Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you - by the introduction of any pagan superstition, or forms of worship different from those which I have appointed (Numbers 15:39; 1 Chronicles 12:32; Matthew 15:9).
Neither shall ye diminish ought from it - by the neglect or omission of any of the observances, however trivial or irksome, which I have prescribed. The character and provisions of the ancient dispensation were adapted with divine wisdom to the instruction of that infant state of the congregation. But it was only a temporary economy; and although God here authorizes Moses to command that all its institutions should be honoured with unfailing observance, this did not prevent Him from commissioning other prophets to alter or abrogate them when the end of that dispensation was attained.