Deuteronomy 27:16 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

Cursed be he that setteth light. — The first curse points to the first two commandments of the first table, and the second to the first commandment in the second table. If we mark off the first offence specified, secret idolatry — the only one which distinctly recalls the first commandment of the Law, and also the last general curse which embraces all transgression whatever, the intervening offences seem more easily arranged. We have duty to parents enforced (Deuteronomy 27:16) and the rights of neighbours (Deuteronomy 5:17), the blind (Deuteronomy 27:18), and the unprotected (Deuteronomy 27:19) come next. The next four precepts are all concerned with purity, first in the nearer, afterwards in the more distant relations (Deuteronomy 27:20-23). The last two precepts concern slander and treachery (Deuteronomy 27:24-25). Evidently the offences specified are examples of whole classes of actions; and the twelve curses may have some reference to the number of the tribes.