Deuteronomy 34:1 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which faces Jericho, and Yahveh showed him all the land: Gilead as far as Dan,
Deuteronomy 34:2 all of Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea,
Deuteronomy 34:3 the Negev, and the plain in the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar.
Deuteronomy 34:4 Yahveh then spoke to him, and this is what he said: “This is the land I promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you will not cross into it.”
Deuteronomy 34:5 So Moses, the servant of Yahveh, died there in the land of Moab, according to Yahveh’s word.
Deuteronomy 34:6 He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab facing Beth-peor, and no one to this day knows where his grave is.
Deuteronomy 34:7 Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died; his eyes were not weak, and his vitality had not run away from him.
Deuteronomy 34:8 The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab for thirty days. Then, the days of weeping and mourning for Moses finished.
Deuteronomy 34:9 Joshua, son of Nun, was filled with the breath of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So, the Israelites obeyed him and did as Yahveh had commanded Moses.
Deuteronomy 34:10 No prophet has arisen again in Israel like Moses, whom Yahveh knew face to face.
Deuteronomy 34:11 He was unparalleled for all the signs and wonders Yahveh sent him to do against the land of Egypt – to Pharaoh, to all his officials, and all his land,
Deuteronomy 34:12 and for all the mighty acts of power and terrifying deeds that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.
Deuteronomy 34 quotes:
“The death of Moses has been awaited since Numbers 27:12–23, and so provides an important frame around the book of Deuteronomy. Within these frame passages Moses is also forbidden to enter the land, which in turn is linked to the succession of Joshua seven times (1:37–38; 3:23–29; 31:2, 14, 16, 27–29; 32:48–52), followed by an eighth in 34:4. Moses must therefore die before God’s plan of salvation history can continue through Joshua. This succession is further linked to the realization of the promise of the land to the Patriarchs also framing the book at 1:8 and 34:4. At the centre of the epilogue (vv. 5–8) is the report of the death of Moses, the servant of the LORD, thus adding further mystery and poignancy to his life and authority as a true prophet, whose word must be listened to and obeyed because of the witness of the many mighty deeds that he performed. Moses will speak even louder in death than in life, as the temptation to revive a cult of the dead gives way to the enduring legacy of his word and obedience to it, which alone gives the promise of life and not death (30:11–20; cf. Isa. 8:18–20).”
Woods, Edward J.. Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries Book 5) . InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.
“The last three verses of the book constitute, as it were, the literary epitaph of Moses; they form a fitting conclusion to the Pentateuch, of which the last four books contain an account of the life and work of Moses in Israel. Moses was a prophet, but in his epitaph it is not his knowledge of God that is stressed, but rather the Lord’s knowledge of him. God had sought him out and appointed him to a particular task; over the years, the relationship had become intimate, so that to those Israelites who knew Moses, it was evident that his highest communion was with God. And so in his epitaph, written in a book because the grave was not known, God’s intimate knowledge of Moses was the most striking memory of the man now departed.”
Craigie, Peter C.. The Book of Deuteronomy (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament) (p. 406). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.
Deuteronomy 33:1 This is the empowerment that Moses, the man of God, empowered the Israelites with before his death.
Deuteronomy 33:2 He said: Yahveh came from Sinai and appeared to them from Seir; he shone on them from Mount Paran and came with ten thousand holy ones, with lightning from his right hand for them.
Deuteronomy 33:3 Indeed, he cares about the people. All your sacred ones are in your hand, and they assemble at your feet. Each receives your words.
Deuteronomy 33:4 Moses commanded us an instruction, a possession for the assembly of Jacob.
Deuteronomy 33:5 So he became King in Jeshurun when the leaders of the people gathered with the tribes of Israel.
Deuteronomy 33:6 Let Reuben stay alive and not die though his people become few.
Deuteronomy 33:7 He said this about Judah: Yahveh, hear Judah’s cry and bring him to his people. He fights for his cause with his own hands, but may you be a partner[1] against his foes.
Deuteronomy 33:8 He said about Levi: Your Darks and Lights[2] belong to your faithful one; you tested him at Massah and contended with him at the Water of Meribah.
Deuteronomy 33:9 He said about his father and mother, “I do not regard them.” He disregarded his brothers and didn’t acknowledge his sons because they watched your word and maintained your covenant.
Deuteronomy 33:10 They will teach your rules to Jacob and your instruction to Israel; they will place incense before you and whole burnt offerings on your altar.
Deuteronomy 33:11 Yahveh empower his possessions, and accept the work of his hands. Break the back of his adversaries and enemies so that they cannot rise again.
Deuteronomy 33:12 He said about Benjamin: Yahveh’s cared about one rests securely on him. He shields him all day long, and he rests on his shoulders.
Deuteronomy 33:13 He said about Joseph: May his land be empowered by Yahveh with the dew of the sky’s bounty and the watery depths that lie beneath;
Deuteronomy 33:14 with the bountiful harvest from the sun and the abundant yield of the seasons;
Deuteronomy 33:15 with the best products of the primeval mountains and the bounty of the ancient hills;
Deuteronomy 33:16 with the choice gifts of the land and everything in it; and with the favor of him who appeared in the burning bush. May these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince of his brothers.
Deuteronomy 33:17 His firstborn bull has splendor and horns like those of a wild ox; he gores all the peoples with them to the ends of the land. Such are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and such are the thousands of Manasseh.
Deuteronomy 33:18 He said about Zebulun: Enjoy, Zebulun, your journeys, and Issachar, your tents.
Deuteronomy 33:19 They summon the peoples to a mountain; there, they offer acceptable sacrifices. For they draw from the wealth of the seas and the hidden treasures of the sand.
Deuteronomy 33:20 He said about Gad: The one who enlarges Gad’s territory will be empowered. He lies down like a lion and tears off an arm or even a head.
Deuteronomy 33:21 He chose the first for himself because a ruler’s portion was assigned there for him. He came with the people’s leaders; he carried out Yahveh’s justice and his rules for Israel.
Deuteronomy 33:22 He said about Dan: Dan is a young lion, leaping out of Bashan.
Deuteronomy 33:23 He said about Naphtali: Naphtali, enjoying approval, full of Yahveh’s empowerment, take possession of it west and the south.
Deuteronomy 33:24 He said about Asher: May Asher be the most empowered of the sons; may he be the most favored among his brothers and dip his foot in olive oil.
Deuteronomy 33:25 May the bolts of your gate be iron and bronze, and your strength last as long as you live.
Deuteronomy 33:26 There is none like the God of Jeshurun, who rides the sky as your partner, the clouds in his majesty.
Deuteronomy 33:27 The God of old is your dwelling place, and underneath are the permanent arms. He drives out the enemy before you and commands, “Exterminate!”
Deuteronomy 33:28 So Israel dwells securely; Jacob lives untroubled in a land of grain and new wine; even his skies drip with dew.
Deuteronomy 33:29 How happy you are, Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by Yahveh? He is the shield that partners with you, the sword you boast in. Your enemies will cringe before you, and you will tread on their backs.
The final blessing of Moses (33:1–29) follows the tribal blessings of Jacob just before he died (Gen. 49:1–28), thus replicating the canonical end frame of the first book of the Pentateuch. Here, these blessings are framed by the notice of Moses’ impending death and the Lord’s showing him the Promised Land (32:48–52; 34:1–12). This suggests that Moses’ role in these final blessings is to express God’s approval of the one who was excluded from the land because of Israel’s sin. Also, God’s primary intent is to ‘bless’ Israel rather than bring ‘curse’ upon her (cf. Num. 22– 24). Now Moses can even bless the tribes of Israel in ways that often depart from Jacob’s original words to them, especially in deviating from the original prominence given to Judah, and drawing attention to a fresh importance given to the tribes of Levi and Joseph. The Levites are given the role of teaching the Torah to all Israel (33:8–11), and the tribe of Joseph is pictured as enjoying the most abundant part of the land (33:13–17). This is a way of emphasizing the participation of all of the tribes in the blessing and systematic filling of the land from south to north, including the Levitical priests, who are otherwise excluded from its inheritance. The tribes of Levi and Joseph also symbolize the theological importance for Deuteronomy of Torah obedience, and its connection to the possession and enjoyment of the rich abundance of the land. This is a picture of theological history unfolding, with shifting centres of gravity for all the tribes. But framing this blessing is the Lord, who shines forth from Sinai as king over Jeshurun in giving Israel the law (33:1–5), and finally as warrior king who rides on the clouds of heaven and drives out the enemy from the land, so that Israel might possess it in fulfilment of the Abrahamic promise (33:26–29).”
Woods, Edward J.. Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries Book 5) . InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.
“The Blessing of Moses concludes with, a meditation on the blessed estate of Israel: How blessed you are…! Who is like you?—the answer could only be, “None.” But Israel’s preeminence lay not in its own merit, but because there is none like the God of Jeshurun (v. 26). The power and incomparability of Israel’s God imparted to Israel power and incomparability. Israel would be a victorious army, not through military genius, but because God, a Man in Battle (Exod. 15:3), would be fighting on behalf of Israel (3:22). Israel would be protected in battle by the shield, which was God (see also Exod. 15:2).55 Israel would be granted victory by the sword of God’s presence. Enemies, cringing in terror, would be trampled underfoot by the victorious people of God.”
Craigie, Peter C.. The Book of Deuteronomy (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament) (pp. 403-404). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.
Deuteronomy 32:1 Pay attention, sky, and I will speak; listen, land, to the words from my mouth.
Deuteronomy 32:2 Let my teaching fall like rain and my word settle like dew, like gentle rain on new grass and showers on tender plants.
Deuteronomy 32:3 You see, I will proclaim Yahveh’s name. Declare the greatness of our God!
Deuteronomy 32:4 The Rock – his work is perfect; all his ways are just. A faithful God, without bias, he is righteous and true.
Deuteronomy 32:5 His people have acted corruptly toward him; this is their defect – they are not his children but a devious and crooked generation.
Deuteronomy 32:6 Is this how you repay Yahveh, you foolish and senseless people? Isn’t he your Father and Creator? Didn’t he make you and sustain you?
Deuteronomy 32:7 Remember the ancient days; consider the years of past generations. Ask your father, and he will tell you, your elders, and they will teach you.
Deuteronomy 32:8 When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance and divided the human race, he set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the people of Israel.
Deuteronomy 32:9 But Yahveh’s portion is his people, Jacob, his inheritance.
Deuteronomy 32:10 He found him in a desolate land, in a barren, howling open country; he surrounded him, cared for him, and protected him as the pupil of his eye.
Deuteronomy 32:11 He watches over his nest like an eagle and hovers over his young; he spreads his wings, catches him, and carries him on his feathers.
Deuteronomy 32:12 Yahveh alone led him, with no help from a foreign god.
Deuteronomy 32:13 He made him ride on the heights of the land and eat the produce of the field. He nourished him with honey from the rock and oil from the flinty rock,
Deuteronomy 32:14 curds from the herd and milk from the flock, with the fat of lambs, rams from Bashan, and goats, with the choicest grains of wheat; you drank wine from the finest grapes.
Deuteronomy 32:15 Then Jeshurun became fat and rebelled– you became fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
Deuteronomy 32:16 They provoked his jealousy with illegitimate gods; they enraged him with repulsive practices.
Deuteronomy 32:17 They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods they had not known, new gods that had just arrived, which your fathers did not fear.
Deuteronomy 32:18 You ignored the Rock who gave you birth; you forgot the God who gave birth to you.
Deuteronomy 32:19 When Yahveh saw this, he despised them, angered by his sons and daughters.
Deuteronomy 32:20 He said: “I will hide my face from them; I will see what will become of them, for they are a changed generation – unfaithful children.
Deuteronomy 32:21 They have provoked my jealousy with what is not a god; they have enraged me with their worthless idols. So I will provoke their jealousy with what is not a people; I will enrage them with a foolish nation.
Deuteronomy 32:22 For fire has been kindled because of my anger and burns to the depths of Sheol; it devours the land and its produce and scorches the foundations of the mountains.
Deuteronomy 32:23 “I will pile disasters on them; I will use up my arrows against them.
Deuteronomy 32:24 They will be weak from hunger, ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague; I will unleash on them wild beasts with fangs, as well as venomous snakes that slither in the dust.
Deuteronomy 32:25 Outside, the sword will take their children, and inside, there will be terror; the young man and the young woman will be killed, the infant and the gray-haired man.
Deuteronomy 32:26 “I would have said: I will cut them to pieces and blot out the memory of them from humanity,
Deuteronomy 32:27 if I had not been intimidated by provocation from the enemy, or thought that these foes might misunderstand and say: ‘Our hand has prevailed; it wasn’t Yahveh who did all this.'”
Deuteronomy 32:28 Israel is a nation which has lost its sense with no understanding at all.
Deuteronomy 32:29 If only they were wise, they would comprehend this; they would understand their fate.
Deuteronomy 32:30 How could one pursue a thousand, or two cause ten thousand to run away, unless their Rock had sold them unless Yahveh had given them up?
Deuteronomy 32:31 But their “rock” is not like our Rock, as even our enemies concede.
Deuteronomy 32:32 For their vine is from the vine of Sodom and the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poisonous; their clusters are bitter.
Deuteronomy 32:33 Their wine is serpents’ venom, the deadly poison of cobras.
Deuteronomy 32:34 “Is it not stored up with me, sealed up in my vaults?
Deuteronomy 32:35 Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay. In time their foot will slip, for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is coming quickly.”
Deuteronomy 32:36 Yahveh will indeed vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants when he sees that their strength is gone and no one is left – slave or free.
Deuteronomy 32:37 He will say: “Where are their gods, the ‘rock’ they found refuge in?
Deuteronomy 32:38 Who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise and help you; let it be a shelter for you.
Deuteronomy 32:39 See now that I alone am he; there is no God but me. I bring death, and I give life; I wound, and I heal. No one can rescue anyone from my power.
Deuteronomy 32:40 I raise my hand to the sky and declare: As surely as I live permanently,
Deuteronomy 32:41 when I sharpen my flashing sword, and my hand takes hold of judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and repay those who hate me.
Deuteronomy 32:42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood while my sword devours meat – the blood of the slain and the captives, the heads of the enemy leaders.”
Deuteronomy 32:43 Rejoice, you nations, concerning his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants. He will take vengeance on his adversaries; he will absolve his land and his people.
Deuteronomy 32:44 Moses came with Joshua, son of Nun, and recited all the words of this song in the presence of the people.
Deuteronomy 32:45 After Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel,
Deuteronomy 32:46 he said to them, “Place in your heart all these words I am giving as a warning to you today, so that you may command your children to follow all the words of this instruction carefully.
Deuteronomy 32:47 You see, they are not meaningless words to you, but they are your life, and by them, you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of.”
Deuteronomy 32:48 On that same day, Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said:
Deuteronomy 32:49 “Go up Mount Nebo in the Abarim range in the land of Moab, across from Jericho, and view the land of Canaan I am giving the Israelites as a possession.
Deuteronomy 32:50 Then you will die on the mountain that you go up, and you will be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people.
Deuteronomy 32:51 For both of you betrayed[1] me among the Israelites at the Water of Meribath-Kadesh in the open country of Zin by failing to treat me as sacred in their presence.
Deuteronomy 32:52 Although from a distance you will view the land that I am giving the Israelites, you will not go there.”
“A law-book stored beside the ark may be forgotten. What the people needed was something short enough to be committed to (longterm) memory that would make the same point as Moses’ sermons (Wenham 2003: 141). This is what the Song of Moses offers in its highly individual way, especially as a witness to the deep and abiding love of Yahweh for his people (McConville 2002: 461). Best viewed as a song or hymn containing a form of covenant lawsuit against God’s people, it takes up a number of important themes relating to primeval times, including creation leading to the table of nations (vv. 8–9: cf. Gen. 10:1–32). But there is no explicit reference to Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, and the twin covenants of Horeb and Moab are passed over, as are the promises made with the Patriarchs. These are no doubt assumed, making way for exposure of the sin of idolatry. The song moves from the chaotic barren and howling waste of the desert (v. 10), to the contrasting rich fare of the Promised Land, where Jeshurun (‘the upright one’) abandoned the Rock (mentioned seven times in the chapter), his Creator and Saviour (v. 15), in preference to the gods of the land (vv. 16–17, 21). As a result, Yahweh will hide his face from them (v. 20), and Israel will experience the full fury of his fire and wrath by sword and various plagues, as a display of his protecting jealous love (v. 21; cf. 4:23–24). However, lest the enemy should say, Our hand has triumphed; the LORD has not done this (v. 27), the Lord will bring judgment upon the enemy (vv. 34–35) and have compassion upon his servants, when he sees that their strength is gone (v. 36). Israel’s restoration will not come without a final reminder of their apostasy (vv. 37–38), at the same time establishing Yahweh’s uniqueness and incomparability as the only true God, who alone is able to judge his enemies and avenge the blood of his servants, and make atonement for his land and people (vv. 39–43; cf. 4:35).
Woods, Edward J.. Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries Book 5) . InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.
“When Moses had finished his last address to Israel, once again the Lord addressed words personally to Moses. With this passage, compare Num. 27:12–14. The Lord instructed Moses to climb Mount Nebo, a peak in the Abarim range of mountains to the east of the north end of the Dead Sea; from there he would be able to see the promised land which he was not permitted to enter (see also 3:25–27). On the prohibition of Moses’ entering the promised land, see 1:37 and commentary; commentary; in this context (v. 51), however, there is a more explicit allusion to the incident described in Num. 20:10–13. Having seen the promised land, Moses would die; on the death of Moses, see the fuller account in 34:1–8.”
Craigie, Peter C.. The Book of Deuteronomy (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament) (p. 390). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.
Deuteronomy 30:1 “When all these things happen to you– the empowerments and afflictions I have set before you– and you come to your senses while you are in all the nations where Yahveh your God has driven you,
Deuteronomy 30:2 and you and your children return to Yahveh your God and obey him with all your heart and all your throat by doing everything I am commanding you today,
Deuteronomy 30:3 then he will restore your fortunes, have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the peoples where Yahveh your God has scattered you.
Deuteronomy 30:4 Even if your exiles are at the end of the sky, Yahveh will gather you and bring you back from there.
Deuteronomy 30:5 Yahveh, your God, will bring you into the land your fathers took possession of, and you will take possession of it. He will cause you to prosper and multiply you more than he did your fathers.
Deuteronomy 30:6 Yahveh, your God, will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants, and you will care about him with all your heart and all your throat so that you will live.
Deuteronomy 30:7 Yahveh, your God, will put all these oaths on your enemies who hate and persecute you.
Deuteronomy 30:8 Then you will again obey Yahveh and follow all his commands I am commanding you today.
Deuteronomy 30:9 Yahveh, your God, will make your prosperity survive in all the work of your hands, your offspring, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your land. Indeed, Yahveh will again delight in your prosperity, as he delighted in that of your fathers,
Deuteronomy 30:10 when you obey Yahveh your God by watching his commands and prescriptions that are written in this book of the instruction and return to him with all your heart and all your throat.
Deuteronomy 30:11 “You see, this command that I command you today is certainly not too complicated or beyond your reach.
Deuteronomy 30:12 It is not in the sky, so you have to ask, ‘Who will go up to the sky, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’
Deuteronomy 30:13 And it is not across the sea so that you have to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’
Deuteronomy 30:14 But the message is very near you, in your mouth and your heart, so that you may follow it.
Deuteronomy 30:15 See, today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and adversity.
Deuteronomy 30:16 You see, I am commanding you today to care about Yahveh your God, to walk in his ways, and to watch his commands, prescriptions, and rules, so that you may stay alive and multiply, and Yahveh your God may empower you in the land you are entering to take possession of.
Deuteronomy 30:17 But if your heart turns away and you do not listen and you are led astray to bow in worship to other gods and serve them,
Deuteronomy 30:18 I tell you today that you will certainly be destroyed and will not prolong your days in the land you are entering to take possession of across the Jordan.
Deuteronomy 30:19 I call sky and land as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, empowerment and affliction. Choose life so that you and your descendants may stay alive,
Deuteronomy 30:20 care about Yahveh, your God, obeying him, and staying faithful to him. Because he is your life, and he will prolong your days as you stay in the land, Yahveh swore to give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
Deuteronomy 30 quotes:
“Theologically, chapter 30 addresses the future anticipated at 4:25–31, and so provides further commentary on that statement. The future orientation of verses 1–10 points to a certain exile and dispersion of the Lord’s people, when all these blessings and curses … come upon you (in that order), after living in the Promised Land for some time. Therefore, the chapter addresses the issue of whether the covenant can continue, and on what basis. At the same time, it assumes that Israel will fail (28:1 – 29:28[ET]; cf. 31:24–29), but after exile and judgment, God’s mercy and covenant faithfulness will again prevail in restoring faithless Israel. If this happens, they should not lose hope (Jer. 24:1–10), for if they take the blessings and curses to heart (v. 1), and return to the Lord with all their heart and soul (vv. 2, 10), then the Lord will bring them back from captivity and restore their fortunes (vv. 3–5, 9). But in order to make this return to the Lord both possible and permanent in terms of obedience to all his commands (v. 8), the Lord himself will circumcise their hearts, as well as the hearts of their children, so that they might love him with all their heart and soul, and live (v. 6; anticipating Jer. 31:31–34; Ezek. 36:24–32). Then returning to the present Moab generation in verses 11–14, the future ideal of verses 6 and 8 is now put in more realistic terms relating to the accessibility of the law and the present possibility of obeying it. These verses constitute the rhetorical heart of the chapter, leading to the matter of an appropriate choice by Israel in verses 15–20: See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction (v. 15), concluding at verse 19: Now choose life … For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The final choice is between love of Yahweh and obedience to his promise and laws, leading to life (cf. 32:46–47), or following the gods of Canaan, leading to death (vv. 16–18; cf. Josh. 24:14–15).”
Woods, Edward J.. Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries Book 5) . InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.
“At some future point, when disobedience brought on the curse of the covenant and the people were dispersed among foreign nations, there would come a turning point. The turning point would be followed by certain steps; the process described here was to influence in many ways the preaching of the prophets in subsequent generations. (a) You shall return to your senses (v. 1)—the people would remember that the circumstances in which they found themselves were not the result of “fate,” but an inevitable consequence of disobeying the covenant with the Lord, which resulted in the curse of the Lord. (b) Return to the Lord (v. 2)—once they knew the reason for the curse that had befallen them, the course of action would become clear. In repentance, they must return to the Lord of the Covenant, individually and as families.
(c) You shall listen to his voice (v. 2)—the repentance involved not only turning back from the evil past, but a new and wholehearted commitment of obedience to God’s voice, which was expressed for them in God’slaw and was written in a book (see v. 10). (d) Then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes1 (v. 3)—the nature of exile would be such that repentance alone could not lead to freedom, for the people would be in foreign lands under foreign authorities. Having remembered, repented, and obeyed, then the people could look to God for his aid in restoring them to that previous position; only then could they expect to know once again his compassion (v, 3). God, acting in the course of human history (just as he had done in bringing his people out of Egypt), would regather his people from the places to which he had scattered them in judgment.”
Craigie, Peter C.. The Book of Deuteronomy (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament) (pp. 363-364). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.
Deuteronomy 29:1 These are the words of the covenant Yahveh commanded Moses to establish with the Israelites in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb.
Deuteronomy 29:2 Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “You have seen with your own eyes everything Yahveh did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials, and his entire land.
Deuteronomy 29:3 You saw with your own eyes the great trials and those great signs and wonders.
Deuteronomy 29:4 Yet to this day, Yahveh has not given you a heart to understand, eyes to see, or ears to hear.
Deuteronomy 29:5 I led you forty years in the open country; your clothes and the sandals on your feet did not wear out;
Deuteronomy 29:6 you did not eat bread or drink wine or beer – so that you might know that I am Yahveh your God.
Deuteronomy 29:7 When you reached this place, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out against us in battle, but we defeated them.
Deuteronomy 29:8 We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh.
Deuteronomy 29:9 Therefore, watch the words of this covenant and follow them so that you will succeed in everything you do.
Deuteronomy 29:10 “All of you are standing today before Yahveh your God – your leaders, tribes, elders, officials, all the men of Israel,
Deuteronomy 29:11 your dependents, your wives, and the guests in your camps who cut your wood and draw your water –
Deuteronomy 29:12 so that you may enter into the covenant of Yahveh your God, which he is establishing with you today, so that you may enter into his oath[1]
Deuteronomy 29:13 and so that he may establish you today as his people and he may be your God as he promised you and as he swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Deuteronomy 29:14 I am establishing this covenant and this oath not only with you,
Deuteronomy 29:15 but also with those who are standing here with us today in the presence of Yahveh our God and with those who are not here today.
Deuteronomy 29:16 “Indeed, you know how we stayed in the land of Egypt and passed through the nations where you traveled.
Deuteronomy 29:17 You saw their repulsive things[2] and idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold, which were among them.
Deuteronomy 29:18 Or else there may be a man, woman, clan, or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from Yahveh our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Be sure there is no root among you bearing poisonous and bitter fruit.
Deuteronomy 29:19 When someone hears the words of this oath, he may celebrate himself, and this is what he says: ‘I will have peace even though I follow my own stubborn heart.’ This will lead to the destruction of the well-watered land as well as the dry land.
Deuteronomy 29:20 Yahveh will not be willing to forgive him. Instead, his anger and jealousy will burn against that person, and every oath written in this scroll will descend on him. Yahveh will blot out his name under the sky,
Deuteronomy 29:21 And Yahveh will separate him from all the tribes of Israel for harm, according to all the oaths of the covenant written in this book of instruction.
Deuteronomy 29:22 “Future generations of your children who follow you and the foreigner who comes from a distant country will see the plagues of that land and the sicknesses Yahveh has inflicted on it.
Deuteronomy 29:23 All its land will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unplanted, producing nothing, with no plant growing on it, just like the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which Yahveh demolished in his fierce anger.
Deuteronomy 29:24 All the nations will ask, ‘Why has Yahveh done this to this land? Why this intense outburst of anger?’
Deuteronomy 29:25 Then people will answer, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of Yahveh, the God of their fathers, which he had established with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 29:26 They began to serve other gods, bowing in worship to gods they had not known – gods that Yahveh had not permitted them to worship.
Deuteronomy 29:27 Therefore Yahveh’s nose burned at this land, and he brought every affliction written in this book on it.
Deuteronomy 29:28 Yahveh uprooted them from their land in his anger, rage, and intense wrath and tossed them into another land where they are today.’
Deuteronomy 29:29 The hidden things belong to Yahveh our God, but the revealed things belong to us and our children permanently, so that we may follow all the words of this instruction.
“Chapter 29 draws attention to the terms and implications of Israel’s entering into the covenant that is sealed with a ‘curse’ (v. 12 [ET]), involving both present and future generations (vv. 11–15). The new element here is that all members of the community, from the leaders to menial servants, stand as individuals before the Lord (vv. 9–15), and are thus under the curse and wrath of God if the covenant is broken. The chapter especially recalls the standpoint of chapter 13 on apostasy and idolatry (v. 18 [ET]). This is then developed in terms of the person who might hear the words of the curse, and then invoke a blessing upon himself, thinking that he is safe from the curse, while continuing in his own stubborn and rebellious ways (cf. 27:15–26). Such a person is a root, whose bitter poison can bring ruin to the entire nation (v. 19 ET]). Earlier, this is attributed to the absence of ‘a heart to know, eyes to see and ears to hear’ to ‘this day’ (v. 4 [ET]). Such sin will never be forgiven within Israel. The wrath of the Lord (vv. 20–28 [ET]) will ‘burn’ against such a person, and ‘single’ him out for the full quota of curses contained in chapters 27 – 28 (v. 21 [ET]). In time this will lead to the land itself becoming an unproductive burning waste like Sodom and Gomorrah, prompting the nations to ask why this should be so. The answer will be that Israel abandoned the covenant of the Lord by worshipping other gods they did not know, gods he had not given them (vv. 22– 28; cf. 4:19; 28:64). As a result, the Lord’s anger will burn against the land, uprooting Israel and thrusting them into another land, as it is now. Finally, verse 29 [ET] flows into the following chapter, where the resolution to this failure is described.”
Woods, Edward J.. Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries Book 5) . InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.
“In the concluding charge, Moses returns first of all to dwell briefly on some of the themes already contained in the earlier discourses (vv. 1–8.1 The substance of the material presented here in summary form is a recollection of God’s acts in history, from the Exodus, through the testing period in the wilderness, and up to the arrival of the people on the plains of Moab. To the reader, the repetition may seem somewhat tedious at first sight, but the significance of the repetition appears in v. 3: the Lord has not granted you,2 up to this day, a mind3 to understand, and eyes to see, and ears to hear. With the perspective of time, the Israelites could learn to see God’s presence in their past experience, but it required insight and perception.”
Craigie, Peter C.. The Book of Deuteronomy (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament) (p. 356). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.
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