Deuteronomy 29:12

12 {in order for you to enter into the covenant of Yahweh your God}, and into his oath that Yahweh your God [is] {making with you} {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 "You [are] standing {today}, all of you, {before} Yahweh your God, your leaders, your tribes, your elders, and your officials, all the men of Israel,
11 your little children, your women and your aliens who [are] in the midst of your camp, from the choppers of your wood to the drawers of your water,
12 {in order for you to enter into the covenant of Yahweh your God}, and into his oath that Yahweh your God [is] {making with you} {today},
13 in order to establish you {today} {to himself} as a people and [so that] he may be for you [as] God, [just] as he {promised} to you and {just as} he swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
14 "Now I am not {making this covenant} and this oath {with you alone}.

Footnotes 4

  • [a]. Literally "for you to go over into the covenant of Yahweh your God"
  • [b]. Or "with"
  • [c]. Literally "cutting with you"
  • [d]. Literally "the day"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.