And there shalt thou build an altar unto the LORD thy God, an altar of stones: thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them.

And thou shalt build there an altar to the Lord thy God, of stones which iron hath not touched,

and built there an altar to Jehovah thy God, an altar of stones, thou dost not wave over them iron.

There you are to make an altar to the Lord your God, of stones on which no iron instrument has been used.

and you shall build, in that place, an altar to the Lord your God out of stones which have not been touched by iron,

AEdificabis in monte Ebal altare ex lapidibus Jehovae Deo tuo: non levabis super eos ferrum.

And there shalt thou build an altar. At their first entrance into the land, God commands that a sacrifice of thanksgiving should be offered to Him; and this Joshua performed, as is related in Joshua 8:30-31 "Then Joshua built an altar unto the Lord God of Israel in Mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the Lord commanded the children of Israel, an altar of whole stones, over which no man hath lift up any iron." First of all, then, this testimony of their gratitude is required, that the children of Israel, as soon as they have begun to set foot in the land of Canaan, might celebrate the praises of the Lord; secondly, he forbids all artificial work, because, if the altar had been permanent, it would have been an occasion of superstition, and this exceptional instance would have been more regarded than the perpetual Law of God. Hence the nine tribes and half were so greatly wroth against the two tribes of Reuben and Gad, and half Manasseh, on account of the altar which was built on the bank of Jordan, (Joshua 22,) insomuch that they determined utterly to destroy their brethren, until they had cleared themselves by alleging that they had only built it as a memorial of their brotherly union, and not for sacrifice. Assuredly they were good expounders of the Law who accounted it an inexpiable crime, that an altar should be left for posterity, to withdraw the people from the one sanctuary, and thus to destroy the unity of faith.

And there shalt thou build an altar unto the LORD thy God, an altar of stones: thou shalt not lift up [any] (c) iron [tool] upon them.
(c) The altar should not be curiously wrought, because it would continue but for a time: for God would have only one altar in Judah.

And there shall thou build an altar to the Lord thy God,.... On the same mountain, though not of the same stones. Jarchi's note is,"after that (the setting up of the plastered stones) thou shalt bring from thence (from Jordan) others, and build of them an altar on Mount Ebal;''but Josephus (t) places this altar not on Mount Ebal, but between that and Gerizim. This altar, he says, was ordered to be built towards the rising sun, not far from the city of Shechem, between two mountains, Gerizim and Ebal; but the text is express, that it was to be built where the stones were set up, which was on Mount Ebal, and there it was built, Joshua 8:30; an altar of stones; of whole stones, as in Deuteronomy 27:6, not broken, nor hewed, but rough as they were when taken out of the quarry:
thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them; to hew them, and make them smooth; See Gill on Exodus 20:25;
(t) Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 4. c. 8. sect. 44.)

there shalt thou build an altar . . . of whole stones--The stones were to be in their natural state, as if a chisel would communicate pollution to them. The stony pile was to be so large as to contain all the conditions of the covenant, so elevated as to be visible to the whole congregation of Israel; and the religious ceremonial performed on the occasion was to consist: first, of the elementary worship needed for sinful men; and secondly, of the peace offerings, or lively, social feasts, that were suited to the happy people whose God was the Lord. There were thus, the law which condemned, and the typical expiation--the two great principles of revealed religion.