Here is the repetition of the ten commandments, in which observe, 1.
Though they had been spoken before, and written, yet they are again
rehearsed; for precept must be upon precept, and line upon line, and
all little enough to keep the word of God in our minds and to preserve
and renew the impressions of it. We have need to have the same things
often inculcated upon us. See Phil. iii. 1. 2. There is some variation
here from that record (Exod. xx.), as there is between the Lord's
prayer as it is in Matt. vi. and as it is Luke xi. In both it is more
necessary that we tie ourselves to the things than to the words
unalterably. 3. The most considerable variation is in the fourth
commandment. In Exod. xx. the reason annexed is taken from the creation
of the world; here it is taken from their deliverance out of Egypt,
because that was typical of our redemption by Jesus Christ, in
remembrance of which the Christian sabbath was to be observed: Remember
that thou wast a servant, and God brought thee out, v. 15. And
Therefore, (1.) "It is fit that thy servants should be favoured by the
sabbath-rest; for thou knowest the heart of a servant, and how welcome
one day's ease will be after six days' labour." (2.) "It is fit that
thy God should be honoured by the sabbath-work, and the religious
services of the day, in consideration of the great things he has done
for thee." In the resurrection of Christ we were brought into the
glorious liberty of the children of God, with a mighty hand and an
outstretched arm; therefore, by the gospel-edition of the law, we are
directed to observe the first day of the week, in remembrance of that
glorious work of power and grace. 4. It is added in the fifth
commandment, That it may go well with thee, which addition the apostle
quotes, and puts first (Eph. vi. 3), that it may be well with thee, and
that thou mayest live long. If there be instances of some that have
been very dutiful to their parents, and yet have not lived long upon
earth, we may reconcile it to the promise by this explication of it,
Whether they live long or no, it shall go well with them, either in
this world or in a better. See Eccl. viii. 12. 5. The last five
commandments are connected or coupled together, which they are not in
Exodus: Neither shalt thou commit adultery, neither shalt thou steal,
&c., which intimate that God's commands are all of a piece: the same
authority that obliges us to one obliges us to another; and we must not
be partial in the law, but have respect to all God's commandments, for
he that offends in one point is guilty of all, Jam. ii. 10, 11. 6. That
these commandments were given with a great deal of awful solemnity, v.
22. (1.) They were spoken with a great voice out of the fire, and thick
darkness. That was a dispensation of terror, designed to make the
gospel of grace the more welcome, and to be a specimen of the terrors
of the judgment-day, Ps. l. 3, 4. (2.) He added no more. What other
laws he gave them were sent by Moses, but no more were spoken in the
same manner that the ten commandments were. He added no more, therefore
we must not add: the law of the Lord is perfect. (3.) He wrote them in
two tables of stone, that they might be preserved from corruption, and
might be transmitted pure and entire to posterity, for whose use they
were intended, as well as for the present generation. These being the
heads of the covenant, the chest in which the written tables were
deposited was called the ark of the covenant. See Rev. xi. 19.