The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible
The Altar on Mount Ebal
Deuteronomy 27:1–10 — The Altar on Mount Ebal. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.
1Then Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people: “Keep all the commandments I am giving you today.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
mō·šeh wə·ziq·nê yiś·rā·’êl ’eṯ- way·ṣaw hā·‘ām lê·mōr šā·mōr ’eṯ- kāl- ham·miṣ·wāh ’ă·šer ’ā·nō·ḵî mə·ṣaw·weh ’eṯ·ḵem hay·yō·wm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-commanded Moses and-the-elders of-Israel the-people, saying: Keep (infinitive-absolute) all the-commandment which I am-commanding you today.
Where the English smooths the original
Moses with the elders. —Here joined in exhortation for the first time in this book. Keep. —Literally, to keep. Possibly we are intended to connect the two verses. In order to keep them, ye shall write them.
keep all the commandments which I command you this day; not in his own name, as being the supreme legislator, but in the name of the Lord, whom they had avouched to be their God and King, from whom he had received them.
The command in Deuteronomy 27:1 to keep the whole law (שׁמר, inf. abs. for the imperative, as in Exodus 13:3 , etc.), with which the instructions that follow are introduced, indicates at the very outset the purpose for which the law written upon stones was to be set up in Canaan, namely, as a public testimony that the Israelites who were entering into Canaan possessed in the law their rule and source of life.On the grammar of שָׁמֹר as infinitive absolute standing for the imperative.
Moses called the council together, and summoned the body of the people to attend them at the tabernacle; where, after an earnest exhortation to observe what he had already said, and was now about to prescribe to them, he directs them, the first opportunity they had after their arrival in the land of promise, to renew their covenant with God in a solemn manner.
In the Old Testament the words of the law are written, with the curse annexed; which would overcome us with horror, if we had not, in the New Testament, an altar erected close by, which gives consolation.Henry reads the whole unit's structure — law inscribed, altar built beside it — as the Old-Testament shape of the gospel; a figural ✦ reading the synthesis records as commentary, not as a verbal link.
2And on the day you cross the Jordan into the land that the LORD your God is giving you, set up large stones and coat them with plaster.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·hā·yāh bay·yō·wm ’ă·šer ta·‘aḇ·rū ’eṯ- hay·yar·dên ’el- hā·’ā·reṣ ’ă·šer- Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā nō·ṯên lāḵ wa·hă·qê·mō·ṯā lə·ḵā gə·ḏō·lō·wṯ ’ă·ḇā·nîm wə·śaḏ·tā ’ō·ṯām baś·śîḏ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-it-shall-be on-the-day when you-cross over the-Jordan into the-land which Yahweh your-God [is] giving to-you, then-you-shall-set-up for-yourself great stones and-you-shall-coat them with-the-plaster.
Where the English smooths the original
The stones to be set up were to be covered with lime, or gypsum (whether sid signifies lime or gypsum cannot be determined), and all the words of the law were to be written upon them. The writing, therefore, was not to be cut into the stones and then covered with lime (as J. D. Mich., Ros.), but to be inscribed upon the plaistered stones, as was the custom in Egypt, where the walls of buildings, and even monumental stones, which they were about to paint with figures and hieroglyphics, were first of all covered with a coating of lime or gypsum, and then the figures painted upon this (see the testimonies of Minutoli, Heeren, Prokesch in Hengstenberg's Dissertations, i. 433, and Egypt and the Books of Moses, p. 90). The object of this writing was not to hand down the law in this manner to posterity without alteration, but, as has already been stated, simply to set forth a public acknowledgement of the law on the part of the peopleOn שִׂיד H7875 — whether lime or gypsum cannot be determined; the writing was upon the plaster, not cut and then covered.
thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaister them with plaister—These stones were to be taken in their natural state, unhewn, and unpolished—the occasion on which they were used not admitting of long or elaborate preparation; and they were to be daubed over with paint or whitewash, to render them more conspicuous.
and plaister them with plaister ] A whitewash of lime or chalk, as a background for the writing in black or another colour. The practice was Egyptian, and in Egypt the climate was not hostile to the result. But such writing would not survive the winters of Palestine, where not even inscriptions engraved in limestone, but only those in basalt have endured. It is possible therefore that we have here a very ancient fragment incorporated in D.
The stones here named are not those of which the altar Deuteronomy 27:5 was to be built, but are to serve as a separate monument witnessing to the fact that the people took possession of the land by virtue of the Law inscribed on them and with an acknowledgment of its obligations.Barnes keeps the inscribed monument-stones distinct from the altar-stones of v. 5 — the distinction Cambridge says Joshua 8:30 f. later 'confused.'
3Write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over to enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·ḵā·ṯaḇ·tā ‘ă·lê·hen kāl- diḇ·rê haz·zōṯ hat·tō·w·rāh ’eṯ- bə·‘ā·ḇə·re·ḵā lə·ma·‘an ’ă·šer tā·ḇō ’el- hā·’ā·reṣ ’ăšer- Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā nō·ṯên lə·ḵā ’e·reṣ zā·ḇaṯ ḥā·lāḇ ū·ḏə·ḇaš ka·’ă·šer Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê- ’ă·ḇō·ṯe·ḵā lāḵ dib·ber
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-you-shall-write on-them all the-words of-the-law this, when-you-cross-over, so-that you-may-enter into the-land which Yahweh your-God [is] giving to-you, a-land flowing milk and-honey, just-as Yahweh God-of your-fathers promised to-you.
Where the English smooths the original
All the words of this law - i. e. all the laws revealed from God to the people by Moses, regarded by the Jews as 613 (compare Numbers 15:38 note). The exhibition of laws in this manner on stones, pillars, or tables, was familiar to the ancients. The laws were probably graven in the stone ("very plainly," Deuteronomy 27:8 is by some rendered "scoop it out well"), as are for the most part the Egyptian hieroglyphics, the "plaister" being afterward added to protect the inscription from the weather.
The law properly so called, i.e. the sum and substance of the precepts or laws of Moses, especially such as were moral and general, as may be guessed from the following part of the chapter, where the curses pronounced against all that confirm not all the words of this law to do them are particularly applied unto the transgressors of moral laws only
In the clause, "that thou mayest come into the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee," etc., the coming involves the permanent possession of the land. Not only the treading or conquest of Canaan, but the maintenance of the conquered land as a permanent hereditary possession, was promised to Israel; but it would only permanently rejoice in the fulfilment of this promise, if it set up the law of its God in the land, and observed it.
God would have his law set up in the borders of the land of Canaan, that all that looked on it might know that the land was dedicated to his service.
thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law—It might be, as some think, the Decalogue; but a greater probability is that it was "the blessings and curses," which comprised in fact an epitome of the law (Jos 8:34).
4And when you have crossed the Jordan, you are to set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I am commanding you today, and you are to coat them with plaster.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·hā·yāh bə·‘ā·ḇə·rə·ḵem ’eṯ- hay·yar·dên tā·qî·mū ’eṯ- hā·’êl·leh hā·’ă·ḇā·nîm bə·har ‘ê·ḇāl ’ă·šer ’ā·nō·ḵî mə·ṣaw·weh ’eṯ·ḵem hay·yō·wm wə·śaḏ·tā ’ō·w·ṯām baś·śîḏ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-it-shall-be when-you-cross over the-Jordan, you-shall-set-up these the-stones, which I [am] commanding you today, on-Mount Ebal, and-you-shall-coat them with-plaster.
Where the English smooths the original
In mount Ebal - Compare the marginal references. The Samaritan Pentateuch and Version read here Gerizim instead of Ebal; but the original text was probably, as nearly all modern authorities hold, altered in order to lend a show of scriptural sanction to the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim. The erection of the altar, the offering thereon burnt-offerings and peace-offerings Deuteronomy 27:6-7 , the publication of the Law in writing, form altogether a solemn renewal of the covenant on the entrance of the people into the promised land, and recall the ceremonies observed on the original grant of the covenant at Sinai
Mount Ebal; the mount of cursing. Here the law is written, to signify that a curse was due to the violators of it, and that no man could expect justification or blessing from the works of the law, by the sentence whereof all men are justly accursed, as being all guilty of the transgression of it in one kind and deuce or other. Here the sacrifices are to be offered, to show that there is no way to be delivered from this curse but by the blood of Christ
The spot selected for the setting up of the stones with the law written upon it, as well as for the altar and the offering of sacrifice, was Ebal, the mountain upon which the curses were to be proclaimed; not Gerizim, which was appointed for the publication of the blessings, for the very same reason for which only the curses to be proclaimed are given in Deuteronomy 27:14 . and not the blessingsOn the deliberate choice of the curse-mountain for both law and altar.
5Moreover, you are to build there an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones. You must not use any iron tool on them.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ū·ḇā·nî·ṯā šām miz·bê·aḥ Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā miz·baḥ ’ă·ḇā·nîm lō- ṯā·nîp̄ bar·zel ‘ă·lê·hem
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-you-shall-build there an-altar to-Yahweh your-God, an-altar-of stones; not you-shall-wield iron upon-them.
Where the English smooths the original
there shalt thou build an altar … of whole stones—The stones were to be in their natural state, as if a chisel would communicate pollution to them. The stony pile was to be so large as to contain all the conditions of the covenant, so elevated as to be visible to the whole congregation of Israel; and the religious ceremonial performed on the occasion was to consist: first, of the elementary worship needed for sinful men; and secondly, of the peace offerings, or lively, social feasts
thou shalt not lift up any {c} iron tool upon them. (c) The altar should not be curiously wrought, because it would continue but for a time: for God would have only one altar in Judah.
no iron ] Exodus 20:25 , tool ( ḥéreb ), which would have polluted the altar. The later D’s substitution of iron is striking.On the change from Exodus' חֶרֶב (sword) to Deuteronomy's בַּרְזֶל (iron).
Besides the monumental stones, an altar of whole stones, on which no tool had passed (cf. Exodus 20:22 ) was to be erected, and burnt offerings and peace offerings were to be presented as at the establishment of the covenant at Sinai, followed by the statutory festive entertainment (cf. Exodus 24:5 ).The whole rite as a re-enactment of the Sinai covenant-ratification of Exodus 24:5 — burnt and peace offerings, then a covenant meal.
An altar of stones. —Rashi propounds the theory that these stones were taken from Jordan. But there is nothing to countenance this theory in the words of the text.
6You shall build the altar of the LORD your God with uncut stones and offer upon it burnt offerings to the LORD your God.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
tiḇ·neh ’eṯ- miz·baḥ Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā šə·lê·mō·wṯ ’ă·ḇā·nîm wə·ha·‘ă·lî·ṯā ‘ā·lāw ‘ō·w·lōṯ Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
[Of] whole stones you-shall-build the-altar-of Yahweh your-God, and-you-shall-offer-up upon-it burnt-offerings to-Yahweh your-God.
Where the English smooths the original
Burnt offerings. —The idea of these is the dedication of man’s life to God.
Whole stones — Rough, not hewn, nor polished, whereby all manner of imagery was avoided. Shalt offer burnt-offerings thereon — In order to ratify their covenant with God, as they did at Horeb. By the law written on the stones God spake to them; by the altar and sacrifices upon it they spake to God, and thus was communion kept up between them and God.
Thou shall build the altar of the Lord thy God of whole stones,.... And of such Joshua did build it, Joshua 8:31 , and thou shalt offer burnt offerings thereon unto the Lord thy God; and very likely sin offerings too; for these frequently went together, the one to make atonement for sin, and the other as a gift, and by way of thankfulness for the acceptance of the former; and both typical of Christ, the true sacrifice, and the antitype of all the legal sacrifices.
the religious ceremonial performed on the occasion was to consist: first, of the elementary worship needed for sinful men; and secondly, of the peace offerings, or lively, social feasts, that were suited to the happy people whose God was the Lord. There were thus, the law which condemned, and the typical expiation—the two great principles of revealed religion.JFB reads the paired rite — burnt-offering then peace-offering — as 'the two great principles of revealed religion': the law that condemns and the typical expiation set side by side.
7There you are to sacrifice your peace offerings, eating them and rejoicing in the presence of the LORD your God.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
šām wə·zā·ḇaḥ·tā šə·lā·mîm wə·’ā·ḵal·tā wə·śā·maḥ·tā lip̄·nê Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-you-shall-sacrifice there peace-offerings, and-you-shall-eat, and-you-shall-rejoice before the-face-of Yahweh your-God.
Where the English smooths the original
Peace offerings —i.e., offerings for health, salvation, or deliverance already granted. On this occasion, the passage of Jordan, and the arrival of Israel in the heart of the country, would be good ground for thanksgiving before God. And shalt eat there, and rejoice. -The peace offerings were the only kind of which the worshipper and his family might partake. They were, therefore, the natural accompaniment of rejoicing and thanksgiving.
this being in Ebal, where the curses were pronounced, shows that Christ, by the offering up of himself for the sins of his people, has made atonement for them, and thereby has delivered them from the curse of the law, being made a curse for them; all which is matter of joy and gladness to them.Gill draws the joy of the peace-offering on the curse-mountain toward Galatians 3:13 — a figural reading the synthesis records as ✦ human commentary, not as a verbal link.
peace offerings ] Heb. shelamîm , rather offerings in fulfilment of laws and vows; not elsewhere in Deut. and here representing the zebaḥîm , EVV. sacrifices , of Deuteronomy 12:6 , etc.; as the vb. here conjoined with it shows.
8And you shall write distinctly upon these stones all the words of this law.”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·ḵā·ṯaḇ·tā ba·’êr hê·ṭêḇ ‘al- hā·’ă·ḇā·nîm ’eṯ- kāl- diḇ·rê haz·zōṯ hat·tō·w·rāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-you-shall-write upon the-stones all the-words-of the-law this distinctly, thoroughly.
Where the English smooths the original
Very plainly. —See on Deuteronomy 1:5 . Rashi says, “In seventy ( .e., in all) languages.” There is also an idea in the Talmud that when spoken from Sinai, the Law was spoken (or heard) in all languages at the same time. It is a strange refraction of the truth indicated at Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was given. Men spake in every tongue the wonderful works of God.Ellicott's Pentecost link is a homiletic ✦ analogy, not a verbal connection in the Hebrew.
very plainly ] Expressed in Heb. by two infinitives used adverbially. On that one of them which is rendered plainly, ba’er , see on Deuteronomy 1:5 . The other, meaning thoroughly or exceedingly , occurs in Deuteronomy 9:21 .
The injunction to write the Law on the stones is repeated, with the addition that it was to be done very plainly (LXX., σαφῶς σφόδρα : Vulgate, plane et lucide ), which shows that the main purpose of setting up the stones was that the Law might be easily known by the people (cf. Habakkuk 2:2 ).
We must note too the fact that Deuteronomy 27:15 ff set out verbatim the curses only, the blessings being omitted. The law because of man's sinfulness brings on him first and chiefly a curse: compare Deuteronomy 31:16-17 ; Galatians 3:10 .Barnes notes that the following ceremony (vv. 15 ff.) records the curses only, not the blessings, and reads that asymmetry toward Galatians 3:10 — a figural ✦ link, not a verbal one in the Hebrew.
9Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel: “Be silent, O Israel, and listen! This day you have become the people of the LORD your God.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
mō·šeh hal·wî·yim wə·hak·kō·hă·nîm way·ḏab·bêr ’el kāl- yiś·rā·’êl lê·mōr has·kêṯ yiś·rā·’êl ū·šə·ma‘ haz·zeh hay·yō·wm nih·yê·ṯā lə·‘ām Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-spoke Moses and-the-Levitical the-priests to all Israel, saying: Be-silent and-hear, O-Israel; this the-day you-have-become a-people to-Yahweh your-God.
Where the English smooths the original
Take heed. —A word used nowhere else in the Old Testament. This day thou art become the people. —“Every day His commandments shall be before thine eyes, as though thou hadst that day entered into covenant with Him.” It would seem that the passage of Jordan, which is the thing in view here, pledged Israel more completely to God’s Law than even the covenant at Sinai did.
The words of Moses which follow in Deuteronomy 27:9 and Deuteronomy 27:10 , "Be silent, and hearken, O Israel; To-day thou hast become the people of the Lord thy God," show the significance of the act enjoined; although primarily they simply summon the Israelites to listen attentively to the still further commands. When Israel renewed the covenant with the Lord, by solemnly setting up the law in Canaan, it became thereby the nation of God
Take heed ; literally, Be silent ; LXX., σιώπα , with silent attention listen (cf. Zechariah 2:13 ).
Keep silence ] The Heb. vb. only here; in Ar. the root, sakata = to be quiet or mute. hearken, O Israel ] Deuteronomy 5:1 . this day thou art become the people , etc.] Cp. Deuteronomy 26:18 .On הַסְכֵּת as a hapax legomenon — the verb occurs nowhere else in the OT; Cambridge reaches to the Arabic cognate sakata ('to be quiet') for its sense.
The priests spake unto all Israel — They assisted Moses in pressing the people to attend duly to the meaning and design of this solemnity. Thou art become the people of the Lord — By thy solemn renewing of thy covenant with him.
10You shall therefore obey the voice of the LORD your God and follow His commandments and statutes I am giving you today.”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·šā·ma‘·tā bə·qō·wl Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā wə·‘ā·śî·ṯā ’eṯ- miṣ·w·ṯå̄w wə·’eṯ- ḥuq·qāw ’ă·šer ’ā·nō·ḵî mə·ṣaw·wə·ḵā hay·yō·wm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And-you-shall-obey the-voice-of Yahweh your-God, and-you-shall-do his-commandments and his-statutes which I [am] commanding-you today.
Where the English smooths the original
Thou shalt therefore obey the voice of the Lord thy God,.... In whatsoever he directs in his word, and by his prophets, and especially by his Son, eminently called the Word of the Lord: and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day
Thou {e} shalt therefore obey the voice of the LORD thy God, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day. (e) This condition has bound you to it, that if you will be his people, you must keep his laws.
obey the voice ] Deuteronomy 26:17 : hearken to his voice . do his commandments and his statutes ] Deuteronomy 4:40 , Deuteronomy 6:2 , Deuteronomy 10:13 (all with keep instead of do )
The end of the gospel ministry is, and the end of preachers ought to be, to make the word of God as plain as possible.Henry carries the 'write it plainly' charge of v. 8 forward into the preaching task — the word made legible so it may be heard and obeyed (v. 10).
The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.
AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.
The unit opens with a charge framed by a verb hung like a banner over everything that follows: šā·mōr (H8104), an infinitive absolute — “Keeping all the commandment.” Keil & Delitzsch fixes the grammar (“inf. abs. for the imperative, as in Exodus 13:3”) and reads its purpose: the law set up in stone is “a public testimony that the Israelites … possessed in the law their rule and source of life.” Ellicott presses the connection between the two opening verses — “in order to keep them, ye shall write them” — and draws the political conclusion: “Israel's title to Canaan was dependent upon their maintaining the Law of Jehovah as the law of the land.” The stones are coated baś·śîḏ (H7875), a word Ellicott notes occurs “only here and in Isaiah 33:12; Amos 2:2,” where it means “lime” — a smooth white field for writing, Egyptian in technique (Cambridge, JFB). What is to be written? “All the words of this law,” hat·tō·w·rāh — and the commentators range from the Decalogue (Ellicott) to the curses (per Josephus) to the whole legal kernel; Keil's measured verdict is that the dispute over whether all 613 commandments or their essence were inscribed “cannot be decided, and is of no importance to the matter in hand.”
Beside the inscribed stones rises an altar (miz·bê·aḥ, H4196) of whole stones — šə·lê·mō·wṯ (H8003), the very root of shalom — on which “not you shall wield iron” (ṯā·nîp̄, H5130, “to brandish”). Cambridge marks the verbal history: the older law of Exodus 20:25 forbade a sword, and “the later D's substitution of iron is striking.” JFB reads the prohibition figurally — the stones natural, “as if a chisel would communicate pollution to them” — and finds in the whole rite the “two great principles of revealed religion … the law which condemned, and the typical expiation.” Benson catches the dialogue most beautifully: “By the law written on the stones God spake to them; by the altar and sacrifices upon it they spake to God, and thus was communion kept up.” The sequence runs from total surrender (the ‘ō·w·lōṯ, ascending burnt-offerings, “the dedication of man's life to God,” Ellicott) to shared communion (the šə·lā·mîm, the only sacrifice the worshipper ate), ending in commanded gladness: wə·śā·maḥ·tā, “and you shall rejoice … before the face of the LORD.”
The text fixes the site as ‘ê·ḇāl (H5858) — a rare proper noun (8 verses in the whole canon), the mount Barnes glosses “the mount of barrenness … the mount of cursing.” The companion ceremony (27:12–13) assigns Gerizim to blessing, Ebal to curse — yet the law and the altar both stand on Ebal. Keil asks why and answers with the Berleburger Bible: “to show how the law and economy of the Old Testament would denounce the curse which rests upon the whole human race because of sin, to awaken a desire for the Messiah, who was to take away the curse.” Poole says it plainly: the law is written on Ebal “to signify that a curse was due to the violators of it, and that no man could expect justification … by the works of the law.” (The Samaritan Pentateuch reads Gerizim here; Barnes, Gill, Keil and Pulpit all judge it “an arbitrary alteration” serving the Samaritan temple — see the apparatus.)
Verse 8 repeats the command to write, adding two adverbial infinitives: ba·’êr (H874, “plainly, expound”) and hê·ṭêḇ (H3190, “thoroughly, well”). Cambridge: “two infinitives used adverbially.” The first is a rare verb — bâʼar stands in only three verses in all of Scripture, and its two companions are pointed: Deuteronomy 1:5, where Moses “began to expound this law,” and Habakkuk 2:2, “make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.” The book that opened with Moses expounding the Torah now ends this charge by commanding it inscribed plainly; the prophet will later reach for the same scarce word. The Pulpit Commentary draws the purpose: “the main purpose of setting up the stones was that the Law might be easily known by the people (cf. Habakkuk 2:2).” The law is not hidden in a sanctuary but published on a whitewashed monument plainly and well, so that all may read.
Now Moses is joined not by the elders (v. 1) but by “the Levitical priests” — a swap Keil reads deliberately (the priests “to superintend the fulfilment of the commands of God”). The charge opens with a word used once in all the Old Testament: has·kêṯ (H5535), “Be silent” (Ellicott: “A word used nowhere else”; Cambridge: “The Heb. vb. only here”). Then a Niphal — a passive — nih·yê·ṯā (H1961): “this day you have become a people to the LORD.” Gill is careful: they were God's people before; “now in a very formal and solemn manner they were avouched and declared … his peculiar people.” The unit closes by binding hearing to doing — the same verb shâmaʻ meaning both hear and obey — and the chapter that opened with šā·mōr (keep) ends with ‘ā·śî·ṯā (do): the law heard, the law done.
Reading the unit under Sola Scriptura — by Scripture's own internal witness, not by any tradition's gloss — the most arresting fact is the one Barnes, Poole, Keil and the Pulpit Commentary all circle but the text states flatly: the law and the altar both stand on Ebal, the mountain of the curse, never on Gerizim, the mountain of the blessing. The blessing is spoken from one height; but the place where the law is graven in stone, and the place where blood is shed and a meal is eaten before the face of the LORD, is the cursed ground. Scripture does not here explain the choice — it simply makes it. Yet the structure preaches: where the written law would condemn, an altar of whole (šə·lê·mō·wṯ, peace-rooted) stones is raised right beside it, and the day ends not in dread but in commanded rejoicing. The same Hebrew root binds the unhewn stones (whole) to the offering eaten in fellowship (peace). The unit will not let the curse stand without an altar next to it. That is the text's own arrangement, and it is enough to test every later reading against — including the New Testament's that the curse-mountain finds its answer in One “made a curse for us.”
On Ebal the law is graven where the curse falls — and an altar of whole stones is built within reach of it. (an interpretive line, not Scripture)
AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.
The noun sîyd (H7875), “plaster / lime,” with which the stones are coated (v. 2, 4), is one of the rarest words in the Hebrew Bible. Ellicott names its entire range: “only here and in Isaiah 33:12; Amos 2:2.” The Verifier confirms the lexeme occurs in just 4 verses canon-wide — a genuinely rare shared word. In Isaiah and Amos it appears in oracles of judgment (peoples “burned to lime”), so the same material that here forms a clean white field for God's written law there marks the calcining of the wicked. The link is lexical and rare, not a quotation of one passage by another.
Isaiah 33:12 · Amos 2:1
basis: shared rare lexeme H7875 sîyd (occurs in only 4 verses canon-wide; Verifier: low-frequency Hebrew↔Hebrew verbal link)
The commands of this unit — build (bânâh, H1129) an altar (mizbêach, H4196) of stones (ʼeben, H68) on Ebal (ʻÊybâl, H5858), and write (kâthab, H3789) on them the law (tôwrâh, H8451) — are carried out almost word-for-word in Joshua 8:30–35. Ellicott cross-references it directly: “For the fulfilment of this precept, see Joshua 8:32-35.” The Verifier records the altar-command sharing ʻÊybâl + bânâh + mizbêach with Joshua 8:30, the writing-command sharing kâthab + tôwrâh + ʼeben with Joshua 8:31–32, and — tellingly — Joshua 8:33 reuniting the very cast of this unit: Moses' two sets of partners reappear, the elders (zâqên, H2205, of v. 1) and the Levites (Lêvîyîy, H3881) and priests (kôhên, H3548, of v. 9), standing on either side of the ark at Ebal. Because the shared lexemes are common ones (each in 200–340+ verses), this is a structural fulfilment-link, not a rare-word quotation — but it is an unusually dense and deliberate one.
Joshua 8:30 · Joshua 8:31 · Joshua 8:33
basis: shared lexemes H5858 ʻÊybâl, H1129 bânâh, H4196 mizbêach (Josh 8:30); H3789 kâthab, H8451 tôwrâh, H68 ʼeben (Josh 8:31); H2205 zâqên + H3881 Lêvîyîy + H3548 kôhên (Josh 8:33, reuniting the elders of v. 1 and the Levitical priests of v. 9). Common lexemes → structural fulfilment, not verbal quotation.
The proper noun ʻÊybâl (H5858) ties this altar-command (v. 4) to the blessing-and-curse ceremony later in the same chapter (v. 13), where Ebal is assigned to the curse, and back to Deuteronomy 11:29, where the two mountains were first paired. Ebal is a strikingly rare name — only 8 verses in the whole canon, several of them genealogies (1 Chronicles 1; Genesis 36). The Verifier confirms the shared lexeme; within the legal ceremony its repetition is verbal and pointed.
Deuteronomy 27:13 · Deuteronomy 11:29
basis: shared rare proper noun H5858 ʻÊybâl (in only 8 vv canon-wide) carries the verbal tier; H2022 har (freq 486) co-occurs but is common and does not itself establish the link. Verifier-confirmed Hebrew↔Hebrew, within the same ceremony
The prohibition “not you shall wield iron” (nûwph over the ʼeben of the mizbêach you bânâh) restates the altar-law of Exodus 20:25 (“If you make an altar of stones, do not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you profane it”). Cambridge marks the one verbal change: Exodus forbids a sword (ḥéreb), Deuteronomy forbids iron (barzel) — “the later D's substitution of iron is striking.” The Verifier confirms the shared lexemes nûwph, ʼeben, mizbêach, bânâh; the link is a restatement of one statute, structural rather than a fresh quotation.
Exodus 20:25
basis: shared lexemes H5130 nûwph, H68 ʼeben, H4196 mizbêach, H1129 bânâh (Verifier); a restatement of the altar-law with D's lexical change חֶרֶב→בַּרְזֶל
Verse 3's “a land flowing (zûwb, H2100) with milk (châlâb, H2461) and honey (dᵉbash, H1706)” is the fixed covenant idiom of the promised inheritance, recurring across Deuteronomy 6:3; 11:9 and into the prophets at Jeremiah 11:5, and tracing back to the burning-bush oath. Gill anchors it there: “as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee; Exodus 3:8.” The Verifier shares all three lexemes — each moderately uncommon (41/44/54 verses) and almost always co-occurring — and on that ground labels the link verbal. The synthesis under-claims it deliberately: this is a stock formula repeated some twenty times across the Pentateuch and prophets, not one passage quoting another, so it is tiered a recurring thematic refrain rather than a quotation.
Deuteronomy 6:3 · Deuteronomy 11:9 · Jeremiah 11:5
basis: shared lexemes H2100 zûwb, H2461 châlâb, H1706 dᵉbash (Verifier labels the triad 'verbal' on rarity 41/44/54 vv). Editorially downgraded to thematic: this is a fixed promise-formula recurring ~20× canon-wide, not a one-to-one quotation.
The doubled charge to write “very plainly” (ba·’êr, H874, v. 8) hangs on a strikingly rare verb: bâʼar occurs in only three verses in the whole Hebrew Bible. The other two are Deuteronomy 1:5, where Moses “began to expound (bêʼêr) this law (tôwrâh),” and Habakkuk 2:2, “Write (kâthab) the vision and make it plain (bâʼar) on tablets, that he may run who reads it.” The same hand that opened Deuteronomy expounding the Torah now commands it inscribed plainly on stone; the prophet later borrows the very word for the writing of God's word so that it can be run-and-read. Cambridge and Ellicott both cross-reference Deuteronomy 1:5 here; the Pulpit Commentary cites Habakkuk 2:2. The Verifier confirms the shared lexeme is genuinely low-frequency (3 verses canon-wide) — a rare verbal link, not merely a thematic one.
Deuteronomy 1:5 · Habakkuk 2:2
basis: shared rare lexeme H874 bâʼar ("make plain / expound"), in only 3 verses canon-wide (Deut 1:5; 27:8; Hab 2:2); Verifier: low-frequency Hebrew↔Hebrew verbal link. Deut 1:5 also shares H8451 tôwrâh; Hab 2:2 also shares H3789 kâthab.
The prohibition that no iron (barzel, H1270) be wielded over the altar-stones (v. 5) reappears as a governing principle at the building of the temple itself: 1 Kings 6:7, “The house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron (barzel) heard in the house, while it was in building.” Both texts keep the cutting-tool off the stones that bear God's worship — the altar and then the sanctuary built (bânâh, H1129) of stone (ʼeben, H68). The Verifier records the shared lexemes barzel, ʼeben, bânâh; because these are common words and 1 Kings makes no quotation-claim, the link is the shared motif — human iron silenced where God is worshipped — not a verbal quotation.
1 Kings 6:7
basis: shared lexemes H1270 barzel, H68 ʼeben, H1129 bânâh (Verifier; all common, freq 70/239/344). A shared motif — no iron tool on the stones of God's worship — tiered structural, not verbal quotation.
AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.
Matthew Henry reads the altar of whole, unhewn stones (šə·lê·mō·wṯ, H8003; no barzel wielded) toward Christ: “Christ, our Altar, is a stone cut out of the mountain without hands, refused by the builders, as having no form or comeliness, but accepted of God the Father, and made the Head of the corner.” The figure draws together Daniel 2's stone cut without hands and Psalm 118's rejected stone. Gill reads the same way — the altar “of rough unhewn stones was a type of him in his human nature … no iron tool being to be lifted up on them, may signify that nothing of man's is to be added to the sacrifice and satisfaction of Christ.” This is an ancient and widely-held typology of the unworked altar-stone.
Deuteronomy 27:5 · Deuteronomy 27:6
That the written law and the sacrificial altar both stand on Ebal, the curse-mountain, is read by Poole, Benson and Gill toward Galatians 3:13. Poole: the law is on Ebal “to signify that a curse was due to the violators of it … and that there is no way to be delivered from this curse but by the blood of Christ … and by Christ's being made a curse for us, Galatians 3:13.” Gill: the joy of the peace-offering on the curse-mountain shows “that Christ, by the offering up of himself … has delivered them from the curse of the law, being made a curse for them.” This is a cross-Testament figural reading (Greek↔Hebrew): the Verifier finds no shared original-language lexeme, so it cannot be a verbal link — it is typological, argued from the structure (law + altar on the curse-mountain), and it is the ancient and widely-held Reformation reading.
Deuteronomy 27:4 · Deuteronomy 27:7
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.
Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:
Ebal vs. Gerizim (v. 4). The Samaritan Pentateuch reads Gerizim where the Masoretic Text and all other ancient versions read Ebal. Barnes, Gill, Keil (citing Gesenius and Verschuir) and the Pulpit Commentary judge the Samaritan reading “an arbitrary alteration” introduced to favor the Samaritan temple on Gerizim; the synthesis follows the received text (BSB) while recording that this is a genuine, disputed textual variant, not a settled point.
Source-critical seams. The Cambridge Bible reads vv. 1–10 as “a compilation from different sources,” treating 27:2–3 and 27:4, 8 as doublets and noting the shifting singular/plural address (“thou”/“ye”) and the swap of elders (v. 1) for Levitical priests (v. 9). The synthesis records these seams as the commentators describe them; it takes no position on the documentary hypotheses (D, E, the Steuernagel analysis) underlying them, which lie outside what the sourced parses establish.
What was written (vv. 3, 8). The phrase “all the words of this law” is read variously as the Decalogue (Ellicott), the curses (per Josephus), or the whole legal kernel (Keil, Pulpit). The Hebrew (kāl diḇrê hat·tō·w·rāh) does not specify, and no inscribed stones survive; Cambridge notes such plaster-writing “would not survive the winters of Palestine.” The synthesis records the range without claiming to resolve it.
Galatians 3:13 (christ). The link from Ebal's curse to Christ “made a curse for us” is a typological, cross-Testament reading (Greek↔Hebrew) and shares no Strong's lexeme with this unit; per the rules it is tiered typological/argued, never “verbal.” It is recorded as the ancient Reformation reading, to be tested, not asserted as a lexical fact.
Two tier decisions (threads). The charge to write “very plainly” (bâʼar, H874, v. 8) was upgraded to a verbal link: the Verifier shows the root occurs in only three verses canon-wide (Deuteronomy 1:5; 27:8; Habakkuk 2:2) — a genuinely rare shared lexeme, which the commentators themselves cross-reference. Conversely, “a land flowing with milk and honey” (v. 3) was downgraded to thematic though the Verifier's rarity-test labels its lexeme-triad verbal: it is a fixed promise-formula recurring some twenty times across the canon, not one passage quoting another, and the synthesis prefers to under-claim. The 1 Kings 6:7 motif-link (no iron on God's stones) rests on common lexemes and is tiered structural.
✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)