Deuteronomy 27
1 Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, “Keep all the commandment which I command you today. 2 It shall be on the day when you shall pass over the Jordan to the land which Yahweh your God gives you, that you shall set yourself up great stones, and plaster them with plaster. 3 You shall write on them all the words of this law, when you have passed over; that you may enter into the land which Yahweh your God gives you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has promised you. 4 It shall be, when you have passed over the Jordan, that you shall set up these stones, which I command you today, on Mount Ebal, and you shall plaster them with plaster.
5 There you shall build an altar to Yahweh your God, an altar of stones. You shall lift up no iron tool on them. 6 You shall build the altar of Yahweh your God of uncut stones; and you shall offer burnt offerings on it to Yahweh your God. 7 You shall offer peace offerings, and shall eat there, and rejoice before Yahweh your God. 8 You shall write on the stones all the words of this law very plainly.”
9 Moses and the priests the Levites spoke to all Israel, saying, “Keep silence, and listen, Israel. This day you have become the people of Yahweh your God. 10 You shall therefore obey Yahweh your God’s voice, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command you today.”
11 Moses commanded the people the same day, saying, 12 “These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, when you have passed over the Jordan: Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin. 13 These shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.
14 The Levites shall answer, and tell all the men of Israel with a loud voice, 15 ‘Cursed is the man who makes a carved image or a molten image, an abomination to Yahweh, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ All the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’
16 ‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or his mother.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
17 ‘Cursed is he who removes his neighbor’s landmark.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
18 ‘Cursed is he who makes the blind to wander out of the way.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
19 ‘Cursed is he who deprives the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow of justice.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
20 ‘Cursed is he who lies with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered his father’s skirt.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
21 ‘Cursed is he who lies with any kind of animal.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
22 ‘Cursed is he who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
23 ‘Cursed is he who lies with his mother-in-law.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
24 ‘Cursed is he who strikes his neighbor in secret.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
25 ‘Cursed is he who takes a bribe to kill an innocent person.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
26 ‘Cursed is he who doesn’t confirm the words of this law to do them.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
Deuteronomy 27 Commentary
Overview
Deuteronomy 27 describes a covenant-renewal ceremony after Israel crosses the Jordan. Large plastered stones display the law, an altar is built on Mount Ebal, sacrifices are offered, and the people answer “Amen” to covenant curses. Entrance into Canaan is therefore more than a military achievement. Life in the land must begin under God’s revealed word.
The chapter places law, sacrifice, fellowship, and accountability together. The commands are written plainly, yet an altar stands nearby. Burnt offerings acknowledge dedication and atonement, while peace offerings lead to a shared meal and rejoicing. Israel cannot treat obedience casually, but covenant life is not presented as joyless fear. The God who commands also welcomes His people to worship.
The repeated curses focus largely on concealed wrongs: secret idolatry, hidden violence, bribery, exploitation, and sexual sin. Each “Amen” acknowledges that God’s judgment is right even when authorities do not discover the offense. The final declaration widens the scope to the entire law. Covenant membership does not permit selective obedience.
Key Themes
1. The promised land remains governed by God’s word. Israel receives Canaan as a gift, but possession does not make the nation autonomous. The first major ceremony after crossing the Jordan is the public inscription and hearing of the law. Gift and obligation belong together: the God who gives the land determines how life within it should be ordered.
2. God’s instruction is meant to be known publicly. The law is written on large, plastered stones “very plainly.” The amount of text intended by “all the words of this law” is debated, but the purpose is clear. Israel’s duties are not secret knowledge controlled by a religious class.
3. Worship accompanies the hearing of the law. The altar and sacrifices prevent the ceremony from becoming merely a legal monument. Israel hears commands in the context of relationship with God. Burnt offerings express consecration, and peace offerings create a meal of fellowship and gratitude.
4. The altar is built from uncut stones. Israel may not shape the altar with iron tools. This follows the altar instruction given in Exodus 20. The simplicity keeps attention on God’s command rather than artistic display or human achievement.
5. Covenant renewal requires attentive listening. Moses and the Levitical priests tell Israel to be silent and listen. The people are not asked merely to attend a ceremony. They must receive God’s voice and then do what He commands. Biblical hearing includes a readiness to obey.
6. Israel’s identity carries ethical responsibility. “This day you have become the people of Yahweh” does not mean God had no relationship with Israel before this moment. It publicly renews covenant identity before entrance into the land. Belonging to God therefore requires obedience.
7. Blessing and curse make covenant consequences visible. The tribes stand on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, as directed earlier in Deuteronomy 11. Geography becomes part of the lesson: loyalty and rebellion lead in opposite directions.
8. “Amen” is a personal and communal agreement. After every curse, all the people answer “Amen.” They are not pronouncing punishment on an unknown group of outsiders. They agree that the standard applies to themselves and that God is just to judge violations of His covenant.
9. God judges sins committed in secret. Several offenses are specifically hidden from ordinary public view: an idol set up secretly, a neighbor struck secretly, and a bribe arranged to kill an innocent person. Human courts have limited reach, but secrecy does not remove an action from God’s knowledge or authority.
10. True covenant faithfulness protects neighbors. The curses address parents, property boundaries, people with disabilities, foreigners, orphans, widows, family relationships, and innocent life. Loyalty to God is demonstrated through justice and restraint toward other people, not through religious ceremony alone.
11. Selective obedience cannot sustain the covenant. The final curse falls on anyone who does not confirm the words of the law by doing them. The earlier examples are not an exhaustive checklist. They illustrate a broader demand that Israel uphold the whole covenant rather than choosing only the commands that are convenient or publicly visible.
Important Verses Explained
Deuteronomy 27:2–3 — “Set yourself up great stones, and plaster them with plaster.” Plaster would create a smooth, visible surface for writing. The monument joins memory to instruction: Israel is to remember that the land is God’s promised gift while also reading the covenant that governs life there. The promise of “a land flowing with milk and honey” never cancels the call to obedience.
Deuteronomy 27:4 — “Set up these stones...on Mount Ebal.” Mount Ebal is associated in this ceremony with the curse, yet it is also where the law is displayed and the altar is built. This is theologically significant without requiring every detail to be symbolic. At the place where covenant judgment is acknowledged, Israel also worships through sacrifices provided by God.
Deuteronomy 27:5–6 — “You shall lift up no iron tool on them.” The altar must be constructed of natural, uncut stones. The restriction does not condemn craftsmanship; the tabernacle required skilled work. Here it prevents the altar from becoming a showcase of human design and keeps Israel within God’s instruction.
Deuteronomy 27:7 — “You shall eat there, and rejoice before Yahweh.” Peace offerings included a fellowship meal. Rejoicing on Mount Ebal shows that solemn acknowledgment of sin and judgment is not the final note of worship. God invites His covenant people to enjoy fellowship with Him, though that joy must remain joined to reverence and obedience.
Deuteronomy 27:8 — “Write on the stones all the words of this law very plainly.” Scholars differ over whether this means the whole book of Deuteronomy, its central legal material, or a representative covenant text. The chapter does not settle the question. Its emphasis is clarity: the written testimony must confront the nation with God’s revealed will.
Deuteronomy 27:9–10 — “This day you have become the people of Yahweh your God.” Israel had already been redeemed from Egypt and identified as God’s people. The wording therefore describes covenant renewal and confirmation, not the nation’s first relationship with God. The following “therefore” connects identity to conduct: belonging to God calls for listening and obedience.
Deuteronomy 27:12–13 — The tribes on Gerizim and Ebal. Six tribes stand on each mountain. The text does not explain every assignment, so elaborate theories should be held cautiously. The arrangement publicly witnesses that both blessing and curse belong to the covenant.
Deuteronomy 27:15 — “Sets it up in secret.” The first curse condemns concealed idolatry. A crafted image may escape community detection, but it remains an abomination to God. The verse exposes the inadequacy of outward conformity: a person can appear loyal in public while privately replacing God with something made and controlled by human hands.
Deuteronomy 27:18–19 — Misleading the blind and denying justice. These commands protect people whose vulnerability could be exploited with little risk to the offender. The blind person may not identify who misdirected him, and the foreigner, fatherless, or widow may lack social power. God places His own authority behind their protection, as He also does in Leviticus 19.
Deuteronomy 27:24–25 — Secret violence and bribery. Murder may be hidden physically or arranged through corrupt payment. The curses reach beyond the visible attacker to anyone who accepts a bribe to destroy innocent life. Justice cannot be reduced to what can be proven immediately in court; God knows the concealed agreement and the motive behind it.
Deuteronomy 27:26 — “Cursed is he who doesn’t confirm the words of this law to do them.” To “confirm” the law means to uphold it through obedience, not merely to affirm that it exists. Paul cites this verse in Galatians 3 to show the seriousness of relying on law-keeping for justification: the law demands complete faithfulness and exposes transgression. For Christians, this deepens the need for Christ rather than turning obedience into a way of earning salvation.
Joshua 8 and the fulfillment of this command. After Israel enters Canaan, Joshua builds the altar on Mount Ebal, writes a copy of the law, and reads the blessings and curses to the assembled nation. Joshua 8 shows that Deuteronomy 27 was intended as a concrete act of covenant renewal, not merely an ideal never carried out.
Practical Applications
Place God’s word at the beginning of new seasons. Israel was to enter the land by publicly acknowledging the covenant. Believers can likewise begin new responsibilities, homes, ministries, or opportunities by asking how Scripture should govern them rather than treating God’s guidance as an afterthought.
Make biblical teaching clear and accessible. The law was to be written plainly. Churches and teachers should resist unnecessary obscurity, private spiritual elitism, and language that hides rather than explains. Depth and clarity are not enemies.
Join serious self-examination with grateful worship. Deuteronomy 27 combines curses, sacrifices, a shared meal, and rejoicing. Healthy worship neither ignores sin nor leaves repentant people without hope. God’s holiness should produce honesty, and His grace should produce gratitude.
Apply moral standards to private conduct. Public reputation cannot substitute for integrity. Secret idolatry, concealed exploitation, hidden sexual wrongdoing, and private violence remain accountable to God even when no human observer knows.
Protect people who are easy to exploit. Faithfulness includes refusing to take advantage of disability, unfamiliarity, poverty, grief, or lack of social influence. God’s people should make justice more accessible to those who have less power, not use their weakness as an opportunity.
Let your “Amen” become obedience. Agreement with biblical teaching is incomplete when it remains verbal. Every affirmation made in worship should lead toward concrete faithfulness in family relationships, money, sexuality, truthfulness, and treatment of neighbors.
Do not treat selective morality as covenant faithfulness. It is easy to emphasize commands that expose other people while excusing one’s own preferred sins. The final curse confronts that strategy. Christians are saved by grace, yet grace trains them to receive all of God’s instruction with humility rather than editing His authority to suit themselves.