Bible Commentaries
Deuteronomy 11

Verses 1-32

Deuteronomy 11:29 And it shall come to pass, when the LORD thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal.

Deuteronomy 11:29 Word Study on “Gerizim” Strong says the Hebrew name “Gerizim” ( גְּרִזִים ) (H1630) forms the plural of the primitive root ( גָּרַז) (H1639), which means, “to cut up, i.e. rocky.” It is found four times in the Old Testament in reference to mount Gerizim, a mountain that stands together with mount Ebal overlooking a major pass that separates the East from the costal West in the land of Palestine.

Deuteronomy 11:29 Word Study on “Ebal” BDB says the Hebrew word “eybal” ( עֵיבָל ) (H5858) means, “a stone” or “a bare mountain.” Strong says it comes from an unused root meaning, “to be bald.” It is used 8 times in the Old Testament, referring to mount Ebal on five occasions and used as a proper name on three occasions.

Comments - The ISBE tells us Mountain Ebal rises 1,402 feet above the valley and stands alongside mount Gerizim, and together they overlook the pass through the mountain that divides eastern Israel from western Israel. [28]

[28] W. Ewing, “Ebal,” in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, ed. James Orr (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., c1915, 1939), in The Sword Project, v. 1.5.11 [CD-ROM] (Temple, AZ: CrossWire Bible Society, 1990-2008).

Deuteronomy 11:29 Comments - The commandment to pronounce blessings and curses upon Mounts Gerizim and Ebal is further explained in Deuteronomy 27:11-26. We read the account of Israel fulfilling this command in Joshua 8:30-35.

Deuteronomy 11:30 Are they not on the other side Jordan, by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh?

Deuteronomy 11:30 Word Study on “the champaign” Strong says the Hebrew word “champaign” ( עֲרָבָה ) (H6160) means, “a desert plain, a steppe, a desert, a wilderness.” The Enhanced Strong says is found 42 times in the Old Testament, being translated in the KJV as “plain 42, desert 9, wilderness 5, Arabah 2, champaign 1, evenings 1, heavens 1.” [29]

[29] James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible : Showing Every Word of the Text of the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every Occurrence of Each Word in Regular Order, electronic edition (Ontario: Woodside Bible Fellowship, 1996), H6160.

Deuteronomy 11:30 “beside the plains of Moreh” Comments - The plains of Moreh is first mentioned in Genesis 12:6, “And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.”