a U 1. Command. W b 2-4. Egypt. Retropective. c 5-8. Past days (wilderness). U 9. Command. W c 10-15. This day. b 16,17. Egypt. Retropective.
1452 B.C.
2: And Moses called to all Israel (This begins the 6th address), and said to them, “You all have seen all that the Lord (Yehovah) did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land;
3: The great temptations which your eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles:
4: Yet the Lord (Yehovah) has not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.
5: And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you (Cp. 8:4, and Neh.9:21), and your shoe is not waxen old upon your foot.
6: You all have not eaten bread, neither have you all drunk wine or strong drink: that you all might know that I am the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim).
7: And when you all came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us to battle, and we smote them:
8: And we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half tribe of Manasseh.
9: Keep therefore the words of this covenant (Cp. 1 Kings 2:3. Ps.1:3), and do them, that you all may prosper in all that you all do.
10: You all stand this day all of you before the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim); your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel,
11: Your little ones, your wives, and your stranger that is in your camp, from the hewer of your wood to the drawer of your water:
12: That you should enter into covenant with the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), and into His oath, which the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) makes (= confirms) with you this day:
13: That He may establish you today for a people unto Himself, and that He may be to you God (Elohim), as He has said to you, and as He has sworn to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob (all 3 Patriarchs mentioned. See Gen.50:24).
14: Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath;
15: But with him that stands here with us this day before the Lord (Yehovah) our God (Elohim), and also with him that is not here with us this day:
16: {For you all know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; and how we came through the nations which you all passed by;
17: And you all have seen their abominations, and their idols (either as manufactured, or derivdfrom gålål = dung = rotten, or detestable), wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:}
b X d 29:18-21. Apostacy of persons. e 29:22-28. Land. Judgment on. Y f 29:29-. The word of Yehovah. Revealed. g 29:-29. Object: that we may do. X d 30:1,2. Repentance of people. e 30:3-10. Land. Return to. Y f 30:11-14. The word of Yehovah. Plain. g 30:15-20. Object: that they may do.
18: Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe (Dan and Ephraim not named in Rev.7.Cp. Judg.17 Ephraim, and 18, Dan), whose heart turns away this day from Yehovah your Elohim, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that bears gall and wormwood;
19: And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:’
20: The Lord (Yehovah) will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord (Yehovah) and His jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book (see Ex.17:14) shall lie upon him, and the Lord (Yehovah) shall blot out his name from under heaven (see v.18).
21: And the Lord (Yehovah) shall separate him unto wicked out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law:
22: So that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses which Yehovah has laid upon it;
23: And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor bear, nor any grass grows therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which Yehovah overthrew in His anger, and in His wrath:
24: Even all nations shall say, ‘Why has the Lord (Yehovah) done thus to this land? and what means the heat of this great anger?’
25: Then men shall say, ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God (Yehovah Elohim) of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them forth out of the land of Egypt:
26: For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom He had not given (= divided) to them:
27: And the anger of the Lord (Yehovah) was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book:
28: And the Lord (Yehovah) rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.
29: The secret things belong to the Lord (Yehovah) our God (Elohim) (The italics in the A.V. [put in Roman type in R.V.] show that the Hebrew was not clear to the translators. They made good sense in English, but that is not the sense in the Hebrew text. The words rendered "to Yehovah our Elohim" have the extra-ordinary ponts to show that they form no part of the text, and should come out. The meaning then is: "The secret things, even the revealed things, belong to us and our children for ever, that we may do all the word of this law", i.e. the revealed things, and the secret things which have not been, but will yet be revealed): but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever,
that we may do all the words of this law.
3: That then the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) will turn your captivity (Idiom for relief from any trouble. Cp. Job 42:10. Amos 9:14,15. Jer.30:3), and have compassion upon you, and will return and gather you from all the peoples, to which place the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) has scattered you.
4: If any of yours be driven out to the outmost parts of heaven, from that place will Yehovah your Elohim gather you, and from that place will He fetch you:
5: And the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will do you good, and multiply you above your fathers.
6: And the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) will circumcise your mind (Cp. 10:16. Jer.32:32. Ezek.11:19; 36:26), and the mind of your seed, to love the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) with all your mind, and with all your soul, that you may live.
7: And the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) will put all these curses upon your enemies, and on them that hate you, which persecuted you.
8: And you shall return (Cp. Hos.6:1; 14:1) and obey the voice of Yehovah, and do all His commandments which I command you this day.
9: And the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) will make you plenteous in every work of your hands, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of your land, for good: for Yehovah will again rejoice over you for good (Cp. 28:63. Jer.32:41), according as He rejoiced over your fathers:
10: If you shall listen to the voice of the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), to keep His commandments and His ordinances which are written in this book of the law (See Ex.17:14 and cp. 2 Kings 22:8; 23:25), and if you turn to the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) with all your mind, and with all your soul.
f h 11-. Not hidden. i -11. Distance. Not far off. k 12. Not in heaven. Hear and do. k 13. Not over seas. Hear and do. i 14-. Distance. Very near. h -14. Not hidden. In the mouth and heart.11: For this commandment which I command you this day, it is not hidden from you (= not too wonderful. Cp. Rom.10:6, &c.),
neither is it far off.
12: It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, that we may hear it, and do it?’
13: Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who shall go over the sea for us (Cp. Rom.10:7), and bring it to us, that we may hear it, and do it?
14: But the word is very near to you,
in your mouth, and in your mind, that you may do it.
g l 15,16-. Life and good, &c. m -16-18. Object. l 19. Life and good, &c. m 20. Object.15: See (= behold), I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil (Fig., put for the good things which end in life, and evil things which end in death. Cp. Amos 5:14);
that you may live and multiply: and the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) shall bless you in the land to which place you go to possess it.
17: But if your heart (= mind) turn away, so that you will not hear, but shall be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
18: I denounce (= declare) to you this day, that you all shall surely perish, and that you all shall not prolong your days upon the land, to which place you pass over Jordan to go to possess it.
19: I call the heavens and the earth (One of 13 occ. See 4:26. #13 = the number of rebellion) to record (= to witness) this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both you and your seed may live:
20: That you may love the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), and that you may obey His voice, and that you may cleave to Him: for He is your life, and the length of your days: that you may dwell on the soil which the Lord (Yehovah) swore to your fathers (All 3 Patriarchs named. See Gen.50:24), to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” (This is the end of the 6th address. See 1:1)
G n 1-3-. Yehovah to go before. o p -3-. Yehovah to act. q -3. Joshua. o p 4-6. Yehovah to act. q 7. Joshua. n 8. Yehovah to go before.
and He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall possess them:
and Joshua, he shall go over before you, according as the Lord (Yehovah) has said (Cp. the references to past statements: 2:9; 3:28. Ex.23:2,23; 33:2. Num.27:15-23).
4: And the Lord (Yehovah) shall do to them as He did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and to the land of them, whom He destroyed.
5: And the Lord (Yehovah) shall give them up before your face, that you all may do to them according to all the commandments which I have commanded you.
6: Be strong and of a good courage (Cp. vv.7,23. Josh.1:6,9,18; 10:25. 1 Chron.22:13; 28:20. 2 Chron.32:7. Isa.35:3,4), fear not, nor be afraid of them: for Yehovah your Elohim, He it is that does go with you; He will not fail you, nor forsake you.” (Cp. 4:31. Josh.1:5. 1 Chron.28:20. See note on 4:31.This is the end of Moses' 7th address)
7: And Moses called to Joshua, and said to him in the sight of all Israel, ‘Be strong and of a good courage: for you must bring this people to the land which Yehovah has sworn to their fathers to give them; and you shall cause them to inherit it.
8: And Yehovah, He it is that does go before you; He will be with you, He will not fail you, neither forsake you: fear not, neither be dismayed.’ ”
F r 31:9-30. Laws re the Song. s 32:1-43. The Song itself r 32:44-47. Laws re the Song.
r t¹ 9-13. Laws written and read. u¹ 14-18. Charges to Moses and Joshua. t² 19. Song to be written. u² 20,21. Charge to People. t³ 22. Song written. u³ 23. Charge to Joshua. t4 24. Song written. u4 25-29. Charge to Levites. t5 30. Song recited.
9: And Moses wrote this law (See note on Ex.17:14), and delivered it to the priests the sons of Levi (= the Kohathites. Num.4:1-15), which bare the ark of the covenant of Yehovah, and to all the elders of Israel.
10: And Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of every seven years (Cp. 15:1), in the solemnity (= appointed time) of the year of release (So called in 15:9. The "release" is referred to in 15:1,2,3. The noun "release" occ. only in these two passages. The verb occ. in Ex.23:11), in the feast of tabernacles (= booths),
11: When all Israel is come to appear (See Ex.23:15 and 34:20.) before the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim) in the place which He shall choose, you shall read this law (Cp. 16:13-15, and see Neh.8:1-18.) before all Israel in their hearing.
12: Gather the people together, men, and women, and children (= little ones), and your stranger that is within your gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and love the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), and observe to do all the words of this law:
13: And that their sons, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to love the Lord (Yehovah) their God (Elohim), as long as (= all the days) you all live in the land to which place you all go over Jordan to possess it.”
14: And the Lord (Yehovah) said (see 2:9) to Moses, “Behold, your days approach that you must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle (= tent. Heb. ’ohel. The only reference to it in Deuteronomy) of the congregation, that I may give him a charge”. And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tent of the congregation.
15: And the Lord (Yehovah) appeared in the tent in a pillar of a cloud (The only refeerene to it in Deuteronomy): and the pillar of the cloud stood over the entrance of the tent.
16: And the Lord (Yehovah) said to Moses, “Behold, you shall; sleep with your fathers (= shall lie down to sleep. A beautiful Euphamism for death. This is the first occ. It is used alike of good people and evil: of Ahab as well as David; of all the kings, even Jehoiakim, who had no burial.); and this people will rise up, and go a whoring (the constant idiom for idolatry) after the gods of the strangers of the land, to which place they go to be among them, and will forsake Me, and break My covenant which I have made with them.
17: Then My anger shall be kindled (Cp. 2 Kings 22:17. Hos.5:3-6. Mic.3:4) against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them (Cp. 32:20. Isa.8:17; 54:8; 59:2; 64:7), and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall find them; so that they will say in that day. ‘Are not these evils come upon us, because our God (Elohim) is not among us?’ (Should be "Have not these evils found me out, because my God (Elohim) is not in my midst?")
18: And I will surely hide My face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned to other gods.
19: Now therefore write you all this song for you (First reference to the "Song of Moses". See Chapter 32. The last in Rev.15:3), and teach it (to be both written and taught) the sons of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for Me against the sons of Israel.
20: For when I shall have brought them on to the soil which I sware to their fathers, that flows with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn to other gods, and serve them, and provoke Me, and break my covenant.
21: And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song (2nd mention of this song) shall testify against them (= answer them to their face) as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten (This song quoted and referred to more than any other part of Pentateuch) out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I swore to their fathers.”
22: Moses therefore wrote this song (The 3rd reference to it) the same day, and taught it the sons of Israel.
23: And He (i.e. Yehovah) gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, “Be strong and of a good courage (See v.6): for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land which I swear to them: and I will be with you.”
24: And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book (See Ex.17:14. This was the "book" found by Hilkiah. 2 Kings 22:8. 2 Chron.34:14), until they were finished,
25: That Moses commanded the Levites (= the Kohathites, v.9. Cp. Num.3:31,32. 2 Sam.15:24), which bare the ark of the covenant of Yehovah, saying,
26: “Take this book of the law (See the effect of finding it by Jeremiah's father, 2 kings 22:8, and note the references to it in vv. 13,16,17 [Deut.29:25-27], v.19 [Deut.28:36,37,45, words used]. Cp. also 2 Kings 23:1-3 wth Deut.29:1; and v.21 with Deut.16:1-8; and v.24 with Deut.18:10,11 ["put away" occ. only in Deut.]; and v.25 with Deut.30:10), and put it in (or by) the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord (Yehovah) your God (Elohim), that it may be there for a witness against you.
27: For I know your rebellion, and your stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, you all have been rebellious against the Lord (Yehovah); and how much more after my death?
28: Gather to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to record against them.
29: For I know (Cp. Acts 20:28,29) that after my death you all will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days (Cp. Gen.49:1 [Num.24:14]. Used by Moses, 4:30. Found also in Jer.23:20; 48:47; 49:39. Ezek.38:16. Hos.3:5. Mic.4:1); because you all will do evil in the sight of the Lord (Yehovah), to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands.” (viz., idolatry and other evils)
30: And Moses spoke (The beginning of the 8th address) in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song (the 4th reference to it. It is the key of the Apocalypse, Rev.15:3. It will be sung on the first day of Millenneum [ie. "the day of the Lord"] by the elect and overcomers. See note on Ex.15:1), until they were ended.