Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 29:22
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 the LORD hath laid upon it;
22. plagues ] Or strokes, see Deu 28:59; Deu 28:61.
the sicknesses ] This word only here, Jer 14:18; Jer 16:4, Psa 103:3, 2Ch 21:19.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The words following, Deu 29:24,25, &c.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
So that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you,…. Not the next generation, but in future times, in ages to come, at a great distance, even after the destruction of Judea by the Romans; to which De 29:23 seems to refer:
and the stranger that shall come from a far land; on trade and business, or for the sake of travelling, his road either lying through it, or his curiosity leading him to see it:
shall say, when they see the plagues of the land; cities and towns in ruins, fields lie uncultivated, and the whole land depopulated, and all become a barren wilderness, which was once a fruitful country, a land flowing with milk and honey:
and the sicknesses which the Lord hath laid upon it; upon the inhabitants of it, as the pestilence and other diseases, which shall have swept the land of them; see De 28:22. This case supposes a general departure from the worship of God to the service of idols; otherwise single individuals are punished in their own persons, as in the De 29:21.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
How thoroughly Moses was filled with the thought, that not only individuals, but whole families, and in fact the greater portion of the nation, would fall into idolatry, is evident from the further expansion of the threat which follows, and in which he foresees in the Spirit, and foretells, the extermination of whole families, and the devastation of the land by distant nations; as in Lev 26:31-32. Future generations of Israel, and the stranger from a distant land, when they saw the strokes of the Lord which burst upon the land, and the utter desolation of the land, would ask whence this devastation, and receive the reply, The Lord had smitten the land thus in His anger, because its inhabitants (the Israelites) had forsaken His covenant. With regard to the construction, observe that , in Deu 29:22, is resumed in , in Deu 29:24, the subject of Deu 29:22 being expanded into the general notion, “all nations” (Deu 29:24). With , in Deu 29:22, a parenthetical clause is inserted, giving the reason for the main thought, in the form of a circumstantial clause; and to this there is attached, by a loose apposition in Deu 29:23, a still further picture of the divine strokes according to their effect upon the land. The nouns in Deu 29:23, “ brimstone and salt burning,” are in apposition to the strokes (plagues), and so far depend upon “they see.” The description is borrowed from the character of the Dead Sea and its vicinity, to which there is an express allusion in the words, “ like the overthrow of Sodom,” etc., i.e., of the towns of the vale of Siddim (see at Gen 14:2), which resembled paradise, the garden of Jehovah, before their destruction (vid., Gen 13:10 and Gen 19:24.).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
22. So that the generation to come of your children. God enforces what we have already seen, that the punishments which He would inflict would be no ordinary ones, or such as should fall into contempt from their common use; but like portents, which should awaken astonishment among their posterity. For the question which is here put is such as refers to something extraordinary, and what is not easily comprehended. It is not, however, confined to the preceding clause, but refers to the whole list of curses; not as if each of them by itself had awakened such horror, but because, when heaped one upon another, they compelled all men to wonder, both on account of their number and their severity and duration, and thus were for a sign and a prodigy. For it everywhere occurs that men are afflicted with diseases, and barrenness for a single season is a common evil; but that sicknesses should cleave as it were to the marrow of a whole people, and that the earth should be dried up as if it were burnt with sulphur, this is an awful spectacle, in which God’s vengeance, which else would be incredible, manifestly appears; and therefore the cases of Sodom and Gomorrah are adduced, in whose destruction it might be seen what end awaits all the reprobate. (275) (Jud 1:7.) Now the Israelites always had their desolation before their eyes, from the time that they entered the land, in order that they might be warned by so terrible a judgment, and might tremble at it. It is also worthy of notice, that strangers are introduced making inquiry; in which words Moses signifies that this vengeance would be terrible even to heathen nations; and with this corresponds what we read in Jeremiah; “many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbor, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this great city? Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.” (Jer 22:8.) A similar divine menace is recorded in 1Kg 9:8; “And at this house,” referring to the Temple brought to desolation, “every one that passeth by it shall be astonished and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the Lord done thus to this house? And they shall answer, Because they forsook the Lord their God, and have taken hold upon other gods,” etc. What we find further on is still more fearful; “Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle.” (2Kg 21:12.)
Moses amplifies the crime of their rebellion, when he says, that forsaking the God of their fathers, God their deliverer, God who had made a covenant with them, they had gone and served strange and unknown gods, from (276) whom they had received no benefits to induce them. For God had bound them to Himself for ever, both by His instruction (277) and the incomparable manifestation of His power; there could therefore be no pretense of ignorance, or mistake to excuse their defection from Him, and their prostitution of themselves to unknown idols.
In the meantime, let us learn from this passage anxiously to inquire who is the true God, and what is His will; because there is no true religion without knowledge; and again, if He convicted His ancient people of wicked ingratitude on account of their deliverance, that we also are now much more inexcusable, unless we constantly abide in the faith of our eternal Redeemer.
(275) Addition in Fr. , “Comme Sainct Jude aussi declare, que la foudre dont elles ont este abysmees, est figure du feu eternal;” as St. Jude also declares, that the thunderbolt whereby they were destroyed, is a type of the eternal fire.
(276) See margin, A. V. — “ Who had not given to them any portion, ” v, 26.
(277) “Sa parole;” His word. — Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
2. ISRAELS COMING WICKEDNESS: THE JUDGMENT OF FUTURE GENERATIONS AND FOREIGNERS
(Deu. 29:22-29)
22 And the generation to come, your children that shall rise up after you, and the foreigner that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sickness wherewith Jehovah hath made it sick; 23 and that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and a burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which Jehovah overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath: 24 even all the nations shall say, Wherefore hath Jehovah done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger? 25 Then men shall say, Because they forsook the covenant of Jehovah, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, 26 and went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods that they knew not, and that he had not given unto them: 27 therefore the anger of Jehovah was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curse that is written in this book; 28 and Jehovah rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as this day. 29 The secret things belong unto Jehovah our God; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
THOUGHT QUESTIONS 29:2229
521.
From reading this text there seems to be but little question that Israel will be tragically disobedient. Could they help it if God thus predicted it?
522.
State three descriptive phrases used here to describe Gods punishment of His disobedient children.
523.
There seems to be a balance between the natural results of disobedience and the punishment of God. Are these two sides of the same coin?
524.
Read Deu. 29:29 very carefully. Why does it appear in this context?
AMPLIFIED TRANSLATION 29:2229
22 So that the next generation, your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who shall come from a distant land, shall say, when they see the plagues of this land, and the diseases with which the Lord has made it sick
23 The whole land is brimstone and salt, and a burned waste, not sown or bearing anything, where not grass can take root, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah with Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in His anger and wrath
24 Even all the nations shall say, Why has the Lord done thus to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?
25 Then men shall say, Because they forsook the covenant of the Lord, the God 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 worshiped them, gods they knew not, and that He had not given to them;
27 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against this land, bringing upon it all the curses that are written in this book;
28 And the Lord rooted them out of their land in anger and in wrath and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as this day.
29 The secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but the things which are revealed belong to us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
COMMENT 29:2229
AND THE GENERATION TO COME, etc. (Deu. 29:22)Better, And later generations will askthe children who succeed you . . . (The Torah).
Both the generations future to those Moses was addressing and foreigners would speak of Israels decline and degeneration in terms of reproach and disdain.
AND THAT WHOLE LAND THEREOF IS BRIMSTONE, AND SALT, AND A BURNING (Deu. 29:23)Obviously figurative language to describe a sterile, desolate unproductive land. Perhaps also punishment and destruction, which brought such barrenness. See Job. 18:15, Psa. 11:6, Isa. 30:33. But these minerals would, in truth, be physically present, and burning. See below.
BRIMSTONE (Deu. 29:23)Heb. gophrith (as in Gen. 19:24), signifies brimstone, sulfur (Baumgartner). Gesenius agrees, believing the word originally meant pitch, the name of which was afterwards transferred to other inflammable materials; especially sulphur. The I.S.B.E. is helpful here: Sulphur existed in Palestine in early times and was known by most of the ancient nations as a combustible substance that the inhabitants of the land had experienced the terrors of burning sulphur is very probable. Once one of these deposits took fire it would melt and run in burning streams down the ravines spreading everywhere suffocating fumes such as come from the ordinary brimstone [sulphur] match. No more realistic figure could be chosen to depict terrible suffering and destruction. It is not at all unlikely that during some of the disastrous earthquakes which took place in this part of the world, the hot lava sent forth ignited not only the sulphur, but also the bitumen, and added to the horrors of the earthquake the destruction caused by burning pitch and brimstone.
SALT (Deu. 29:23)also associated with destruction, ruin, and desolation, Job. 39:6, Jdg. 9:45, Jer. 17:6, Zep. 2:9.
A BURNING (Deu. 29:23)Again, a phenomenon especially associated with devastation and destruction, especially by a foreign power, Isa. 1:7; Isa. 64:11, 2Ki. 25:9, Psa. 74:7-8, etc.[57]
[57] Fires also raged in Jerusalems destruction. See Josephus, Wars of the Jews, Book VI, Ch. IV, #8; Ch, V, # 1 ; Ch, IV, #5.
Such land as described above is worthless for agriculture, so THAT IT IS NOT SOWN, NOR BEARETH, NOR ANY GRASS GROWETH THEREIN (V, 23), Rather, it is LIKE THE OVERTHROW OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH, ADMAH AND ZEBOIIM [Gen. 19:23-28, Admah and Zeboiim are associated with Sodom and Gomorrah in Gen. 10:19; Gen. 14:2, and thus are included in the cities of the plain destroyed with Sodom] WHICH JEHOVAH OVERTHREW IN HIS ANGER, AND HIS WRATH (Deu. 29:23)and this is the very point of Moses words. Their wickedness would result in their overthrow. Note Deu. 29:25-26.
ALL THE CURSE THAT IS WRITTEN IN THIS BOOK (Deu. 29:27)The reference seems especially to refer to those just uttered, beginning in Ch. 27. But many others may well be included, not only in Deuteronomy (as in Deu. 4:25-27), but in other passages of the Pentateuch, such as Lev. 26:14 ff.
ROOTED THEM OUT . . . CAST THEM INTO ANOTHER LAND (Deu. 29:28)See Deu. 28:36 ff, notes. This is not foreign domination or servitude to another power, but captivity.
THE SECRET THINGS BELONG UNTO JEHOVAH (Deu. 29:29)The reference may be especially to future matters: The hidden issues of the future . . . (Moffatt), but secret (Heb. sather) of itself simply means hidden, secret, or concealed. . . . things in Gods purpose known only to himself: these things, it is affirmed, belong to him, are his affair, and may be left with him (Pulpit), On the other hand.
THE THINGS THAT ARE REVEALED BELONG TO US AND OUR CHILDREN FOR EVER, THAT WE MAY DO ALL THE WORDS OF THIS LAW (Deu. 29:29)What God has revealed he expects his children to study, meditate upon, and obey. Cf. Deu. 30:11-14. His people are responsible to him for responding to what he has made known. Thus, as it is wrong to subtract from what is written, so it is wrong to add to Gods will where he, in his infinite wisdom, has seen fit to say nothing. His word is sacredand so is his silence. (Cf. Deu. 4:2, Deu. 12:32). See also Psa. 119:160, Joh. 17:17, 2Ti. 3:16-17, Rev. 18:18-19.
This passage is not intended to discourage honest scientific investigation. It simply states that there are, indeed, many secret things in lifeand ever shall be, no matter how much knowledge accumulates. There are secrets among the minute (a few more of which have recently been probed by the electron microscope and other scientific instruments). There are secrets in the vastness of spaceWhat is beyond the farthest observable star? And who can tell all about a blade of grass or a stonelet alone the human body! In short, the religion of God demands that a man admit certain limitations within himself and the omniscience of God. He who contains all knowledge and wisdom has revealed what we need for life everlasting. And he has granted unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue (2Pe. 1:3). The truths of the universe known or knowable only to himself will not form the criterion for our judgment in the final day.
This passage also forms, indirectly, an exhortation for studying. If we are responsible for revealed truth, effort must be exerted that we might know what is revealed. And it also comprises a rebuke to those who believe spiritual truth is found outside God and his word. Cf. Pro. 3:5-6, Isa. 8:19-20, 1Co. 1:18-25, 1Ti. 6:3-5, 2Ti. 1:13.
It was, in fact, the very essence of this scripture that was being repeated by Thomas Campbells famous phrase, Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; where the Scriptures are silent, we are silent.
Opinions, conjectures, educated guesses, theories on any of thousands of subjects not discussed in Gods wordwhat do we do with them? As far as, God is concerned, this word is open for exploration and investigation. But when we profess to know more than our maker and transgress revealed truth, we have, indeed, degenerated. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him? (1Co. 2:16 a).
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
The Curse That Will Come On The Whole Nation For Unchecked Evil And Those Who Will Witness Against Them ( Deu 29:22-28 ).
But if he was allowed to go unchecked it was not only he but the whole nation who would be affected. Moses jumps rapidly from the first unchecked failing to the final consequence. The whole nation would eventually suffer.
Analysis using the words of Moses:
a And the generation to come, your children who will rise up after you, and the foreigner who will come from a far land, will say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses with which Yahweh has made it sick, and that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and a burning; that it is not sown, nor bears, nor any grass grows in it, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which Yahweh overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath (Deu 29:22-23).
b Even all the nations will say, “For what reason has Yahweh done thus to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?” (Deu 29:24).
b Then men will say, “Because they forsook the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods that they knew not, and that he had not given to them”, that is why the anger of Yahweh was kindled against this land, to bring on it all the curse which is written in this book, and Yahweh rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as at this day” (Deu 29:27-28).
a The secret things belong to Yahweh our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law (Deu 29:19).
Note that in ‘a’ the children of such people (as follow idols), and also visiting foreigners, will wonder at the sad state of the land because Yahweh in His anger has made it sick and parched, and in the parallel this is one of the secret things of which only a part may be revealed to men. In ‘b’ all the nations will ask what it all means and in the parallel the full reply will come, “Because they forsook the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods that they knew not, and that He had not given to them”, that is why the anger of Yahweh was kindled against this land, to bring on it all the curse which is written in this book, and Yahweh rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as at this day”.
Deu 29:22-23
‘ And the generation to come, your (of ye) children who will rise up after you (ye), and the foreigner who will come from a far land, will say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses with which Yahweh has made it sick, and that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and a burning; that it is not sown, nor bears, nor any grass grows in it, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which Yahweh overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath,’
With astonishing rapidity the thought immediately springs from the individual to the whole nation. They had allowed the person to continue unchecked and so the whole nation has been affected, the watered with the parched (Deu 29:19). This sudden leap is powerful in its impact, and is in accordance with warnings previously given (Deu 13:6-11; Deu 19:19-20). To begin with it was one man, allowed to sin unchecked, and now suddenly it is the whole nation. It is saying that such compromise allowed unchecked must eventually bring disaster for all. They should have put him to death from the start. The final consequence is simply assumed as the necessary result of their failure to act.
Now the whole land is affected. It is riddled with plague, and sickness, and barrenness. It is parched (all has now become parched as threatened in Deu 29:19) with brimstone, salt and burning, symbols of barrenness and destruction. It is no longer sown, it no longer produces grain or fruit, no grass grows on it. It has become like Sodom and Gomorrah, like Admah and Zeboiim which Yahweh overthrew in His anger. The picture is not one of exile but of judgment (Gen 19:28 with Gen 14:2). The land is devastated.
Then the bewildered children who are growing up amidst the devastation, and the foreigners who have come from far (and possibly wrought the devastation – see Deu 28:49) will look on it with horror as to how this could have come about in the land of milk and honey.
When any asks what has brought this sad state about, the witnesses to the covenant will reply, ‘It was because they broke their covenant with Yahweh.’
Deu 29:24
‘ Even all the nations will say, “For what reason has Yahweh done thus to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?” ’
And all the nations will ask, ‘why has Yahweh done this to the land? What is the reason for His great anger? What does it all mean?’
Deu 29:25-26
‘ Then men will say, “Because they forsook the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods that they knew not, and that he had not given to them,”
And the reply will come that it was because they forsook the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He delivered them from Egypt. The crime was deep because it was not only their own covenant that they had broken, but the covenant made with their fathers. They had not only broken their own promises but had frustrated God’s purposes in and for the world. And how had they done it? By seeking to other gods, and serving them, and worshipping them, strange and unknown gods (compare Deu 28:64) which He had not given them (compare Deu 4:19). They had not acted within His will, but against it, in direct contravention of His covenant. They had dallied with other overlords. And this was the consequence.
Deu 29:27-28
“ That is why the anger of Yahweh was kindled against this land, to bring on it all the curse which is written in this book, and Yahweh rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as at this day.”
That would be why they had been turned out of the land, rooted out by Yahweh in ‘His anger, His wrath, His great indignation’. The threefoldness reveals the inexorability of His anger. And He had then inevitably cast them out into another land. This was not ‘a prophecy of the Exile’. It was simply describing the inevitable result of disobedience in Yahweh’s land. Their possessing the land would in fact be dependent on whether they were obedient or not. This fate being described had been made clear from the beginning, if they failed to be true to the covenant (Deu 4:25-28). It was rooted in the fact that the land was Yahweh’s. Their fathers had been driven out of the land because they had entered it in unbelief (Deu 1:44). The Canaanites had had to be cast out of the land because of their wickedness. For none could live in the land who were not obedient to Him. It was the inevitable consequence that must follow once they began to compromise with any who defiled the land. This was not so much a prophecy as a declaration of inevitability.
And the reason why He had done this was that in His anger He was bringing on them ‘all the curse written in this book’. The reference of these descriptions to Deuteronomy 28 is unmistakable.
And the harsh lesson for us is that if we also fail in our true response to God, then inevitably at one point or another there will be a price to pay. God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows he will reap. If we allow our idols of wealth, and fun, and lust, and sport, and music to take out hearts away from God then we must expect judgment as well.
Deu 29:29
‘ The secret things belong to Yahweh our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.’
He stresses that he was not trying to dictate to God. He was not seeking to pierce the veil of the inscrutability of Yahweh. It was not for him or for them to be dogmatic about God’s doings. There was much that was unknown to him, and to them all, the secret things which belonged to their covenant God, ‘Yahweh our God’. They could not yet know those. Compare Isa 55:8-9.
But what they could know were the things that were revealed, and what he had been speaking about were some of them. God had revealed to them sufficient of them. He had revealed His instruction, He had revealed to them His covenant, and that was in order that they and their children might observe them for ever. None of what he had described need happen. That was not God’s purpose. God purpose was that His people might ‘do all the words of this Instruction’. They had sufficient to go on, and it was all that was needed.
If some of us concentrated less on understanding ‘the secret things’ and more on obeying the known things we would be the more greatly blessed.
Alternately, and quite likely, this verse may be a reference to the curses in Deu 27:13 onwards, the curses over secret sins. It may then be saying that Yahweh would deal with secret sins, but they must be ready to deal with open sins in accordance with His instruction, and thus avoid the fate described previously.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Ver. 22. So that the generation It is in the Hebrew, and the generation. The paragraph is new, and has no dependence on what precedes; consequently, so that is a translation which misleads the reader. The meaning is, “whenever your impieties arrive at such a height as to bring your nation under the terrible desolation before spoken of, [ch. 28:] Providence will do it in such a manner as shall convince all considerate persons, that it is the effect of the just judgment of heaven upon your disobedience, and a perfect completion of the very threats now left on record.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
The judgments upon Israel, must excite the astonishment and enquiry of all nations; Wherefore hath the LORD dealt so by his people? How is it that the glory of all lands, and the distinguished people of all nations, are thus dealt with? See GOD’S tender expostulation: Hos 11:8 . Reader! do not overlook the spiritual instruction in this chapter. The horrible consequences of GOD’S broken law are set forth in this striking manner, to demonstrate our ruin by sin, in order to demonstrate as fully the riches of that grace which brings salvation by CHRIST: and, all leads to this conclusion, that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness, unto eternal life, by JESUS CHRIST our LORD. Rom 5:21 . Well may every believer, in the review of this subject, cry out with the apostle, “Oh! the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of GOD!” Rom 11:33 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Deu 29:22 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 the LORD hath laid upon it;
Ver. 22. When they see the plagues. ] A presumptuous offender is a traitor to the state; “and one sinner destroyeth much good.” Ecc 9:18
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Deu 29:22-28
22Now the generation to come, your sons who rise up after you and the foreigner who comes from a distant land, when they see the plagues of the land and the diseases with which the LORD has afflicted it, will say, 23’All its land is brimstone and salt, a burning waste, unsown and unproductive, and no grass grows in it, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His anger and in His wrath.’ 24All the nations will say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’ 25Then men will say, ‘Because they forsook the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. 26They went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they have not known and whom He had not allotted to them. 27Therefore, the anger of the LORD burned against that land, to bring upon it every curse which is written in this book; 28and the LORD uprooted them from their land in anger and in fury and in great wrath, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.’
Deu 29:22-23 YHWH’s blessing, which was meant to attract those who did not know Him, will be turned into a mocking questioning by foreigners:
1. plagues of the land, Deu 29:22
2. diseases, Deu 29:22
3. land is brimstone, Deu 29:23
4. land is salt, Deu 29:23
5. land is a burning waste, Deu 29:23
6. land is sown, and no germination, Deu 29:23
7. land is unproductive, Deu 29:23
8. land has no grass, Deu 29:23
9. land like the cities of the Plain (cf. Gen 19:24)
All of these YHWH sent (cf. Deu 29:22-28).
Deu 29:22 Now the generation to come. . .will say This literary form (i.e., children asking questions) is seen earlier in Deu 6:20, which reflects Exo 13:8; Exo 13:14; Exo 10:2; Exo 12:26-27. Deuteronomy often speaks of teaching the children (e.g., Deu 4:10; Deu 6:7).
Deu 29:23 All its land is brimstone and salt The land will be as the Dead Sea area, which was the site of Sodom and Gomorrah (cf. Gen 19:24-26).
Deu 29:24 And all nations will say Israel was a sign to all nations concerning YHWH. It was meant to be a blessing sign but even if judgment, still a sign!
Deu 29:25 Because they forsook the covenant This was and is the basic reason for the divine curses (cf. 2Ki 17:9-23; 2Ch 36:13-21).
Deu 29:26 gods. . .gods Literally this is Elohim. This term is plural. It usually is translated God. It can also refer to angelic beings and judges. See Special Topic: NAMES FOR DEITY .
NASB, NRSV,
JPSOAHe had not allotted to them
NKJVHe has not given to them
NJBno part of their heritage from him
In the Septuagint translation of Deu 32:8 the term Elohim (i.e., according to the number of the angels of God) seems to refer to national angels, as here (cf. Isa 24:21; Dan 10:13; Dan 10:20).
Deu 29:27 the anger of the LORD burned against the land The land is effected by Israel’s sin (cf. Gen 3:17) and human sin in general (cf. Rom 8:18-22). God uses natural phenomena to redirect mankind’s thoughts and priorities.
Deu 29:28 the LORD uprooted them This VERB (BDB 684, KB 737, Qal IMPERFECT, cf. 1Ki 14:15; 2Ch 7:20; Jer 12:14) is the opposite of planted! The covenant has been reversed!
Notice how YHWH’s actions are described:
1. in anger – BDB 60 I
2. in fury – BDB 404
3. in great wrath – BDB 893 and 152
4. cast them into another land (i.e., exile, BDB 1020, KB 1527, Hiphil IMPERFECT)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
which the Lord hath laid upon it: Heb. wherewith the Lord hath made it sick, Deu 29:22
Reciprocal: Deu 28:37 – become Ezr 9:7 – for our iniquities Psa 9:16 – known Isa 24:6 – hath Jer 9:12 – for Jer 20:2 – the stocks Jer 42:18 – ye shall be Lam 1:18 – hear Lam 2:15 – that pass Eze 24:8 – I have set Hos 7:12 – as their Mar 13:19 – in those
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Deu 29:22-23. So that the generation Hebrew And the generation: for it appears to be a new paragraph, the sense whereof is, Whenever your wickedness shall arrive at such a height as to bring upon your nation the terrible desolations before spoken of, all considerate people around you will be convinced that it is the effect of the just judgment of God upon your disobedience to his laws, and a perfect fulfilment of the very threats now left on record. The whole land is brimstone and salt Is burned up and made barren for the sins of its inhabitants.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
29:22 So that the {l} 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 the LORD hath laid upon it;
(l) God’s plagues on those who rebel against him will be so strong, that all ages will be astonished.