Deuteronomy 27:14

And the Levites shall speak, and say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice,

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

Deuteronomy 27:14. The Levites — Some of the Levites, namely, the priests, who bare the ark, as it is expressed Joshua 8:33, for the body of the Levites stood upon mount Gerizim, Deuteronomy 27:12. But these stood in the valley between Gerizim and Ebal, looking toward the one or the other mountain as they pronounced either the blessings or the curses.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

27:11-26 The six tribes appointed for blessing, were all children of the free women, for to such the promise belongs, Ga 4:31. Levi is here among the rest. Ministers should apply to themselves the blessing and curse they preach to others, and by faith set their own Amen to it. And they must not only allure people to their duty with the promises of a blessing, but awe them with the threatenings of a curse, by declaring that a curse would be upon those who do such things. To each of the curses the people were to say, Amen. It professed their faith, that these, and the like curses, were real declarations of the wrath of God against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, not one jot of which shall fall to the ground. It was acknowledging the equity of these curses. Those who do such things deserve to fall, and lie under the curse. Lest those who were guilty of other sins, not here mentioned, should think themselves safe from the curse, the last reaches all. Not only those who do the evil which the law forbids, but those also who omit the good which the law requires. Without the atoning blood of Christ, sinners can neither have communion with a holy God, nor do any thing acceptable to him; his righteous law condemns every one who, at any time, or in any thing, transgresses it. Under its awful curse we remain as transgressors, until the redemption of Christ is applied to our hearts. Wherever the grace of God brings salvation, it teaches the believer to deny ungodliness and wordly lusts, to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, consenting to, and delighting in the words of God's law, after the inward man. In this holy walk, true peace and solid joy are to be found.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The tribes appointed to stand on Gerizim to bless the people all sprang from the two wives of Jacob, Leah and Rachel. All the four tribes which sprang from the handmaids Zilpah and Bilhah are located on Ebal. But in order, as it would seem, to effect an equal division, two tribes are added to the latter from the descendants of the wives, that of Reuben, probably because he forfeited his primogeniture Genesis 49:4; and of Zebulun, apparently because he was the youngest son of Leah.

The transaction presents itself as a solemn renewal of the covenant made by God with Abraham and Isaac, but more especially with Jacob and his family. Accordingly the genealogical basis of the "twelve patriarchs" (compare Acts 7:12; Revelation 7:4 ff), the sons of Jacob, is here assumed. The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh are merged in the name of Joseph, their father; and Levi regains on this occasion his place collaterally with the others. "The Levites" of Deuteronomy 27:14 are no doubt "the priests the Levites" (compare Joshua 8:33), in whom the ministerial character attaching to the tribe was more particularly manifested. It is noteworthy that the group of tribes which stood on Gerizim far exceeded the other in numbers and in importance, thus perhaps indicating that even by the Law the blessing should at length prevail.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

De 27:11-13. The Tribes Divided on Gerizim and Ebal.

11-13. These shall stand upon mount Gerizim to bless the people … these shall stand upon mount Ebal to curse—Those long, rocky ridges lay in the province of Samaria, and the peaks referred to were near Shechem (Nablous), rising in steep precipices to the height of about eight hundred feet and separated by a green, well-watered valley of about five hundred yards wide. The people of Israel were here divided into two parts. On mount Gerizim (now Jebel-et-Tur) were stationed the descendants of Rachel and Leah, the two principal wives of Jacob, and to them was assigned the most pleasant and honorable office of pronouncing the benedictions; while on the twin hill of Ebal (now Imad-el-Deen) were placed the posterity of the two secondary wives, Zilpah and Bilhah, with those of Reuben, who had lost the primogeniture, and Zebulun, Leah's youngest son; to them was committed the necessary but painful duty of pronouncing the maledictions (see on [165]Jud 9:7). The ceremony might have taken place on the lower spurs of the mountains, where they approach more closely to each other; and the course observed was as follows: Amid the silent expectations of the solemn assembly, the priests standing round the ark in the valley below, said aloud, looking to Gerizim, "Blessed is the man that maketh not any graven image," when the people ranged on that hill responded in full simultaneous shouts of "Amen"; then turning round to Ebal, they cried, "Cursed is the man that maketh any graven image"; to which those that covered the ridge answered, "Amen." The same course at every pause was followed with all the blessings and curses (see on [166]Jos 8:33, 34). These curses attendant on disobedience to the divine will, which had been revealed as a law from heaven, be it observed, are given in the form of a declaration, not a wish, as the words should be rendered, "Cursed is he," and not, "Cursed be he."

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The Levites, i.e. some of the Levites, to wit, the priests,

which bare the ark, as it is expressed, Joshua 8:33, for the body of the Levites stood upon Mount Gerizim, Deu 27:12; but these stood in the valley between Gerizim and Ebal, looking towards the one or the other mountain as they pronounced either the blessings or the curses, as may be gathered from Joshua 8:33.

With a loud voice; so as they might be heard by a great number of the people, by whom the rest were informed and directed by some signal when they should answer.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the Levites shall speak, and say unto all the men of Israel,.... Rather, "answer (e) and say"; not the whole tribe of Levi, for that stood on Mount Gerizim to bless, Deuteronomy 27:12; but the priests of that tribe who were placed in the valley, between the two mountains, and pronounced both the blessings and the curses in the hearing of all the tribes of Israel, to which they were to answer Amen; and that they might plainly hear, they expressed their words

with a loud voice, clearly and distinctly, as follow.

(e) "respondebunt", Montanus.

Geneva Study Bible

And the Levites shall speak, and say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice,

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

14. answer] As in Deuteronomy 21:7, solemnly pronounce.

with a loud voice] Lit. a high voice, not elsewhere in the O.T. Cp. Deuteronomy 5:19, a great voice.

14–26. Appointment of the Levites to Curse

According to 11–13 both a blessing and a curse were to be pronounced, here we have only curses, twelve in number. There Levi was one of six tribes appointed to bless; here the Levites, in religious distinction from all the other tribes, are to pronounce the curses. Further, the 12 curses are not confined to sins dealt with in the Code of D; the objects of only 7 are forbidden in D, of 6 in E, Exodus 20:2-23, of 1 in J, Exodus 34, and of as many as Deuteronomy 27:9 in H, Leviticus 17-26. The inferences are reasonable that this passage is not from the same hand as the preceding (i.e. not from E) and not from D.

The inclusion of so many sins forbidden only in H does not necessarily imply that the list of curses is exilic (Berth.). It may be from a source independent of all those documents, some national or local liturgy; and Meyer—Luther (Die Israeliten, 552) suggest that it was in use at the sanctuary of Shechem. Nor is the hand which introduced it here that of D, but of a late editor, for note the simple term Levites instead of D’s the priests the Levites and the phrase unto all the men of Israel, found elsewhere only in Joshua 10:24 in a passage with many editorial elements. D’s phrase is all Israel (see, above Deuteronomy 27:9).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 14. - The Levites - standing probably in some convenient spot midway between the two mountains (cf. Joshua 8:33) - were to pronounce with a loud voice the blessing and the curse, so that all might hear; and the people were to give their assent, and take to themselves, as it were, the blessing or the curse as uttered, by a solemn Amen. By the Levites here are intended, not the sons of Levi generally, but that portion of them which belonged to the priesthood, and bare the ark of the covenant (cf. Joshua 8:33). Deuteronomy 27:14

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"And the Levites shall lift up and speak to all the men of Israel with a high (loud) voice:" i.e., they shall pronounce the different formularies of blessing and cursing, turning towards the tribes to whom these utterances apply; and all the men of Israel shall answer "Amen," to take to themselves the blessing and the curse, as uttered by them; just as in the case of the priestly blessing in Numbers 5:22, and in connection with every oath, in which the person swearing took upon himself the oath that was pronounced, by replying "Amen." "The Levites" are not all the members of the tribe of Levi, but those "in whom the spiritual character of Levi was most decidedly manifested" (Baumgarten), i.e., the levitical priests, as the guardians and teachers of the law, and those who carried the ark of the covenant (Joshua 8:33). From the passage in Joshua, where the fulfilment of the Mosaic injunctions is recorded, we learn that the Levitical priests stationed themselves in the centre between the two mountains, with the ark of the covenant, and that the people took up their position, on both sides, opposite to the ark, viz., six tribes on Gerizim, and six on Ebal. The priests, who stood in the midst, by the ark of the covenant, then pronounced the different formularies of blessing and cursing, to which the six tribes answered "Amen." From the expression "all the men of Israel," it is perfectly evident that in this particular ceremony the people were not represented by their elders or heads, but were present in the persons of all their adult men who were over twenty years of age; and with this Joshua 8:33, when rightly interpreted, fully harmonizes.