IDuteronomi 27:4

Izhibhalo Ezingcwele

4 Nothi, nakuyiwela iYordan, nimise la matye ndiniwisela umthetho ngawo namhla, entabeni ye-Ebhali, uwaqabe ngefutha;

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

in mount Ebal: The Samaritan text has in mount Gerizim; which has given rise to a violent controversy. Dr. Kennicott suppose that the Jews corrupted this passage out of their enmity to the Samaritans, who had their temple on mount Gerizim; while Dr. Parry and H. Verschuir defend the present reading: to the writings of these authors the reader is referred. Deuteronomy 11:29, Deuteronomy 11:30, Joshua 8:30-33

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 27:13 - mount Ebal

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And therefore it shall be, when ye be gone over Jordan,.... Some time after they had passed that river:

[that] ye shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in Mount Ebal; a mountain near Shechem in Samaria, and was, as Benjamin of Tudela says r, dry as stones and rocks itself, and perhaps had its name, as some think s, from the root in the Arabic language which signifies to strip a tree of its leaves, and a derivative from it, white stones and a mountain in which such are found. Hither the stones commanded to be set up were to be brought, and fixed here; from whence it is not certain; it may be from some part of the mountain. Here the Samaritan version has Gerizim instead of Ebal, which is generally thought to be a wilful corruption of the Samaritans, in favour of their temple built at Gerizim:

and thou shall plaster them with plaster; as before directed, Deuteronomy 27:2.

r Itinerar. p. 40. s Reland. Dissert. 3. de Monte Gerizim, p. 128. See Castel. Lexic. Heptaglott col 2642.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

In mount Ebal - Compare the marginal references. The Samaritan Pentateuch and Version read here Gerizim instead of Ebal; but the original text was probably, as nearly all modern authorities hold, altered in order to lend a show of scriptural sanction to the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim.

The erection of the altar, the offering thereon burnt-offerings and peace-offerings Deuteronomy 27:6-7, the publication of the Law in writing, form altogether a solemn renewal of the covenant on the entrance of the people into the promised land, and recall the ceremonies observed on the original grant of the covenant at Sinai (compare Exodus 24:5). And Ebal (the mount of “barrenness “),the mount of cursing, was the fitting spot on which to celebrate them. For the curses were the penalties under which the children of Israel bound themselves to keep the Law. Suitably also was the same place selected as that in which were to be set up both the monumental stones containing the Law, and the altar at which the covenant was to be renewed. We must note too the fact that Deuteronomy 27:15 ff set out verbatim the curses only, the blessings being omitted. The law because of man’s sinfulness brings on him first and chiefly a curse: compare Deuteronomy 31:16-17; Galatians 3:10.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Deuteronomy 27:4. Set up these stones - in Mount Ebal — So the present Hebrew text, but the Samaritan has Mount Gerizim. Dr. Kennicott has largely defended the reading of the Samaritan in his second dissertation on the present state of the Hebrew text, and Dr. Parry has defended the Hebrew against the Samaritan in his Case between Gerizim and Ebal fairly stated. So has J. H. Verschuir, in his Dissert. Critica. Many still think Dr. Kennicott's arguments unanswerable, and have no doubt that the Jews have here corrupted the text through their enmity to the Samaritans. On all hands it is allowed that Gerizim abounds with springs, gardens, and orchards, and that it is covered with a beautiful verdure, while Ebal is as naked and as barren as a rock. On this very account the former was highly proper for the ceremony of blessing, and the latter for the ceremony of cursing.