Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• 14. The rape of Dinah and the revenge of Simeon and Levi ch. 34
  After Shechem the Canaanite raped Dinah, Simeon and Levi gained revenge by deceiving the Shechemites into being circumcised as the condition for Dinah's marriage. Then they murdered the incapacitated men of the city."The stor...
• The reiteration of basic principles of worship 23:13-19
  23:13 This verse is a summary warning against idolatry (cf. 20:22-23)."The continual return to the theme of idolatry throughout this section of the book is preparation and background for an appreciation of the incident of the...
• Visual reminders to keep the law 15:37-41
  Perhaps God initiated this command in response to the incident of Sabbath-breaking just mentioned.The Israelites were to wear tassels on the four corners of their upper outer garments (Deut. 22:12). The text does not explain ...
• Message9
  Let me share with you a couple of quotations that point out the importance of this book."Deuteronomy is one of the greatest books of the Old Testament. Its significance on the domestic and personal religion of all ages has no...
• Outline
  I. Introduction: the covenant setting 1:1-5II. Moses' first major address: a review of God's faithfulness 1:6-4:40A. God's past dealings with Israel 1:6-3:291. God's guidance from Sinai to Kadesh 1:6-462. The march from Kades...
• I. INTRODUCTION: the Covenant setting 1:1-5
  This brief section places the events that follow in their geographical and chronological setting. It introduces the occasion for the covenant, the parties involved, and other information necessary to identify the document and...
• 5. The uniqueness of Yahweh and Israel 4:32-40
  "The passage at hand is without comparison as a discourse on the doctrine of God."56Moses' three rhetorical questions (vv. 32-34) clearly point out the uniqueness of Yahweh."In addition to His self-disclosure in event, in his...
• IV. MOSES' SECOND MAJOR ADDRESS: AN EXPOSITION OF THE LAW chs. 5--26
  ". . . Deuteronomy contains the most comprehensive body of laws in the Pentateuch. It is clearly intended to be consulted for guidance on many aspects of daily life, in sharp contrast with the laws of Leviticus, which are ver...
• The seventh commandment 5:18
  This commandment deals with adultery only. Whereas murder violates life itself, adultery violates the most important and sacred human relationship, marriage.88God dealt with other forms of sexual sin elsewhere (cf. chs. 22-25...
• 2. Exhortation to love Yahweh ch. 6
  Another writer suggested that chapters 6-26 expand the Decalogue with the intent of addressing the spirit of the law.92He believed the structure of the book supports his contention that the writer chose exemplary cases. Moses...
• 3. Examples of the application of the principles chs. 7-11
  "These clearly are not laws or commandments as such but primarily series of parenetic homilies in which Moses exhorted the people to certain courses of action in light of the upcoming conquest and occupation of Canaan. Within...
• The consequences of obedience and disobedience ch. 11
  The section of Deuteronomy dealing with general stipulations of the covenant ends as it began, with an exhortation to covenant loyalty (5:1-5; cf. 4:32-40)."This chapter is to be understood as a re-emphasis of these principle...
• B. An exposition of selected covenant laws 12-25
  Moses' homiletical exposition of the law of Israel that follows explains reasons for the covenant laws that arose from the Ten Commandments. This address concludes with directions for celebrating and confirming the covenant (...
• Respect for life 21:22-22:8
  This section opens and closes with references to death (21:22; 22:8) placing it within the legislation dealing with the sixth commandment.238...
• Preventing accidental death 22:1-8
  Love for one's neighbor comes through in several concrete situations in verses 1-4. Failure to get involved and help a neighbor in need is also wrong under the New Covenant (James 2:15-16; 1 John 3:17).Men appeared in women's...
• Illustrations of the principle 22:9-12
  Adultery involves mixing people in a way that they should not mix, so the antithesis is keeping things properly apart separate. The prohibitions against mixing seed, animals in yoke, and fibers in clothing (vv. 9-11) seem to ...
• The marriage relationship 22:13-30
  Moses considered seven types of cases in these verses.The first case (vv. 13-19) is of a man who marries a woman and then falsely charges her with being a harlot (not being a virgin when he married her). If the girl could pro...
• 1. Laws of covenant celebration and confirmation 26:1-15
  This section concludes the "purely legal material."284The ordinances with which Moses concluded his second address (chs. 5-26) not only specified the Israelites' actions in further respects but also focused their thinking on ...
• 2. Summary exhortation 26:16-19
  "The presentation of the commandments and the statutes and ordinances that will guide Israel's life in the land is over now. Verse 16 serves as a concluding bracket around chapters 5-26, matching Moses' introduction to the wh...
• 2. The seventh year covenant renewal ceremony 31:9-13
  "Moses assigned the priests and elders the duty of regularly republishing the law of the covenant. The effect of this was to associate the priests and elders with Joshua in the responsibility of rule and in the esteem of Isra...
• Bibliography
  Adams, Jay. Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible. Phillipsburg, N.J.: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1980.Albright, William Foxwell. The Archaeology of Palestine. 1949. Revised ed. Pelican Archaeology seri...
• 2. Josiah's reforms 22:3-23:27
  Josiah began to seek Yahweh when he was 16 years old and began initiating religious reforms when he was 20 (2 Chron. 34:3-7). His reforms were more extensive than those of any of his predecessors. One of them was the repair o...
• Samaria's prostitution 23:5-10
  23:5-8 Oholah proved unfaithful to the Lord by lusting after her attractive neighbors, the Assyrians."The appeal, then as now, was to youth, strength, position, wealth and self-gratification; that is, the world in all its daz...
• 2. The course of Judah's judgment 1:7-13
  1:7 In view of the inevitability of coming judgment for idolatry, it was appropriate for the Judeans to be quiet before sovereign Yahweh (cf. Hab. 2:20)."This is a call to the people of Judah to cease every manner of oppositi...
• God's will concerning oaths 5:33-37
  5:33 Jesus next gave a condensation of several commands in the Old Testament that forbade taking an oath, invoking the Lord's name to guarantee the oath, and then breaking it (Exod. 20:7; Lev. 19:12; Num. 30:2; Deut. 5:11; 6:...
• The raising of Jairus' daughter and the healing of a woman with a hemorrhage 9:18-26 (cf. Mark 5:21-43; Luke 8:40-56)
  9:18-19 This incident evidently happened shortly after Jesus and His disciples returned from Gadara on the east side of the lake (cf. Mark 5:21-22; Luke 8:40-41). The name of this Capernium synagogue ruler was Jairus (Mark 5:...
• 1. Jesus' admonition of the multitudes and His disciples 23:1-12 (cf. Mark 12:38-39; Luke 20:45-46)
  23:1 As we have seen, there were three groups of people present in the temple courtyard. These were the disciples of Jesus, His critics, namely the various groups of Israel's leaders, and the crowds of ordinary Israelites. Je...
• The counter-balancing caution 6:14-7:1
  The Corinthians had a tendency to respond to Paul's teachings by first resisting them and then going overboard in applying them inappropriately. They had done this in dealing with the incestuous man (1 Cor. 5). Consequently P...