Deuteronomy 29:2-12

2 And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, "You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and all his servants and all his land;

3 ¹the great trials which your eyes have seen, those great signs and wonders.

4 "Yet to this day ²the LORD has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear.

5 "I have led you forty years in the wilderness; ³your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandal has not worn out on your foot.

6 "⁴You have not eaten bread, nor have you drunk wine or strong drink, in order that you might know that I am the LORD your God.

7 "⁵When you reached this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out to meet us for battle, but we defeated them;

8 and we took their land and ⁶gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe * of the Manassites.

9 "⁷So keep the words of this covenant to do them, ⁸that 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 ⁹the 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,

Deuteronomy 29:2-12 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

• 1. Deuteronomy 4:34; Deuteronomy 7:19
• 2. Isaiah 6:9, 10; Ezekiel 12:2; Matthew 13:14; Acts 28:26, 27; Romans 11:8
• 3. Deuteronomy 8:4
• 4. Deuteronomy 8:3
• 5. Num 21:21-24, 33, 35; Deut 2:26-3:17
• 6. Numbers 32:32, 33; Deuteronomy 3:12, 13
• 7. Deuteronomy 4:6; 1 Kings 2:3
• 8. Joshua 1:7
• 9. Josh 9:21, 23, 27

Footnotes

• [a] Ch 29:1 in Heb
• [b] Lit "came to"
• [c] Lit "smote"