Deuteronomy 31:25

31:23-30 The solemn delivery of the book of the law to the Levites, to be deposited in, or rather by the side, of the ark, is again related. The song which follows in the next chapter is delivered to Moses, and by him to the people. He wrote it first, as the Holy Spirit taught him; and then spake it in the hearing of all the people. Moses tells them plainly, I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves. Many a sad thought, no doubt, it occasioned to this good man; but his comfort was, that he had done his duty, and that God would be glorified in their dispersion, if not in their settlement, for the foundation of God stands sure.

That Moses commanded the Levites,.... These were not the common Levites, but the priests who were also Levites, to whom the law was given, Deuteronomy 31:9 ; and none but they might touch the ark, or go so near it as, they are bid to do, to put the law on the side of it; so Aben Ezra; it follows: which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord; as the priests are said to do; see Gill on Deuteronomy 31:9; for though in journeying the Kohathites carried it, yet not until it was covered by the priests, for they must not touch it; as these must do when they put the law on the side of it, as they are ordered in Deuteronomy 31:26. saying; as follows.

Deuteronomy 31:25-26 . The Levites — The priests, ( Deuteronomy 31:9 ,) who also were Levites. Put it in the side — Or, by the side of the ark, as the same word is rendered, 1 Samuel 6:8 . For it does not appear that it was laid up within the ark, it being expressly said that there was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, 1 Kings 8:9 ; 2 Chronicles 5:10 . Probably this was the very same book which, after having been some way misplaced, was found in the house of the Lord in the days of Josiah, and publicly read by the king himself, for a testimony against the people, who were then almost ripe for ruin.

Verse 25. - The Levites, which bare the ark ; i . e . the priests whose business it was to guard and to carry the ark of the covenant; "the priests the sons of Levi," as in ver. 9. According to Numbers 4:4 , etc., it was the Kohathites who carried the ark on the journey through the desert; but they seem merely to have acted in this respect as the servants or helpers of the priests, who alone might touch the ark, and by whom it was carefully wrapped up before it was handed to the Kohathites. On special occasions the priests themselves carried the ark (cf. Joshua 3:3 , etc.; Joshua 4:9, 10; 6:6, 12; 8:33; 1 Kings 8:3 ). Deuteronomy 31:25

The Levites, which bare the ark - i. e., as in Deuteronomy 31:9 , "the priests the sons of Levi." The non-priestly Levites could not so much as enter the sanctuary or touch the ark (compare Numbers 4:15 ). Though in the journeys through the wilderness the ark was borne by the non-priestly Kohathites, yet on occasions of a more solemn and public character it was carried by the priests themselves ( Joshua 3:3 ff, Joshua 4:9-10 ; Joshua 6:6 , Joshua 6:12 ; Joshua 8:33 ; 1 Kings 8:3 ).

19. Now therefore write ye this song—National songs take deep hold of the memories and have a powerful influence in stirring the deepest feelings of a people. In accordance with this principle in human nature, a song was ordered to be composed by Moses, doubtless under divine inspiration, which was to be learnt by the Israelites themselves and to be taught to their children in every age, embodying the substance of the preceding addresses, and of a strain well suited to inspire the popular mind with a strong sense of God's favor to their nation.

With the installation of Joshua on the part of God, the official life of Moses was brought to a close. Having returned from the tabernacle, he finished the writing out of the laws, and then gave the book of the law to the Levites, with a command to put it by the side of the ark of the covenant, that it might be there for a witness against the people, as He knew its rebellion and stiffneckedness ( Deuteronomy 31:24-27 ). על־ספר כּתב, to write upon a book, equivalent to write down, commit to writing. תּמּם עד, till their being finished, i.e., complete. By the "Levites who bare the ark of the covenant" we are not to understand ordinary Levites, but the Levitical priests, who were entrusted with the ark. "The Levites" is simply a contraction for the full expression, "the priests the sons of Levi" ( Deuteronomy 31:9 ). It is true that, according to Numbers 4:4 ., the Kohathites were appointed to carry the holy vessels, which included the ark of the covenant, on the journey through the desert; but it was the priests, and not they, who were the true bearers and guardians of the holy things, as we may see from the fact that the priests had first of all to wrap up these holy things in a careful manner, before they handed them over to the Kohathites, that they might not touch the holy things and die ( Numbers 4:15 ).

Hence we find that on solemn occasions, when the ark was to be brought out in all its full significance and glory, - as, for example, in the crossing of the Jordan ( Joshua 3:3 ., Deuteronomy 4:9-10 ), when encompassing Jericho ( Joshua 6:6 , Joshua 6:12 ), at the setting up of the law on Ebal and Gerizim ( Joshua 8:33 ), and at the consecration of Solomon's temple ( 1 Kings 8:3 ), - it was not by the Levites, but by the priests, that the ark of the covenant was borne. In fact the Levites were, strictly speaking, only their (the priests') servants, who relieved them of this and the other labour, so that what they did was done in a certain sense through them. If the (non-priestly) Levites were not to touch the ark of the covenant, and not even to put in the poles ( Numbers 4:6 ), Moses would not have handed over the law-book, to be kept by the ark of the covenant to them, but to the priests. ארון מצּד, at the side of the ark, or, according to the paraphrase of Jonathan, "in a case on the right side of the ark of the covenant," which may be correct, although we must not think of this case, as many of the early theologians do, as a secondary ark attached to the ark of the covenant (see Lundius, Jd. Heiligth. pp. 73, 74). The tables of the law were deposited in the ark ( Exodus 25:16 ; Exodus 40:20 ), and the book of the law was to be kept by its side.