Deuteronomy 5:2

Deu 5:2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.

Ver. 2. God made a covenant with us.] We also have the covenant, the seals, minister, &c. But, alas, are not these blessings amongst us, as the ark was among the Philistines, rather as prisoners than as privileges, rather in testimonium et ruinam quam salutem?

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.

(2) The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.—It must never be forgotten that the Law is a covenant in its very form. (See Note on Deu_5:6.)

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

2. covenant] See Deu_4:13.

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.

The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Which is Sinai, as Aben Ezra observes; it being the same mountain, only it had two tops, which bore these different names; for certain it is that the decalogue after repeated was given at Sinai, and had the nature and form of a covenant; see Exo 24:7.

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Deuteronomy 5:3

deu 5:3

deu 5:3

deu 5:3The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers,.... That is, not with them only, as Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Abendana remark; for certain it is that this covenant was made, or law was given, to the immediate fathers of this present generation of Israelites, whose carcasses had fallen in the wilderness; unless this is to be understood of their more remote ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with whom the covenant of grace was made, or afresh made manifest, especially with the former; when the law, the covenant here spoken of, was not delivered until four hundred and thirty years after, Gal 3:16,

but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day; many of them were then present at the giving of the law, and though under twenty years of age, could remember it, and the circumstances of it; and besides, they were the same people to whom it was given, though not consisting wholly of the same individuals.

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

2. The Lord… made a covenant with us — It was to be impressed upon the Israelites that Jehovah their God had made a covenant with them. And here, just on the boundary line of the land promised to the seed of Abraham, they are to go back in thought to Sinai, with its awful splendour.

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

Vers. 2, 3. Not with our fathers, the patriarchs (cf. Deu_4:37) The covenant to which Moses refers is not that made with Abraham, but that made at Sinai, with Israel as a people; and though the individuals who were then present had all perished with the exception of Moses, Joshua, and Caleb, the nation survived, and as it was with the nation as an organic whole that the covenant had been made. it might be with propriety said that it was made with those whom Moses addressed at this time, inasmuch as they constituted the nation.

Vers. 2, 3. The covenant at Horeb.

Here spoken of as distinct from the older covenant made with the patriarchs. (Gen_15:17)

I ITS RELATIONS TO THE COVENANT MADE WITH THE FATHERS, It was not a new thing absolutely. It rested on that older covenant, and on the series of revelations which sprang out of it. It could not disannul that older covenant. (Gal_3:17) It could not run counter to it. (Gal_3:21) It must, though "superadded," be in subserviency to it. (Gal_3:15-26) But that covenant made with the fathers was:

1. Of promise. (Gal_3:18)

2. Couched in absolute terms. God pledged his perfections that the promise conveyed in it would be ultimately realized. (Rom_3:3)

3. In which an interest was obtained by faith (Gen_15:6; Rom_4:3-23)

4. While yet it bound the person received into covenant to a holy life. (Gen_17:1) The new covenant could "make void" the older one in none of these particulars.

II ITS DISTINCTION FROM THE COVENANT MADE WITH THE FATHERS.

1. It was a national covenant, having reference primarily to national existence and prosperity.

2. It was a covenant of Law. It was

1. connected with a promulgation of Law, and

2. required obedience to the prescribed Law as the condition of acceptance.

Does this look like a retrograde step in the Divine procedure, a contradiction of the covenant with Abraham? Seemingly it was so, but the backward step was really a forward one, bringing to light demands of the Divine holiness which it was absolutely essential man should become acquainted with. Two points have to be noticed:

(a) that obedience was not made the ground of admission to the covenant, or aught else than the condition of continuance in privileges freely conferred; and

(b) that the requirement of obedience did not stand alone, but was connected with provisions for the removal of the guilt contracted by transgression and shortcoming. This brings into view the peculiar feature in the covenant of Horeb the hidden grace of it. In form and letter it was a strictly legal covenant. Obedience to the Law in all its parts, and without failure, was the technical condition of the fulfillment of promise, and of continuance in covenant privilege. (cf. Mat_19:17; Gal_3:10) The fact that atonements were provided to remove the guilt which otherwise would have broken up the covenant, is proof that such was its constitution. The same fact shows that in the structure of the covenant it was recognized that sin and shortcoming would mark the history of Israel; that, on the strictly legal basis, standing in the state of acceptance was impossible. A theoretically perfect obedience no Jew ever rendered. His standing in no case was in virtue of a perfectly fulfilled Law, but was due to forgiving mercy, which daily pardoned his shortcomings, and gave him an acceptance which these shortcomings were as constantly forfeiting. It was faith, not works, which justified him; while yet, in harmony with the unalterable law of moral life, it was his duty to aim at the realization of the ideal of righteousness which the Law presented. Just as with Abraham, the faith which justified him, and did so before a single work had issued from it (Gen_15:6; Jam_2:23) was a faith which "wrought with works," and "by works was faith made perfect". (Jam_2:22) It follows from these peculiarities, and from thestatements of Scripture, that it was:

3. A preparatory and temporary covenant. Its leading design was to develop the consciousness of sin, to awaken a feeling of the need of redemption, to evince the powerlessness of mere Law as a source of moral strength, to drive men back from legal efforts to faith, and so, finally, to prepare the way for Christ (Rom_3:20; Gal_3:23, Gal_3:24, etc.) In this we discern the reason of the severe and threatening form in which it was couched, and of the terrors which attended its promulgation. It was a covenant which could not of itself save or do aught but kill. J.O. (2Co_3:6-12)

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