Deuteronomy 5:3

3 [It was] not with our ancestors [that] Yahweh made this covenant, [but with] these [of] us [who are] here alive today.

Deuteronomy 5:3 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 5:3

The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers
That is, not with them only, as Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Abendana remark; for certain it is that this covenant was made, or law was given, to the immediate fathers of this present generation of Israelites, whose carcasses had fallen in the wilderness; unless this is to be understood of their more remote ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with whom the covenant of grace was made, or afresh made manifest, especially with the former; when the law, the covenant here spoken of, was not delivered until four hundred and thirty years after, ( Galatians 3:16 Galatians 3:17 ) ,

but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day;
many of them were then present at the giving of the law, and though under twenty years of age, could remember it, and the circumstances of it; and besides, they were the same people to whom it was given, though not consisting wholly of the same individuals.

Deuteronomy 5:3 In-Context

1 And [then] Moses summoned all [of] Israel and said to them, "Hear, Israel, the rules and the regulations that I [am] speaking in your ears {today}, and you shall learn them, and {you must observe them diligently}.
2 Yahweh our God made a covenant with us at Horeb.
3 [It was] not with our ancestors [that] Yahweh made this covenant, [but with] these [of] us [who are] here alive today.
4 {Face to face} Yahweh spoke with you at the mountain from the midst of the fire.
5 I was standing {between Yahweh and you} at that time to report to you the word of Yahweh, for you were afraid because of {the presence of} the fire, and [so] you [did] not go up the mountain. {He said},

Footnotes 1

Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.