Deuteronomy 12:3

B. Exposition of the Principal Laws - Deuteronomy 12-26 The statutes and rights which follow in the second or special half of this address, and which consist in part of rules having regard to circumstances not contemplated by the Sinaitic laws, and partly of repetitions of laws already given, were designed as a whole to regulate the ecclesiastical, civil, and domestic life of Israel in the land of Canaan, in harmony with its calling to be the holy nation of the Lord. Moses first of all describes the religious and ecclesiastical life of the nation, in its various relations to the Lord (ch. 12-16:17); and then the political organization of the congregation, or the rights and duties of the civil and spiritual leaders of the nation (Deut 16:18-18:22); and lastly, seeks to establish upon a permanent basis the civil and domestic well-being of the whole congregation and its individual members, by a multiplicity of precepts, intended to set before the people, as a conscientious obligation on their part, reverence and holy awe in relation to human life, to property, and to personal rights; a pious regard for the fundamental laws of the world; sanctification of domestic life and of the social bond; practical brotherly love towards the poor, the oppressed, and the needy; and righteousness of walk and conversation (ch. 19-26). - So far as the arrangement of this address is concerned, the first two series of these laws may be easily regarded as expositions, expansions, and completions of the commandments in the decalogue in relation to the Sabbath, and to the duty of honouring parents; and in the third series also there are unquestionably many allusions to the commandments in the second table of the decalogue. But the order in which the different laws and precepts in this last serie…

Moses at this chapter comes to the particular statues which he had to give in charge to Israel, and he begins with those which relate to the worship of God, and particularly those which explain the second commandment, about which God is in a special manner jealous. I. They must utterly destroy all relics and remains of idolatry (Deu 12:1-3). II. They must keep close to the tabernacle (Deu 12:4, Deu 12:5). The former precept was intended to prevent all false worship, the latter to preserve the worship God had instituted. By this latter law, 1. They are commanded to bring all their offerings to the altar of God, and all their holy things to the place which he should choose (Deu 12:6, Deu 12:7, Deu 12:11, Deu 12:12, Deu 12:14, Deu 12:18, Deu 12:26-28). 2. They are forbidden, in general, to do as they now did in the wilderness (Deu 12:8-11), and as the Canaanites had done (Deu 12:29-32), and, in particular, to eat the hallowed things at their own houses (Deu 12:13, Deu 12:17, Deu 12:18), or to forsake the instituted ministry (Deu 12:19). 3. They are permitted to eat flesh as common food at their own houses, provided they do not eat the blood (Deu 12:15, Deu 12:16, and again, Deu 12:20-26).

12:3 sacred pillars: See study note on 7:5. • Asherah poles: The feminine counterpart to the sacred pillar was a wooden pole dedicated to the mother goddess, Asherah. • erase the names: With the destruction of all idols and every vestige of pagan worship, the names of these deities would be forgotten. Future generations would know nothing of them (see also study note on 7:24).