“And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.”
My Notes
What Does Deuteronomy 5:1 Mean?
Moses convenes all Israel — kol-Yisra'el — for the renewal of the covenant. His command contains a chain of four verbs: hear (shim'u — listen, receive through the ears), learn (ul'madtem — study, internalize, make the content your own), keep (ush'martem — guard, watch over, protect), and do (la'asotham — perform, execute, carry out). The chain is sequential: you can't do what you haven't kept. You can't keep what you haven't learned. You can't learn what you haven't heard. Hearing initiates the entire sequence.
The Hebrew b'oznekhem — in your ears — specifies the sensory entry point. The statutes and judgments (chuqqim u'mishpatim) enter through the ears. Not the eyes (reading hadn't replaced hearing in ancient Israel). Not philosophical reflection. Hearing. The voice of Moses delivering the word of God into the physical ears of a gathered nation. The community hears together.
The phrase "this day" — hayyom — creates urgency. Not yesterday's covenant. Not the Sinai generation's commitment. This day. Today. Moses is making the covenant present-tense for a generation that was too young to have been at Sinai. The covenant doesn't belong to history. It belongs to this day. Every generation must receive it as fresh, as today, as spoken directly into their own ears.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Where in the hear-learn-keep-do chain have you been breaking the sequence — trying to 'do' without first hearing and learning?
- 2.Moses says 'this day.' When was the last time you received God's word as today's word rather than ancient history?
- 3.The hearing enters through the ears — communal, audible, received in gathering. Where has your faith become exclusively private and internal when it needs a communal hearing?
- 4.What specific statute or instruction of God do you need to move through the full chain — hear, learn, keep, do — starting today?
Devotional
Hear. Learn. Keep. Do. Four verbs in a chain, and you can't skip to the end. You can't do without first keeping in mind. You can't keep what you haven't learned. You can't learn what you haven't heard. The sequence starts with ears — open, attentive, present — and ends with hands doing what the ears received. The entire spiritual life is in that chain.
Most of us try to start at "do." We want the action items. The practical steps. The things to implement by Friday. Moses says: slow down. Before you do, you keep. Before you keep, you learn. Before you learn, you hear. The hearing — shema, the foundational posture of Israel's faith — is the prerequisite for everything else. And hearing isn't passive reception. It's the active choice to position your ears toward the voice of God and let the words enter you before you try to execute them.
The word "today" — hayyom — is the urgency beneath the chain. Moses isn't reviewing ancient history. He's renewing a covenant. This day. For these people. The statutes and judgments aren't museum pieces. They're living instructions for this generation, this moment, this decision you're facing today. If you've let the word of God become historical — something that happened to other people in other centuries — Moses says: hayyom. Today. Hear it today. Learn it today. Keep it today. Do it today. The covenant is only as alive as your most recent engagement with it.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And Moses called all Israel,.... The heads of the various tribes, and elders of the people, as he had on occasion been…
Here, 1. Moses summons the assembly. He called all Israel; not only the elders, but, it is likely, as many of the people…
called unto i.e. summoned together. So rightly LXX.
all Israel D's characteristic phrase for the people: see Deu…
Cross References
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