Deuteronomy 12:5

"You shall not do so to the LORD your God."

Key Reflection

This verse underscores the importance of not engaging in practices that are offensive or displeasing to Yahweh, emphasizing a commitment to proper worship and reverence. It warns against adopting pagan rituals or behaviors that could defile God’s holy name and intimacy with His people.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

“To put his name there” means to manifest to men His divine presence. The Targumists rightly refer to the Shechinah; but the expression comprehends all the various modes in which God vouchsafed to reveal Himself and His attributes to men. The purpose of the command of the text is to secure the unity, and through unity the purity of the worship of God. That there should be one national center for the religion of the people was obviously essential to the great ends of the whole dispensation. Corruption began as soon as the precepts of the text were relaxed or neglected: Compare the case of Gideon,Judges 8:27; of Micah,Judges 18:0; of Jeroboam,1 Kings 12:26ff.

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