Deuteronomy 12:13

Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(13, 14) Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest: But in the place which the Lord shall choose.—An attempt is made by some modern writers to establish a contradiction between this precept and the one in Exodus 20:24 : “In all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.” But they are not really contradictory. The choice of Jehovah makes the place of acceptance. He need not always choose the same spot-Either this law in Deuteronomy was written by Moses or it was not. If it was, it must be taken in the same sense as Exodus 20:24. If it was the work of later times, the writer must have known perfectly that Jehovah had varied His choice from time to time, and therefore the injunction must still have the same sense. Rashi remarks upon the words “Take heed that thou offer not . . . in every place that thou seest”—i.e. which comes into thy mind—“but thou must offer at the command of a prophet, as, for instance, Elijah on Mount Carmel.” It seems clear that the general principle inculcated here is the same with that of Exodus 20 and of Leviticus 17. The choice of Jehovah makes the place of worship. Details may safely be left to the direction of the authorised Divine representatives at any given time. If the Jews themselves saw no difficulty or discrepancy in these Scriptures, is it any proof of wisdom for us to make difficulties? Do we not rather prove the imperfection of our own understanding?

Benson Commentary

Deuteronomy 12:13. Thy burnt-offerings — Nor the other things mentioned above, this one and most eminent kind being put for all the rest.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

12:5-32 The command to bring ALL the sacrifices to the door of the tabernacle, was now explained with reference to the promised land. As to moral service, then, as now, men might pray and worship every where, as they did in their synagogues. The place which God would choose, is said to be the place where he would put his name. It was to be his habitation, where, as King of Israel, he would be found by all who reverently sought him. Now, under the gospel, we have no temple or altar that sanctifies the gift but Christ only: and as to the places of worship, the prophets foretold that in every place the spiritual incense should be offered, Mal 1:11. Our Saviour declared, that those are accepted as true worshippers, who worship God in sincerity and truth, without regard either to this mountain or Jerusalem, Joh 4:21. And a devout Israelite might honour God, keep up communion with him, and obtain mercy from him, though he had no opportunity of bringing a sacrifice to his altar. Work for God should be done with holy joy and cheerfulness. Even children and servants must rejoice before God; the services of religion are to be a pleasure, and not a task or drudgery. It is the duty of people to be kind to their ministers, who teach them well, and set them good examples. As long as we live, we need their assistance, till we come to that world where ordinances will not be needed. Whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do, we are commanded to do all to the glory of God. And we must do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to the Father through him. They must not even inquire into the modes and forms of idolatrous worship. What good would it do them to know those depths of Satan? And our inward satisfaction will be more and more, as we abound in love and good works, which spring from faith and the in-dwelling Spirit of Christ.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Moses points out that heretofore they had not observed the prescribed order in their worship, because during their migratory life in the wilderness it had been impossible to do so. During their wanderings there were doubtless times when the tabernacle was not set up for days together, and when the daily sacrifice Numbers 28:3, together with many other ordinances, were necessarily omitted (compare Joshua 5:5). This consideration must be carefully borne in mind throughout Deuteronomy. It illustrates the necessity for a repetition of very much of the Sinaitic legislation, and suggests the reason why some parts are so urgently reiterated and impressed, while others are left unnoticed. Moses now warns the people that as they were about to quit their unsettled mode of life, God's purpose of choosing for Himself a place to set His Name there would be executed, and the whole of the sacred ritual would consequently become obligatory. The "rest and safety" of Canaan is significantly laid down Deuteronomy 12:10-11 as the indispensable condition and basis for an entire fulfillment of the Law: the perfection of righteousness coinciding thus with the cessation of wanderings, dangers, and toils.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

12. ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, &c.—Hence it appears that, although males only were commanded to appear before God at the annual solemn feasts (Ex 23:17), the women were allowed to accompany them (1Sa 1:3-23).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Nor the other things mentioned above, this one and most eminent kind being put for all the rest, as is usual; for being all expressed before, it was needless to repeat them again.

In every place that thou seest, to wit, with complacency and approbation, which thou thinkest very fit and proper for such a work, as one might possibly judge of some high places, or groves, or gardens.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Take heed to thyself, that thou offer not thy burnt offerings,.... And so any other, this is put for all the rest:

in every place that thou seest; which might take with their fancy, seem pleasant, and so a proper and suitable place to sacrifice in, as on high places, and under green trees; but they were not to indulge their own fancies and imaginations, or follow the customs of others, but keep to the rules prescribed them by the Lord, and to the place fixed by him for his worship.

Geneva Study Bible

Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest:

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

13–19. Third Statement of the Law of the One Sanctuary

In the Sg. address and with phrases characteristic of that form. In substance much the same as the two previous statements, the zebaḥim being curiously omitted from the list of offerings. Deuteronomy 12:15 f. are clearly a later insertion. We see from this statement how a law tended in the hands of the deuteronomists to grow both in content and form.

Deuteronomy 12:13. Take heed to thyself] See on Deuteronomy 6:12.

burnt offerings] ‘Olôth alone without zebaḥim. This may have been the original form of the law. Contrast Deuteronomy 12:6; Deuteronomy 12:11.

in every place that thou seest] Peculiar to this statement: i.e. every sacred place used as such by the Canaanites on the conspicuous positions described in Deuteronomy 12:2. Thou seest, cp. Ezekiel 20:28, when I had brought them into the land … then they saw (or looked out for) every high hill and every thick tree and offered there, etc.

Deuteronomy 12:14. See on Deuteronomy 12:5 : here in one of thy tribes instead of out of all thy tribes.

Deuteronomy 12:15-16. Notwithstanding … Only] Both = Heb. raḳ, used to introduce exceptions or qualifications to the laws, 10 times, and 10 more in the rest of the book (see on Deuteronomy 10:15). On the contents of these verses see Deuteronomy 12:20-25 which they anticipate, disturbing at the same time the list of offerings begun in Deuteronomy 12:13-14 and continued in Deuteronomy 12:17. The immediate connection of Deuteronomy 12:17 with Deuteronomy 12:14 is clear. On these grounds Deuteronomy 12:15-16 are generally taken as a later insertion. Note, too, the Pl. ye shall not eat in 16. The Pl. does not occur in the rest of this statement of the law and may well be due to the hand that has made this addition; as so many of these sporadic changes of address are found in editorial additions. The LXX confirms the Pl. here: the Sam. Sg. may be due to harmonising.

Deuteronomy 12:17. Direct continuation of Deuteronomy 12:13-14, completing the list of offerings to be brought to the one altar. On the contents see on Deuteronomy 12:6; Deuteronomy 12:11 : the phraseology is however, characteristic of the Sg. passages.

Thou mayest not] Heb., lit. thou shalt not be able: in the sense thou must or darest not only in Sg. passages: here, Deuteronomy 16:5, Deuteronomy 17:15, Deuteronomy 22:3, or with he, Deuteronomy 21:16; Deuteronomy 22:19; Deuteronomy 22:29; Deuteronomy 24:4.

within thy gates] Thy homestead or town of residence: used almost exclusively with Sg. (Deuteronomy 5:14, Deuteronomy 12:17 f., 21, Deuteronomy 14:21; Deuteronomy 14:27-29, Deuteronomy 15:22, Deuteronomy 16:11; Deuteronomy 16:14, Deuteronomy 17:8, Deuteronomy 24:14, Deuteronomy 26:12, Deuteronomy 31:12, cp. Deuteronomy 28:57). Only one Pl. passage has it, Deuteronomy 12:12.

Deuteronomy 12:18. See on Deuteronomy 12:5; Deuteronomy 12:7; Deuteronomy 12:12.

Deuteronomy 12:19. Take heed, etc.] See on Deuteronomy 6:12.

thou forsake not the Levite, etc.] So Deuteronomy 14:27.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 13-16. - They were to beware of offering sacrifice in any place that might seem to them best; their offerings were to be presented only in that place which God should choose. But this did not imply that they were not to kill and eat in their own abodes whatever they desired for food, according to the blessing of Jehovah their God. Only they were to abstain from eating of blood (cf. Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 7:26); that they were to pour on the earth as if it were water. Burnt offering; this is named instar omnium, as the principal offering. Whatsoever thy soul lusteth after. To "lust," in old English, means simply to will, choose, desire; it is the same word as "list," or, as it is sometimes spelt, "lest," and does not, as now, imply anything evil. As of the roebuck, and as of the hart; probably the gazelle and fallow deer. As these were animals that could not be offered in sacrifice, the distinction between clean and unclean, on the part of the eaters, did not come into consideration. Deuteronomy 12:13

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

But when the Israelites had crossed over the Jordan, and dwelt peaceably in Canaan, secured against their enemies round about, these irregularities were not to occur any more; but all the sacrifices were to be offered at the place chosen by the Lord for the dwelling-place of His name, and there the sacrificial meals were to be held with joy before the Lord. "The choice of your vows," equivalent to your chosen vows, inasmuch as every vow was something special, as the standing phrase נדר פּלּא (Leviticus 22:21, and Numbers 15:3, Numbers 15:8) distinctly shows. - "Rejoicing before the Lord," which is the phrase applied in Leviticus 23:40 to the celebration of the feast of Tabernacles, was to be the distinctive feature of all the sacrificial meals held by the people at the sanctuary, as is repeatedly affirmed (Deuteronomy 14:26; Deuteronomy 16:11; Deuteronomy 26:11; Deuteronomy 27:7). This holy joy in the participation of the blessing bestowed by the Lord was to be shared not only by sons and daughters, but also by salve (men-servants and maid-servants), that they too might taste the friendliness of their God, and also by "the Levite that is in your gates" (i.e., your towns and hamlets; see at Exodus 20:10). This frequently recurring description of the Levites (cf. Deuteronomy 12:18; Deuteronomy 14:27; Deuteronomy 16:11, Deuteronomy 16:14; Deuteronomy 18:6; Deuteronomy 26:12) does not assume that they were homeless, which would be at variance with the allotment of towns for them to dwell in (Numbers 35); but simply implies what is frequently added in explanation, that the Levites had "no part nor inheritance," no share of the land as their hereditary property, and in this respect resembled strangers (Deuteronomy 14:21, Deuteronomy 14:29; Deuteronomy 16:11, etc.).

(Note: The explanation given by De Wette, and adopted by Riehm, of the expression, "the Levite that is within thy gates," is perfectly arbitrary and unfounded: viz., that "the Levites did not live any longer in the towns assigned them by the earlier laws, but were scattered about in the different towns of the other tribes.")

And the repeated injunction to invite the Levites to the sacrificial meals is not at variance with Numbers 18:21, where the tithes are assigned to the tribe of Levi for their maintenance. For however ample this revenue may have been according to the law, it was so entirely dependent, upon the honesty and conscientiousness of the people, that the Levites might very easily be brought into a straitened condition, if indifference towards the Lord and His servants should prevail throughout the nation. - In Deuteronomy 12:13, Deuteronomy 12:14, Moses concludes by once more summing up these instructions in the admonition to beware of offering sacrifices in every place that they might choose, the burnt-offering, as the leading sacrifice, being mentioned instar omnium.