John Gill Commentary Deuteronomy 11:29

"And it shall come to pass, when Jehovah thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt set the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal." — Deuteronomy 11:29 (ASV)

And it shall come to pass, when the Lord your God has brought
you into the land where you go to possess it
Which is often observed, as being near at hand; and when and where many things were to be done, which could not be done in the place and circumstances they now were, particularly what follows:

that you shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim, and the curse upon
Mount Ebal ;
that is, pronounce the one on one mountain, and the other on the other mountain, or at least towards them, or over against them.

The Targum of Jonathan is ``you shall set six tribes on Mount Gerizim, and six tribes on Mount Ebal; ((Deuteronomy 27:12Deuteronomy 27:13)) blessing they shall turn their faces against Mount Gerizim, and cursing they shall turn their faces against Mount Ebal;''

with which agrees the account given in the Misnah; ``six tribes went to the top of Mount Gerizim, and six to the top of Mount Ebal; and the priests and the Levites, and the ark, stood below in the middle; the priests surrounded the ark, and the Levites the priests, and all Israel were on this and on that side of the ark, as in (Joshua 8:33) then they turned their faces against Gerizim, they opened with the blessing, blessed is he that makes not any graven or molten image, and both answered "Amen"; then they turned their faces against Mount Ebal, and opened with the curse, (Deuteronomy 27:15) and both answered Amen ^F19 ;'' see the performance of this command in (Joshua 8:33Joshua 8:34) .

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FOOTNOTES:

• F19: Sotah, c. 7. sect. 5.