Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

9:2 Anakim. See 1:28 and note on 1:27-28.

9:3 consuming fire. Cf. 4:24, where this expression was used of potential judgment against Israel. Here, the nations will be the object of God's consuming fire. Quickly contrasts with 7:22. Compared with their long settlement in the land, the Canaanites will disappear quickly, but by the timescale of the conquest it will be a slow process.

9:4-5 Do not say in your heart (see 7:17 and note on 7:17-18) alludes to Israel's pride and the heart as its source (cf. 8:17). In the ancient world, victory in battle was regarded as a reward for one's righteousness in the eyes of the gods. Israel is warned away from such thinking. While victory in the Promised Land is God's punishment of the nations' wickedness, that does not imply Israel's righteousness. Israel's possession of the land is due solely to God's faithfulness to the Abrahamic promises.

9:6 Yet again, the point is made (cf. vv. 4-5) that Israel's righteousness is not the cause of its being given the land. Israel is in fact stubborn, literally, "stiff-necked" (see also vv. 13, 27). The account of the golden calf is retold at length (vv. 7-21) to demonstrate Israel's stubbornness.

9:7 As with 7:17-18 and 8:17-20, the way to avoid saying wrong things in the heart (cf. 9:4) is to remember. Remembering their history of moral failure in the wilderness is humbling, countering Israel's potential pride. wrath. Various Hebrew words translated "wrath," "anger," "angry," and "hot displeasure" are used in ch. 9 (vv. 8, 18, 19, 20, 22). Verses 7-8 and 20-22 bracket the account of the golden calf. From the day. Israel's provocation of God began even before the people crossed the Red Sea (Ex. 14:11).

9:8 Even at Horeb, where they heard God's voice directly, Israel misbehaved. The retelling of the golden calf incident follows (cf. Exodus 32-34).

9:9-10 When I went up. See Ex. 24:12-18. finger of God. See Ex. 31:18. all the words . . . spoken with you. That is, the Ten Commandments (see Deut. 5:22).

9:12 your people whom you have brought. God disowns Israel and passes them over to Moses (cf., e.g., 5:6, "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out . . ."). quickly. This heightens the contrast of Israel's sin with having so recently received the Ten Commandments.

9:13-15 This people is almost a contemptuous description of Israel, continuing God's disassociation from Israel (see v. 12). Moses' intercession for the makers of the golden calf is not described until v. 25, though it is alluded to in v. 19, in order to keep the theme of Israel's stubbornness uninterrupted through v. 24 (cf. Ex. 32:9-10, 15).

9:17 broke them. Breaking the tablets indicates the deliberate ending of the covenant relationship: an impulsive gesture of fury and despair, following God's words in vv. 12-14. A treaty of Esarhaddon, an Assyrian king (681-669 b.c.), forbids his vassal to destroy the treaty text, as this would be tantamount to rebellion.

9:18-20 This is the second period of forty days and forty nights (see vv. 9, 11). the Lord listened to me. This alludes to Moses' intercession (see vv. 25-29). Aaron was Moses' brother, the priest of Israel. Exodus 32-34 does not mention any intercession for Aaron.

9:21 sinful thing. Deuteronomy emphasizes Israel's act of sin (see also vv. 16, 18, 27). No mention is made here of forcing Israel to drink the water with the ground-up golden calf (cf. Ex. 32:20).

9:22-24 Horeb was not the only location where the Lord was provoked to anger. As v. 7 suggests, this is far from a complete list. Taberah. See Num. 11:1-3. Massah. See Ex. 17:7 and Deut. 6:16. Kibroth-hattaavah. See Num. 11:34-35; 33:16-17. Kadesh-barnea. See Deut. 1:19-32. From the day brackets the account beginning with v. 7. Being rebellious is the same as being stubborn.

9:25 forty days and forty nights. Given its placement in Ex. 32:11-14, it is unclear if this is the same period as in Deut. 9:18, or earlier (see vv. 9-11), as the following prayer implies.

9:26 O Lord God. See 3:24 and note. your people . . . whom you have brought out (see also 9:29). Moses counters the Lord's disowning of Israel in vv. 12-14 (see note on v. 12).

9:27-28 The primary basis of intercession for mercy is the Abrahamic promise (see 4:31 and note). No excuse for Israel's sin is given, for there is none. A second basis of intercession is God's reputation among the nations, not the least being Egypt. Two wrong statements might be made if Israel is destroyed. The first is that God is impotent to save; the second is that he hated Israel. Both are untrue (cf. 1:27; Ex. 32:12).

10:1 Rather than an explicit reply, the Lord's answer is demonstrated in the command to replace the two tablets of stone broken in 9:17. The new tablets are like the first, with the same words, writing, and commandments (10:2-4). Deuteronomy first mentions the ark here (see also 31:9, 25-26) as simply a chest or box made of wood; it is not described as the footstool of God's throne. The ark was constructed (Ex. 37:1-9) soon after the writing of the replacement tablets (Ex. 34:1-4; see Deut. 10:1-5; for instructions to build the ark, see Exodus 25). It was a common practice in the ancient Near East to deposit covenant documents in religious shrines, one copy for each party.

10:5 there they are. The covenant is still in place, despite Israel's persistent provocations to anger the Lord over the past 40 years.

10:6-9 Even though Aaron eventually died, Moses' prayer for him was answered (9:20). Moreover, Aaron's death did not end the priesthood. God continued to provide priests through Aaron's son, Eleazar, and the tribe of Levi (see Ex. 32:26-29; Num. 3:6-14; Deut. 21:5). Since this tribe owned no land (18:1-2), it is singled out for specific care and provision by the other tribes (e.g., 12:12, 18; 14:27). Beeroth Bene-jaakan . . . Moserah. See Num. 33:30-31. The location of Moserah is uncertain, but presumably it was close to Mount Hor (cf. Num. 20:27-28). Gudgodah is the same as Hor-haggidgad (Num. 33:32-33). Jotbathah. See Num. 33:33-34.

10:11 The command to arise and go on your journey indicates that with the tablets replaced and the ark built, Moses' intercession has been answered fully.