Ye shall utterly destroy all the places wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods,.... The temples erected for the worship of them by the Canaanites, of which there were many, as appears by the various names of places given them from the temples in them, as Bethshemesh, Bethbaalmeon, Bethpeor, and others:upon the high mountains and upon the hills: which they chose to worship on, being nearer the heavens, and which they thought most acceptable to their gods; and some of them had their names from hence, as Baalpeor, in like manner as Jupiter Olympius was called by the Greeks; see Jer 2:20,and under every green tree; which being shady and solitary, and pleasant to the sight, they fancied their gods delighted in, and this notion prevailed among other nations; and there is scarcely any deity but what had some tree or another devoted to it; as the oak to Jupiter, the laurel to Apollo, the ivy to Bacchus, the olive to Minerva, the myrtle to Venus, &c.
Bible Commentary
Deuteronomy 12:2
Deuteronomy 12:2
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible · John Gill (1697–1771) · Public Domain
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Deuteronomy 12 — OverviewDeuteronomy 12 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleMoses at this chapter comes to the particular statues which he had to
give in charge to Israel, and he begins with those which relate to the
worship of God, and particularly those which explain the second…Deuteronomy 12 — OverviewDeuteronomy 12 · Treasury of Scripture KnowledgeDeuteronomy 12:1, Monuments of idolatry are to be destroyed; Deuteronomy 12:4, The place of God’s service to be kept; Deuteronomy 12:15, Blood is forbidden; Deuteronomy 12:16, Blood is forbidden; Deuteronomy 12:17, Holy…Deuteronomy 12 — OverviewDeuteronomy 12 · John Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleIn this chapter orders are given to destroy all altars, pillars, groves, and images, made for the worship of idols in the land of Canaan, De 12:1 and to bring all sacrifices and holy things unto the place which the Lord…Deuteronomy 12:1-4Deuteronomy 12:1-4 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleFrom those great original truths, That there is a God, and that there
is but one God, arise those great fundamental laws, That that God is to
be worshipped, and he only, and that therefore we are to have no other…Deuteronomy 12:1-3Deuteronomy 12:1-3 · The Pulpit CommentaryThe invasion a religious one.
The Israelites were instructed to exterminate the Canaanites in consequence of their sins, as we have already seen; but in this passage we have strict injunctions given to destroy the…Deuteronomy 12:1-4Deuteronomy 12:1-4 · The Pulpit CommentaryThe doom of idolatry.
The reverse side of blessing is a curse. The abuse of the best things is the worst. In the ratio in which any institution has capacity to benefit, has it capacity to injure. The sun can quicken…