---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Deuteronomy 10"
description: "CHAPTER 10   :-. GOD"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/deuteronomy/10"
---

CHAPTER 10

. GOD'S MERCY
IN RESTORING THE
TWO TABLES.

**1. At that time the Lord said unto
me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first**—It was
when God had been pacified through the intercessions of Moses with
the people who had so greatly offended Him by the worship of the
golden calf. The obedient leader executed the orders he had received
as to the preparation both of the hewn stones, and the ark or chest
in which those sacred archives were to be laid.

**3. And I made an ark of shittim
wood**—It appears, however, from , that the ark was not framed till his return from the mount,
or most probably, he gave instructions to Bezaleel, the artist
employed on the work, before he ascended the mount—that, on his
descent, it might be finished, and ready to receive the precious
deposit.

**4, 5. he wrote on the tables,
according to the first writing**—that is, not Moses, who under
the divine direction acted as amanuensis, but God Himself who made
this inscription a second time with His own hand, to testify the
importance He attached to the ten commandments. Different from other
stone monuments of antiquity, which were made to stand upright and in
the open air, those on which the divine law was engraven were
portable, and designed to be kept as a treasure. JOSEPHUS
says that each of the tables contained five precepts. But the
tradition generally received, both among Jewish and Christian writers
is, that one table contained four precepts, the other six.

**5. I . . . put the tables in the ark
which I had made; and there they be, as the Lord commanded me**—Here
is another minute, but important circumstance, the public mention of
which at the time attests the veracity of the sacred historian.

**6-9. the children of Israel took
their journey from Beeroth of the children of Jaakan to Mosera**—So
sudden a change from a spoken discourse to a historical narrative has
greatly puzzled the most eminent biblical scholars, some of whom
reject the parenthesis as a manifest interpolation. But it is found
in the most ancient Hebrew manuscripts, and, believing that all
contained in this book was given by inspiration and is entitled to
profound respect, we must receive it as it stands, although
acknowledging our inability to explain the insertion of these
encampment details in this place. There is another difficulty in the
narrative itself. The stations which the Israelites are said
successively to have occupied are enumerated here in a different
order from [Numbers 33:31](../../../kjv/numbers/33/31). That the
names of the stations in both passages are the same there can be no
doubt; but, in Numbers, they are probably mentioned in reference to
the *first* visit of the Hebrews during the long wandering
southwards, before their return to Kadesh the second time; while here
they have a reference to the *second* passage of the Israelites,
when they again marched south, in order to compass the land of Edom.
It is easy to conceive that Mosera (Hor) and the wells of Jaakan
might lie in such a direction that a nomadic horde might, in
different years, at one time take the former *first* in their
way, and at another time the latter [ROBINSON].

**10-22.** Moses here resumes his
address, and having made a passing allusion to the principal events
in their history, concludes by exhorting them to fear the Lord and
serve Him faithfully.

**16. Circumcise therefore the
foreskin of your heart**—Here he teaches them the true and
spiritual meaning of that rite, as was afterwards more strongly urged
by Paul ([Romans 2:25](../../../kjv/romans/2/25); [Romans 2:29](../../../kjv/romans/2/29)),
and should be applied by us to our baptism, which is "not the
putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good
conscience toward God" [[Romans 2:29](../../../kjv/romans/2/29)].

**10-22.** Moses here resumes his
address, and having made a passing allusion to the principal events
in their history, concludes by exhorting them to fear the Lord and
serve Him faithfully.

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/deuteronomy/10#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/images/missing.jpg","width":640,"height":370,"caption":"Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Deuteronomy 10"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/deuteronomy/10#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/deuteronomy/10","name":"Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Deuteronomy 10","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/deuteronomy/10#primaryimage"},"datePublished":null,"dateModified":null,"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"CHAPTER 10   :-. GOD'S MERCY\nIN RESTORING THE\nTWO TABLES. 1. At that time the Lord said unto\nme, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first—It was\nw","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/deuteronomy/10#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/deuteronomy/10"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/deuteronomy/10#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries","name":"Commentaries"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible","name":"Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/deuteronomy","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/deuteronomy","name":"Deuteronomy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/deuteronomy/10","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/deuteronomy/10","name":"10"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]}
```