Deuteronomy 31:29

31:23-30 The solemn delivery of the book of the law to the Levites, to be deposited in, or rather by the side, of the ark, is again related. The song which follows in the next chapter is delivered to Moses, and by him to the people. He wrote it first, as the Holy Spirit taught him; and then spake it in the hearing of all the people. Moses tells them plainly, I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves. Many a sad thought, no doubt, it occasioned to this good man; but his comfort was, that he had done his duty, and that God would be glorified in their dispersion, if not in their settlement, for the foundation of God stands sure.

For I know that after my death,.... Which was just at hand, some time after that, not immediately; this he knew by a spirit of prophecy, namely, what follows: ye will utterly corrupt yourselves; their ways, works, and manners, and so themselves; corrupt the worship of God by making idols, and serving them, which is the corruption chiefly intended: and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you: from the way of the commandments of God, which Moses had given them in his name, and in which they were directed to walk; but, as here foretold, would wander and swerve from them as they did: and evil will befall you in the latter days; not only in the times of the judges, and in the time of the Babylonish captivity, but in their present captivity, as they call it; which shows that the following song has things in it which respect times at a great distance, and even the present ones, and yet to come: because ye will do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands; their idols, idolatry being the evil chiefly designed, which is of all things the most provoking of the Lord.

(29) In the latter days. —A not uncommon prophetical expression, used with some considerable latitude. It occurs for the first time in Genesis 49:1 . (See also Numbers 24:14 and Deuteronomy 4:30 . ) Some would refer it to the “days of the Messiah,” and make it almost a technical term. But a comparison of these few passages will show that it cannot be tied strictly to any one period.

Verse 29. - Ye will utterly corrupt yourselves ; literally, corrupting , ye will corrupt ( הַשְׁחַת תשׁחִתוּן , sc . דַרֵכֵיֶכם ); i . e . your ways (cf. for the phrase, Genesis 6:12 ). The latter days ; the after-time , the future , as in Deuteronomy 4:30 ; Numbers 24:14 , etc. The work of your hands ; the idols they might make (cf. Deuteronomy 4:28 ). By some, however, the phrase is interpreted of evil deeds in general Deuteronomy 31:29

For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger through the {o} work of your hands. (o) By idolatry, and worshipping images, which are the work of your hands.

How much more after my death - Hence, Deuteronomy 31:24 and the rest of the book (with the exception of the song, Deuteronomy 31:19 ) must be regarded as a kind of appendix added after Moses' death by another hand; though the Blessing Deuteronomy 33 is of course to be regarded as a composition of Moses.

26. Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark—The second copy of the law (see on [167]De 31:9) was deposited for greater security and reverence in a little chest beside the ark of the covenant, for there was nothing contained within it but the tables of stone (1Ki 8:9). Others think it was put within the ark, it being certain, from the testimony of Paul (Heb 9:4), that there were once other things inside the ark, and that this was the copy found in the time of Josiah (2Ki 22:8).

29 . after my death ] Readers of the Heb. text will compare with the position of this clause in the v . the construction in Deuteronomy 13:12 (13). ye will surely corrupt yourselves ] See on Deuteronomy 4:16 ; Deuteronomy 4:25 , and for another form of the same vb. Deuteronomy 9:12 , Deuteronomy 32:5 . turn aside , etc.] Deuteronomy 9:12 ; Deuteronomy 9:16 , Deuteronomy 11:28 . evil will befall you ] As in Jeremiah 44:23 ; another vb. is used in Deuteronomy 31:17; Deuteronomy 31:21 . For in the latter days see on Deuteronomy 4:30 . do that which is evil , etc.] See on Deuteronomy 4:25 , where the phrase is also followed as here by to provoke him to anger . Cp. Deuteronomy 9:18 . work of your hands ] That is idols, Jeremiah 25:14 . Contrast work of thy hand in a good sense, Deuteronomy 2:7 .

25 . When thou shalt beget … and ye shall have been ] Read, ye shall beget . The sentence illustrates the difficulties raised by the variant forms of address. So quick a change from Sg. to Pl., confirmed by LXX (though Sam. has Pl. for both verbs), is logically possible ( thou = the mother nation; ye = the nation and its children). Yet the Sg. is more probably due to the attraction of the previous Sg., a copyist naturally continuing the latter till the changed form arrested him. For thy God both Sam. and LXX read your God . Thus the Pl. is complete throughout 25–28. The word for beget only here, Deuteronomy 27:1 and in P. ye shall have been long ] Or grown old or stale , used of old corn, Leviticus 26:10 , and inveterate leprosy, Deuteronomy 13:11 , Here not merely living long in the land, but growing aged in spirit, losing spiritual freshness. Similarly the prophets judged the wilderness days to have been the ideal period of Israel’s history, the subsequent ages decadent. corrupt yourselves ] See on Deuteronomy 4:16 ; graven image , etc., ibid.do evil in the eyes of the Lord ] Deuteronomy 9:18 , Deuteronomy 17:2 , Deuteronomy 31:29 , and P, Numbers 32:13 ; or good , Deuteronomy 6:18 , Deuteronomy 12:28 . to provoke him ] Deuteronomy 9:18 , Deuteronomy 31:29 , Deuteronomy 32:16 ; Deuteronomy 32:21 , also in deuteronomic passages in Kings and in Jeremiah. 25–31.

Directly after handing over the book of the law, Moses directed the elders of all the tribes, together with the official persons, to gather round him, that he might rehearse to them the ode which he had written fore the people. The summons, "gather unto me," was addressed to the persons to whom he had given the book of the law. The elders and officers, as the civil authorities of the congregation, were collected together by him to hear the ode, because they were to put it in the mouth of the people, i.e., to take care that all the nation should learn it. The words, "I will call heaven and earth as witnesses against you," refer to the substance of the ode about to be rehearsed, which begins with an appeal to the heaven and the earth ( Deuteronomy 32:1 ). The reason assigned for this in Deuteronomy 31:29 is a brief summary of what the Lord had said to Moses in Deuteronomy 31:16-21 , and Moses thought it necessary to communicate to the representatives of the nation. "The work of your hands" refers to the idols (vid., Deuteronomy 4:28 ).

[Bible] 30:18. I foretell thee this day that thou shalt perish, and shalt remain but a short time in the land, to which thou shalt pass over the Jordan, and shalt go in to possess it. 30:19. I call heaven and earth to witness this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Choose therefore life, that both thou and thy seed may live: 30:20. And that thou mayst love the Lord thy God, and obey his voice, and adhere to him (for he is thy life, and the length of thy days,) that thou mayst dwell in the land, for which the Lord swore to thy fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would give it them. Deuteronomy Chapter 31 Moses encourageth the people, and Josue, who is appointed to succeed him. He delivereth the law to the priests. God foretelleth that the people will often forsake him, and that he will punish them. He commandeth Moses to write a canticle, as a constant remembrancer of the law. 31:1. And Moses went, and spoke all these words to all Israel, 31:2. And he said to them: I am this day a hundred and twenty years old, I can no longer go out and come in, especially as the Lord also hath said to me: Thou shalt not pass over this Jordan. 31:3. The Lord thy God then will pass over before thee: he will destroy all these nations in thy sight, and thou shalt possess them: and this Josue shall go over before thee, as the Lord hath spoken. 31:4. And the Lord shall do to them as he did to Sehon and Og the kings of the Amorrhites, and to their land, and shall destroy them. 31:5. Therefore when the Lord shall have delivered these also to you, you shall do in like manner to them as I have commanded you. 31:6. Do manfully and be of good heart: fear not, nor be ye dismayed at their sight: for the Lord thy God he himself is thy leader, and will not leave thee nor forsake thee.