14 But the word H1697 is very H3966 nigh H7138 unto thee, in thy mouth, H6310 and in thy heart, H3824 that thou mayest do H6213 it.
But G235 what G5101 saith it? G3004 The word G4487 is G2076 nigh G1451 thee, G4675 even in G1722 thy G4675 mouth, G4750 and G2532 in G1722 thy G4675 heart: G2588 that is, G5123 the word G4487 of faith, G4102 which G3739 we preach; G2784 That G3754 if G1437 thou shalt confess G3670 with G1722 thy G4675 mouth G4750 the Lord G2962 Jesus, G2424 and G2532 shalt believe G4100 in G1722 thine G4675 heart G2588 that G3754 God G2316 hath raised G1453 him G846 from G1537 the dead, G3498 thou shalt be saved. G4982 For G1063 with the heart G2588 man believeth G4100 unto G1519 righteousness; G1343 and G1161 with the mouth G4750 confession is made G3670 unto G1519 salvation. G4991
Even G2532 the very dust G2868 of G1537 your G5216 city, G4172 which G3588 cleaveth G2853 on us, G2254 we do wipe off G631 against you: G5213 notwithstanding G4133 be ye sure G1097 of this, G5124 that G3754 the kingdom G932 of God G2316 is come nigh G1448 unto G1909 you. G5209 But G1161 I say G3004 unto you, G5213 that G3754 it shall be G2071 more tolerable G414 in G1722 that G1565 day G2250 for Sodom, G4670 than G2228 for that G1565 city. G4172
Be it G2077 known G1110 unto you G5213 therefore, G3767 men G435 and brethren, G80 that G3754 through G1223 this man G5127 is preached G2605 unto you G5213 the forgiveness G859 of sins: G266 And G2532 by G1722 him G5129 all G3956 that believe G4100 are justified G1344 from G575 all things, G3956 from which G3739 ye could G1410 not G3756 be justified G1344 by G1722 the law G3551 of Moses. G3475 Beware G991 therefore, G3767 lest that G3361 come G1904 upon G1909 you, G5209 which is spoken of G2046 in G1722 the prophets; G4396 Behold, G1492 ye despisers, G2707 and G2532 wonder, G2296 and G2532 perish: G853 for G3754 I G1473 work G2038 a work G2041 in G1722 your G5216 days, G2250 a work G2041 which G3739 ye shall G4100 in no wise G3364 believe, G4100 though G1437 a man G5100 declare it G1555 unto you. G5213
And G1161 when they had appointed G5021 him G846 a day, G2250 there came G2240 many G4119 to G4314 him G846 into G1519 his lodging; G3578 to whom G3739 he expounded G1620 and testified G1263 the kingdom G932 of God, G2316 G5037 persuading G3982 them G846 concerning G4012 Jesus, G2424 both G5037 out of G575 the law G3551 of Moses, G3475 and G2532 out of the prophets, G4396 from G575 morning G4404 till G2193 evening. G2073 And G2532 some G3303 believed G3982 the things which were spoken, G3004 and G1161 some believed not. G569 And G1161 when they agreed not G800 G5607 among G4314 themselves, G240 they departed, G630 after that Paul G3972 had spoken G2036 one G1520 word, G4487 G3754 Well G2573 spake G2980 the Holy G40 Ghost G4151 by G1223 Esaias G2268 the prophet G4396 unto G4314 our G2257 fathers, G3962 Saying, G3004 Go G4198 unto G4314 this G5126 people, G2992 and G2532 say, G2036 Hearing G189 ye shall hear, G191 and G2532 shall G4920 not G3364 understand; G4920 and G2532 seeing G991 ye shall see, G991 and G2532 not G3364 perceive: G1492 For G1063 the heart G2588 of this G5127 people G2992 is waxed gross, G3975 and G2532 their ears G3775 are dull G917 of hearing, G191 and G2532 their G846 eyes G3788 have they closed; G2576 lest G3379 they should see G1492 with their eyes, G3788 and G2532 hear G191 with their ears, G3775 and G2532 understand G4920 with their heart, G2588 and G2532 should be converted, G1994 and G2532 I should heal G2390 them. G846 Be it G2077 known G1110 therefore G3767 unto you, G5213 that G3754 the salvation G4992 of God G2316 is sent G649 unto the Gentiles, G1484 and G2532 that they will hear G191 it. G846
Therefore G1223 G5124 we G2248 ought G1163 to give the more earnest G4056 heed G4337 to the things which we have heard, G191 lest at any time G3379 we should let them slip. G3901 For G1063 if G1487 the word G3056 spoken G2980 by G1223 angels G32 was G1096 stedfast, G949 and G2532 every G3956 transgression G3847 and G2532 disobedience G3876 received G2983 a just G1738 recompence of reward; G3405 How G4459 shall we G2249 escape, G1628 if we neglect G272 so great G5082 salvation; G4991 which G3748 at the first G746 began G2983 to be spoken G2980 by G1223 the Lord, G2962 and was confirmed G950 unto G1519 us G2248 by G5259 them that heard G191 him;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Deuteronomy 30
Commentary on Deuteronomy 30 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Nevertheless the rejection of Israel and its dispersion among the heathen were not to be the close. If the people should return to the Lord their God in their exile, He would turn His favour towards them again, and gather them again out of their dispersion, as had already been proclaimed in Deuteronomy 4:29. and Leviticus 26:40., where it was also observed that the extremity of their distress would bring the people to reflection and induce them to return.
Deuteronomy 30:1-3
“ When all these words, the blessing and the curse which I have set before thee, shall come .” The allusion to the blessing in this connection may be explained on the ground that Moses was surveying the future generally, in which not only a curse but a blessing also would come upon the nation, according to its attitude towards the Lord as a whole and in its several members, since even in times of the greatest apostasy on the part of the nation there would always be a holy seed which could not die out; because otherwise the nation would necessarily have been utterly and for ever rejected, whereby the promises of God would have been brought to nought, - a result which was absolutely impossible. “ And thou takest to heart among all nations ,” etc., sc., what has befallen thee - not only the curse which presses upon thee, but also the blessing which accompanies obedience to the commands of God, - “ and returnest to the Lord thy God, and hearkenest to His voice with all the heart ,” etc. (cf. Deuteronomy 4:29); “ the Lord will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and gather thee again .” את־שׁבוּת שׁוּב does not mean to bring back the prisoners, as the more modern lexicographers erroneously suppose (the Kal שׁוּב never has the force of the Hiphil ), but to turn the imprisonment, and that in a figurative sense, viz., to put an end to the distress (Job 42:10; Jeremiah 30:8; Ezekiel 16:53; Psalms 14:7; also Psalms 85:2; Psalms 126:2, Psalms 126:4), except that in many passages the misery of exile in which the people pined is represented as imprisonment. The passage before us is fully decisive against the meaning to bring back the prisoners, since the gathering out of the heathen is spoken of as being itself the consequence of the “turning of the captivity;” so also is Jeremiah 29:14, where the bringing back ( השׁיב ) is expressly distinguished from it. But especially is this the case with Jeremiah 30:18, where “turning the captivity of Jacob's tents” is synonymous with having mercy on his dwelling-places, and building up the city, again, so that the city lying in ruins is represented as שׁבוּת , an imprisonment.
(Note: Hupfeld (on Psalms 14:7) has endeavoured to sustain the assertion that שׁבוּת is a later form for the older and simpler forms, שׁבי , שׁביה , by citing one single passage of the Old Testament. The abstract form of שׁבי is שׁבית , imprisonment (Numbers 21:29), then prisoners. This form has been substituted by Jeremiah for שׁבוּת in one passage, viz., Deuteronomy 32:44; and the Masoretic punctuators were the first to overlook the difference in the two words, and point them promiscuously.)
Deuteronomy 30:4-5
The gathering of Israel out of all the countries of the earth would then follow. Even though the rejected people should be at the end of heaven, the Lord would fetch them thence, and bring them back into the land of their fathers, and do good to the nation, and multiply them above their fathers. These last words show that the promised neither points directly to the gathering of Israel from dispersion on its ultimate conversion to Christ, nor furnishes any proof that the Jews will then be brought back to Palestine. It is true that even these words have some reference to the final redemption of Israel. This is evident from the curse of dispersion, which cannot be restricted to the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities, but includes the Roman dispersion also, in which the nation continues still; and it is still more apparent from the renewal of this promise in Jeremiah 32:37 and other prophetic passages. But this application is to be found in the spirit, and not in the latter. For if there is to be an increase in the number of the Jews, when gathered out of their dispersion into all the world, above the number of their fathers, and therefore above the number of the Israelites in the time of Solomon and the first monarchs of the two kingdoms, Palestine will never furnish room enough for a nation multiplied like this. The multiplication promised here, so far as it falls within the Messianic age, will consist in the realization of the promise given to Abraham, that his seed should grow into nations (Genesis 17:6 and Genesis 17:16), i.e., in the innumerable multiplication, not of the “Israel according to the flesh,” but of the “Israel according to the spirit,” whose land is not restricted to the boundaries of the earthly Canaan or Palestine (see p. 144). The possession of the earthly Canaan for all time is nowhere promised to the Israelitish nation in the law (see at Deuteronomy 11:21).
Deuteronomy 30:6
The Lord will then circumcise their heart, and the heart of their children (see Deuteronomy 10:16), so that they will love Him with all their heart. When Israel should turn with true humility to the Lord, He would be found of them, - would lead them to true repentance, and sanctify them through the power of His grace, - would take away the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, a new heart and a new spirit, - so that they should truly know Him and keep His commandments (vid., Ezekiel 11:19; Ezekiel 36:26; Jeremiah 31:33. and Deuteronomy 32:39.). “ Because of thy life ,” i.e., that thou mayest live, sc., attain to true life. The fulfilment of this promise does not take place all at once. It commenced with small beginnings at the deliverance from the Babylonian exile, and in a still higher degree at the appearance of Christ in the case of all the Israelites who received Him as their Saviour. Since then it has been carried on through all ages in the conversion of individual children of Abraham to Christ; and it will be realized in the future in a still more glorious manner in the nation at large (Romans 11:25.). The words of Moses do not relate to any particular age, but comprehend all times. For Israel has never been hardened and rejected in all its members, although the mass of the nation lives under the curse even to the present day.
Deuteronomy 30:7
But after its conversion, the curses, which had hitherto rested upon it, would fall upon its enemies and haters, according to the promise in Genesis 12:3.
Israel would then hearken again to the voice of the Lord and keep His commandments, and would rejoice in consequence in the richest blessing of its God. In the expression, ושׁמעתּ תשׁוּב אתּה (“ thou shalt return and hearken ”), תּשׁוּב (“ thou shalt return ”) has an adverbial signification. This is evident from the corresponding expression in Deuteronomy 30:9, “for Jehovah will again rejoice over thee” (lit., “will return and rejoice”), in which the adverbial signification is placed beyond all doubt.
Deuteronomy 30:8-10 contain the general thought, that Israel would then come again into its normal relation to its God, would enter into true and perfect covenant fellowship with the Lord, and enjoy all the blessings of the covenant.
Deuteronomy 30:9
Deuteronomy 30:9 is a repetition of Deuteronomy 28:11. The Lord will rejoice again over Israel, to do them good (vid., Deuteronomy 28:63), as He had rejoiced over their fathers. The fathers are not the patriarchs alone, but all the pious ancestors of the people.
Deuteronomy 30:10
A renewed enforcement of the indispensable condition of salvation.
The fulfilment of this condition is not impossible, nor really very difficult. This natural though leads to the motive, which Moses impresses upon the hearts of the people in Deuteronomy 30:11-14, viz., that He might turn the blessing to them. God had done everything to render the observance of His commandments possible to Israel. “ This commandment ” (used as in Deuteronomy 6:1 to denote the whole law) is “ not too wonderful for thee ,” i.e., is not too hard to grasp, or unintelligible (vid., Deuteronomy 17:8), nor is it too far off: it is neither in heaven , i.e., at an inaccessible height; nor beyond the sea , i.e., at an unattainable distance, at the end of the world, so that any one could say, Who is able to fetch it thence? but it is very near thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart to do it . It not only lay before the people in writing, but it was also preached to them by word of mouth, and thus brought to their knowledge, so that it had become a subject of conversation as well as of reflection and careful examination. But however near the law had thus been brought to man, sin had so estranged the human heart from the word of God, that doing and keeping the law had become invariably difficult, and in fact impossible; so that the declaration, “the word is in thy heart,” only attains its full realization through the preaching of the gospel of the grace of God, and the righteousness that is by faith; and to this the Apostle Paul applies the passage in Romans 10:8.
In conclusion, Moses sums up the contents of the whole of this preaching of the law in the words, “life and good, and death and evil,” as he had already done at Deuteronomy 11:26-27, in the first part of this address, to lay the people by a solemn adjuration under the obligation to be faithful to the Lord, and through this obligation to conclude the covenant afresh. He had set before them this day life and good (“ good ” = prosperity and salvation), as well as death and evil ( רע , adversity and destruction), by commanding them to love the Lord and walk in His ways. Love is placed first, as in Deuteronomy 6:5, as being the essential principle of the fulfilment of the commandments. Expounding the law was setting before them life and death, salvation and destruction, because the law, as the word of God, was living and powerful, and proved itself in every man a power of life or of death, according to the attitude which he assumed towards it (vid., Deuteronomy 32:47). נדּח , to permit oneself to be torn away to idolatry (as in Deuteronomy 4:19).
As Deuteronomy 4:26; Deuteronomy 8:19. He calls upon heaven and earth as witnesses (Deuteronomy 30:19, as in Deuteronomy 4:26), namely, that he had set before them life and death. וּבחרתּ , in Deuteronomy 30:19, is the apodosis: “ therefore choose life .”
חיּיך הוּא כּי , for that (namely, to love the Lord) is thy life , that is, the condition of life, and of long life, in the promised land (vid., Deuteronomy 4:40).