Deuteronomy 4:2

Context

Deuteronomy 1–4 is the first extended address that Moses delivered on the plains of Moab, east of the Jordan River, to the people of Israel as they prepared to enter the land of Canaan. In 4:1 Moses tells them that they must hear and keep the statutes and judgments in order to live and take possession of the land. In verse 2 he adds that they are to keep them without alteration: "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it." The command thus forbids both adding and taking away. Verses 3–4 then cite the incident at Baal-peor as an example, reminding the people that only those who held fast to the LORD survived. The same point is repeated in Deuteronomy 12:32 (13:1 in the Hebrew Bible). Because ancient Near Eastern treaties and law codes also contain clauses forbidding alteration of the text, scholars sometimes compare this verse to a conventional formula for protecting covenant documents.

Interpretation

• Reading in its original context: The verse is understood to mean that Israel must neither expand the covenant commandments it had received with human regulations nor remove inconvenient parts of them. Its focus is on obedience to the commandments.
• Protestant reading: Protestantism, especially the Reformed tradition, takes this verse as a basis for the teaching that Scripture is the sufficient rule of faith and life. It is also cited together with Deuteronomy 12:32 in explaining the "regulative principle of worship," which holds that God is to be worshiped only in the ways Scripture commands. Chapter 1 of the Westminster Confession of Faith confesses that nothing, whether new revelations or human traditions, may be added to Scripture.
• Jewish reading: Rabbinic tradition has understood this verse as a prohibition against adding to or subtracting from the commandments of the Torah.
• Catholic reading: Because the Catholic Church regards Scripture and Sacred Tradition (the tradition handed down within the Church) together as channels through which revelation is transmitted, it does not read this verse as excluding tradition.

Controversies and Issues

In Korean churches, this verse is cited together with Revelation 22:18–19 as grounds for criticizing groups that put forward new scriptures or claim additional revelation. In response, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and others argue that because Scripture continued to be written after Deuteronomy, the verse cannot rule out subsequent revelation. Apart from this rebuttal, some Protestants also point out that reading the verse as a direct statement about the closing of the canon takes it out of context. Those who make this point derive the closure of the canon not from this single verse but from the teaching of Scripture as a whole and from the church's understanding of the canon.

In Korean Churches

The verse is commonly cited in sermons on the authority of Scripture and in instruction aimed at guarding against heresy.

Related Passages

• Deuteronomy 12:32
• Proverbs 30:5–6
• Galatians 1:8–9
• Revelation 22:18–19