This day the LORD thy God commandeth thee to do these statutes and ordinances; thou shalt therefore observe and do them with all thy heart, and with all thy soul. (Deuteronomy 26:16)
הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה ה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ מְצַוְּךָ לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת הַחֻקִּים הָאֵלֶּה וְאֶת הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים. וְשָׁמַרְתָּ וְעָשִׂיתָ אוֹתָם בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשֶׁךָ.Thou hast avouched the LORD this day (Deuteronomy 26:17)
אֶת ה' הֶאֱמַרְתָּ הַיּוֹם:to be thy God,
and that thou wouldest walk in His ways,
and keep His statutes,
and His commandments,
and His ordinances,
and hearken unto His voice. (Deuteronomy 26:17)לִהְיוֹת לְךָ לֵאלֹהִים,
וְלָלֶכֶת בִּדְרָכָיו,
וְלִשְׁמֹר חֻקָּיו וּמִצְוֹתָיו וּמִשְׁפָּטָיו,
וְלִשְׁמֹעַ בְּקֹלוֹ.And the LORD hath avouched thee this day (Deuteronomy 26:18)
וַה' הֶאֱמִירְךָ הַיּוֹם:to be His own treasure, as He hath promised thee,
and that thou shouldest keep all His commandments; and to make thee high above all nations that He hath made, in praise,
and in name,
and in glory; and that thou mayest be a holy people unto the LORD thy God, as He hath spoken. (Deuteronomy 26:18–19)לִהְיוֹת לוֹ לְעַם סְגֻלָּה כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר לָךְ,
וְלִשְׁמֹר כָּל מִצְוֹתָיו,
וּלְתִתְּךָ עֶלְיוֹן עַל כָּל הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה לִתְהִלָּה וּלְשֵׁם וּלְתִפְאָרֶת,
וְלִהְיֹתְךָ עַם קָדֹשׁ לַה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֵּר. (דברים כ"ו, טז-יט)
These verses present symmetry between Israel’s commitments and the LORD’s. Why, however, does His side include “keep all His commandments,” an obligation Israel owes Him?
The explanation appears to distinguish statutes and ordinances from commandments.
Statutes are binding instructions or arrangements fixed in advance. Hebrew hoq relates to engraving: unlike ink writing, an engraving is cut into material and harder to erase, hence apparently the image of something established and enduring. “Only the land of the priests bought he not, for the priests had a portion from Pharaoh, and did eat their portion” (Genesis 47:22). Here the hoq is Pharaoh’s fixed arrangement, the priests’ allowance.
Ordinances are rules establishing appropriate action in particular circumstances, often formulated as a case and its ruling. Mishpatim’s list is a clear example: “If thou buy a Hebrew servant,” the case; “six years he shall serve; and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing” (Exodus 21:2), its rule.
Statutes and ordinances frequently appear together in Deuteronomy. They are not necessarily wholly distinct groups, but complementary aspects of Torah law: fixed instructions and rules applied to cases. Together they regulate the people’s public, religious, and moral life. Commandments, however, are personal, intimate injunctions arising from closeness and obedience. There is one who commands and one commanded; their nature creates a direct relationship between commander and observer.
In Deuteronomy, statutes and ordinances evoke admiration for wisdom, understanding, and justice. Other nations can adopt them, as Moses says earlier:
Observe therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, that, when they hear all these statutes, shall say: ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ … And what great nation is there, that hath statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? (Deuteronomy 4:6–8)
וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם וַעֲשִׂיתֶם, כִּי הִוא חׇכְמַתְכֶם וּבִינַתְכֶם לְעֵינֵי הָעַמִּים, אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁמְעוּן אֵת כׇּל הַחֻקִּים הָאֵלֶּה, וְאָמְרוּ: רַק עַם חָכָם וְנָבוֹן הַגּוֹי הַגָּדוֹל הַזֶּה. … וּמִי גּוֹי גָּדוֹל אֲשֶׁר לוֹ חֻקִּים וּמִשְׁפָּטִים צַדִּיקִם כְּכֹל הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת, אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי נֹתֵן לִפְנֵיכֶם הַיּוֹם. (דברים ד', ו-ח)
Commandments, by contrast, are injunctions intended exclusively for Israel as a holy, treasured people, as Deuteronomy 14’s beginning illustrates:
Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. For thou art a holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be His own treasure out of all peoples that are upon the face of the earth. Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing. … Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself; thou mayest give it unto the stranger that is within thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto a foreigner; for thou art a holy people unto the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its mother’s milk. (Deuteronomy 14:1–21)
בָּנִים אַתֶּם לַה' אֱלֹהֵיכֶם: לֹא תִתְגֹּדְדוּ, וְלֹא תָשִׂימוּ קָרְחָה בֵּין עֵינֵיכֶם לָמֵת. כִּי עַם קָדוֹשׁ אַתָּה לַה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ, וּבְךָ בָּחַר ה' לִהְיוֹת לוֹ לְעַם סְגֻלָּה, מִכֹּל הָעַמִּים אֲשֶׁר עַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה. לֹא תֹאכַל כָּל תּוֹעֵבָה … לֹא תֹאכְלוּ כָל נְבֵלָה, לַגֵּר אֲשֶׁר בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ תִּתְּנֶנָּה וַאֲכָלָהּ אוֹ מָכֹר לְנָכְרִי. כִּי עַם קָדוֹשׁ אַתָּה לַה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ – לֹא תְבַשֵּׁל גְּדִי בַּחֲלֵב אִמּוֹ. (דברים י"ד, א-כא)
The mutual commitment quoted above also emphasizes treasure and holiness. Observing Israel’s unique commandments is a privilege granted because it is holy to the LORD and treasured among all peoples. It is chiefly a right He gives His people as well as a burden. Hence observance appears on His side of the commitment as well as Israel’s. He undertakes to allow Israel to observe His commandments, expressing their close, special, mutual relationship.
Nahmanides, Sforno, and many others interpreted similarly.
