Deuteronomy 18:13

Deu 18:13 Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.

Ver. 13. Thou shalt be perfect.] {See Trapp on "Mat 5:48"} In the original there is a bigger tau than ordinary in the word Tamim, rendered perfect, to show, say Hebricians, that we must keep the whole law of God from the first letter thereof to the last - tau is the last letter of the alphabet - and this we must do constantly to the very last, and with the whole man. But how can this be done otherwise than by running to Christ, and in an evangelical way? In sincerity and integrity we must hate such wicked persons, even as God also hateth them. {Psa 139:21-24} {Hebrew Text Note}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Deu 18:13-14. Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God — Sincerely and wholly his, seeking him and cleaving to him, and to his word alone, and therefore abhorring all commerce and conversations with devils. Hath not suffered thee so to do — Hath not suffered thee to follow these superstitious and diabolical practices, as he hath suffered other nations to do, but hath instructed thee better by his word and Spirit, and will more fully instruct thee by a great Prophet.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Without hypocrisy or mixture or false religion.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

(13) Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God.—Rashi’s note on this is worth preserving: “Thou shalt walk with Him in sincerity, and wait for Him. And thou shalt not pry into the future. But whatsoever cometh upon thee, take it with simplicity, and then thou shalt be with Him, and be His portion.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13. perfect] blameless; not elsewhere in D, but twice in P in this moral sense (Gen_6:9 of Noah, Deu_17:1 required of Abraham as the condition of God granting him His covenant) and frequent in a physical sense, Lev_1:3; Lev_1:10; Lev_3:1, etc. The sense of the incompatibility of magic and necromancy with loyalty to the God of Israel is traceable from at least Saul’s time onward, and is very articulate in the great prophets. The instinct was sound. That such practices divert men from the rational and ethical elements of religion and weaken both the judgement and will of those who resort to them is notorious in the history of modern spiritualism. Cp. Luk_16:31 : if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, if one rise from the dead. Let other nations hearken to soothsayers and diviners, God does not grant such to His people (Deu_18:14). For them the living word of the living God is the thing! (Isa_8:19), to which this law now therefore naturally turns.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God. Sincerely serve and worship him, faithfully adhere to his word, laws, statutes, and ordinances, and walk uprightly before him.

Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God. Sincerely serve and worship him, faithfully adhere to his word, laws, statutes, and ordinances, and walk uprightly before him.

Deuteronomy 18:14

deu 18:14

deu 18:14

deu 18:14For those nations which thou shall possess hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners,.... Such as are before mentioned, and did as they directed them:

but as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do; or, "but thou not so" (m) thou shouldest not do so, not hearken to such persons, but to the Lord thy God, and to his law and testimony; nor art thou left to the deception of such persons:

the Lord thy God hath given thee: his word and statutes, as a rule to go by, which he has not given to other nations: the Targum of Jonathan adds,"the priests shall ask by Urim and Thummim, and a true prophet shall the Lord your God give unto you;''so that they had no need to hearken to such impostors and deceivers: or, "as for thee, not so are they whom the Lord thy God giveth thee" (n); that is, the prophets whom the Lord would give unto them would not be like the diviners of the Heathens, who imposed on the people and deceived them; but would be men sent and inspired by God, and true and faithful in the discharge of their office; and to hearken to these they are encouraged by the promise of a very eminent one, like to Moses, in the next verse.

(m) "et tu non sic", Montanus. (n) "De teau tem non ita sunt quos dat tibi Jehova Deus tuus", Junius & Tremellius.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Perfect - As in Gen 17:1; Job 1:1; Mat 5:48. The sense is that Israel was to keep the worship of the true God wholly uncontaminated by idolatrous pollutions.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And without spot. This is by way of explication of the word perfect. Any mixture of superstition in the worship of God is hateful to him; and that man who acknowledges any other spirit capable of foretelling what will come to pass, freely (Haydock) denies the Lord. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Sincerely and wholly his, seeking him and cleaving to him and to his word alone, and therefore abhorring all commerce and conversations with devils or their agents, such as were now mentioned.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13. Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God — Blameless with Jehovah, wholly devoted to him. The people of Israel are not to be like these nations; they are to be blameless in seeking intercourse with their God. In the rabbinical copies of the Hebrew Bible the initial consonant of the word rendered perfect (תמים) is large, to denote the special significance of this precept.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God. The word translated "per-feet" properly means entire, whole, answering to the Latin integer; it is used only in a moral sense, and is best rendered by "upright;" the Israelites were to be upright and sincere with, i.e. in relation with, Jehovah their God.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Perfect - Sincerely and wholly his, seeking him and cleaving to him and to his word alone, and therefore abhorring all commerce and conversations with devils.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

תמים תהיה עם ה' אלהיך THOU SHALT BE PERFECT WITH THE LORD THY GOD — walk before him whole-heartedly, put thy hope in Him and do not attempt to investigate the future, but whatever it may be that comes upon thee accept it whole-heartedly, and then thou shalt be with Him and become His portion (Sifrei Devarim 173:3).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

THOU SHALT BE WHOLE-HEARTED WITH THE ETERNAL THY G-D. The meaning thereof is that we are to direct our hearts to Him only, and believe that He alone does everything. It is He Who knows the truth about all future events, and from His prophets, or from His pious ones, in other words the Urim and Thummim — are we to inquire about future events. We are not to inquire of the astrologers or from anyone else, or by any means to trust that their words will be fulfilled. Instead, if we hear any prediction [of the diviners] we should say, “Everything is in the hands of Heaven, for He is the G-d of gods Who is supreme above all, the Omnipotent One over everything, Who changes the set order of the stars and constellations at His Will, Who frustrateth the tokens of the imposters, and maketh diviners mad,” and we are to believe that future events will occur according to man’s drawing closer to His service. Therefore after the warning against inquiring about future events from diviners, and of seeking on behalf of the living to the dead, he stated that you are to be whole-hearted with G-d in all these matters and not be afraid of those who tell of things to come. Rather, you should inquire of His prophet and to him shall you hearken. And this is the opinion of Onkelos who translated, “You shall be whole-hearted in the fear of the Eternal your G-d,” meaning that you should not be deficient in the fear of Him, for tamim (whole) indicates perfection in a thing, just as ‘seh tamim’ (a lamb that is perfect) means one that is without blemish and any deficiency. This verse [before us] constitutes a positive commandment. I have already mentioned this in connection with the verse, and be thou whole-hearted.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.