And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel.
He wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law х mishneeh (H4932), a copy, a duplicate (see the note at Deuteronomy 27:2-8) - i:e., the blessings and curses of the law]. It is impossible that it could be a transcript of the whole law, as Baumgarten thinks, and very improbable of all Deuteronomy. Kurtz ('History of the Old Covenant,' 1:, p. 57, English translation) and Keil suppose that it comprised only 'the legal portions of that book;' Michaelis, 'the essential parts of all the books in the Pentateuch;' Knobel, 'not the Mosaic, law in general, but only the commandments;' Rosenmuller, Maurer, and many others, consider the copy as confined to the blessings and warnings enumerated in Deuteronomy 27:1-26; while Kennicott, Gerlach, and others, limit it to the 'ten words' of the Decalogue. The hope has been expressed by eminent writers that those plastered stones may one day be discovered (Michaelis, 'Laws of Moses,' art. 69:); and the Palestine Exploration Society has included a search for them in the list of subjects for the inquiry of their scientific agents. Some (Maurer, etc., after Josephus, 'Antiquities,' b. 4:, ch. 8:, sec. 44; also b. 5:, ch. 1:, sec. 19) think that the stones which contained this inscription were the stones of the altar; but this verse seems rather to indicate that a number of stone pillars were erected alongside of the altar, and on which, after they were plastered, this duplicate of the law was inscribed.