Old Testament Commentary - Deuteronomy 18

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 18 How priests are supported—Divination, spiritualism, and the like are abominations—A Prophet (Christ) shall arise like unto Moses.
1 THE priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no ^apart nor ^binheritance with Israel: they shall ^ceat the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and his inheritance. 2 Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the LORD is their ^ainheritance, as he hath said unto them.
3 ¶ And this shall be the priest's ^adue from the people, from them that offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep; and they shall give unto the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the ^bmaw. 4 The ^afirstfruit also of thy ^bcorn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy sheep, shalt thou give him. 5 For the LORD thy God hath chosen him out of all thy tribes, to stand to ^aminister in the ^bname of the LORD, him and his sons for ever.
6 ¶ And if a Levite come from any of thy ^agates out of all Israel, where he ^bsojourned, and come with all the desire of his mind unto the ^cplace which the LORD shall choose; 7 Then he shall minister in the name of the LORD his God, as all his brethren the Levites do, which stand there before the LORD. 8 They shall have like portions to eat, beside that which cometh of the sale of his patrimony.
9 ¶ When thou art come into the ^aland which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the ^babominations of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter ^ato pass through the ^bfire, or that useth ^cdivination, or an observer of times^a, or an ^cenchanter, or a witch, 11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with ^afamiliar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.	10^a an observer of times That is a foreteller of events to come and when they will come. More than a fortune teller of a person'a future, an observer of times is he that forecast the future events of nations and their such times to come.
12 For all that do these things are an ^aabomination unto the LORD: and because of these ^babominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. 13 Thou shalt be ^aperfect with the LORD thy God. 14 For these nations, which thou shalt ^apossess, hearkened unto ^bobservers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.
15 ¶ The LORD thy God will ^araise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; 16 According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not ^ahear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.
17 And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. 18 I will raise them up a ^aProphet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my ^bwords in his mouth; and he shall ^cspeak unto them all that I shall command him. 19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
20 But the ^aprophet, which shall ^bpresume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. 21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we ^aknow the word which the LORD hath not spoken? 22 When a ^aprophet ^bspeaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.