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The first words of this chapter are the contents of it, "These are the words of the covenant" (De 29:1), that is, these that follow. Here is, I. A recital of God's dealings with them, in order to the bringing of them into this covenant, De 29:2-8. II. A solemn charge to them to keep the covenant, De 29:9. III. An abstract of the covenant itself, De 29:12,13. IV. A specification of the persons taken into the covenant, De 29:10,11,14,15. V. An intimation of the great design of this covenant against idolatry, in a parenthesis, De 29:16,17. VI. A most solemn and dreadful denunciation of the wrath of God against such persons as promise themselves peace in a sinful way, De 29:18-28. VII. The conclusion of this treaty, with a distinction between things secret and things revealed, De 29:29.
1-9
Mercies Called to Remembrance (1451 BC)
简体中文
当记念的怜悯（公元前1451年）
¹ 这是耶和华在摩押地吩咐摩西与以色列人立约的话，是在他和他们于何烈山所立的约之外。
² 摩西召了以色列众人来，对他们说："耶和华在埃及地，在你们眼前向法老和他众臣仆，并他全地所行的一切事，你们都看见了，
³ 就是你亲眼所看见的大试验，和那些大神迹奇事。
⁴ 但耶和华到今日没有使你们心能明白、眼能看见、耳能听见。
⁵ 我领你们在旷野四十年，你们身上的衣服并没有穿破，脚上的鞋也没有穿坏。
⁶ 你们没有吃饼，也没有喝清酒浓酒；这使你们知道耶和华我是你们的 神。
⁷ 你们来到这地方，希实本王西宏、巴珊王噩都出来与我们交战，我们就击杀了他们，
⁸ 取了他们的地，赐给流便人、迦得人、玛拿西半支派为业。
⁹ 所以你们要谨守遵行这约的话，好使你们在一切所行的事上亨通。
摩西既已详细复述百姓当守作为他们当尽之约的诫命，以及 神要按他们的行为而履行的应许和威吓——这些也都是约的一部分——如今这一切就在此总归为一个立约的作为。从前所立的约在此重新坚立，摩西从前是、如今仍是这约的中保（申29:1）："耶和华吩咐摩西立这约。"摩西自己虽在耶书仑为王，若非照 神所指示的，也不能立这约。立约的条款不在于传道人的权柄之内；他们只是分发这约的印记而已。这约被称为"在何烈山所立之约以外"的；因为虽然约是同一个，却是这约一次新的颁布和确认。当时在世的人中，或许有些人虽未到可以数点的年纪，却已到了可以自己同意何烈山之约的年纪；然而此处仍然重新立约。注意：凡已经郑重与 神立约的人，当把握一切机会再次立约，如同那对自己所选择的不愿更改的人。但绝大部分人是新一代的人，所以必须重新与他们立约，因为约当向立约者的儿女更新。
I\. 契据的开头通常附有陈述；此处也是如此——重述 神为他们所行的奇事。1. 作为勉励他们相信 神必真作他们的 神；祂若不打算赐更多的恩，就不会为他们行如此多的事；祂迄今为止所行的，不过（如我们所说）是序言或引子而已；不，祂在迄今为止为他们所行的事上，已经显出自己是 神，这就足以提升他们对那又大又相称之事的期望，与那" 神要作他们的 神"这内容广博的应许相称。2. 作为对他们当尽本分、作顺服之子民的勉励——念及祂为他们所行的事。
II\. 为证实他此处所提的，他诉诸他们亲眼所见（申29:2）："你们都看见了耶和华所行的一切事。"他们自己的感官对那事实—— 神为他们行了大事——是不容置辩的证据；那时他们自己的理智对于他从这事实所作推论之公义，也同样有资格判断："所以你们要谨守遵行这约的话"（申29:9）。
III\. 他具体列举这些事，以表明 神在他们身上所显的大能与良善。1. 他们出埃及的拯救（申29:2,3）。那些惊人的神迹奇事，使法老受灾被迫释放他们，也使以色列受试验（故称"试验"），看他们是否信靠 神保护他们免受灾殃、借灾殃拯救他们。2. 他们在旷野被引导四十年（申29:5,6）。在那里他们被引导、被衣被食，全凭神迹；旷野的路不但陌生，且无人走过，但 神保守他们不致迷途；并且（如帕特里克主教所言），他们照 神的吩咐在埃及守逾越节、预备启程时所穿上的鞋（出12:11），竟毫无破旧，一直穿到迦南；他们虽不靠那坚固人心的饼、那使人欢乐的酒而活，乃是靠吗哪和磐石的水而活，他们却仍是刚强壮胆的人、是勇士，能出征打仗。借着这些神迹他们认识耶和华是 神，借着这些怜悯他们认识祂是他们的 神。3. 他们最近胜了西宏和噩，又得了他们已占据的那美地（申29:7,8）。已往的怜悯和新近的怜悯，我们都当善用为顺服的诱因。
IV\. 从这些记念中所得的推论：
1\. 摩西感叹他们的顽钝："然而耶和华到今日没有赐你们心能明白"（申29:4）。这并不是把他们的麻木、糊涂和不信归咎于 神，仿佛他们已预备好领受祂的恩典、并曾为此祈求，祂却拒绝了他们；不是的，这反而将罪责归于他们自己。"耶和华，祂是万灵之父，是与你们立约的 神，且向来对你们如此富有怜悯——毫无疑问，祂本要以这恩典加在祂其他一切恩赐之上冠冕全备；祂本要赐你们心能明白、眼能看见，若不是你们因自己的悖逆刚愎破坏了祂的恩慈旨意，徒然领受祂的恩典。"注意：（1）能听的耳、能看的眼、能明白的心，都是 神所赐的。凡有这恩赐的，都是从祂而得。（2） 神赐饮食衣服给许多人，也赐财富和广大产业给他们，却没有赐恩典给他们。许多人享受恩赐，却没有心明白赐恩的主，也不明白恩赐的真正用意和用途。（3） 神在别的事上乐意向我们行善，这就明显证明：我们若没有那最好的恩赐——恩典，那是我们自己的过错，不是祂的过错；祂本要聚集我们，我们却不肯。
2\. 摩西嘱咐他们要顺服："所以你们要谨守遵行"（申29:9）。注意：我们因感恩和益处，并因本分和忠信，都当"谨守这约的话"。
英文原文
Mercies Called to Remembrance (1451 BC)
¹ These are the words of the covenant, which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.
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;
³ The great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles:
⁴ Yet the LORD hath not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.
⁵ And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.
⁶ Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the LORD your God.
⁷ And when ye came unto this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us unto battle, and we smote them:
⁸ And we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance unto the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half tribe of Manasseh.
⁹ Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.
Now that Moses had largely repeated the commands which the people were to observe as their part of the covenant, and the promises and threatenings which God would make good (according as they behaved themselves) as part of the covenant, the whole is here summed up in a federal transaction. The covenant formerly made is here renewed, and Moses, who was before, is still, the mediator of it (De 29:1): The Lord commanded Moses to make it. Moses himself, though king in Jeshurun, could not make the covenant any otherwise than as God gave him instructions. It does not lie in the power of ministers to fix the terms of the covenant; they are only to dispense the seals of it. This is said to be besides the covenant made in Horeb; for, though the covenant was the same, yet it was a new promulgation and ratification of it. It is probable that some now living, though not of age to be mustered, were of age to consent for themselves to the covenant made at Horeb, and yet it is here renewed. Note, Those that have solemnly covenanted with God should take all opportunities to do it again, as those that like their choice too well to change. But the far greater part were a new generation, and therefore the covenant must be made afresh with them, for it is fit that the covenant should be renewed to the children of the covenant.
I. It is usual for indentures to begin with a recital; this does so, with a rehearsal of the great things God had done for them, 1. As an encouragement to them to believe that God would indeed be to them a God, for he would not have done so much for them if he had not designed more, to which all he had hitherto done was but a preface (as it were) or introduction; nay, he had shown himself a God in what he had hitherto done for them, which might raise their expectations of something great and answering the vast extent and compass of that pregnant promise, that God would be to them a God. 2. As an engagement upon them to be to him an obedient people, in consideration of what he had done for them.
II. For the proof of what he here advances he appeals to their own eyes (De 29:2): You have seen all that the Lord did. Their own senses were incontestable evidence of the matter of fact, that God had done great things for them; and then their own reason was a no less competent judge of the equity of his inference from it: Keep therefore the words of this covenant, De 29:9.
III. These things he specifies, to show the power and goodness of God in his appearances for them. 1. Their deliverance out of Egypt, De 29:2,3. The amazing signs and miracles by which Pharaoh was plagued and compelled to dismiss them, and Israel was tried (for they are called temptations) whether they would trust God to secure them from, and save them by, those plagues. 2. Their conduct through the wilderness for forty years, De 29:5,6. There they were led, and clad, and fed, by miracles; though the paths of the wilderness were not only unknown but untrodden, yet God kept them from being lost there; and (as bishop Patrick observes) those very shoes which by the appointment of God they put on in Egypt, at the passover, when the were ready to march (Ex 12:11), never wore out, but served them to Canaan: and though they lived not upon bread which strengthens the heart, and wine which rejoices it, but upon manna and rock-water, yet they were men of strength and courage, mighty men, and able to go forth to war. By these miracles they were made to know that the Lord was God, and by these mercies that he was their God. 3. The victory they had lately obtained of Sihon and Og, and that good land which they had taken possession of, De 29:7,8. Both former mercies and fresh mercies should be improved by us as inducements to obedience.
IV. By way of inference from these memoirs,
1. Moses laments their stupidity: Yet the Lord has not given you a heart to perceive, De 29:4. This does not lay the blame of their senselessness, and sottishness, and unbelief, upon God, as if they had stood ready to receive his grace and had begged for it, but he had denied them; no, but it fastens the guilt upon themselves. "The Lord, who is the Father of spirits, a God in covenant with you, and who had always been so rich in mercy to you, no doubt would have crowned all his other gifts with this, he would have given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see if you had not by your own frowardness and perverseness frustrated his kind intentions, and received his grace in vain." Note, (1.) The hearing ear, the seeing eye, and the understanding heart, are the gift of God. All that have them have them from him. (2.) God gives not only food and raiment, but wealth and large possessions, to many to whom he does not give grace. Many enjoy the gifts who have not hearts to perceive the giver, nor the true intention and use of the gifts. (3.) God's readiness to do us good in other things is a plain evidence that if we have not grace, that best of gifts, it is our own fault and not his; he would have gathered us and we would not.
2. Moses charges them to be obedient: Keep therefore, and do, De 29:9. Note, We are bound in gratitude and interest, as well as duty and faithfulness, to keep the words of the covenant.
10-29
The Covenant Renewed (1451 BC)
简体中文
重申圣约（主前1451年）
¹⁰ 今日你们众人都站在耶和华你们的神面前——你们的族长、长老、官长，和以色列众人， ¹¹ 你们的小孩子、妻子，和你营中寄居的客旅，从劈柴的到打水的—— ¹² 为要你与耶和华你的神立约，以及他所起的誓，就是耶和华你的神今日与你所立的； ¹³ 好使他今日立你作他自己的子民，他也作你的神，正如他曾对你所说的，又正如他向你列祖亚伯拉罕、以撒、雅各所起的誓。 ¹⁴ 我不但与你们立这约、起这誓； ¹⁵ 乃是与我们今日在这里站在耶和华我们神面前的人立，也与今日不在这里与我们同在的人立。 ¹⁶ （因为我们曾住过埃及地，也经过你们所经过的列国； ¹⁷ 你们也看见他们中间可憎的物，并他们的偶像，木、石、银、金——） ¹⁸ 惟恐你们中间有男、有女、有家族、有支派，今日心偏邪，离弃耶和华我们的神，去事奉这些国民的神；惟恐你们中间有生发苦菜和茵陈之根的； ¹⁹ 又惟恐他听见这咒诅的话，心里还自夸说：我虽然随心所欲而行，以致把酒醉加在干渴之上，我仍平安； ²⁰ 耶和华必不饶恕他；那时耶和华的怒气与愤恨必向他发作如烟，这书上所写的一切咒诅必都压在他身上，耶和华必从天下涂抹他的名。 ²¹ 耶和华又必照着这律法书上所立约的一切咒诅，将他从以色列众支派中分别出来，使他遭祸。 ²² 你们以後起来接续你们的後代，和从远方来的外人，看见耶和华降与那地的灾病和疾病， ²³ 又看见那遍地是硫磺、盐卤、火焚，全然没有耕种、不出产物，连草都不长，好像耶和华在怒中、在烈怒中所倾覆的所多玛、蛾摩拉、押玛、洗扁一样—— ²⁴ 那时万国的人必说：耶和华为何向这地如此行呢？这样大发烈怒是什么意思呢？ ²⁵ 人必回答说：是因这民离弃了耶和华他们列祖的神的约，就是他领他们出埃及地时所与他们立的； ²⁶ 因为他们去事奉敬拜别神，是他们素不认识的神，也是他所未曾分给他们的神； ²⁷ 于是耶和华的怒气向这地发作，将这书上所写的一切咒诅都降在其上； ²⁸ 耶和华在怒气、烈怒、大恼恨中，把他们从他们的地上连根拔出，扔到别的地，如同今日一样。 ²⁹ 隐秘的事是属耶和华我们神的；惟有明显的事是属我们和我们子孙永远的，好叫我们遵行这律法上的一切话。
从这些话句子的长度、用词的丰富与犀利，可以看出摩西如今接近他讲论的末了，非常热切恳切，极愿将他所铭刻在这善忘百姓的心上。为要使他们更牢固地与神和本分相系，他以极庄重的语气（以弥补出24:4-8等处所用外在仪式之缺）在此仿佛与他们和神之间定下了一笔交易，乃是一份永远的约，神不忘记，他们也当不忘记。他不要求他们明确的同意，只将事情摆在他们面前，然後交在神和他们自己的良心之间。请留意：
I\. 这约的当事人。1. 他们所要立约的对象乃是耶和华他们的神（申29:12）。他们当将自己献给他，当与他联合。"这是他的誓言；他已拟好这约并定规妥当；他要求你们对此表示同意；他已向你们起誓，你们也当向他起誓。"这要求我们在与神立约的事上真诚庄重、谦卑敬畏，记住我们所要立约的神何等伟大——他对我们全然认识，对我们拥有绝对的权柄。2. 他们全都当被纳入与他所立的约中。他们都被召来聚集（申29:2），也都来了，并且被告知（申29:10）他们如今集体在神面前显现的目的是什么——乃是要与他立约。（1）即便是他们的伟人——支派的首领、长老和官长——也不可认为将颈项负在此约的轭下、在其中服役，是有损他们的尊荣，或削弱他们的权势。他们反倒应当率先进入这约，为下属树立好榜样。（2）不仅男人，连他们的妻子和儿女也当进入这约；他们虽未被数点阅兵，却当归附耶和华（申29:11）。请注意，连小孩子也有能力被纳入与神所立的约中，当与父母一同被接纳。小小婴孩——甚至小到须抱在怀里的——也当被带到基督面前，并蒙他祝福，因为神的国正是属于这样的人。（3）不仅是以色列人，连他们营中的外人，只要他对他们的信仰有一定的归依，弃绝一切假神，也被纳入与以色列神所立的约中；因为他虽然为外人，在这事上却也当被看为亚伯拉罕的子孙（路19:9）。这是对列国早期施恩的迹象，也是神为他们所存留之恩慈的明证。（4）不仅是自由人，连劈柴挑水的人——他们中间最卑微的苦工——也是如此。请注意，没有任何人因太高贵而不必负约的约束，也没有任何人因太卑微而不能承受约的祝福。在基督里并不分为奴的、自主的（西3:11）。你是作奴仆蒙召的吗？不要忧虑（林前7:21）。（5）不仅如今在庄严集会中在神面前的人，连不在这里与他们同在的人，也被纳入约中（申29:15）：与今日在这里与我们同站的人（帕特里克主教认为当如此翻译）一样，也与今日不在这里与我们同在的人；意思是：[1]留在家中的也包括在内；他们或因疾病或因必要事务而被留在家中，不可因此以为自己可以免责；不，每一个以色列人都分受共同的祝福。留在家中的人也分掠物，因此每个以色列人都当承认自己受这代表团体之同意的约束。不能上耶和华殿去的人，必须与能去的人保持灵里的相交，身不在而心在。[2]将来的世代也包括在内。不，一位亚兰文意译本甚至读作：从创世初日以来所有曾存在的世代，直到世界末了将要兴起的，都今日与我们在这里同站。如此，若将这约视为恩典之约的典型施行，它便是对那约的中保的崇高见证——他是昨日、今日、一直到永远，是一样的。
II\. 这约的内容摘要。约中的一切诫命和一切应许，都包含在神与他们之间约的关系之中（申29:13）：他们当被立定、兴起、坚固，作归于他的子民，要观察顺服他、专心倚靠他；他当作他们的神，照着与他们列祖所立之约的定例，使他们成圣、升高、得福。这里提名他们的祖宗亚伯拉罕、以撒和雅各，作为敬虔的榜样，凡盼望从与他们所立之约中得益处的人，都当立志效法。请注意，适当思想我们与神之间——他作我们的神——的关系，以及我们作为属他的子民所尽的义务，便足以使我们得着约中一切本分和一切安慰。
III. 此时重申此约的主要目的，是要巩固他们抵御拜偶像的试探。别的罪固然会成为罪人的毁灭，但这一罪是他们特有的毁灭之罪。关于这一点，他指出：
1. 他们受试探陷入其中的危险（申29:16-17）："你们知道我们曾住过埃及地，那是一个沉迷于偶像的国家；但愿你们中间没有残留那偶像崇拜的感染；我们经过别的列国——以东人、摩押人等——也看见了他们的可憎之物和他们的偶像*；你们中间有人或许太过喜悦，至今仍然贪恋，宁可敬拜一个能看见的木神，也不愿敬奉那看不见的无限之灵。"我们盼望他们中间有些人，越是看见这些可憎之物和偶像，就越发恨恶它们；但也有人一看见就被掳去，看见当灭之物就贪求。
2. 他们若顺从试探所面临的危险。他给他们公正的警告：他们若离弃神去事奉偶像，就必自取灭亡。他们若不愿受约中诫命的捆绑和约束，就必发现约中的咒诅足以捆绑约束他们。
（1）拜偶像必成为个别之人和他们家族的毁灭（申29:18-21），请留意：
[1] 罪人被描述（申29:18）：第一，他是一个心偏离他的神的人；祸患从这里起首——在不信的恶心里，这心倾向人离弃活神去归向死的偶像。人就是被自己的私欲和幻想牵引时，也会受试探陷入这罪。那些因疏忽向神当尽的本分而开始偏离神的人，容易被引到别神那里；那些事奉别神的人，确实离弃了真神；因为他不容许有竞争者：他若不作一切，就宁可什么也不作。第二，他是生发苦菜和茵陈之根；即他是一个危险人物，自己既被邪恶的原则和倾向所毒害——暗中藐视以色列的神和他的制度，并尊崇列国的神明——就竭尽一切手段败坏毒害别人，吸引他们拜偶像：这种人的果子是毒草（何10:4如此翻译此字）和茵陈；这在神眼中极其不悦，对一切被他勾引的人而言，末後必成为苦楚。使徒引用这话（来12:15），他同样提醒我们当防备那要从基督教信仰中勾引我们的人；他们是田间的杂草或稗子，若放任不管，必将蔓延全田。一点面酵便有使全团发起来的危险。
[2] 他的自信安然。他虽执意不敬虔，却仍自许平安无事（申29:19）。他虽听见咒诅的话，不能像别的拜偶像者那样以不知危险为借口，却仍在那时心里自夸，以为自己必免受以色列神的震怒，因有他的偶像神明庇护，便说："我必平安无事"，尽管我的信仰不是照神的设立，而是随自己的想象，把酒醉加在干渴之上，一件恶事上再加一件。拜偶像者如同酒醉的人，自己猛烈追逐偶像，又殷勤拉人入伙。他们的偶像崇拜常伴随着纵饮宴乐（彼前4:3），所以这话宣告了酒醉之人的祸——尤其是以法莲的酒醉之人——他们醒了仍觉口渴，还要再寻（箴23:35）。而为敬拜偶像而使自己醉的，是最恶劣的酒徒。请注意：第一，许多在神咒诅之下的人仍自夸平安；但不久必发现，他们自夸不过是自欺。第二，那些已使自己相信尽管继续在罪中行仍可平安的人，正是熟透待毁、悔改之望渺茫的人。第三，酒醉是使人心刚硬、良心败坏不亚于任何别的罪的罪——一种即便刚刚受过其害、人仍奇妙地受试探的罪，也是一种人奇妙地喜欢拉人同犯的罪（哈2:15）。拜偶像正是这样迷惑人的罪。
[3] 神因他的罪、并因他自称虽继续行恶仍可平安而冒犯神，对他所施的公正严厉——他如此行，是将真理之神当作说谎的（参创3:4）。神全书中几乎没有比这更可畏的威吓了。愿放胆犯罪的人读之而战栗！因为它不是吓唬孩童和愚人的怪物，而是神对一切不虔不义之人发怒的真实宣告（申29:20-21）：第一，耶和华必不饶恕他。他妄用的宽限时日必被缩短，在审判之中不记念怜悯。第二，耶和华的怒气和愤恨——最猛烈的怒气——必向他发作如烟，如同炉灶的烟。第三，所写的咒诅必压在他身上，不仅是临到他身上威吓，更是停留在他身上，将他压入最低的地狱（约3:36）。第四，他的名必被涂抹，即他本身必被剪除，他的记念也必与他一同朽坏灭亡。第五，他必被分别出来遭祸，这是咒诅最恰当的观念；他必从一切幸福和一切幸福的盼望中被剪除，并被标明为无可挽救的灾祸。最後，这一切都照着约的咒诅，那是最可怕的咒诅，因为是被滥用之恩典的公义报应。
（2）拜偶像必成为他们民族的毁灭；它必为那姑息这苦根、受其感染的本地带来灾祸；罪蔓延到何处，审判也必蔓延到何处。
[1] 毁灭被描述出来。它以灾病和疾病起首（申29:22），看他们是否肯因较轻的刑罚而悔改；若不肯，便以全然倾覆告终，正如所多玛那样（申29:23）。那山谷原如耶和华的园子一般肥沃，竟变成了盐卤和硫磺之湖；照样迦南地也必变为荒凉不毛，正如它自罗马人最後毁灭以来一直如此。所多玛之湖紧邻以色列地，原可借之使他们警惕所多玛的罪孽；但他们既不受警告，便在毁灭上变得与所多玛一样，正如他们曾在罪上与之相仿。
[2] 其中的理由被查问并指明。第一，将来的世代必查问（申29:22），他们必发现自己民族在各方面的光景，与从前完全相反，读了历史和应许之後，必对这变局大为震惊。外人和周围列国，以及个别的人，也必问：耶和华为何向这地如此行呢？（申29:24）。别处也如此描述大荒凉使其观者震惊（王上9:8-9；耶22:8-9）。审判既如此从神的家起首（彼前4:17），邻邦战栗正是时候。这问题当把重点放在这地——迦南地，这美地，万国之荣，这流奶与蜜之地——上。如此美地竟变为荒凉，诚然可惜；但这还不是全部；这是圣地，是以色列地，是与神立约之民的地；是以马内利之地，是神被人认识被人敬拜之地，竟遭如此蹂躏。请注意：1. 神将毁灭性的刑罚加在名义上与他相近的百姓身上，并非罕见之事（摩3:2）。2. 他从不如此行而无正当理由。3. 我们有责任查考其中缘由，好将荣耀归给神，并以此为鉴戒。第二，缘由在此指明，以回答那查询。事情必将如此明显，以致众人都必说：是因为他们离弃了耶和华他们列祖的神的约（申29:25）。请注意，神总不丢弃任何人，直到他们先离弃他。但那些丢弃他们列祖之神的人，公正地被赶出他们列祖的产业。他们去事奉别神（申29:26）——是他们素不认识的神，对他们也没有任何感恩当尽的本分；因为神并未将受造之物赐给我们去事奉，而是叫他们事奉我们；他们也未曾向我们行过什么善（如有人如此读），除了神所使他们行的之外；所以我们乃是欠造物主的债，并不欠受造之物的债。正因如此神向他们发怒（申29:27），并在怒中将他们连根拔出（申29:28）。所以无论荒废何等可怕，主在其中是公义的，正如但9:11-14所承认的。"这样"（安斯沃斯先生如此说），"摩西的律法将罪人留在咒诅之下，从主的地上连根拔出；但基督对悔改相信的罪人所施的恩典，将他们重新栽种在他们地上，他们不再被拔出，因被神的能力所保守"（摩9:15）。
[3] 他预言犹太人被弃绝的结语，正如保罗论及同一题目——当此事开始应验时——所说的（罗11:33）：神的判断何其难测，他的踪迹何其难寻！这里也是这样（申29:29）：隐秘的事是属耶和华我们神的。有人将这话作为一整句：耶和华我们神的隐秘事，已向我们和我们的子孙显明，凡我们所当知道的，他并未向列国如此行；但我们将其分为两句，借此：第一，我们被禁止好奇地查究神隐秘的谋略，并对其加以断言。对于"耶和华为何向这地如此行"这一问题，已有充分的回答，足以显明神的公义并警戒我们。但若有人进一步追问，为何神要费如此大的奇工妙迹建立一个他明明预知将要背道灭亡的百姓，为何他不以全能的恩典阻止这事，或他将来对他们还要怎样行——当叫这样的人知道，这些问题无法回答，因此也不当问。我们若窥探Arcana imperii——治理的奥秘，查究那不属我们知道的国事机密，便是僭越（参徒1:7；约21:22；西2:18）。第二，我们被引导并受鼓励，殷勤查考神所已显明的事：明显的事是属我们和我们子孙的。请注意：1. 神虽将其谋略的大部分保守隐秘，但所启示的已足以使我们满足并蒙拯救。他没有留下一样好处不给我们的，只留下那些我们不知道反而有益的事。2. 我们当使自己、也使我们的儿女，熟悉神所已启示的事。我们不仅被允许查究，更有责任如此行。这些事与我们和我们後代密切相关。它们是我们当守的准则，也是我们当赖的应许；因此我们当自己殷勤学习，并殷勤教导儿女。3. 我们一切的知识都必须是为了实行，因为这是一切属神启示的目的，不是为我们提供好奇思辨和谈论的题目，可以此消遣自己和朋友，而是要我们遵行这律法上的一切话，并在所行的事上蒙福。
英文原文
The Covenant Renewed (1451 BC)
¹⁰ Ye stand this day all of you before the LORD your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel,
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:
¹² That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the LORD thy God, and into his oath, which the LORD thy God maketh with thee this day:
¹³ That he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
¹⁴ Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath;
¹⁵ But with him that standeth here with us this day before the LORD our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day:
¹⁶ (For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; and how we came through the nations which ye passed by;
¹⁷ And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:)
¹⁸ Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;
¹⁹ And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:
²⁰ The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.
²¹ And the LORD shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law:
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;
²³ And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:
²⁴ Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?
²⁵ Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD 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 worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them:
²⁷ And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring 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 it is this day.
²⁹ The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
It appears by the length of the sentences here, and by the copiousness and pungency of the expressions, that Moses, now that he was drawing near to the close of his discourse, was very warm and zealous, and very desirous to impress what he said upon the minds of this unthinking people. To bind them the faster to God and duty, he here, with great solemnity of expression (to make up the want of the external ceremony that was used (Ex 24:4-8, etc.), concludes a bargain (as it were) between them and God, an everlasting covenant, which God would not forget and they must not. He requires not their explicit consent, but lays the matter plainly before them, and then leaves it between God and their own consciences. Observe,
I. The parties to this covenant. 1. It is the Lord their God they are to covenant with, De 29:12. To him they must give up themselves, to him they must join themselves. "It is his oath; he has drawn up the covenant and settled it; he requires your consent to it; he has sworn to you and to him you must be sworn." This requires us to be sincere and serious, humble and reverent, in our covenant-transactions with God, remembering how great a God he is with whom we are covenanting, who has a perfect knowledge of us and an absolute dominion over us. 2. They are all to be taken into covenant with him. They were all summoned to attend (De 29:2), and did accordingly, and are told (De 29:10) what was the design of their appearing before God now in a body—they were to enter into covenant with him. (1.) Even their great men, the captains of their tribes, their elders and officers, must not think it any disparagement to their honour, or any diminution of their power, to put their necks under the yoke of this covenant, and to draw in it. They must rather enter into the covenant first, to set a good example to their inferiors. (2.) Not the men only, but their wives and children, must come into this covenant; though they were not numbered and mustered, yet they must be joined to the Lord, De 29:11. Observe, Even little ones are capable of being taken into covenant with God, and are to be admitted with their parents. Little children, so little as to be carried in arms, must be brought to Christ, and shall be blessed by him, for of such was and is the kingdom of God. (3.) Not the men of Israel only, but the stranger that was in their camp, provided he was so far proselyted to their religion as to renounce all false gods, was taken into this covenant with the God of Israel, forasmuch as he also, though a stranger, was to be looked upon in this matter as a son of Abraham, Lu 19:9. This was an early indication of favour to the Gentiles, and of the kindness God had in store for them. (4.) Not the freemen only, but the hewers of wood and drawers of water, the meanest drudge they had among them. Note, As none are too great to come under the bonds of the covenant, so none are too mean to inherit the blessings of the covenant. In Christ no difference is made between bond and free, Col 3:11. Art thou called being a servant? Care not for it, 1Co 7:21. (5.) Not only those that were now present before God in this solemn assembly, but those also that were not here with them were taken into covenant (De 29:15): As with him that standeth here with us (so bishop Patrick thinks it should be rendered) so also with him, that is not here with us this day; that is, [1.] Those that tarried at home were included; though detained either by sickness or necessary business, they must not therefore think themselves disengaged; no, every Israelite shares in the common blessings. Those that tarry at home divide the spoil, and therefore every Israelite must own himself bound by the consent of the representative body. Those who cannot go up to the house of the Lord must keep up a spiritual communion with those that do, and be present in spirit when they are absent in body. [2.] The generations to come are included. Nay, one of the Chaldee paraphrasts reads it, All the generations that have been from the first days of the world, and all that shall arise to the end of the whole world, stand with us here this day. And so, taking this covenant as a typical dispensation of the covenant of grace, it is a noble testimony to the Mediator of that covenant, who is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.
II. The summary of this covenant. All the precepts and all the promises of the covenant are included in the covenant-relation between God and them, De 29:13. That they should be appointed, raised up, established, for a people to him, to observe and obey him, to be devoted to him and dependent on him, and that he should be to them a God, according to the tenour of the covenant made with their fathers, to make them holy, high, and happy. Their fathers are here named, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as examples of piety, which those were to set themselves to imitate who expected any benefit from the covenant made with them. Note, A due consideration of the relation we stand in to God as our God, and of the obligation we lie under as a people to him, is enough to bring us to all the duties and all the comforts of the covenant.
III. The principal design of the renewing of this covenant at this time was to fortify them against temptations to idolatry. Though other sins will be the sinner's ruin, yet this was the sin that was likely to be their ruin. Now concerning this he shows,
1. The danger they were in of being tempted to it (De 29:16,17): "You know we have dwelt in the land of Egypt, a country addicted to idolatry; and it were well if there were not among you some remains of the infection of that idolatry; we have passed by other nations, the Edomites, Moabites, etc. and have seen their abominations and their idols, and some among you, it may be, have liked them too well, and still hanker after them, and would rather worship a wooden god that they can see than an infinite Spirit whom they never saw." It is to be hoped that there were those among them who, the more they saw of these abominations and idols, the more they hated them; but there were those that were smitten with the sight of them, saw the accursed things and coveted them.
2. The danger they were in if they yielded to the temptation. He gives them fair warning: it was at their peril if they forsook God to serve idols. If they would not be bound and held by the precepts of the covenant, they would find that the curses of the covenant would be strong enough to bind and hold them.
(1.) Idolatry would be the ruin of particular persons and their families, De 29:18-21, where observe,
[1.] The sinner described, De 29:18. First, He is one whose heart turns away from his God; there the mischief begins, in the evil heart of unbelief, which inclines men to depart from the living God to dead idols. Even to this sin men are tempted when they are drawn aside by their own lusts and fancies. Those that begin to turn from God, by neglecting their duty to him, are easily drawn to other gods: and those that serve other gods do certainly turn away from the true God; for he will admit of no rivals: he will be all or nothing. Secondly, He is a root that bears gall and wormwood; that is, he is a dangerous man, who, being himself poisoned with bad principles and inclinations, with a secret contempt of the God of Israel and his institutions and a veneration for the gods of the nations, endeavours, by all arts possible, to corrupt and poison others and draw them to idolatry: this is a man whose fruit is hemlock (so the word is translated, Ho 10:4) and wormwood; it is very displeasing to God, and will be, to all that are seduced by him, bitterness in the latter end. This is referred to by the apostle, Heb 12:15, where he is in like manner cautioning us to take heed of those that would seduce us from the Christian faith; they are the weeds or tares in a field, which, if let alone, will overspread the whole field. A little of this leaven will be in danger of infecting the whole lump.
[2.] His security in the sun. He promises himself impunity, though he persists in his impiety, De 29:19. Though he hears the words of the curse, so that he cannot plead ignorance of the danger, as other idolaters, yet even then he blesses himself in his own heart, thinks himself safe from the wrath of the God of Israel, under the protection of his idol-gods, and therefore says, "I shall have peace, though I be governed in my religion, not by God's institution, but by my own imagination, to add drunkenness to thirst, one act of wickedness to another." Idolaters were like drunkards, violently set upon their idols themselves and industrious to draw others in with them. Revellings commonly accompanied their idolatries (1Pe 4:3), so that this speaks a woe to drunkards (especially the drunkards of Ephraim), who, when they are awake, being thirsty, seek it yet again, Pr 23:35. And those that made themselves drunk in honour of their idols were the worst of drunkards. Note, First, There are many who are under the curse of God and yet bless themselves; but it will soon be found that in blessing themselves they do but deceive themselves. Secondly, Those are ripe for ruin, and there is little hope of their repentance, who have made themselves believe that they shall have peace though they go on in a sinful way. Thirdly, Drunkenness is a sin that hardens the heart, and debauches the conscience, as much as any other, a sin to which men are strangely tempted themselves even when they have lately felt the mischiefs of it, and to which they are strangely fond of drawing others, Hab 2:15. And such an ensnaring sin is idolatry.
[3.] God's just severity against him for the sin, and for the impious affront he put upon God in saying he should have peace though he went on, so giving the lie to eternal truth, Ge 3:4. There is scarcely a threatening in all the book of God that sounds more dreadful than this. O that presumptuous sinners would read it and tremble! For it is not a bug-bear to frighten children and fools, but a real declaration of the wrath of God against the ungodliness and the unrighteousness of men, De 29:20,21. First, The Lord shall not spare him. The days of his reprieve, which he abuses, will be shortened, and no mercy remembered in the midst of judgment. Secondly, The anger of the Lord, and his jealousy, which is the fiercest anger, shall smoke against him, like the smoke of a furnace. Thirdly, The curses written shall lie upon him, not only light upon him to terrify him, but abide upon him, to sink him to the lowest hell, Joh 3:36. Fourthly, His name shall be blotted out, that is, he himself shall be cut off, and his memory shall rot and perish with him. Fifthly, He shall be separated unto evil, which is the most proper notion of a curse; he shall be cut off from all happiness and all hope of it, and marked out for misery without remedy. And (lastly) All this according to the curses of the covenant, which are the most fearful curses, being the just revenges of abused grace.
(2.) Idolatry would be the ruin of their nation; it would bring plagues upon the land that connived at this root of bitterness and received the infection; as far as the sin spread, the judgment should spread likewise.
[1.] The ruin is described. It begins with plagues and sicknesses (De 29:22), to try if they will be reclaimed by less judgments; but, if not, it ends in a total overthrow, like that of Sodom, De 29:23. As that valley, which had been like the garden of the Lord for fruitfulness, was turned into a lake of salt and sulphur, so should the land of Canaan be made desolate and barren, as it has been ever since the last destruction of it by the Romans. The lake of Sodom bordered closely upon the land of Israel, that by it they might be warned against the iniquity of Sodom; but, not taking the warning, they were made as like to Sodom in ruin as they had been in sin.
[2.] The reason of it is enquired into, and assigned. First, It would be enquired into by the generations to come (De 29:22), who would find the state of their nation in all respects the reverse of what it had been, and, when they read both the history and the promise, would be astonished at the change. The stranger likewise, and the nations about them, as well as particular persons, would ask, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land? De 29:24. Great desolations are thus represented elsewhere as striking the spectators with amazement, 1Ki 9:8,9, Jer 22:8,9. It was time for the neighbours to tremble when judgment thus began at the house of God, 1Pe 4:17. The emphasis of the question is to be laid upon this land, the land of Canaan, this good land, the glory of all lands, this land flowing with milk and honey. A thousand pities that such a good land as this should be made desolate, but this is not all; it is this holy land, the land of Israel, a people in covenant with God; it is Immanuel's land, a land where God was known and worshipped, and yet thus wasted. Note, 1. It is no new thing for God to bring desolating judgments upon a people that in profession are near to him, Am 3:2. 2. He never does this without a good reason. 3. It concerns us to enquire into the reason, that we may give glory to God and take warning to ourselves. Secondly, The reason is here assigned, in answer to that enquiry. The matter would be so plain that all men would say, It was because they forsook the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, De 29:25. Note, God never forsakes any till they first forsake him. But those that desert the God of their fathers are justly cast out of the inheritance of their fathers. They went and served other gods (De 29:26), gods that they had no acquaintance with, nor lay under any obligation to either in duty of gratitude; for God has not given the creatures to be served by us, but to serve us; nor have they done any good to us (as some read it), more than what God has enabled them to do; to the Creator therefore we are debtors, and not to the creatures. It was for this that God was angry with them (De 29:27), and rooted them out in anger, De 29:28. So that, how dreadful soever the desolation was, the Lord was righteous in it, which is acknowledged, Da 9:11-14. "Thus" (says Mr. Ainsworth) "the law of Moses leaves sinners under the curse, and rooted out of the Lord's land; but the grace of Christ towards penitent believing sinners plants them again upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up, being kept by the power of God," Am 9:15.
[3.] He concludes his prophecy of the Jews' rejection just as St. Paul concludes his discourse on the same subject, when it began to be fulfilled (Ro 11:33), How unsearchable are God's judgments, and his ways past finding out! So here (De 29:29), Secret things belong to the Lord our God. Some make it to be one sentence, The secret things of the Lord our God are revealed to us and to our children, as far as we are concerned to know them, and he hath not dealt so with other nations: but we make it two sentences, by which, First, We are forbidden curiously to enquire into the secret counsels of God and to determine concerning them. A full answer is given to that question, Wherefore has the Lord done thus to this land? sufficient to justify God and admonish us. But if any ask further why God would be at such a vast expense of miracles to form such a people, whose apostasy and ruin he plainly foresaw, why he did not by his almighty grace prevent it, or what he intends yet to do with them, let such know that these are questions which cannot be answered, and therefore are not fit to be asked. It is presumption in us to pry into the Arcana imperii—the mysteries of government, and to enquire into the reasons of state which it is not for us to know. See Ac 1:7, Joh 21:22, Col 2:18. Secondly, We are directed and encouraged diligently to enquire into that which God has made known: things revealed belong to us and to our children. Note, 1. Though God has kept much of his counsel secret, yet there is enough revealed to satisfy and save us. He has kept back nothing that is profitable for us, but that only which it is good for us to be ignorant of. 2. We ought to acquaint ourselves, and our children, too, with the things of God that are revealed. We are not only allowed to search into them, but are concerned to do so. They are things which we and ours are nearly interested in. They are the rules we are to live by, the grants we are to live upon; and therefore we are to learn them diligently ourselves, and to teach them diligently to our children. 3. All our knowledge must be in order to practice, for this is the end of all divine revelation, not to furnish us with curious subjects of speculation and discourse, with which to entertain ourselves and our friends, but that we may do all the words of this law, and be blessed in our deed.
本章开首的话已指明了全章的内容："这是约的话"（申 29:1），即以下所记。本章包含：I. 重述神向他们所行的作为，以此为引他们进入此约的基础，申 29:2-8。II. 郑重劝勉他们谨守此约，申 29:9。III. 此约本身的要旨，申 29:12-13。IV. 列明被纳入此约的人员，申 29:10-11、14-15。V. 在一段括号中暗示此约旨在防备偶像崇拜之事，申 29:16-17。VI. 极其庄严可畏地宣告神之震怒，定要临到那些在罪途中妄自祈求平安的人，申 29:18-28。VII. 此番交涉的结语，点明隐秘之事与明显之事的分别，申 29:29。