Primary source: H. P. Mansfield’s annotations in his Holy Bible, HPB 04-Deu01-Jud04.PDF, p. 19. Mansfield’s separately published Deuteronomy Expositor is a distinct document and was consulted only as a secondary cross-check. This edited verse-by-verse study is based on the HPB notes; it is not the Expositor.
SECOND TABLES • COVENANT RESTORED • AARON DIES, ELEAZAR SERVES • LEVI SEPARATED • “WHAT DOTH YAHWEH REQUIRE?” • CIRCUMCISE THE HEART • LOVE THE STRANGER • YAHWEH IS THY PRAISE
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
Chapter 10 moves from rebellion to mercy. The covenant words are rewritten, priestly service continues, Levi remains separated for Divine service, and Moses’ intercession is accepted.
The appropriate response is not complacency but transformed loyalty: fear, walk, love, serve and keep. Yahweh’s greatness is expressed not only in universal sovereignty but in impartial justice and love for the stranger.
THE SECOND TABLES — DEUTERONOMY 10:1–5
Deuteronomy 10:1–2 — two new stones and an ark
Yahweh tells Moses to hew two stone tablets like the first and make an ark/chest of wood; Yahweh will rewrite the former words.
The replacement stones are supplied by Moses, while the writing remains Yahweh’s. Restoration is mercy without pretending the first covenant breach never happened.
Deuteronomy 10:1–3 — which ark?
Deuteronomy’s compressed first-person account says Moses made an ark of acacia wood before ascending with the second tablets. Exodus 25:10 commands construction of the covenant Ark, while Exodus 37:1 later attributes its making to Bezalel.
The relationship has been variously explained: a temporary wooden chest, proleptic/compressed narration, or Moses acting through the appointed craftsmen. The text does not justify Mansfield’s confident claim that the permanent tabernacle Ark was constructed before every other article and before the second ascent.
Deuteronomy 10:4 — “the ten words”
The Hebrew is aseret haddebarim, the Ten Words, written again according to the first writing.
KJV “Ten Commandments” accurately expresses their function, but “Ten Words” reflects the Hebrew form.
Deuteronomy 10:5 — tablets placed in the ark
Moses descends and places the tablets in the ark as commanded, preserving the covenant testimony in Israel’s midst.
AARON’S DEATH AND THE ITINERARY — DEUTERONOMY 10:6–7
Deuteronomy 10:6 — Beeroth-bene-jaakan to Moserah
The brief itinerary associates Moserah with Aaron’s death and Eleazar’s succession.
Numbers 33 lists Moseroth before Bene-jaakan, whereas Deuteronomy 10 gives the names in the opposite order. This may reflect travel within the same region, different itinerary conventions, or another stage of movement. Mansfield’s proposed backtracking solves one possibility but is not stated and should not be presented as fact.
Deuteronomy 10:6 — Aaron’s death
Numbers 20 locates Aaron’s death on Mount Hor; Numbers 33:38–39 dates it precisely. Moserah/Moseroth may denote the broader district associated with Mount Hor rather than a contradictory death site.
Deuteronomy 10:7 — Gudgodah and Jotbathah
The itinerary continues through Gudgodah to Jotbathah, described as a land of streams/waters.
Modern identifications such as Yotvata are plausible but not certain enough to carry doctrinal weight.
LEVI SEPARATED — DEUTERONOMY 10:8–9
Deuteronomy 10:8 — “at that time”
Yahweh separated Levi to bear the ark, stand before Yahweh, minister and bless in His Name.
The separation belongs to the broader Horeb/wilderness period and should not be dated specifically to the moment after Aaron’s death merely because verses 6–7 precede it. Exodus 32:26–29 and Numbers 3–4 provide the larger background.
Deuteronomy 10:9 — Yahweh is Levi’s inheritance
Levi receives no ordinary territorial tribal inheritance because its service and support are structured around Yahweh’s sanctuary and Israel’s tithes.
“Yahweh is his inheritance” expresses covenant vocation and provision rather than literal ownership of the Divine Being.
INTERCESSION ACCEPTED — DEUTERONOMY 10:10–11
Deuteronomy 10:10 — another forty-day period recalled
Moses says he stayed on the mountain forty days and nights “according to the first time,” and Yahweh heard him.
The Exodus-Deuteronomy chronology is compressed. The emphasis here is that intercession was accepted and destruction did not follow.
Deuteronomy 10:11 — “arise, take thy journey”
Yahweh commands Moses to lead the people onward so they may possess the land sworn to the fathers.
Mercy restores movement toward the promise.
WHAT YAHWEH REQUIRES — DEUTERONOMY 10:12–13
Deuteronomy 10:12 — fivefold covenant response
What Yahweh requires is to fear Him, walk in all His ways, love Him, serve Him with all heart and all nephesh, and keep His commands.
Nephesh denotes life/self/person; the verse calls for whole-person service, not service by an immortal soul separable from the body.
Deuteronomy 10:13 — “for thy good”
The commandments and statutes are explicitly for Israel’s good. Divine authority and human benefit are not opposites.
CIRCUMCISE THE HEART — DEUTERONOMY 10:14–16
Deuteronomy 10:14 — heaven of heavens
Heaven, highest heaven, earth and all it contains belong to Yahweh; His sovereignty is universal.
Deuteronomy 10:15 — yet He loved the fathers
The universal sovereign nevertheless set covenant affection on Israel’s fathers and chose their seed.
Election remains grace rather than evidence of intrinsic superiority.
Deuteronomy 10:16 — inward circumcision
Israel must circumcise the foreskin of the heart and cease being stiffnecked.
The physical covenant sign therefore always pointed toward responsive inner character; later Deuteronomy 30:6 promises Divine action upon the heart.
YAHWEH’S CHARACTER MUST SHAPE ISRAEL — DEUTERONOMY 10:17–19
Deuteronomy 10:17 — God of gods and Lord of lords
Yahweh is the supreme God and Lord, great, mighty and awesome, who does not show partiality and does not take a bribe.
“God of gods” acknowledges Yahweh’s absolute supremacy; it does not concede equality or independent deity to pagan gods.
Deuteronomy 10:18 — defender of vulnerable people
Yahweh executes justice for orphan and widow and loves the ger, resident stranger, providing food and clothing.
Deuteronomy 10:19 — “love ye therefore the stranger”
Israel must imitate Yahweh’s character because Israel itself knew the vulnerability of being strangers in Egypt.
Memory of oppression must generate compassion rather than entitlement.
FEAR, CLEAVE, PRAISE AND REMEMBER — DEUTERONOMY 10:20–22
Deuteronomy 10:20–21 — Yahweh is thy praise
Israel must fear, serve and cleave to Yahweh and swear by His Name. He is Israel’s praise and God, the One who performed the great and terrible acts they saw.
Deuteronomy 10:22 — seventy become as the stars
Jacob’s household went down into Egypt as seventy persons in the Masoretic/KJV reckoning, and Israel has multiplied like the stars.
Acts 7:14’s seventy-five follows the Greek textual tradition, as previously noted in Genesis/Exodus. The two textual traditions should be acknowledged rather than artificially merged.
PRINCIPAL THEMES
• Replacement tablets show restoration without erasing the history of rebellion.
• Deuteronomy 10 does not conclusively identify the wooden ark of verses 1–3 with a permanent Ark already completed before Bezalel’s work.
• The reverse itinerary order relative to Numbers 33 is real; invented backtracking is only one possible explanation.
• Moserah can be associated with the Mount Hor district without contradicting Numbers 20.
• Levi’s separation belongs to the wider Horeb/wilderness period, not necessarily the chronological instant after Aaron’s death.
• Yahweh’s requirements unite reverence, conduct, love, service and obedience.
• Nephesh means life/self/person in whole-person service.
• Heart circumcision makes the inward demand explicit.
• Yahweh’s impartiality and care for vulnerable people are patterns Israel must imitate.
• Seventy in Deuteronomy reflects the Masoretic/KJV tradition; Acts 7:14 preserves the Septuagint seventy-five tradition.