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Deuteronômio 27

BLIVRE · Chapter 27/34

1E mandou Moisés, com os anciãos de Israel, ao povo, dizendo: Guardareis todos os mandamentos que eu prescrevo hoje.

2E será que, no dia que passardes o Jordão à terra que o SENHOR teu Deus te dá, te hás de levantar pedras grandes, as quais rebocarás com cal:

3E escreverás nelas todas as palavras desta lei, quando houveres passado para entrar na terra que o SENHOR teu Deus te dá, terra que flui leite e mel, como o SENHOR o Deus de teus pais te disse.

4Será pois, quando houveres passado o Jordão, que levantareis estas pedras que eu vos mando hoje, no monte de Ebal, e as rebocarás com cal:

5E edificarás ali altar ao SENHOR teu Deus, altar de pedras: não levantarás sobre elas ferro.

6De pedras inteiras edificarás o altar do SENHOR teu Deus; e oferecerás sobre ele holocausto ao SENHOR teu Deus;

7E sacrificarás ofertas pacíficas, e comerás ali; e te alegrarás diante do SENHOR teu Deus.

8E escreverás nas pedras todas as palavras desta lei muito claramente.

9E Moisés, com os sacerdotes levitas, falou a todo Israel, dizendo: Atende e escuta, Israel: hoje és feito povo do SENHOR teu Deus.

10Ouvirás, pois, a voz do SENHOR teu Deus, e cumprirás seus mandamentos e seus estatutos, que eu te ordeno hoje.

11E mandou Moisés ao povo naquele dia, dizendo:

12Estes estarão sobre o monte de Gerizim para abençoar ao povo, quando houverdes passado o Jordão: Simeão, e Levi, e Judá, e Issacar, e José e Benjamim.

13E estes estarão para pronunciar a maldição no de Ebal: Rúben, Gade, e Aser, e Zebulom, Dã, e Naftali.

14E falarão os levitas, e dirão a todo homem de Israel em alta voz:

15Maldito o homem que fizer escultura ou imagem de fundição, abominação ao SENHOR, obra da mão de artífice, e a puser em oculto. E todo o povo responderá e dirá: Amém.

16Maldito o que desonrar a seu pai ou a sua mãe. E dirá todo o povo: Amém.

17Maldito o que reduzir o termo de seu próximo. E dirá todo o povo: Amém.

18Maldito o que fizer errar ao cego no caminho. E dirá todo o povo: Amém.

19Maldito o que distorcer o direito do estrangeiro, do órfão, e da viúva. E dirá todo o povo: Amém.

20Maldito o que se deitar com a mulher de seu pai; porquanto revelou o colo de seu pai. E dirá todo o povo: Amém.

21Maldito o que tiver parte com qualquer animal. E dirá todo o povo: Amém.

22Maldito o que se deitar com sua irmã, filha de seu pai, ou filha de sua mãe. E dirá todo o povo: Amém.

23Maldito o que se deitar com sua sogra. E dirá todo o povo: Amém.

24Maldito o que ferir a seu próximo ocultamente. E dirá todo o povo: Amém.

25Maldito o que receber um presente para ferir de morte ao inocente. E dirá todo o povo: Amém.

26Maldito o que não confirmar as palavras desta lei para as cumprir. E dirá todo o povo: Amém.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Moses instructs that, upon entering the land, Israel is to set up large stones inscribed with the Law on Mount Ebal, build an altar there, and hold a solemn ceremony in which six tribes proclaim blessings from Mount Gerizim and six tribes proclaim curses from Mount Ebal, with the people answering 'Amen' after each one.

Explanation

This public, formal ceremony of covenant renewal, planned years in advance to take place as soon as Israel entered the land, turned the new generation into active, conscious participants in the covenant, not merely passive heirs of an agreement made by their parents at Sinai. The specific list of proclaimed curses (against secret idolatry, dishonoring parents, property fraud, exploiting the vulnerable, and sexual sins) focuses notably on sins committed in secret or against the most defenseless — exactly the kinds of injustice hardest to hold accountable through the ordinary judicial system — making them a matter of responsibility and vigilance for the whole community through this public declaration. The collective response of 'Amen' from all the people after each curse created an explicit, public, verbal commitment from every individual to these ethical standards.

Fun facts

  • This ceremonial event would actually be carried out just as described, in Joshua 8:30-35, right after the conquest of Ai, showing that Joshua took seriously the detailed instruction Moses had given decades earlier, even while still in the middle of active military campaigns.
  • The word 'Amen,' used here for the first time so systematically and repeatedly, would go on to become one of the most universally known and used Hebrew words in practically every religious tradition descended from Judaism, including Christianity and Islam.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Deuteronômio 27:1Moses and the elders together give the collective command to keep all the commandments just given, marking the shared authority of the leadership.
  2. Deuteronômio 27:2Upon entering the land, the people were to set up large stones, coat them with plaster, and write the whole law on them: a public, permanent monument of the covenant, in the style of the stelae ancient kings used to record treaties and laws in plain sight.
  3. Deuteronômio 27:3The whole law was to be written on these plastered stones, a public and visible record right at the entrance to the promised land.
  4. Deuteronômio 27:4It specifies the exact location of the monument: Mount Ebal, which soon after also becomes the mountain of curses in this same chapter.
  5. Deuteronômio 27:5It commands building an altar there of natural stones, with no metal tool used to shape them.
  6. Deuteronômio 27:6The altar was to be made of whole stones, uncut, and used to offer burnt offerings to God.
  7. Deuteronômio 27:7Besides the burnt offerings, peace offerings were to be sacrificed there, with a celebratory meal before God.
  8. Deuteronômio 27:8It reinforces that the law written on the stones was to be clear and easily legible, with no ambiguity.
  9. Deuteronômio 27:9Moses and the priests solemnly announce that, on that day, the people formally became the people of God.
  10. Deuteronômio 27:10The natural consequence of that identity is obedience: following God’s voice and keeping the commandments given.
  11. Deuteronômio 27:11Six tribes stood on Mount Gerizim to bless and six on Mount Ebal to curse, a ritual physically staged on both sides of a valley, with the geography itself becoming part of the covenant ceremony.
  12. Deuteronômio 27:12It lists the six tribes that would stand on Mount Gerizim to pronounce the blessings: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin.
  13. Deuteronômio 27:13It lists the other six tribes that would stand on Mount Ebal to pronounce the curses: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.
  14. Deuteronômio 27:14The Levites had the role of proclaiming each curse aloud before all the assembled people.
  15. Deuteronômio 27:15The list of twelve curses, each answered by the people with “Amen,” covers everything from idolatry to incest and bribery: it’s the formal closing of the treaty, following the same pattern as other ancient Near Eastern covenants that ended with lists of curses against anyone who broke the agreement.
  16. Deuteronômio 27:16The first curse of the ritual falls on whoever dishonors his father or mother, with the people answering “amen” in agreement.
  17. Deuteronômio 27:17The second curse falls on whoever secretly moves his neighbor’s boundary marker, a kind of silent theft of property.
  18. Deuteronômio 27:18The third curse condemns whoever deceives a blind man so as to make him lose his way, an abuse against someone unable to defend himself.
  19. Deuteronômio 27:19The fourth curse protects the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow, falling on whoever perverts justice against these vulnerable people.
  20. Deuteronômio 27:20The fifth curse condemns relations with one’s father’s wife, repeating the prohibition already seen in the previous chapter.
  21. Deuteronômio 27:21The sixth curse falls on sexual relations with an animal, considered one of the gravest transgressions on the list.
  22. Deuteronômio 27:22The seventh curse condemns relations with one’s own sister, whether the daughter of his father or of his mother.
  23. Deuteronômio 27:23The eighth curse falls on relations with one’s mother-in-law, closing out the block of sexual prohibitions within the family itself.
  24. Deuteronômio 27:24The ninth curse condemns whoever strikes his neighbor in secret, a crime committed with no witnesses and therefore harder to punish under human law.
  25. Deuteronômio 27:25The tenth curse falls on whoever accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person, corrupting justice for money.
  26. Deuteronômio 27:26The final curse sums up all the others: it falls on whoever does not confirm and does not carry out the words of this law as a whole.

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