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From: Deuteronomy 26:16-19
Israel, the People of the Lord
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
26:16-19. The main part of Moses’ second discourse (chaps. 5-26) ends with
a new, solemn proclamation of the Covenant between the Lord and his people,
on which their mutual relationship is based. Israel is the people — property of
God, chosen by him from among all nations. And the Lord, for his part, is the
God and Lord of Israel, whom he has solemnly promised to protect.
Verses 17 and 18 begin with turns of phrase typical of the language of con-
tacts and pacts: one contracting party has the other declare or swear some-
thing. This gives the passage great beauty and strength: through the wording
of the Covenant, Israel makes the Lord undertake to be its God and protector,
while God calls on Israel to testify that it will be faithful to his commandments.
The wording of the Covenant is extolled in other passages of the Old Testa-
ment. Thus, Hosea 2:25 uses the imagery of love to express the dialogue be-
tween God and Israel: “You are my people. [...] Thou art my God.”
By treating man in this way, God shows himself to be both near to man and far
above him. The mutual commitment of God and men in the Covenant is not a
simple business-like transaction; it is something enduring, something which is
being renewed all the time: for man, and particularly for the Christian, every day
is a renewal of the Covenant, a new beginning (cf. Is 43:19). St. J. Escriva writes
“Committed. How much I like that word! We children of God freely put ourselves
under an obligation to live a life of dedication to God, striving that He may have
complete and absolute sovereignty over our lives” (”The Forge”, 855).
As regards the structure of Deuteronomy in its present form, vv. 16-19 act as
both a summing up of Moses’ second discourse and as a preparation for chap-
ter 28, the end of that discourse, consisting of “Blessings and Curses” exhor-
ting Israel to be faithful to the Covenant it has made with the Lord.
*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase
The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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“Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” — St Jerome
*********************************************************************************************
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
For: Saturday, February 23, 2013
1st Week of Lent
Optional Memorial: St Polycarp, Bishop
(Preference Given to Liturgical Season)
From: Deuteronomy 26:16-19
Israel, the People of the Lord
*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:
26:16-19. The main part of Moses’ second discourse (chaps. 5-26) ends with
a new, solemn proclamation of the Covenant between the Lord and his people,
on which their mutual relationship is based. Israel is the people — property of
God, chosen by him from among all nations. And the Lord, for his part, is the
God and Lord of Israel, whom he has solemnly promised to protect.
Verses 17 and 18 begin with turns of phrase typical of the language of con-
tacts and pacts: one contracting party has the other declare or swear some-
thing. This gives the passage great beauty and strength: through the wording
of the Covenant, Israel makes the Lord undertake to be its God and protector,
while God calls on Israel to testify that it will be faithful to his commandments.
The wording of the Covenant is extolled in other passages of the Old Testa-
ment. Thus, Hosea 2:25 uses the imagery of love to express the dialogue be-
tween God and Israel: “You are my people. [...] Thou art my God.”
By treating man in this way, God shows himself to be both near to man and far
above him. The mutual commitment of God and men in the Covenant is not a
simple business-like transaction; it is something enduring, something which is
being renewed all the time: for man, and particularly for the Christian, every day
is a renewal of the Covenant, a new beginning (cf. Is 43:19). St. J. Escriva writes
“Committed. How much I like that word! We children of God freely put ourselves
under an obligation to live a life of dedication to God, striving that He may have
complete and absolute sovereignty over our lives” (”The Forge”, 855).
As regards the structure of Deuteronomy in its present form, vv. 16-19 act as
both a summing up of Moses’ second discourse and as a preparation for chap-
ter 28, the end of that discourse, consisting of “Blessings and Curses” exhor-
ting Israel to be faithful to the Covenant it has made with the Lord.
*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.