| Back to Home Page | Back to Book Index
|
Deuteronomy Chapter
Thirty
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 30
This
chapter contains some gracious promises of the conversion of the Jews in the
latter day
of their calling things to mind that have befallen them
of their
repentance
and the circumcision of their hearts to love the Lord
of the
return of them to their own land
and of the great increase of them
and of
their enjoyment of plenty of good things
Deuteronomy 30:1;
in it is an account of the Gospel
or word of faith
which at this time should
be brought near to the Jews
and be received by them
Deuteronomy 30:11;
and for the present Moses desires them to consider what he now set before them
and what would be the consequences of receiving or rejecting it
and so what it
would be most proper for them to make choice of
Deuteronomy 30:15.
Deuteronomy 30:1 “Now it shall come to pass
when all these things come upon
you
the blessing and the curse which I have set before you
and you call them
to mind among all the nations where the Lord
your God drives you
YLT
1`And it hath been
when all
these things come upon thee
the blessing and the reviling
which I have set
before thee
and thou hast brought [them] back unto thy heart
among all the
nations whither Jehovah thy God hath driven thee away
And it shall come to pass
when all these things are come upon thee
.... Declared
pronounced
foretold
and prophesied of in the three preceding chapters
especially in Deuteronomy 28:1
the blessing and the curse which I have set before thee; the blessings
promised to those that pay a regard to the will of God and obey his voice
and
curses threatened to the see Deuteronomy 28:1
and thou shall call them to mind among all the nations
whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee; recollect the promises
and the threatenings
and observe the exact accomplishment of them in their
captivities
and especially in this their last and present captivity.
Deuteronomy 30:2 2 and you return to the Lord
your God and obey His voice
according to all that I command you today
you and
your children
with all your heart and with all your soul
YLT
2and hast turned back unto
Jehovah thy God
and hearkened to His voice
according to all that I am
commanding thee to-day
thou and thy sons
with all thy heart
and with all thy
soul –
And shalt return unto the Lord thy God
.... By
repentance
acknowledging their manifold sins and transgressions
particularly
their disbelief and rejection of the Messiah
now seeking him and salvation by
him; see Hosea 3:5
and shalt obey his voice; in the Gospel
yielding
the obedience of faith to that; embracing the Gospel
and submitting to the
ordinances of it:
according to all that I command thee this day
thou
and thy
children; which was to love the Lord
and walk in his ways
directed to in
the Gospel
and which were to be regarded from a principle of love to God and
the blessed Redeemer; see Deuteronomy 30:6
with all thine heart and with all thy soul; that is
both
their return unto the Lord
and their obedience to his voice or word
should be
hearty and sincere; which being the case
the following things would be done
for them.
Deuteronomy 30:3 3 that the Lord
your God will bring you back from captivity
and have compassion on you
and
gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you.
YLT
3then hath Jehovah thy God
turned back [to] thy captivity
and pitied thee
yea
He hath turned back and
gathered thee out of all the peoples whither Jehovah thy God hath scattered
thee.
That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity
and have
compassion on thee
.... Return them from their captivity
or bring them out of it
both in a temporal and spiritual sense; free them from their present exile
and
deliver them from the bondage of sin
Satan
and the law; and all this as the
effect of his grace and mercy towards them
and compassion on them; see Jeremiah 30:18; The
Targum of Jonathan is
"his Word shall receive with good will your
repentance;'it being cordial and unfeigned
and fruits meet for it brought
forth:
and will return and gather thee from all the nations whither the
Lord thy God scattered thee; or
"will again gather thee"F11ושב וקבצך και παλιν συναξει
Sept. "et rursum congregabit te"
V. L. "et iterum colliget te"
Piscator. ; as he had gathered them
out of all places where they had been scattered
on their return from the Babylonish
captivity; so will he again gather them from all the nations of the earth
east
west
north
and south
where they are now dispersed; when they shall
turn to the Lord
and seek David their King
the true Messiah. MaimonidesF12Hilchot
Melachim
c. 11. sect. 1. understands this passage of their present captivity
and deliverance from it by the Messiah.
Deuteronomy 30:4 4 If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts
under heaven
from there the Lord
your God will gather you
and from there He will bring you.
YLT
4`If thine outcast is in the
extremity of the heavens
thence doth Jehovah thy God gather thee
and thence
He doth take thee;
If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts
of heaven
.... As many of them are in this remote island of ours
Great
Britain
reckoned formerly the uttermost part of the earth
as Thule
supposed
to be Schetland
an isle belonging to Scotland
is said to beF13"Ultima
Thule"
Virgil. Georgic. l. 1. v. 30. Seneca Medea
Act 2. in fine. ; See
Gill on Deuteronomy 28:49;
and as some of them are thought to be in America
which Manasseh Ben IsraelF14Spes
Israelis
sect. 38. had a firm belief of:
from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee
and from thence
will he fetch thee; whose eye is omniscient
and reaches every part of the world;
and whose arm is omnipotent
and none can stay it
or turn it back. The Targum
of Jonathan is
"from thence will he bring you near by the hands of the
King Messiah.'
Deuteronomy 30:5 5 Then the Lord
your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed
and you shall
possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers.
YLT
5and Jehovah thy God hath
brought thee in unto the land which thy fathers have possessed
and thou hast
inherited it
and He hath done thee good
and multiplied thee above thy
fathers.
And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy
fathers possessed
and thou shalt possess it
.... That the Jews upon
their conversion in the latter day will return to the land of Judea again
and
possess it
is the sense of many passages of Scripture; among others
see Jeremiah 30:18; the
above Targum is;"the Word of the Lord will bring thee
&c."
and he will do thee good; both in things temporal
and spiritual; see Ezekiel 34:24
and multiply thee above thy fathers; increase their number
more than ever they were in any age; for they shall be as the sand of the sea
which cannot be numbered
Hosea 1:10.
Deuteronomy 30:6 6 And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your
descendants
to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul
that you
may live.
YLT
6`And Jehovah thy God hath
circumcised thy heart
and the heart of thy seed
to love Jehovah thy God with
all thy heart
and with all thy soul
for the sake of thy life;
And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart
and the heart of
thy seed
.... No mention is made of circumcision of the flesh
which will
now be out of use with the Jews; they being fully convinced of the abrogation
of the ceremonial law by the Messiah
whom they will now receive. It is
spiritual circumcision only that is here spoken of
with which the Jews will be
circumcised
when they shall be pricked and cut to the heart
and be thoroughly
convinced of sin; when the iniquity of their hearts will be laid open to them
and they put to pain
and filled with shame and loathing for it; when the
hardness of their hearts will be removed
and the foolishness of them will be
exposed and taken away
and they will be made willing to part with their sins
and with their own righteousness; when the graces of the Spirit will be
implanted in them
and the blood of Christ applied to them for pardon and
cleansing. This is the circumcision made without hands
which is not of men
but of God; what he calls for
and exhorts unto
as being necessary
Deuteronomy 10:16;
he here promises to do; and deed none but himself can do it; for he only can
come at the hearts of men
to take anything out of them
or put anything into
them; it is he that opens the heart
softens
quickens
enlightens
and
purifies it: Baal Hatturim says this respects the times of the Messiah:
to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart
and with all thy
soul; which
though the duty of every man
is performed by none but
those that have the grace of God; there is no love to God in the heart before
this inward and spiritual circumcision of it: it is a fruit of the Spirit in
conversion when the affections are taken off of other things
and set on
Christ; when a man sees his sin and his Saviour
and the one is odious
and the
other precious; when the blessings of grace are applied
and the love of God is
shed abroad in the heart
which cause love to God and Christ again:
that thou mayest live; spiritually and
eternally; for there is no spiritual life in the soul till the heart is
circumcised
or
in other words
regenerated and renewed; then it is quickened;
then a man lives a life of faith on Christ
of holiness from him
communion
with him
and has both an open right unto
and meetness for
eternal life.
Deuteronomy 30:7 7 “Also the Lord your God
will put all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you
who
persecuted you.
YLT
7and Jehovah thy God hath
put all this oath on thine enemies
and on those hating thee
who have pursued
thee.
And the Lord thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies
.... Recorded
in Deuteronomy 28:16;
that is
the Word of the Lord
as the Targum of Jonathan; for he being now
sought unto
and embraced
will be their King and their Saviour
and revenge
their enemies:
and on them that hate thee
which persecuted thee: the Turks and
Papists
the former having taken possession of their land
and the latter being
violent persecutors of them in all their countries. This will be fulfilled when
the vials of God's wrath will be poured on the antichristian states
Revelation 16:1.
Deuteronomy 30:8 8 And you will again obey the voice of the Lord and do all His commandments which I command you today.
YLT
8`And thou dost turn back
and hast hearkened to the voice of Jehovah
and hast done all His commands
which I am commanding thee to-day;
And thou shall return
and obey the voice of the Lord
.... In the
Gospel; obey the form of doctrine delivered to them
embrace the truth of the
Gospel cordially
and yield a cheerful subjection to the ordinances of it; or
receive the Word of the Lord
as the Targum of Jonathan
Christ
the essential
Word
by faith
as the Saviour and Redeemer
Mediator
Prophet
Priest
and
King:
and do all his commandments which I command thee this day; the
commandment nigh unto them
in their mouths and hearts
even the word of faith
the ministers of Christ preach
Deuteronomy 30:11;
besides
all the moral precepts and commands of the law
which will then be in
force
being eternal and invariable; which faith in Christ
and love to him
will influence and constrain them to observe.
Deuteronomy 30:9 9 The Lord your God
will make you abound in all the work of your hand
in the fruit of your body
in the increase of your livestock
and in the produce of your land for good.
For the Lord will again rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your
fathers
YLT
9and Jehovah thy God hath
made thee abundant in every work of thy hand
in the fruit of thy body
and in
the fruit of thy cattle
and in the fruit of thy ground
for good; for Jehovah
turneth back to rejoice over thee for good
as He rejoiced over thy fathers
And the Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of
thine hand
.... In every manufacture
trade
or business of life in which
they should be employed; the meaning is
that the Lord will greatly bless them
in all that they shall set their hands to in a lawful way; so that they shall
abound in good things
and have enough and to spare
a redundancy of the good
things of life
great plenty of them:
in the fruit of thy body; abundance of children:
and in the fruit of thy cattle; a large increase of oxen
and sheep:
and in the fruit of thy land for good; it being by
the blessing of God on their labours restored to its former fertility
though
now barren through want of inhabitants
and the slothfulness of those that are
possessed of it; for travellers observeF15See Shaw's Travels
p.
336. Ed. 2.
the soil is still good
was it properly manured and cultivated:
for the Lord will again rejoice over thee for good
as he rejoiced
over thy fathers; particularly in the days of Solomon and David
when the people
of Israel enjoyed plenty of all good things
and so they will hereafter; see Hosea 2:15; The
Targum of Jonathan is
"the Word of the Lord will return to rejoice
&c.'See Jeremiah 32:41.
Deuteronomy 30:10 10 if you obey the voice of the Lord your God
to keep His commandments and His statutes which are
written in this Book of the Law
and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
YLT
10for thou dost hearken to
the voice of Jehovah thy God
to keep His commands
and His statutes
which are
written in the book of this law
for thou turnest back unto Jehovah thy God
with all thy heart
and with all thy soul.
If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God
.... Or
rather
"for thou shalt hearken"F16כי
תשמע "quia obedies"
Cocceius. ; seeing it
is before promised that the Lord would circumcise their hearts to love him
and
they should obey his voice
Deuteronomy 30:6.
The Targum is
"receive the Word of the Lord:"
to keep his commandments and his statutes
which are written in
this book of the law; particularly in this chapter
and all that are of a moral
nature:
and if thou return unto the
Lord thy God with all thy heart
and with all thy soul; or
"for
thou shall return"
&c. as it is promised they should
Deuteronomy 30:8.
Deuteronomy 30:11 11 “For this commandment which I command you today is
not too mysterious for you
nor is it far off.
YLT
11`For this command which I
am commanding thee to-day
it is not too wonderful for thee
nor [is] it far
off.
For this commandment which I command thee this day
.... Which the
Jews understand of the law
but the Apostle Paul has taught us to interpret it
of the word of faith
the Gospel preached by him and other ministers
Romans 10:6; which
better suits with the context
and the prophecies before delivered concerning
the conversion of the Jews
their reception of the Messiah
and his Gospel:
it is not hidden from thee; being clearly revealed
plainly and fully preached: if hidden from any
it is from them that are lost;
from the wise and prudent
while it is revealed to babes
and given to them to
know the mysteries of it: or too "wonderful"F17נפלאת "mirabile"
Montanus
Cocceius. ; hard
difficult
and impossible; its doctrines
are not beyond the understanding of
an enlightened person; they are all plain to them that understand and find the
knowledge of them; and the ordinances of it are not too hard and difficult to
be kept; the commandments of Christ are not grievous:
neither is it far off; for though it is good
news from a far country
from heaven
it is come down from thence; it is
brought nigh in the ministry of the word to the ears and hearts of men.
Deuteronomy 30:12 12 It is not in heaven
that you should say
‘Who
will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us
that we may hear it and do
it?’
YLT
12It is not in the heavens
-- saying
Who doth go up for us into the heavens
and doth take it for us
and
doth cause us to hear it -- that we may do it.
It is not in heaven
.... The scheme of it was
formed in heaven
it was hid in the heart of God there
before revealed; it was
ordained before the world was for our glory; it was brought down from thence by
Christ
and committed to his apostles and ministers of the word to preach it to
men; and has been ever since continued on earth
and will be at the time of the
conversion of the Jews:
that thou shouldest say; that there should be any
occasion of saying; it forbids any such kind of speech as
follows:
who shall go up for us to heaven
and bring it to us
that we may
hear it
and do it? there is no need of that
for it is brought from thence already
and may be heard
and should be obeyed; for to put such a question would be the
same as to ask "to bring Christ down from above"
who is come down
already by the assumption of human nature
to preach the Gospel
give the sense
of the law
and fulfil it
to do the will of his Father
bring in an
everlasting righteousness
and save his people; so that there is no need of his
coming again on the same errand
since he has obtained eternal redemption
and
is the author of everlasting salvation
which is the sum and substance of the
Gospel.
Deuteronomy 30:13 13 Nor is it beyond the sea
that you should say
‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us
that we may hear it and do
it?’
YLT
13And it [is] not beyond the
sea
-- saying
Who doth pass over for us beyond the sea
and doth take it for
us
and doth cause us to hear it -- that we may do it?
Neither is it beyond the sea
.... There is no need to
travel into foreign parts
into transmarine countries for it
as the Heathen
philosophers did to get knowledge; for the Gospel is ordered to be preached to
all the world
and sent into all nations; and at the time of the conversion of
the Jews the earth will be filled with the knowledge of it
as the waters cover
the sea; so that there will be no need to go into distant countries for it; nor
any occasion
that thou shouldest say
who shall go over the sea for us
and
bring it unto us
that we may hear it
and do it? which would be all one
as to desire "to bring up Christ again from the dead"; when he is
already risen
and is gone to heaven
where he ever lives to make intercession
for us; is thereby declared to be the Son of God with power
and is discharged
as the surety of his people
having done completely what he engaged to do; and
is risen for their justification
and become the firstfruits of the
resurrection of the dead; wherefore whoever confesses with his mouth
and
believes with his heart
that God has raised him from the dead
that is enough
he shall be saved: what a sublime sense of the words is this the apostle gives
and how puerile is that of the Chaldee paraphrast in comparison of it! See Gill
on Romans 10:6.
Deuteronomy 30:14 14 But the word is very near you
in your mouth
and in your heart
that you may do it.
YLT
14For very near unto thee is
the word
in thy mouth
and in thy heart -- to do it.
But the word is very nigh unto thee
.... In the
ministration of it by those who clearly
plainly
and faithfully preach it
and
in the application of it by the Spirit of God to the heart; and in the gracious
experience converted persons have of the power and efficacy of it in them
and
of the comfort they receive from it:
in thy mouth
and in thy heart
that thou mayest do it; in the mouth
by confession
being not ashamed to own it
and profess it before men; and in
the heart
where it is come with power
has a place
and works effectually
and
is cordially believed
and comfortably experienced; and when this is the case
its ordinances will be faithfully kept as delivered
and cheerfully submitted
to.
Deuteronomy 30:15 15 “See
I have set before you today life and good
death
and evil
YLT
15`See
I have set before
thee to-day life and good
and death and evil
See
I have set before thee this day
.... Moses
here returns to press the Israelites to the present observance of the laws
statutes
and judgments of one sort and another
he had been delivering to
them; as being of great moment and importance to them
no other than
life and good
and death and evil; which are the effects
and consequences of obedience and disobedience to them; a happy temporal life
and a continuance of it in the good land of Canaan
and an enjoyment of the
blessings and good things thereof to them that are obedient; for not spiritual
and eternal life
or spiritual blessings and everlasting happiness
are to be
had by man's obedience to the law of works
only through Christ
through his
obedience
righteousness
sufferings
and death; see Galatians 3:21; so
temporal death
or a cutting short of natural life in the promised land
and evil
things
calamities
and distresses
or a deprivation of all the good things of
it to the disobedient; see Isaiah 1:19.
Deuteronomy 30:16 16 in that I command you today to love the Lord your God
to walk in His ways
and to keep His commandments
His
statutes
and His judgments
that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess.
YLT
16in that I am commanding
thee to-day to love Jehovah thy God
to walk in His ways
and to keep His
commands
and His statutes
and His judgments; and thou hast lived and
multiplied
and Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee in the land whither thou art
going in to possess it.
In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God
.... Which is
the sum and substance of the first table of the law
and includes the whole
worship of God
the contrary to which are idolatry
superstition
and will
worship
from which Moses had been dissuading and deterring them:
to walk in his ways; which he has prescribed
as his will to walk in
and his law directs to:
and to keep his commandments
and his statutes
and his judgments; his laws
moral
ceremonial
and judicial
Moses had been repeating and reciting:
that thou mayest live and multiply; live in the land of
Canaan
and have a numerous offspring and posterity to succeed and continue in
it
which is confirmed by what follows:
and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou
goest to possess it; with health and happiness
with an affluence of all good things
in the land of Canaan they were just entering into to take possession of.
Deuteronomy 30:17 17 But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear
and are drawn away
and worship other gods and serve them
YLT
17`And if thy heart doth
turn
and thou dost not hearken
and hast been driven away
and hast bowed
thyself to other gods
and served them
But if thine heart turn away
.... From the true God
and the right worship of him
and from his commands
statutes
and judgments:
so that thou wilt not hear; the voice of the Lord
and obey it
or hearken to his laws
and do them:
but shalt be drawn away; by an evil heart
and by
the ill examples of others:
and worship other gods and serve them; the gods of
the Gentiles
the idols of the people
besides the one living and true God
the
God of Israel.
Deuteronomy 30:18 18 I announce to you today that you shall surely perish;
you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the
Jordan to go in and possess.
YLT
18I have declared to you this
day
that ye do certainly perish
ye do not prolong days on the ground which
thou art passing over the Jordan to go in thither to possess it.
I denounce unto
you this day that ye shall surely perish
.... By one
judgment or another; this he most solemnly averred
and it might be depended
upon that it would certainly be their case; see Deuteronomy 4:26
and that ye shall not
prolong your days upon the land
whither thou passest over Jordan to go
to possess it; but be cut short by death
of one kind or another
by sword
or
famine
or pestilence
or be carried into captivity; one or other of which were
frequently their case.
Deuteronomy 30:19 19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against
you
that I have set before you life and death
blessing and cursing;
therefore choose life
that both you and your descendants may live;
YLT
19`I have caused to testify
against you to-day the heavens and the earth; life and death I have set before
thee
the blessing and the reviling; and thou hast fixed on life
so that thou
dost live
thou and thy seed
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you
.... Either
literally understood
the heavens above him
and the earth on which he stood
those inanimate bodies
which are frequently called upon as witnesses to
matters of moment and importance; see Deuteronomy 4:26;
or figuratively
the inhabitants of both
angels and men:
that I have set
before you life and death
blessing and cursing; had plainly told them in
express words what would be the consequence of obedience and disobedience to
the law of God; long life
and the blessings of it in the land of Canaan
to
those that obey it; death
by various means
and dreadful curses
to those that
disobey it; of which see at large Deuteronomy 28:16
therefore choose life
that thou and thy seed may live; that is
prefer obedience to the law
and choose to perform that
the consequence of
which is life; that they and their posterity might live comfortably and
happily
quietly and safely
and constantly
even to the latest ages
in the
land of Canaan.
Deuteronomy 30:20 20 that you may love the Lord your God
that you may obey His voice
and that you may cling to Him
for He is
your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which
the Lord swore to your fathers
to Abraham
Isaac
and Jacob
to give them.”
YLT
20to love Jehovah thy God
to
hearken to His voice
and to cleave to Him (for He [is] thy life
and the
length of thy days)
to dwell on the ground which Jehovah hath sworn to thy
fathers
to Abraham
to Isaac
and to Jacob
to give to them.'
That thou mayest love the Lord thy God
.... And show
it by keeping his commands:
and that thou mayest obey his
voice; in his word
and by his prophets:
and that thou mayest cleave unto him; and to his
worship
and not follow after and serve other gods:
for he is thy life
and the length of thy days; the God of
their lives
and the Father of their mercies; the giver of long life
and all
the blessings of it; and which he had promised to those that were obedient
to
him
and which they might expect:
that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy
fathers
to Abraham
to Isaac
and to Jacob
to give them; the land of
Canaan
often thus described; this was the grand promise made to obedience to
the law
and was typical of eternal life and happiness; which is had
not
through man's obedience to the law
but through the obedience and righteousness
of Christ.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》