Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

29:1 besides the covenant. The covenant in the land of Moab is a reiteration of the covenant at Horeb (i.e., Sinai), and the laws are the same as were given to Israel through Moses at Horeb. The Moab covenant constitutes all the spoken words of Moses in Deuteronomy.

29:2-3 You have seen . . . before your eyes . . . your eyes saw. There is a strong emphasis on having seen God's past actions, even though the addressees are the next generation. See 1:30-31 and note on 1:29-31.

29:4 not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear. The heart is the organ of understanding and will in the OT; Deuteronomy focuses on the heart as the center of morality. Despite the emphasis on physical sight (vv. 2-3), real "sight" is with the eyes of faithful obedience. The heart must respond correctly to God (e.g., 6:5), but Israel's heart is unlikely to respond to God in the right way (e.g., 5:29; 8:17; 9:4). Israel needs God to correct its lack of right heart, eyes, and ears. See 30:6 and note. In Rom. 11:8 Paul combines this text with Isa. 29:10 to explain why many of his Jewish contemporaries do not believe in Jesus.

29:5-6 clothes . . . feet. See 8:4. that you may know. See 8:3.

29:7-8 Sihon . . . Og. See 2:24-3:17.

29:12-13 enter into the sworn covenant. The language of this verse has the style of a formal acceptance of the covenant and its consequences. establish you today as his people. See 27:9 and note.

29:15 Whoever is not here with us today refers to future generations. The covenant with God is not simply for one generation, just as the Horeb covenant was also for this current generation (5:2-3).

29:18 Beware lest. The repeated warning here shows the vulnerability of Israel's heart to go astray to idolatry. root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit. If one Israelite goes astray, the sin is regarded as contagious, infecting other Israelites (v. 19). Hence the need to "purge the evil" from your midst (see 13:5 and note). Cf. "root of bitterness" in Heb. 12:15, which comes from the Greek translation of this phrase.

29:19 blesses himself in his heart. An expression of pride (cf. 8:17 and note on 4:37-39).

29:20-21 jealousy. See 4:24 and note on 4:23-24. Book of the Law. See 28:61 and note.

29:23 The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is used several times in the Bible as the paradigmatic act of God's judgment (Gen. 19:24-25; see, e.g., Amos 4:11; Matt. 10:14; 2 Pet. 2:6). Admah, and Zeboiim. See Gen. 10:19 and 14:2, 8.

29:24-28 The expectation in these verses is of future idolatry (the worst sin, in Deuteronomy) and the receipt of God's curses. While ch. 28 held out blessings and curses as alternatives, it is again clear that the author of Deuteronomy expects Israel to sin because they lack correct hearts, eyes, and ears toward God (29:4). See also 27:4 and note on 27:4-5; 30:1 and note on 30:1-2; 31:16-18.

29:29 secret things belong to the Lord our God. Not everything that is true of God has been revealed. That there are secret things anticipates the need to trust, obey, and be humble before God. What God has revealed is for the sake of obedience (see 30:11-14).

30:1-2 The context is exile, following from 29:28. The word for mind (Hb. lebab) can also be rendered "heart" (see 6:5 and note). This verse anticipates that God's words (all these things) will enter the exiles' hearts, leading them to return to God, or repent, which means to change their thinking and behavior completely. all your heart and with all your soul. Also 30:6, 10. See 6:5 and note.

30:3 restore your fortunes. This expression uses the Hebrew word "return." As Israel returns to God (v. 2), so he will "return" to them. gather. The reverse of 28:64; 29:28.

30:5 fathers. Either referring to the patriarchs--Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (as in v. 20)--or to earlier generations living in the land.

30:6 circumcise your heart. This is a key promise in Deuteronomy, looking forward to genuine covenant participation (see Jer. 31:33; Ezek. 36:26-27; Rom. 2:25-29; Col. 2:11). See note on Deut. 10:16. so that you will love. God's changing of the heart enables obedience (6:5).

30:9 abundantly prosperous. Also v. 5. The blessings promised in 28:1-14 will now be realized. fathers. See note on 30:5.

30:11 not too hard for you. When the heart is circumcised (see note on v. 6), keeping the law is possible.

30:12-14 in your mouth and in your heart. This is the result of the circumcised heart that enables obedience (see note on v. 6). Paul quotes from these verses in Rom. 10:6-8 to show that the Jews already had the message of faith through the Scriptures.

30:15 I have set before you. See also v. 19. The climax of Moses' preaching is to seek a commitment from Israel to trust in God's grace and thus obey his commands.

30:19-20 I call heaven and earth. Ancient treaties had witnesses to their ratification. Often those witnesses were the gods. In Deuteronomy, since God himself is a partner to the covenant, heaven and earth are called as witnesses. See 4:25-26 and note. Life, and living, is a key theme in ch. 30 (see vv. 6, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20). To choose life is to choose God himself, to trust in God's grace and circumcision of the heart. holding fast. See 4:4 and note on 4:3-4.