Deuteronomy 29:16

16 You know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed.

Deuteronomy 29:16 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 29:16

For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt
How long they and their fathers had dwelt there, the number of years they had been in the land, as the Targum of Jonathan, which was upwards of two hundred years; and being a country the inhabitants of which were much given to idolatry, they had seen many of their idols, and much of their idolatrous worship; and their hearts had been apt to be ensnared by it, and the minds of some tinctured with it, and the remembrance thereof might make ill impressions on them; to remove or prevent which this covenant was made:

and how we came through the nations which ye passed by;
as the Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites, and Midianites, as Aben Ezra observes, through whose borders they came, as they passed by their countries in their journeys in the wilderness.

Deuteronomy 29:16 In-Context

14 I am making this covenant, sworn by an oath, not only with you who stand here with us today before the Lord our God,
15 but also with those who are not here with us today.
16 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 You have seen their detestable things, the filthy idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold, that were among them.
18 It may be that there is among you a man or woman, or a family or tribe, whose heart is already turning away from the Lord our God to serve the gods of those nations. It may be that there is among you a root sprouting poisonous and bitter growth.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.