John Calvin Commentary Deuteronomy 6

Hear, O Israel. When Moses proclaims that God is One, the statement is not confined to His sole essence, which is incomprehensible, but must also be understood to refer to His power and glory, which had been manifested to the people. It is as though he had said that they would be guilty of rebellion unless they abided in the One God, who had placed them under such obligations to Himself.

Therefore, he not only calls him Jehovah, but at the same time infers that He is the God of that people whom he addresses: “Your God.” Thus, all other deities are brought to nothing, and the people are commanded to flee from and detest whatever withdraws their minds from the pure knowledge of Him. For although His name may be left to Him, He is still stripped of His majesty as soon as He is mingled with a multitude of others.

Thus He says by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 20:39): Go you, serve you every one his idols; in which words He not only repudiates all mixed worship but also testifies that He would rather be considered nothing than not be worshipped undividedly.

The orthodox Fathers aptly used this passage against the Arians,²⁸⁰ because, since Christ is everywhere called God, He is undoubtedly the same Jehovah who declares Himself to be the One God. This is also asserted with the same force concerning the Holy Spirit.

And these words. In these next four verses, God again commands (as before) the study of His Law. First, indeed, He wanted it implanted in their hearts, so that forgetfulness of it would not ever steal over them. By the word “heart,” He designates the memory and other faculties of the mind, as if He had said that this was so great a treasure that there was good reason for them to hide it in their hearts, or to fix this doctrine so deeply in their minds that it would never escape.

Afterward, He commands that constant conversation should be held about it with their children, so that fathers would diligently attend and apply themselves to the duty of instruction.

The word שנן²³⁴ shanan, which Moses uses, properly means “to whet.” Commentators think that it is used metaphorically for “to reiterate” or “to repeat constantly,” because when the heavenly doctrine is inculcated, it will scarcely, even then, be properly impressed on their hearts. However, since it is used here in the conjugation Piel, its meaning may be transitive: namely, that they should cause it to penetrate their minds, as if they should prick them with the point of a sword, for the other translation does not seem consistent. But it is enough for me to state my opinion, so that no one will be offended by its novelty.

Lastly, He exhorts them to exercise themselves in meditating on it both publicly and privately, in order to stimulate their lack of energy. Although He may seem to speak hyperbolically, yet if anyone carefully considers how slow and careless people are in learning, and how forgetful they are when they seem to have made some progress, they will readily acknowledge that Moses does not urge them so strongly on insufficient grounds. Indeed, it was highly necessary for him to be so rigid in demanding their attention.

For this reason, the Prophet in Psalm 1:2 pronounces those blessed who meditate on God’s law day and night. He leaves, then, no portion of time unoccupied with meditation on the Law: whether they are at home or abroad, or when they retire to rest, or when they rise in the morning. David appears to allude to this precept in Psalm 119:62, where he says, At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments; and again, in Psalm 119:148, Mine eyes prevent the night-watches, that I might meditate in thy word.

But still, by the expression “talk of them,” Moses does not urge the people to empty talkativeness, to which many are too inclined; rather, he would have them individually establish themselves and be teachers of each other in this way. He lists these various engagements so that the change of occupation, which usually distracts the mind, would not withdraw the godly from the right path—as if He commanded them to make this their chief aim in whatever business they might be engaged.

For the same reason, He desires bracelets and frontlets to be made of the precepts of the Law, doubtless contrasting this spiritual ornament with chains²³⁵ of gold, as if to say that they would more properly take delight in the pious recollection of the Law than in those trivial ornaments that attract people’s senses.

The Jews, understanding this literally, considered this external display a mark of holiness, thinking they had almost done all they needed when they wore the Law on their arms and foreheads. From this, their mistaken zeal proceeded still further, so that, as each desired to be thought better than others, they widened their phylacteries in proportion—for so they called the borders of their garments, on which certain sentences of the Law were written as safeguards.

Our Lord severely reproves this error in the Scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23:5), because it was a mere mockery of this admonition and a profanation of its doctrine.

The intention of God appears sufficiently in the passage from Exodus, which I have included, and in which they are simply commanded to be diligent in keeping the Law. But there is good reason why diligence should be required, not only because the matter is highly important, but also because, through our vanity, we are prone to relax our efforts unless our slowness of heart is stimulated.

And it shall be, when the Lord your God. Since wealth and prosperity mostly blind men’s minds, so that they do not pay enough attention to modesty and moderation, but rather grow unrestrained in their lusts and intoxicate themselves with pleasures, God guards against this error by anticipation. For not without reason does He admonish them to beware lest they forget God when they have been generously and luxuriously treated by Him, but because He knew this to be a common vice, that abundance breeds arrogance; as He will later say in His song,

“Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked: thou art waxen fat, etc., then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation” (Deuteronomy 32:15).

First of all, He shows how base and unworthy their ingratitude would be if, when loaded by God with so many excellent benefits, they should cast away the recollection of Him. For as His goodness was inestimable in giving them cities built by the hands of others, and in transferring to them whatever others had prepared by their great labor and industry, so their impiety would be all the more detestable in neglecting Him, when He daily set Himself before them in this abundant store of blessings.

Let us learn, therefore, from this passage, that we are invited by God’s generosity to honor Him, and that whenever He deals kindly with us, He places His glory before our eyes. But, on the other hand, we should remember that what ought to be, so to speak, vehicles to lift up our minds on high, are, through our own fault, turned into obstacles and hindrances. Therefore, we ought to be all the more on our guard.

At the end of verse 12, He reproves their folly by another argument: if, being so suddenly enriched, they should give way to intemperance. It is as if He had said that their absurdity would be unbearable if, when uplifted by God’s bounty, they should not remember their origin. For nothing should have served more to incline them to humility than that wretched state of servitude from which they had been rescued. Therefore, He contrasts that ample dominion to which God had exalted them with “the house of bondmen”²⁴⁵, so that the recollection of their former condition might restrain all rebelliousness.