John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 1. Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments , etc.] Not the ten commandments repeated in the preceding chapter, but all others, whether moral, ceremonial, or judicial, afterwards declared; for what Moses now did was only to give a repetition and fresh declaration of such laws as he had before received, and delivered to the people; and so the Targum of Jonathan thus paraphrases this clause, “this is a declaration of the commandments, statutes, and judgments:” which the Lord your God commanded to teach you ; that is, which he commanded him, Moses, to teach them, though not fully expressed, as may be learned from ( Deuteronomy 4:1,5 5:31) that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it ; this is often observed, to imprint upon their minds a sense of their duty, even of obedience to the laws of God, which they were carefully and diligently to perform in the land of Canaan they were going into, and by which they were to hold their possession of it.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-3 - In this and the like passages, the "commandments" seem to denote the moral law, the "statues" the ceremonial law, and the "judgments" the law by which the judges decided. Moses taught the people all that, an that only, which God commanded him to teach. Thus Christ's minister are to teach his churches all he has commanded, neither more nor less Mt 28:20. The fear of God in the heart will be the most powerfu principle of obedience. It is highly desirable that not we only, but our children, and our children's children, may fear the Lord. Religio and righteousness advance and secure the prosperity of any people.
Original Hebrew וזאת2063 המצוה4687 החקים2706 והמשׁפטים4941 אשׁר834 צוה6680 יהוה3068 אלהיכם430 ללמד3925 אתכם853 לעשׂות6213 בארץ776 אשׁר834 אתם859 עברים5674 שׁמה8033 לרשׁתה׃3423
