Bible Commentaries

1. When all these things are come upon thee — Moses sees the future glory of Israel, its rise and its fall: its glory under David and Solomon, its decay and ruin under its later rulers. The people could trace the connexion between obedience and blessing; between disobedience and the curse of Jehovah.

3. Will turn thy captivity — Will put an end to their distress. Comp. Job 40:10; Jeremiah 30:8; Ezekiel 16:53; Psalms 14:7. These promises had a partial fulfilment in the history of Israel restored after the captivity. Their true significance is to be seen in connexion with the promises to Abraham, in whom all the families of the earth are blessed.

6. The Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart — Comp. Deuteronomy 10:16; also Hebrews 8:10.

9, 10. How prosperous would have been the condition of the nation if they had complied with the conditions here laid down by their great leader!

11. Hidden from thee — Rather, is not too difficult for thee. Jehovah has not imposed upon his people conditions impossible of fulfilment; nor are his requirements difficult of comprehension. “Nowhere does the fundamental religious thought of prophecy find clearer expression than in Deuteronomy — the thought that Jehovah asks nothing for himself, but asks it as a religious duty that man should render to man what is right — that his will lies not in any unknown height, but in the moral sphere which is known and understood by all.” J. WELLHAUSEN, in Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th ed., vol. xiii, pp. 415, 416.

Neither is it far off — Comp. Luke 17:21.

14. Nigh unto thee — Augustine says these words direct our eyes to the New Testament. Compare Paul’s application of the passage in Romans 10:8.

15-20. Choose life — In striking expressions Moses summarizes his teachings. Life is connected with their obedience, death with their disobedience.