Deuteronomy 14:1

“Ye are the children of the Lord your God, etc.] Some of them were so by the special grace of adoption, and all of them by national adoption; which was the peculiar privilege of the people of Israel, and laid them under great obligation to honour and obey the Lord their God, who stood in the relation of a father to them, and they of children to him, (<390106>Malachi 1:6). The Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it “beloved children”; so the apostle calls the saints; the “dear children of God”, who therefore ought to be followers of him, (<490501>Ephesians 5:1) and for a like reason this relation is observed here, namely, to quicken a regard to the exhortations of the Lord, his cautions, commands,…”

“GOD'S PEOPLE MUST NOT DISFIGURE THEMSELVES IN MOURNING. (Deu 14:1-2) ye shall not cut yourselves . . . for the dead--It was a common practice of idolaters, both on ceremonious occasions of their worship (Kg1 18:28), and at funerals (compare Jer 16:6; Jer 41:5), to make ghastly incisions on their faces and other parts of their persons with their finger nails or sharp instruments. The making a large bare space between the eyebrows was another heathen custom in honor of the dead (see on Lev 19:27-28; Lev 21:5). Such indecorous and degrading usages, being extravagant and unnatural expressions of hopeless sorrow (Th1 4:13), were to be carefully avoided by the Israelites, as derogatory to the…”

“Make any baldness between your eyes - i. e. by shaving the forepart of the head and the eyebrows. The practices named in this verse were common among the pagan, and seem to be forbidden, not only because such wild excesses of grief (compare 1 Kings 18:28) would be inconsistent in those who as children of a heavenly Father had prospects beyond this world, but also because these usages themselves arose out of idolatrous notions. return to 'Top of Page'”

“Of the Lord - Whom therefore you must not disparage by unworthy or unbecoming practices. Ye shall not cut yourselves - Which were the practices of idolaters, both in the worship of their idols, in their funerals, and upon occasion of public calamities. Is not this like a parent's charge to his little children, playing with knives, "Do not cut yourselves!" This is, the intention of those commands, which obliges us to deny ourselves. The meaning is, Do yourselves no harm! And as this also is, the design of cross providences, to remove from us those things by which we are in danger of doing ourselves harm. Deuteronomy 14:3”

“14:1-21 See “Clean, Unclean, and Holy” Theme Note. 14:1 cut yourselves: This pagan custom was usually associated with mourning rites, perhaps to induce the dead to come back to life (see 1 Kgs 18:28; Zech 13:4-6). • shave the hair: This practice also pertained to lament for the dead (see Lev 19:27-28; 21:5-6), but the exact meaning of this rite is unknown.”

“the children: Gen 6:2, Gen 6:4; Exo 4:22, Exo 4:23; Psa 82:6, Psa 82:7; Jer 3:19; Hos 1:10; Joh 1:12, Joh 11:52; Rom 8:16, Rom 9:8, Rom 9:26; Co2 6:18; Gal 3:26; Heb 2:10; Jo1 3:1, Jo1 3:2, Jo1 3:10, Jo1 5:2 ye shall not: The heathen nations not only did these things in honour of their gods, but in grief for the death of a relative. Lev 19:27, Lev 19:28, Lev 21:5; Jer 16:6, Jer 41:5, Jer 47:5; Th1 4:13 Deuteronomy 14:2”

“The Israelites were not only to suffer no idolatry to rise up in their midst, but in all their walk of life to show themselves as a holy nation of the Lord; and neither to disfigure their bodies by passionate expressions of sorrow for the dead ( Deu 14:1 and Deu 14:2), nor to defile themselves by unclean food (vv. 3-21). Both of these were opposed to their calling. To bring this to their mind, Moses introduces the laws which follow with the words, "ye are children to the Lord your God." The divine sonship of Israel was founded upon its election and calling as the holy nation of Jehovah, which is regarded in the Old Testament not as generation by the Spirit of God, but simply as an adoption…”