Deuteronomy 29:12

12 that thou go into the bond of peace of thy Lord God, and in the oath which thy Lord God smiteth with thee, (that thou enter into the covenant of the Lord thy God, and accept the oath which the Lord thy God striketh with thee,)

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 All ye stand today before your Lord God, your princes, and lineages, and the greater men in birth, and your teachers or doctors, (with) all the people of Israel, (Ye all stand here today before the Lord your God, yea, the leaders of the tribes, and the men of great age, that is, the elders, and your officers, with all the people of Israel,)

11 your free children, and your wives, and the comelings that dwell with thee in the tents, besides the hewers of wood, and besides they that bear water; (yea, your children, and your wives, and the newcomers who live with thee in the tents, as well as the hewers of wood, and the bearers of water;)

12 that thou go into the bond of peace of thy Lord God, and in the oath which thy Lord God smiteth with thee, (that thou enter into the covenant of the Lord thy God, and accept the oath which the Lord thy God striketh with thee,)

13 that he raise thee up into a people to himself, and that he be thy Lord God, as he spake to thee, and as he swore to thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (so that he can raise thee up into a people unto himself, and that he be the Lord thy God, as he promised thee, and as he swore to thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.)

14 And not to you alone I make this bond of peace, and confirm these oaths, (And it is not with you alone do I make this covenant, and confirm this oath,)