Deuteronomy 29:8-18

8 and we took their land and 1gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe * of the Manassites.
9 "2So keep the words of this covenant to do them, 3that you may prosper in all that you do.
10 "You stand today, all of you, before the LORD your God: your chiefs, your tribes, your elders and your officers, even all the men of Israel,
11 your little ones, your wives, and the alien who is within your camps, from 4the one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water,
12 that you may enter into the covenant with the LORD your God, and into His oath which the LORD your God is making with you today,
13 in order that He may establish you today as His people and that 5He may be your God, just as He spoke to you and as He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
14 "Now not with you alone am I 6making this covenant and this oath,
15 7but both with those who stand here with us today in the presence of the LORD our God and with those who are not with us here today
16 (for you know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed;
17 moreover, you have seen their abominations and their idols of 8wood, stone, silver, and gold, which they had with them);
18 9so that there will not be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of those nations; that there will not be among you 10a root bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood.

Deuteronomy 29:8-18 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 29

This chapter begins with an intimation of another covenant the Lord was about to make with the people of Israel, De 29:1; and, to prepare their minds to an attention to it, various things which the Lord had done for them are recited, De 29:2-9; the persons are particularly mentioned with whom the covenant would now be made, the substance of which is, that they should be his people, and he their God, De 29:10-15; and since they had seen the idols in Egypt and other countries, with which they might have been ensnared, they are cautioned against idolatry and idolaters, as being most provoking to the Lord, De 29:16-21; which would bring destruction not only on particular persons, but upon their whole land, to the amazement of posterity; who, inquiring the reason of it, will be told, it was because they forsook the covenant of God, and particularly were guilty of idolatry, which, whether privately or openly committed, would be always punished, De 29:22-29.

Cross References 10

  • 1. Numbers 32:32, 33; Deuteronomy 3:12, 13
  • 2. Deuteronomy 4:6; 1 Kings 2:3
  • 3. Joshua 1:7
  • 4. Josh 9:21, 23, 27
  • 5. Genesis 17:7; Exodus 6:7
  • 6. Jeremiah 31:31; Hebrews 8:7, 8
  • 7. Acts 2:39
  • 8. Exodus 20:23; Deuteronomy 4:28; Deuteronomy 28:36
  • 9. Deuteronomy 13:6
  • 10. Deuteronomy 32:32; Hebrews 12:15
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