Deuteronomy 29:12

12 that thou shouldest enter into the covenant of the Lord thy God and into his oaths, as many as the Lord thy God appoints thee this day;

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.

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Deuteronomy 29:12 In-Context

10 Ye all stand to-day before the Lord your God, the heads of your tribes, and your elders, and your judges, and your officers, every man of Israel,

11 your wives, and your children, and the stranger who is in the midst of your camp, from your hewer of wood even to your drawer of water,

12 that thou shouldest enter into the covenant of the Lord thy God and into his oaths, as many as the Lord thy God appoints thee this day;

13 that he may appoint thee to himself for a people, and he shall be thy God, as he said to thee, and as he sware to thy fathers, Abraam, and Isaac, and Jacob.

14 And I do not appoint to you alone this covenant and this oath;