Key Verses: Deuteronomy 27:9, 27:10, 27:26
Moses and the elders command that when Israel crosses the Jordan, they are to set up large stones on Mount Ebal, coat them with plaster, and write on them “all the words of this law,” and build an altar of uncovered stones to offer sacrifices and rejoice before the LORD. Then the tribes are to divide, six standing on Mount Gerizim to pronounce blessing and six on Mount Ebal for the curse, while the Levites recite a series of twelve curses on specific sins — idolatry, dishonoring parents, injustice to the vulnerable, and secret wickedness — to each of which all the people say, “Amen.” The list culminates: “Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.”
This dramatic covenant ceremony, to be enacted in the land itself, engraves the law on stone and on the memory of the nation, making the whole people active participants who bind themselves with their own “Amen.” The choice of Ebal and Gerizim, two facing mountains, visibly embodies the two ways of blessing and curse that Moses has set before Israel. The specific curses expose sins that might be committed in secret, reminding Israel that God sees the hidden heart. The climactic curse on everyone who does not keep “all” the law reveals the impossible standard of perfect obedience and thus the plight of every sinner — a verse Paul cites to show that all are under the law’s curse, from which Christ alone redeems by becoming a curse for us (Galatians 3:10-13).
Key Terms & Words:
- אֲבָנִים גְּדֹלוֹת (avanim gedolot) - Deuteronomy 27:2 - “Large stones”; on which the law is written
- אָרוּר (arur) - Deuteronomy 27:15 - “Cursed”; the pronouncement over specific sins
- אָמֵן (amen) - Deuteronomy 27:15 - “Amen”; the people’s binding assent to the curses
Cross-References:
- Joshua 8:30-35 - The ceremony at Ebal and Gerizim carried out
- Galatians 3:10 - “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the law”
- Galatians 3:13 - Christ redeeming us from the curse of the law
- Deuteronomy 11:29 - The blessing and curse set on the two mountains
Discussion Questions:
- What is the significance of writing the law on stones and reciting it before all the people?
- Why do the curses focus especially on sins that could be committed in secret?
- How does the final curse on all who fail to keep the whole law point to the need for Christ?