Deuteronomy 29:12

12 that thou may enter into covenant with the LORD thy God and into his oath, which the LORD thy God makes with thee today,

Deuteronomy 29:12 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 29:12

That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the Lord thy God,
&c.] That is, they were all to appear and stand in this order before the Lord, that they might solemnly avouch him to be their God, and hear him declaring them to be his people, and the many promises and prophecies of good things he should deliver to them, as well as threatenings of wrath and vengeance in case of disobedience to him: or "that thou shouldest pass" F5: which some think is an allusion to the manner of making covenants, by slaying a creature, and cutting it in pieces, and passing between them, as in ( Jeremiah 34:18 ) ; so Jarchi and Aben Ezra:

and into his oath;
annexed to his covenant and promise, to show the immutability and certain fulfilment of it on his part; and may signify not only the oath he swore that they should be his people, but the oath he gave them, and they took, that he should be their God:

which the Lord thy God maketh with thee this day;
which refers both to the covenant and the oath, or the covenant confirmed by an oath, even the covenant now made in the plains of Moab, distinct from that at Horeb or Sinai.


FOOTNOTES:

F5 (Krbel) "ut transeas", V. L. Tigurine version, Munster, Vatablus, Pagniuns, Cocceius; "ad transeundum", Montanus.

Deuteronomy 29:12 In-Context

10 Ye stand today, all of you, before the LORD your God, your princes of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel,
11 your little ones, your wives, and thy strangers that dwell within thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water,
12 that thou may enter into covenant with the LORD thy God and into his oath, which the LORD thy God makes with thee today,
13 to confirm thee today as his people and that he may be unto thee as God, as he has said unto thee, and as he has sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
14 Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath,
The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010