Deu 4:9 | KD | STEP | “ Only beware and take care of thyself .” To “keep the soul,” i.e., to take care of the soul as the seat of life, to defend one’s life from danger and injury ( ; ). “ That thou do not forget את־הדּברים (the facts described in ), <), and that they do not depart from thy heart all the days of thy life ,” i.e., are not forgotten as long as thou livest, “ and thou makest them known to thy children and thy children’s children .” These acts of God formed the foundation of the true religion, the real basis of the covenant legislation, and the firm guarantee of the objective truth and divinity of all the laws and ordinances which Moses gave to the people. And it was this which constituted the essential distinction between the religion of the Old Testament and all heathen religions, whose founders, it is true, professed to derive their doctrines and statutes from divine inspiration, but without giving any practical guarantee that their origin was truly divine.

‏ Deuteronomy 4:9

“Only beware and take care of thyself.” To “keep the soul,” i.e., to take care of the soul as the seat of life, to defend one’s life from danger and injury (Pro 13:3; Pro 19:16). “That thou do not forget את־הדּברים (the facts described in Ex 19-24), <), and that they do not depart from thy heart all the days of thy life,” i.e., are not forgotten as long as thou livest, “and thou makest them known to thy children and thy children’s children.” These acts of God formed the foundation of the true religion, the real basis of the covenant legislation, and the firm guarantee of the objective truth and divinity of all the laws and ordinances which Moses gave to the people. And it was this which constituted the essential distinction between the religion of the Old Testament and all heathen religions, whose founders, it is true, professed to derive their doctrines and statutes from divine inspiration, but without giving any practical guarantee that their origin was truly divine.