse it. Copyright Statement Bibliography John Gill's Exposition of the Whole BibleBehold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse,.... Meaning the law of God, and the statutes, judgments, and commandments of it; which, if obeyed, blessings would be bestowed upon them; but if disobeyed, they would be liable to the curses of it, as the following words explain it; see Deuteronomy 30:15 everyone of the Israelites were called upon to see and consider this matter, it being an interesting one to them all. Copyright Statement Bibliography Wesley's Explanatory NotesBehold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; I set before you — I propose them to your choice. Copyright Statement Bibliography Calvin's Commentary on the Bible26.Behold, I set before you this day. He now embraces the two points at once, viz., that they would be blessed if they earnestly apply themselves to the keeping of the Law, and cursed, if they shake off its yoke and revel in their lusts. But, when he says that he here sets before them a blessing and a curse, it is as much as to declare, that he does not merely tell them what is right, but that the reward is prepared if they obey; and if not, that the punishment is also at hand. Thus we see, that the doctrine which he had hitherto delivered is sealed by hope and fear, since they would not lose their labor if they obeyed it, nor be unpunished if they rejected it. But, that they may learn surely to embrace the promises and to fear the threatenings, he repeats what we have met with before, (203) that God, who is both a faithful rewarder, and a severe judge, is the Author of the Law; yet at the same time he magnifies his own ministry, (204) since it behooved them to depend upon God, and to acquiesce in His commandments, in such a manner as still to submit themselves to His Prophet. For such is men’s pride, that they desire to fly above the clouds to listen to God; whilst He would be heard in His servants, by whose mouth He speaks. Moses, therefore, would again enforce upon them this humility, when he states that he enjoins what God has commanded, as if to call himself the organ of the Holy Spirit. Copyright Statement Bibliography John Trapp Complete CommentaryDeuteronomy 11:26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; Ver. 26. A blessing and a curse.] With the way to either, that if ye miscarry ye may have none to blame but yourselves. For oft it falls out, that whereas "the foolishness of man perverteth his way, his heart fretteth against the Lord." [Proverbs 19:3] Copyright Statement Bibliography Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy BibleVer. 26. A blessing and a curse— Concerning this blessing and curse, and its remarkable completion in the history of the Jews, we shall have occasion to speak more fully when we come to the 28th chapter; as well as concerning Gerizim and Ebal, when we come to Joshua 8:33. Copyright Statement Bibliography Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy BibleI propose them to your minds and to your choice. Copyright Statement Bibliography Whedon's Commentary on the Bible26. Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse — A blessing, if they obey and have Jehovah for their God; a curse, if they are disobedient and go after other gods. Copyright Statement Bibliography Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New TestamentsDeuteronomy 11:26. I set before you — I propose them to your consideration and your choice. So that if a curse should be your portion, instead of a blessing, and you should be in a calamitous and miserable, and not in a prosperous and happy condition, you must thank yourselves for it. This he explains more at large in the 28th chapter. And the whole historical part of the Old Testament bears witness that God caused a blessing or a curse to attend them, according as they observed or broke his laws. Copyright Statement Bibliography George Haydock's Catholic Bible CommentaryCurse. Their respective effects you shall experience, according to your behaviour. (Calmet) --- God helps our free will to do good. (St. Augustine, q. 15.) (Worthington) Copyright Statement Bibliography E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible NotesBehold. Figure of speech Asterismos. App-6. Copyright Statement Bibliography Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - UnabridgedBehold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse - (see the note at Deuteronomy 27:11.) Copyright Statement Bibliography Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(26) Behold.—Another of the Jewish divisions of Deuteronomy begins here. A blessing and a curse.—Literally, blessing and cursing—the blessing if ye obey, and the curse if ye do not. Copyright Statement Bibliography Treasury of Scripture KnowledgeBehold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;
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