Deuteronomychapter 19
21 verses · Moses, by tradition · 15th to 13th century BC · The Law
When the Lord thy God hath cut off the nations, whose land the Lord thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their houses;
Introduction
Moses, by tradition, The Law, Deuteronomy Overview.
Moses gave this law on the plains of Moab for a land that had not yet been divided among the tribes. His hearers had no police and no public prosecutor, and when a man was killed his nearest kinsman was bound to pursue the killer. The chapter builds protections into that custom for the man who killed without intending it and for the man falsely accused. Between the two it sets a short law about the stones that marked a field. Listen for how the chapter weighs intent, and for the penalty it lays on a lying witness.
Context
- Who
- Clans who would carry the duty of avenging their own dead
- What
- The three cities of refuge and the roads to them, the law against moving a neighbour's boundary stone, and the rule of two or three witnesses with the penalty for a false one.
- Where
- The plains of Moab, with the cities of refuge mapped onto land across the Jordan not yet divided.
- When
- The fortieth year after the Exodus, about 1406 BC on the early date this site keeps.
- Why
- To keep an innocent man from being killed by an avenger or condemned on one voice, so that no innocent blood would be shed in the land.
Historical context
The chapter is Moses speaking in the fortieth year, and it legislates for a land Israel does not yet hold. The house reading dates it to about 1406 BC, stated as a reading rather than a settled date. The place is the plains of Moab, and the cities being set apart lie across the river in territory still to be divided. The occasion is the making of a system for a killing, since the cities were already established at Numbers 35:9-15 and what this address adds is the road to them. A first hearer knew there was no police force and no public prosecutor. When a man was killed, pursuing the killer fell to the nearest male relative, who is called the redeemer of blood. That system delivered justice quickly, and it also delivered vengeance on an innocent man before anyone could ask questions. A first hearer also knew how a field was marked. Arable ground was bounded by stones set by earlier generations, and shifting one quietly at night stole land in a way that was almost impossible to prove. Across the region boundary stones were inscribed with curses on whoever moved them, and Israel's version of that sanction is the covenant curse of 27:17.
Significance
The refuge system told first hearers that intent decides the case. The same fact of a dead man on the ground could be murder or misfortune, and the covenant ordered a road built so the difference could be heard before the avenger arrived. The law of witnesses closed the other side of it, since a man who testified falsely received the penalty he had intended for his brother. In a system that ran on sworn testimony, that was the strongest safeguard available.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
What is done
The chapter is read as a set of standing works rather than a single command. Rashi records that the word for refuge was inscribed at every crossroad (Rashi on Deuteronomy 19:3:1, citing Makkot 10b). A man fleeing could find the nearest city without asking. The land was divided so that each stretch ran the same length. The border to the first city, the first to the second, the second to the third, and the third to the far border all matched (Rashi on Deuteronomy 19:3:2, citing Makkot 9b).
Ramban reads the same verses as instructions to maintain the system. The roads leading to the cities "should be direct", the signs stand at the crossroads, and the cities sit equidistant from the frontier and from each other (Ramban on Deuteronomy 19:1:1, Chavel translation, CC-BY). He also holds that the duty began only once Israel had taken the land and settled in it. Sforno files the chapter under the work of the judges, with the boundaries of the land and the examination of witnesses (Sforno on Deuteronomy 19:2:1, Munk translation, CC-BY). In the court itself the witnesses gave their testimony standing (Rashi on Deuteronomy 19:17:1, citing Shevuot 30a and Sifrei Devarim 190:1-3).
How it is read
Rashi counts the cities to nine rather than six. Three stand east of the Jordan, three in Canaan, and three more if God enlarges the territory (Rashi on Deuteronomy 19:9:1, citing Sifrei Devarim 185:1). On the accident that sends a man to a city of refuge he reports the rabbis divided. Some held the axe head flew off its handle, others that it struck a splinter from the tree and the splinter killed the man (Rashi on Deuteronomy 19:5:2, citing Makkot 7b).
The chapter's best known line is read here in a way a Christian reader should know. Rashi takes eye for eye at 19:21 to mean monetary compensation, and tooth for tooth in the same way (Rashi on Deuteronomy 19:21:1, citing Sifrei Devarim 190:16 and Bava Kamma 84a). The rule of two witnesses at 19:15 becomes a general principle. Wherever the Torah says witness it means two, unless it says one (Rashi on Deuteronomy 19:15:1, citing Sanhedrin 30a). On the plotting witness the sentence falls on what he intended, "as he had intended to do, but not as he has done" (Rashi on Deuteronomy 19:19:1, citing Makkot 5b). Once the accused has already been executed the false witnesses escape death. A public announcement of the sentence is required (Rashi on Deuteronomy 19:20:1, citing Sanhedrin 89a). Rashi's reading of 19:17 also excludes the evidence of women, which is the classical ruling, reported here as the classical ruling. The corpus holds Ibn Ezra on Deuteronomy 19:6:1 and 19:8:1 without an English text. It holds Malbim on Deuteronomy 19:1:1, 19:2:1 and 19:12:1 the same way. All five are cited without quotation.
What the rabbis say
On the hatred standing behind the ambush of 19:11 Rashi carries the rabbis' rule about small sins. Their words are "If a man transgresses a light command he will in the end transgress a weighty command" (Rashi on Deuteronomy 19:11:1, citing Sifrei Devarim 186:2). The man who kept hatred in his heart came at last to shed blood. On the command that the eye shall not pity, Rashi reports a plea the rabbis anticipated and refused. One man is already dead, and killing a second gains nothing (Rashi on Deuteronomy 19:13:1, citing Sifrei Devarim 187:7). On moving a neighbour's landmark he teaches that inside the land the act breaks two commands, robbery and the removing of the mark (Rashi on Deuteronomy 19:14:1, citing Sifrei Devarim 188:1-2). Outside the land it breaks only the first.
The corpus carries more locators on this chapter, given for a reader to follow. Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Makkot 2:1 and Jerusalem Talmud Makkot 2:6:12 stand at 19:2. Bamidbar Rabbah 23:13 and Bava Batra 100b:1 stand at 19:3, Arakhin 30b:19 and Bava Kamma 32a:5 at 19:5. Bava Kamma 44b:11 and Bava Kamma 86a:17 stand at 19:11, Ein Yaakov, Shabbat 9:3 at 19:14. Bamidbar Rabbah 23:6 and Bamidbar Rabbah 9:29 stand at 19:15. Avot DeRabbi Natan 30:3 stands at 19:19, and Bava Kamma 84a:7 at 19:21.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on Deuteronomy 19:3 to 19:21, Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, public domain, 1929-1934; Ramban, Ramban on Deuteronomy 19:1:1, Chavel translation, Shilo Pub. House, CC-BY, 1971-1976; Sforno, Sforno on Deuteronomy 19:2:1, Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash, CC-BY; Ibn Ezra, Ibn Ezra on Deuteronomy 19:6:1 and 19:8:1, cited without text; Malbim, Malbim on Deuteronomy 19:1:1, 19:2:1 and 19:12:1, cited without text; The Sefaria corpus on disk, scripts/data/sources/sefaria/deuteronomy/19.json, fetched 2026-09-19, 2026.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Three cities, and three more if he enlarges you
Deuteronomy 19:1-7
Numbers 35:9-15 had already set these cities apart, and this chapter adds the roads, with the land divided in three so that distance never decides a case. Verse 6 gives the reason, that the avenger might overtake the manslayer “if the distance is great”. The statute works one example at length, an axe blade flying off its handle, and Numbers 35:25 adds a clause this retelling leaves out.
Deuteronomy 19:1
“This and the next two chapters contain enactments designed to protect human life, and to impress its sanctity on Israel. In Deu 19:1-13 the directions respecting the preparation of the roads to the cities of refuge, the provision of additional cities in case of an extension of territory, and the intervention of the elders as representing the congregation, are unique to Deuteronomy and supplementary to the laws on the same subject given in the earlier books (compare the marginal reference). Deu 19:1, Deu 19:2 The three cities of refuge for the district east of Jordan had been already named.”
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that Moses took the old duty of blood vengeance into his law in an improved form. The cities set apart in the land hold that duty in check. Numbers 35:12 keeps the manslayer in the city until he stands trial.
Deuteronomy 19:2
“Thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land--Goelism, or the duty of the nearest kinsmen to avenge the death of a slaughtered relative, being the customary law of that age (as it still is among the Arabs and other people of the East), Moses incorporated it in an improved form with his legislative code.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Adam Clarke reports the Jewish tradition that these roads were made thirty-two cubits wide, level, cleared of every obstacle and kept in constant repair. The land was divided into three regions so that no manslayer had a great distance to flee. Every region had its city.
Deuteronomy 19:3
“Thou shalt prepare thee a way - The Jews inform us that the roads to the cities of refuge were made very broad, thirty-two cubits; and even, so that there should be no impediments in the way; and were constantly kept in good repair.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Jerome reads the law as teaching that even a sin of ignorance is still a sin, for the man who killed his neighbor unknowingly must still flee to save his life. Job 1:5 shows the same concern in burnt offerings made for sins his children might have committed in their hearts. Intent separates him from the murderer.
Jerome cites the man who goes into the forest to cut timber, whose blade flies off and kills his neighbor, as one ordered to flee to a city and remain there. Numbers 35:22 and 23 adds other accidents of the same kind, a sudden push, a thrown object, a stone dropped unseen. Each is done without hostility.
Deuteronomy 19:5
“The very words of Scripture indicate that even ignorance is a sin. This is why Job offers holocausts for his sons, lest perchance they may have sinned unwittingly in thought. And if a man is killed by the iron of an axe that flies off the handle when a man is hewing wood, the wood hewer is ordered to flee to a city of refuge and remain in that place until the death of the high priest.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Against the Pelagians 1.33patristic
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown call the avenger's duty the customary law of that age. Numbers 35:19 gives the avenger of blood the right to strike the murderer dead, and the danger here is his rage falling on the wrong man. 2 Samuel 14:11 shows a mother begging the king to restrain him.
Verse 7 repeats the command of verse 2 to set apart three cities, now as the conclusion of the axe case. Albert Barnes counts the roads and the three cities to be added among the laws found only in Deuteronomy, beside those of the earlier books. Joshua 20:2 has the LORD renewing the command through Joshua.
Deuteronomy 19:7
“Wherefore I command thee, saying, thou shalt separate three cities for thee. This was to be done immediately, as soon as they were settled in the land of Canaan, and established in the possession of it, the inhabitants being cut off, or driven out, or however subdued.”
Deuteronomy 19:8-13
Three cities become six if the border grows, and verse 9 ties that growth to “loving the LORD your God and walking in His ways”. Joshua 20:7-9 names all six, three west of the Jordan and the three of 4:41-43. A man who lay in wait is handed by his own elders to the avenger, and 1 Kings 2:28-34 applies the same distinction to Joab.
Deuteronomy 19:8
“And if the Lord thy God enlarge thy coast,.... Extend it further than it was upon their first settlement, even carry it as far as the river Euphrates, as in the times of Solomon, 1Ki 4:21. Jarchi interprets it of such an enlargement as to give them the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites and Kadmonites: (as he hath sworn unto thy fathers), and give thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy, fathers: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; see Gen 15:19.”
The three more cities wait on the LORD enlarging the territory as he swore to the fathers, and John Gill carries that border to the Euphrates, named at Genesis 15:18 and reached under Solomon at 1 Kings 4:21. Obedience would enlarge the land and add the cities.
Deuteronomy 19:9
“Shalt thou add three cities more - This was afterwards found necessary, and accordingly six cities were appointed, three on either side Jordan. See Jos 21:1-3, etc. In imitation of these cities of refuge the heathens had their asyla, and the Catholics their privileged altars. See Exo 21:13 (note), Exo 21:14 (note), and Num 35:11 (note), etc.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Adam Clarke notes that the heathen nations kept places of asylum in imitation of these cities. The purpose given here is the land itself: Numbers 35:33 says bloodshed pollutes the land and can be atoned for only by the blood of the one who shed it. Refuge protects the innocent slayer.
Deuteronomy 19:10
“Though God is the saviour and preserver of all men, and has a tender regard to all lives, yet the blood of Israelites is in a particular manner precious to him, Ps. lxxii.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Hate and ambush close the city to the man. Matthew Henry applies the verse to Christ, in whom there is no refuge for the man who goes on in sin, and he cites Hebrews 10:26 for it.
Deuteronomy 19:11
“It may be alluded to to show that in Jesus Christ there is no refuge for presumptuous sinners, that go on still in their trespasses. If we thus sin wilfully, sin and go on in it, there remains no sacrifice, Heb. x.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
the elders of his city: Albert Barnes notes that the part the elders play here is found only in Deuteronomy, where they act for the whole congregation of Israel. Elders act for their city again at 21:2 and 3, measuring the distance from a slain man to the nearest city. His own city answers for his blood.
Numbers 35:31 forbids a ransom for the life of a murderer, and showing no pity here closes the same door. Albert Barnes reads this chapter and the two after it as laws that impress the sanctity of human life on Israel. Innocent blood left unpurged stays as guilt on the land.
Do not move your neighbor's landmarkv. 14
The boundary rule rests on marks “set up by your ancestors” rather than by the man who holds the field now. Deuteronomy 27:17 curses whoever moves them, and Proverbs 22:28, Hosea 5:10 and Job 24:2 repeat or apply the charge. Before fences, ground was marked by a small cairn or a single stone, which is why the theft could be done quietly, and the verse names no penalty.
Deuteronomy 19:14
“Thou shalt not remove thy neighbor’s landmark - Before the extensive use of fences, landed property was marked out by stones or posts, set up so as to ascertain the divisions of family estates. It was easy to remove one of these landmarks, and set it in a different place; and thus the dishonest man enlarged his own estate by contracting that of his neighbor. The termini or landmarks among the Romans were held very sacred, and were at last deified. To these termini Numa Pompillus commanded offerings of broth, cakes, and firstfruits, to be made.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Deuteronomy 19:14
“Though gardens and vineyards are surrounded by dry-stone walls or hedges of prickly pear, the boundaries of arable fields are marked by nothing but by a little trench, a small cairn, or a single erect stone, placed at certain intervals.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
A false witness gets what he intended
Deuteronomy 17:6 required two or three witnesses before an execution, and this verse extends the bar to “any wrongdoing or sin”. Matthew 18:16 builds church discipline on it, 2 Corinthians 13:1 and 1 Timothy 5:19 apply it to accusations, and Jesus uses it of his own witness at John 8:17. At Matthew 26:59-60 the council keeps the form of the rule while emptying its purpose.
Deuteronomy 19:15
“One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth,....”
4 more voices on this verse
Deuteronomy 19:15
“One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity--The following rules to regulate the admission of testimony in public courts are founded on the principles of natural justice. A single witness shall not be admitted to the condemnation of an accused person.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Deuteronomy 19:15
“Therefore if a people composed of a great multitude was found a false witness, how must it be understood, "In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall stand," except that in this way. The Trinity, in which is unending stability of truth, was revealed through a mystery. Do you want to have a good case? Have two or three witnesses, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
Augustine of Hippo · written before 430 · TRACTATE ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 36.10.1patristic
Deuteronomy 19:15
“One witness shall not rise up, etc. - See Num 35:30 (note).”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Deuteronomy 19:15
“As a matter of fact, a single witness generally speaks the truth, while a mob may tell lies. And the world, in its conversion to Christianity, believed one apostle preaching the gospel rather than the mistaken multitude who persecuted him.”
Augustine of Hippo · written before 430 · AGAINST FAUSTUS, A MANICHAEAN 16.13Early Church
Cross references
Deuteronomy 19:15
- Quoted in2 Corinthians 13:1This is the third time I am coming to you. “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”
'In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established'
- Quoted inMatthew 18:16“But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’”
'in the mouth of two or three witnesses' (church discipline)
Deuteronomy 19:16-21
The case goes to the central court of 17:8-13, and Albert Barnes reads the two men of verse 17 as the parties to the original suit. The liar suffers what “he intended to do to his brother”, so intent alone carries the penalty the lie aimed at. The chapter closes on “life for life, eye for eye”, which Exodus 21:23-25 also carries and Jesus takes up at Matthew 5:38.
Deuteronomy 19:16
“Testify against him that which is wrong - Margin, more literally, “a falling away.” The word is used Deu 13:5 to signify apostasy or revolt; here it is no doubt to be understood in the wider sense of any departure from the Law.”
The parties stand in the presence of the LORD, and Albert Barnes explains the phrase: the judges acted as God's representatives, so a lie told to them was a lie told to him. False witness here is a sin against God himself.
Deuteronomy 19:17
“Both the men, between whom the controversy is - Not the accused and the false witness, but the plaintiff and defendant (compare Exo 23:1) who were summoned before the supreme court held, as provided in Deut. 17, at the sanctuary. The judges acted as God’s representative; to lie to them was to lie to Him.”
John Gill notes that the Targum of Jonathan has the judges question the witness well, examining the testimony and looking carefully into it. The liar must be proven by full evidence before the sentence falls. Chapter 17:4 asked the same thorough investigation.
Deuteronomy 19:18
“And the judges shall make diligent inquisition,.... Into the case before them, into the nature of the evidence and proof that each witness brings for or against; so the Targum of Jonathan,"the judges shall interrogate the witness, by whom these things are said, well;''shall thoroughly examine the testimony given, and look carefully into it: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother; it appears plainly by full evidence that he has testified a falsehood of him.”
Matthew Henry quotes a Latin line on this rule, that no law could be more just. Daniel 6:24 shows the same measure at a foreign court, where the men who had falsely accused Daniel were thrown into the den of lions. The evil the liar intended for his brother falls on him.
Deuteronomy 19:19
“Nec lex est justior ulla--Nor could any law be more just. If the crime he accused his neighbour of was to be punished with death, the false witness must be put to death; if with stripes, he must be beaten; if with a pecuniary mulct, he was to be fined the sum.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Albert Barnes reads the crime of verse 16 as a falling away, any departure from the law, and when the rest of the people hear the sentence they are afraid to do such evil again. Paul applies the same aim at 1 Timothy 5:20, where those who persist in sin are rebuked before everyone so that others will fear. Fear guards the people.
Deuteronomy 19:20
“And those which remain shall hear, and fear,.... Those which survive the false witness shall hear of the punishment inflicted on him, and fear to commit the like sin, lest they should be punished in like manner.”
The formula sets the court's measure for the false witness, and Matthew Henry reads it as a penalty matched to the charge he brought. Verse 13 used the same words, show no pity, of the murderer. Both cases guard innocent life.
Deuteronomy 19:21
“Life - for life, eye for eye, etc. - The operation of such a law as this must have been very salutary: if a man prized his own members, he would naturally avoid injuring those of others. It is a pity that this law were not still in force: it would certainly prevent many of those savage acts which now both disgrace and injure society. I speak this in reference to law generally, and the provision that should be made to prevent and punish ferocious and malevolent offenses.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
How this psalm is built
The form: Law restated inside a spoken address, standing in the stipulations of a covenant treaty, as Kline classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| Three cities, and six if the border grows | Verses 2 and 3 set apart three cities with the land divided into three parts, and verses 8 and 9 add three more if the LORD enlarges the territory. Joshua 20:7-9 names all six, three west of the Jordan and the three Moses had already set east of it at 4:41-43.John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament, 1748 to 1763, on Deuteronomy 19:8. | Deuteronomy 19:2, Deuteronomy 19:8, Deuteronomy 19:9 |
| Your eye shall not pity him | The clause falls at verse 13 and again at verse 21, and it is the formula this book keeps for cases it will not let a judge soften. It stands at 13:8 and 25:12 as well, so the same words shut the door on the man who lay in wait and on the false witness.This site's published exposition of Deuteronomy 25:11-16, the store's exposition_notes row on Deuteronomy 25:11-16, which collects the four places. | Deuteronomy 19:13, Deuteronomy 19:21 |
| Those who remain shall hear and be afraid | Verse 20 uses the deterrent formula this book repeats at 13:11, 17:13 and 21:21. The sentence on the false witness is given a public purpose, so the penalty is stated as a warning to the people who watch it carried out.This site's published exposition of Deuteronomy 19:16-21, the store's exposition_notes row on Deuteronomy 19:16-21, which collects the four places. | Deuteronomy 19:20 |
| The axe head in the wood, worked at length | Verse 5 stops on one case and gives it more room than anything else in the chapter, an axe head flying off the handle and killing a neighbour. The statute teaches by taking a hearer through a single scene rather than by defining intent.Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch, on Deuteronomy 19:4-5. | Deuteronomy 19:4, Deuteronomy 19:5 |
The New Testament's use
9 more paragraphs on the patterns
Verse 15 is the sentence of this book the New Testament takes up most often. Matthew 18:16 builds church discipline on it. 2 Corinthians 13:1 and 1 Timothy 5:19 apply it to accusations, and Hebrews 10:28 recalls the death it carried under the law of Moses. John 8:17 has Jesus use it of His own witness together with the Father.
The rule was also kept in form while its purpose was emptied. Matthew 26:59-60 has the council seeking false witness until two men came forward.
The chapter closes on life for life and eye for eye. Exodus 21:23-25 and Leviticus 24:20 also carry the formula, and Jesus takes it up at Matthew 5:38.
How far the two-witness rule reaches
Deuteronomy 17:6 had required two or three witnesses before an execution. Verse 15 extends the same bar to any iniquity and any sin, so the rule leaves the capital cases and covers the whole of the law. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown and Matthew Henry are the voices this site cites on the extension.
The false witness and what he is sentenced for
The case goes to the central court of 17:8-13, before the priests and the judges. Albert Barnes reads both men standing in verse 17 as the two parties to the original suit rather than as the accused and his accuser (Notes on the Old Testament, on Deuteronomy 19:17). The witness is then sentenced for what he had intended to do, so intent alone carries whatever penalty the lie was aiming at, whether death or stripes or a fine.
The city of refuge as a figure
The cities are one of the places this site's dossier reads Christ out of the law. The entry stands under what the dossier names of Christ in Deuteronomy (src/components/book/dossier-content/deuteronomy.ts). The claim is kept at the level the text supports, that a place appointed in advance holds a man the avenger would otherwise reach.
Keep studying
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Meredith G. Kline, Treaty of the Great King: The Covenant Structure of Deuteronomy, 1963; Moshe Weinfeld, Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic School, 1972 and This site's published dossier on Deuteronomy, src/components/book/dossier-content/deuteronomy.ts, the entry on the Code of Hammurabi.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Against the Pelagians 1.33; John Gill; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.