Deuteronomy 29:2

(2) And Moses called all Israel and said unto them.—The address in this chapter may be compared with that of Joshua to the people (as distinct from their heads and officers) in Joshua 24. The topics brought before them are simple. In Deu_29:2-3, the miracles of the Exodus; in Deu_29:5; Deu_29:7, the wilderness journey; in Deu_29:7-8, the conquest of Sihon and Og. All are appealed to, from the captains of the tribes (Deu_29:10), to the little ones (Deu_29:11), and the lowest slaves (Deu_29:11). And the point set before them is one simple thing, to accept Jehovah as their God. All this is very closely reproduced in Joshua 24 (see Notes in that place).

Ye have seen.—The pronoun is emphatic. Yourselves are witnesses. I need not repeat the story. (Comp. Deu_11:2-7.)

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

Deu 29:2 And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land;

Ver. 2. Moses called.] At several times it is like, these things were delivered, and not at once.

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.

Deu 29:2. Ye have seen all that the Lord did — Some of them had seen, when they were young, the plagues which God had brought upon Pharaoh and his people, in order to accomplish their deliverance; and others from them had understood these things, which is often termed seeing, both in the Scriptures and elsewhere.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The introduction in Deu 29:2 resembles that in Deu 5:1. "All Israel" is the nation in all its members (see Deu 29:10, Deu 29:11). - Israel had no doubt seen the mighty acts of the Lord in Egypt (Deu 29:2 and Deu 29:3; cf. Deu 4:34; Deu 7:19), but Jehovah had not given them a heart, i.e., understanding, to perceive, eyes to see, and ears to hear, until this day. With this complaint, Moses does not intend to excuse the previous want of susceptibility on the part of the nation to the manifestations of grace on the part of the Lord, but simply to explain the necessity for the repeated allusion to the gracious acts of God, and to urge the people to lay them truly to heart. "By reproving the dulness of the past, he would stimulate them to a desire to understand: just as if he had said, that for a long time they had been insensible to so many miracles, and therefore they ought not to delay any longer, but to arouse themselves to hearken better unto God" (Calvin). The Lord had not yet given the people an understanding heart, because the people had not yet asked for it, simply because the need of it was not felt (cf. Deu 4:26).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

29:2–30:20 Anticipating his death, Moses composed a farewell address, briefly reviewing Israel’s history since the Exodus. He charged the nation to pledge their fidelity to the Lord. This section of Deuteronomy makes it clear that grace is not just a New Testament doctrine: It undergirds every aspect of the Lord’s relationship with Israel.

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

Moses called unto all Israel, . . . Ye have seen all that the Lord did, &c.--This appeal to the experience of the people, though made generally, was applicable only to that portion of them who had been very young at the period of the Exodus, and who remembered the marvellous transactions that preceded and followed that era. Yet, alas! those wonderful events made no good impression upon them (Deu 29:4). They were strangers to that grace of wisdom which is liberally given to all who ask it; and their insensibility was all the more inexcusable that so many miracles had been performed which might have led to a certain conviction of the presence and the power of God with them. The preservation of their clothes and shoes, the supply of daily food and fresh water--these continued without interruption or diminution during so many years' sojourn in the desert. They were miracles which unmistakably proclaimed the immediate hand of God and were performed for the express purpose of training them to a practical knowledge of, and habitual confidence in, Him. Their experience of this extraordinary goodness and care, together with their remembrance of the brilliant successes by which, with little exertion or loss on their part, God enabled them to acquire the valuable territory on which they stood, is mentioned again to enforce a faithful adherence to the covenant, as the direct and sure means of obtaining its promised blessings.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

2. And Moses called … unto them] Son_5:1. For the rest cp. Deu_11:2. Ye is emphatic. Heb.: Ye, yourselves, have seen.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Moses called unto all Israel,.... He had been speaking before to the heads of them, and delivered at different times what is before recorded; but now he summoned the whole body of the people together, a solemn covenant being to be made between God and them; or such things being to be made known unto them as were of universal concernment:

and said unto them; what is in this chapter; which is only a preparation or introduction to what he had to declare unto them in the following:

ye have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt; the Targum of Jonathan is,"what the Word of the Lord did;''for all the wonderful things there done in Egypt were done by the essential Word of God, Christ, the Son of God; who appeared to Moses in the bush, and sent him to Egypt, and by him and Aaron wrought the miracles there; which many now present had seen, and were then old enough to take notice of, and could remember, though their fathers then in being were now dead:

unto Pharaoh and unto all his servants, and unto all his land; the plagues he inflicted on the person of Pharaoh, and on all his courtiers, and on all the people in Egypt, for they reached the whole land.

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

2. Ye have seen — As a people they had seen the wonderful works of God.

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

Moses addresses the nation as such, and reminds them of their dullness to apprehend the manifestations of God"s grace which had been so abundantly afforded in their past history, in order that he may arouse them to a better state of mind, and stimulate them to hearken to the voice of God in the future.

HOMILIES BY J. ORR. Vers. 2-9. Seeing, yet not seeing.

The Israelites had seen God"s mighty works (ver. 9), yet God had not given them a heart to perceive, nor eyes to see (ver. 4).

I NATURAL SIGHT WITHOUT SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT. Moses accuses the people of blindness to the facts of their own history. These facts included:

1. God"s mighty works in Egypt; here, as in Deu_4:34 Deu_7:19, classified as temptations, signs, and wonders (vers. 2, 3).

2. God"s guidance of the people in the desert, which also was rife in signs and wonders (vers. 5, 6), and was a course of discipline (temptation, in sense of trial) throughout.

3. The victories over Sihon and Og (vers. 7, 8). No people ever saw so many miracles or passed through so extraordinary a curriculum as Israel did. Yet Moses says they had failed to apprehend the lessons of their history. Seeing, they saw not. (Mat_13:10-16) That generation may not have been so dull as the one which had preceded it, but even it had shown by recent rebellions (Num 20:, Num_20:21) how far it was from having laid earnestly to heart the lessons of God"s dealings with it. A like veil lies on every unspiritual mind. (2Co_3:13-18) The Bible is a book of riddles to it. (Luk_24:25-27, Luk_24:44-46) Christ is known only after the. (2Co_5:16) The lines of a Divine leading in the events of life are not recognized. Warnings are scorned; prosperity is misused; adversity hardens. There is outward experience of facts, but, as in Israel"s case, the Word preached does not profit, not being mixed with faith in them that hear it. (Heb_4:2)

II SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT IS FROM GOD. Yet not arbitrarily given or withheld. It is given to those who feel their need of it, who seek it, and who act in faithfulness to the light already possessed. (Psa_25:9, Psa_25:12, 14 119:18; Mat_13:10-16; Joh_7:17) From none such will God withhold the "heart to perceive, and eyes to see." On the other hand, Divine illumination is indispensable to the knowledge of spiritual truth. (cf. Joh_6:45; 1Co_2:12-16; 2Co_4:6; Eph_1:17) As the poet"s eye is needed for the discernment of the poetic suggestions and analogies of nature, so is the spiritual eye needed to penetrate "the secret of the Lord." The eye in this case, as in the other, "sees only what it brings with it the power of seeing." And to gain this seeing eye, there must, as before remarked, be prayer prayer and obedience. Without these two golden keys, no thought, no labor, no learning, no cleverness, will enable us to force the gates of the inner sanctuary of truth. God"s world, God"s Word, God"s providence, will be alike mysterious; if spiritual instruction is offered, the reply will be "Doth he not speak parables?". J.O. (Eze_20:49)

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

You have seen everything that Yahweh did before your eyes

Yahweh expected them to remember what Yahweh had done and they had seen it. Here the "eyes" represent the whole person and emphasize what the person has seen. AT: "You have seen all that Yahweh did so that you would see and remember what he did" (See: Synecdoche)

the great sufferings that your eyes saw

Here "eyes" emphasizes that Yahweh expected them to remember that they had seen it. AT: "you saw for yourselves that the people suffered terribly" (See: Synecdoche)

your eyes

Moses speaks to the Israelites as if they were one man, so the word "your" here is singular. (See: Forms of You)

the signs, and those great wonders

The words "signs" and "wonders" both refer to the plagues that Yahweh had sent upon Egypt. AT: "and all of the powerful things that Yahweh did" (See: Doublet)

Yahweh has not given you a heart to know, eyes to see, or ears to hear

The people do have hearts, eyes, and ears. This metonym says that Yahweh has not enabled them to understand from what they saw and heard who Yahweh is, and how and why they should obey him. (See: Metonymy)

given you a heart to know

This is an idiom. AT: "enabled you to understand" (See: Idiom)

translationWords

Moses

call

Israel

Egypt

Pharaoh

servant

suffer

miracle

heart

know

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.