3:11 remnant of giants. Note Deuteronomy 2:12,21. The Moabites, Edomites, and Ammonites had expelled all the Amorites and their families from their respective regions. To the north, however, the Amorites under Sihon and Og still reigned until destroyed by the Israelites. Og’s kingdom had been called “the land of giants” (Deuteronomy 3:13), and Og himself was the last of the Amorite giants. There were still giants among the Philistines, however, at least to the time of David (I Chronicles 20:4).

4:2 not add unto the word. This uniquely important commandment–not to augment or diminish the revealed word of God–is reflected in the final climactic words of God in the Bible (Revelation 22:18,19). Moses here clearly claims verbal inspiration.

4:8 statutes and judgments so righteous. Many forms of government have been employed by tribes and nations throughout history, but the theocracy described by God through Moses would have been the best of all, if it had ever been truly implemented. Our modern libertarian emphasis in human-government relations might recoil at the strictness and severity of God’s law, as set forth in the Mosaic writings, but it would truly have assured national righteousness and justice and happiness, as no other system has ever done.