Deuteronomy 29:11

Deu 29:11 Your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that [is] in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water:

Ver. 11. From the hewer of thy wood.] The meanest amongst you, such as afterwards were the Gibeonites, who also by faith became covenanters, and are called Nethinims in Ezra and Nehemiah. They were made drawers of water to the temple, as a kind of punishment: God made it a mercy; for the nearer they were to the Church, the nearer they came to God.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

29:11 foreigners (literally sojourners): See study note on 10:18. • The saying chop your wood and carry your water was a cliché for any servile work (see Josh 9:22-27).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(11) Your little ones.—Compare St. Peter’s words on the day of Pentecost: “The promise is unto you and to your children” (Act_2:39). The covenant with Abraham was that the Almighty would be a God to him and to his seed (Gen_17:7), including the child of eight days old (Deu_29:12), and the slave (Deu_29:13), who were to receive the sign of His covenant in their flesh for an everlasting covenant.

From the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water.—From this Rashi infers that “there were Canaanites who became proselytes in the time of Moses, in the same way as the Gibeonites in the days of Joshua.” It may have been so. And we know that there were many female captives of the Midianites who became slaves. (See Numbers 31)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Your little ones, your wives,.... Who are scarce ever mentioned in any special law or solemn transaction:

and thy stranger that is in thy camp; not only the proselyte of righteousness, who embraced the Jewish religion entirely, but the proselyte of the gate, who was admitted to dwell among them, having renounced idolatry. These standing with the Israelites, when this covenant was made, has respect to the Gentiles, who as well as the Jews have an interest in the covenant of grace made with Christ; in whom there is, neither Jew nor Gentile, any difference between them:

from the hewer of thy wood to the drawer of thy water; that hewed wood for firing and other uses, and drew water for the camp; who were generally mean persons, and perhaps some that came out of Egypt with them are here intended; however, mean and abject persons are meant, and signifies that none should be excluded from a concern in this solemn affair on account of their meanness.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The covenant was national, and therefore embraced all the elements which make up the nation. The “little ones” would of course be represented by their parents or guardians; the absent Deu 29:15 by those present; nor were the servants and proselytes to be excluded (compare Act 2:39). The text is fairly alleged in justification of the Church’s practice of admitting little ones into covenant with God by Baptism, and accepting promises made on their behalf by sponsors.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Besides, (exceptis,) which may signify all were present; or rather that the strangers of Egypt, &c., who were employed in servile offices, were alone excluded, as having no part in the covenant made with the Israelites. (Calmet) --- St. Jerome seems to have rendered min, præter, in the latter sense; but the Chaldean, Septuagint, &c., take it in the former, as if none at all were absent, from the highest to the lowest. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Thy stranger; such strangers as had embraced their religion.

From the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water; all sorts of persons, yea, even the meanest of them, such as these were, Jos 9:27, all sorts and ranks of servants.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. Little ones,… wives — As the covenant was with the nation in its organic unity it included all the members — the men, the women, the children, the Egyptians who left Egypt with them, (see Exo_12:38,) and the Midianites who united with Israel. See Num_10:29-31.

Thy stranger — The proselyte. Comp. Exo_12:38-48.

The hewer of thy wood — Comp. Jos_9:21.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 11-14. The covenant was a national engagement, and as such included not only the adults anti existing generation, but the little ones, the strangers resident in Israel, the lowest menial servants, that is, all the elements of which the nation was composed, as well as their posterity in coming, generations. That thou shouldest enter into covenant. The expression in the Hebrew is a strong one, indicating not a mere formal engagement, but a going thoroughly into the covenant; the phrase is used of the sword going through the land, (Lev_26:6) and of one going into the pit. (Job_33:28) Into his oath. Covenants were confirmed by (Gen_26:28; Heb_6:17) hence in Scripture the covenant of God is sometimes called his oath. (ver. 14; Heb_7:28) On ver. 13, cf. Deu_28:9 Deu_27:9; Exo_19:5, Exo_19:6)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Thy stranger - Such strangers as had embraced their religion: all sorts of persons, yea, even the meanest of them.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

לעברך means THAT THOU SHOULDEST PASS [INTO THE COVENANT]. It would not, however, be correct to explain it as meaning “to make thee pass” (when the suffix would be objective), but it must be explained like (Deuteronomy 4:14) לעשתכם אתם, “that ye may do them”.

לעברך בברית THAT THOU SHOULDEST PASS INTO THE COVENANT — The way of “passing” was as follows: those who made a covenant used to make a partition (i.e. used to place objects in a straight line) on one side and a partition on the other and passed between them, as it is said, (Jeremiah 34:18—20) “[And I will give the men which have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before Me] when they cut the calf in two, and passed between the parts thereof … [into the hands of their enemies]”.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.