John Calvin Commentary Deuteronomy 31:12

"Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones, and thy sojourner that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear Jehovah your God, and observe to do all the words of this law;" — Deuteronomy 31:12 (ASV)

Gather the people together.²⁴¹ Literally, the key phrase is “to gather,”²⁴² etc., which is in the infinitive mood. Although this form is sometimes taken for the imperative, in this passage some improperly translate it as “Gather,” etc., as if Moses commanded them to give these injunctions only once to the people of their own generation, whereas he is actually continuing with the preceding sentence.

This verse, then, is connected with what went before, namely, that the Law should be proclaimed anew in the years when they were to hold their greatest assembly. This was because the people were then called to the Jubilee by the sound of the trumpet.

The word “gather,” therefore, extends to all these septennial assemblies, which will be mentioned elsewhere. Nor, certainly, would what he says about the people who are “within their gates” align with the times of Moses, since in those days there were no such settled groups among them.

Consequently, he more fully explains why he designated the seventh year: namely, because the whole people then came “to appear before God.” He specifically mentions the “women and children,” so that their age or sex might not serve as an excuse.

This highlights the wickedness and dishonesty of those²⁴³ who would exclude not only children but also women from religious learning, since God invites all, from the least to the greatest, to His school and desires them to be His disciples.

Regarding “the strangers,” we must understand this term to refer not to those who had come into the land of Canaan on business and were soon to return home, but rather to those who had chosen to make their home there. From their long residence, these individuals had become integrated with the Israelites.

The benefit and purpose (of this recitation²⁴⁴) is also added: that by hearing, they might learn to fear God. From this we infer that true religion has its origin in knowledge, and that whatever piety people not instructed by God’s word may appear to have, is mere pretense.

To observe to do is equivalent to diligently and zealously applying themselves to obey the precepts of the Law.

²⁴¹ “Congregando,” by congregating — Lat. There is much abridgment of the passage in the French.There is much abridgment of the passage in the French.

²⁴² הקהל. The form is strictly that of the imperative Hiphil, whilst the infinitive of the same voice is properly הקהיל, as seen in Numbers 10:7, though its yod might be changed into a tzere, in which case the form of these two different tenses would be identical. — W

²⁴³ L’audace du Pape et de son clerge. — Fr..

²⁴⁴ Added from the French.