Deuteronomy 29:29

The secret [things belong] unto the Lord our God,.... Respecting the people of Israel, and the providential dealings of God with them, and especially the final rejection of them; with respect to

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. The secret things belong unto the Lord.

Having now mentioned the dreadful and amazing judgments of God upon the whole land and people of Israel, and foreseeing by the Spirit of prophecy the utter extirpation and destruction which would come upon them for their wickedness, he breaks out into this pathetical exclamation, either to bridle their curiosity, who hearing this, would be apt to inquire into the time and manner of so great an event; or to quiet his own mind, and satisfy the scruples of others, who perceiving God to deal so severely with his own people, when in the mean time he suffered those nations which were guilty of grosser atheism, and idolatry, and impiety than the generality of the Jewish people were, to live and prosper in the world, might thence take occasion to deny or reproach his providence, or question the equity of his proceedings. To this he answers, that the ways and judgments of God, though never unjust, are ofttimes secret and hidden from us, and unsearchable by our shallow capacities, and are matter for our admiration, not for our inquiry. Unto us and to our children: but the things which are revealed by God and his word, these are the proper object of our inquiries and studies, that thereby we may come to the knowledge of our duty, by the practice whereof we may be kept from such terrible punishments and calamities as these now mentioned.

Deuteronomy 29:29 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.Ver. 29. The secret things belong.] This is one of those sixteen places which in the Hebrew are marked with a special note of regard. Eorum quae scire nec datur, nec fas est, licita est ignorantia. Scientiae appetentia, insaniae species, saith Calvin, out of Augustine.

(29) The secret things belong unto the Lord our God.—The immediate connection of these words with the context is not clear. Rashi connects the “secret things” with the “imagination of the evil heart of the secret idolater” of Deuteronomy 29:19. (The “secret faults” of Psalms 19:12 is the same expression.) His note runs thus: “And if thou say, What can we do? wilt Thou punish the many for the devices of the one? as it is said (Deuteronomy 29:18), ‘lest there be among you man or woman,’ and afterwards (Deuteronomy 29:22), ‘they shall see the plagues of that land;’ and yet, Is there any man that knoweth the secrets of his fellow? It is not that I shall punish you for those secrets; they belong to the Lord our God, and He will exact them from the individual sinner; but the things that are disclosed belong to us and to our children, to ‘put away the evil from the midst of us.’ And if judgment is not executed among them, the many will be punished.” But it is impossible not to feel that there is more behind the words of this passage than this. We must remember that Moses was delivering to Israel not law only but prophecy. And further, we may be certain that there was more in this latter portion of his prophecy than he could understand. May not this be one of the occasions concerning which the apostle says of the prophets, that they “searched what or what manner of time the spirit of Christ which was in them did signify”? All those curses were to come upon Israel, and yet, after that, there was still a covenant with them, embracing every generation to the world’s end. Must not Moses have longed to know what would befall his people in the latter days? and if we ourselves, “upon whom the ends of the world are come,” do not yet see the future of Israel distinctly, are not the words appropriate still? “The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children for ever.” To the very end, what better way is there than this? “Lord, I have hoped for Thy salvation, and done Thy commandments” (Psalms 119:166).

Verse 29. The secret things belong unto the Lord, c.] This verse has been variously translated. Houbigant renders it thus: Quae apud Dominum nostrum abscondita sunt, nobis ea filiisque nostris palam facta sunt ad multas aetates, "The things which were hidden with the Lord our God, are made manifest to us and our children for many generations." I am not satisfied with this interpretation, and find that the passage was not so understood by any of the ancient versions. The simple general meaning seems to be this: "What God has thought proper to reveal, he has revealed what he has revealed is essential to the well-being of man, and this revelation is intended not for the present time merely, nor for one people, but for all succeeding generations. The things which he has not revealed concern not man but God alone, and are therefore not to be inquired after." Thus, then, the things that are hidden belong unto the Lord, those that are revealed belong unto us and our children. But possibly the words here refer to the subjects of these chapters, as if he had said, "Apostasy from God and his truth is possible. When a national apostasy among us may take place, is known only to God; but he has revealed himself to us and our children that we may do all the words of this law, and so prevent the dreadful evils that shall fall on the disobedient." THE Jews have always considered these verses as containing subjects of the highest importance to them, and have affixed marks to the original לנו ולבנינו lanu ulebaneynu, "to US and to our CHILDREN," in order to fix the attention of the reader on truths which affect them individually, and not them only, but the whole of their posterity.

29. The still hidden things are the future (cp. Isaiah 48:6), the things that are revealed are those just reviewed, God’s deeds and words in the past and present. That among these present things is the Exile, as the result of Israel’s disobedience, is not certain, but it seems implied. Only its issue is still hidden, in contrast to the conditional prediction of a happy issue from it delivered in the following vv. Deuteronomy 30:1-10. All that Israel can do is to keep the law already revealed. It is difficult to see the connection between this v. and its context on either side; ‘perhaps a later addition … the use of the first person pl. suggests a form of liturgical response after hearing the reading of the law.’ This ‘liturgical close suggests that the discourse is concluded’ (Oxf. Hex.). this law] Heb. this Tôrah, see Deuteronomy 28:58.

The secret things belong unto the Lord our God - This verse seems to be added as a solemn admonition on the part of Moses, in order to close the series of blessings and curses which he has delivered.

29. The secret things belong unto the Lord our God — It lies with God to carry out these threatened judgments. Of that day and of that hour knows no man.