1Great mercies promised unto the penitent. 11The commandment is of obvious interpretation. 15Death and life are set before the people.
1AND it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, 1the blessing and the curse, which I have 2set before thee, and thou shalt call them 3to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,
1 First the blessing upon obedience, and thereafter the curse on disobedience; so that you shall have had experience of both.
2 Hebr. have given before thy face, as Deut. 11:26 and below verses 15, 19.
3 Hebr. cause them to return unto, or, into thine heart. Compare Deut. 4 on verses 29, 30, etc. There you have a similar prophecy, as is set down here, and in the following words. Other, and thou shalt have taken them again to heart.
24And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;
4 Other, And thou shalt have returned, etc.
35That then the LORD thy God will turn 6thya captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will 7return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.
5 Other, Then shall the LORD, etc.
6 That is, cause the multitude of thy prisoners to return; also Psalm 68:18; Eph. 4:8.
a Neh. 1:8; Psalm 106:45; Jer. 32:37.
7 Hebr. and he shall return and shall gather thee; that is, He shall gather thee again, or, He shall return with His grace and mercy, and gather thee again, etc.
4Ifbany of thine be driven out 8unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:
b Neh. 1:9.
8 Compare Deut. 4 on verse 32.
5And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.
6And the LORD thy God 9willc circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, 10that thou mayest live.
9 That is, He will enlighten thee by the power of His Spirit, purge and make thee suitable for His service. Compare Deut. 10 on verse 16, where God commands them to do what He here promises to work in them that they shall be able to do it. See also Deut. 29:4, so that the Covenant of Grace, established in Christ, is related here.
c Jer. 32:39; Ezek. 11:19; 36:26.
10 Hebr. for thy life’s sake.
7And the LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.
8And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day.
9Andd the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again 11rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers:
d Deut. 28:11.
11 That is, will again rejoice Himself to do thee good, as Jer. 32:41.
10If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
11¶For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not 12hidden from thee,e neither is it far off.
12 Other, too high, too wonderful. See Gen. 18:14; Deut. 17:8; Prov. 30:18; Jer. 32:17. Compare Rom. 10:6, 7, 8, where the apostle applies this text to the doctrine and grace of the Gospel, without which man cannot understand the commandments of God, much less live acceptably to God according to them. Compare Deut. 29:4 with the annotation there.
e Isa. 45:19.
12It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Whof shall go up for us to heaven, and 13bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
f Rom. 10:6, etc.
13 Hebr. take, that is, take and bring. See Gen. 12 on verse 15. And so in the following verse.
13Neither is it beyond the sea, 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?
14But the word is 14very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
14 As if Moses had said: You have no excuse to plead ignorance for yourself, seeing this word is fully explained unto you, and you have it daily in your mouth and understand sufficiently what the LORD requires from you. Compare Deut. 31 on verse 19, upon which these words do further agree. See Rom. 10:8.
15¶See, I have set before thee this day 15life and good, and death and evil;
15 Life, with all manner of blessings, if thou art obedient; death, with My curse, if thou art disobedient, as the following verse explain.
16In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep 16his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
16 See Deut. 5 on verse 31.
17But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
18I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall 17surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.
17 Hebr. perishing perish.
19 Ig18call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before 19you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
g Deut. 4:26.
18 See Deut. 4 on verse 26.
19 Hebr. given before your face.
20That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for 20he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
20 That is, Who giveth thee life, maintaineth and prolongeth it. Compare Acts 17:25, 28.