Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Deuteronomy
Chapter 29: The Secret Things Belong to the LORD
Moses gathers Israel to renew the covenant in the land of Moab, and he makes clear it binds more than the crowd standing before him: it reaches 'him that is not here with us this day,' the generations yet unborn. He warns against a hidden danger, a heart quietly turning away, 'a root that beareth gall and wormwood,' that can poison a whole people. And he ends with one of Scripture's great statements about the limits of our knowledge: 'The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us.' It is a chapter about a covenant that spans generations, the peril of secret sin, and humility before the God whose ways are past finding out.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Deuteronomy chapter 29. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. The chapter renews the covenant with Israel and their descendants, warns against a hidden root of bitterness, and teaches that the secret things belong to God. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
With Those Not Yet Here
The covenant bound not only the present crowd but the generations still to come.
From Chief to Servant
All stood before God, leaders and laborers alike, to enter the covenant together.
A Root of Bitterness
A heart secretly turning away is a root of gall that can poison the whole people.
The Secret Things
What God has hidden belongs to Him; what He has revealed belongs to us, to obey.
A Covenant for Generations to Come (Deuteronomy 29:10-15)
All Israel stood together to enter the covenant, and it bound not only those present but those not yet born.
And Also With Him That Is Not Here
"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. 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; The great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles: Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day. 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. Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the LORD your God. 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: 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. Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do. 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, 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: 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: 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. Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath; 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: (For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; and how we came through the nations which ye passed by; And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:)"
Hebrew Study
"covenant," berit (בְּרִית). A binding agreement, a solemn bond sealed between two parties. God's berit with Israel was no loose arrangement but a sworn, lasting bond. Here it stretches beyond the living crowd to embrace the unborn, a covenant meant to hold from generation to generation.
Explanation
Moses assembled everyone, "your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel," down to the little ones, the wives, and the stranger who cut wood or drew water, to "enter into covenant with the LORD thy God." All classes stood together before Him. Then Moses widened the circle in time as well as rank: the covenant was made "with him that standeth here with us this day... and also with him that is not here with us this day." Those not yet born were bound by it too. This was a covenant meant to reach across the generations, binding children and children's children to the God of their fathers.
Gospel Focus
God's covenant was never meant for one generation only, but to reach the ones "not here with us this day," the children yet unborn. This is the very heartbeat of Scripture, a God who keeps covenant "to a thousand generations." When the gospel came, Peter spoke the same sweeping language: "the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call" (Acts 2:39). The salvation we receive is not ours to hoard but to hand on; God intends it to flow down to our children and out to those far off. There is comfort in this for every believing parent and grandparent: the God who saved you has your descendants in view, and His covenant love reaches toward them. And there is responsibility, too, to pass the faith on faithfully. Stand in the covenant yourself, and know that the God who made it has the generations to come in His heart.
A Root of Bitterness (Deuteronomy 29:18-21)
Moses warns against a heart quietly turning from God, a hidden root of gall and wormwood that can spring up and poison a whole people.
A Root That Beareth Gall and Wormwood
"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; 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: 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. 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: 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; 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: Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger? 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: For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them: And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book: 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."
Hebrew Study
The hidden danger is "a root that beareth gall and wormwood" — a secret idolater who hears the covenant curses yet flatters himself, "I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine own heart." Self-deception is the deadliest sin here, presuming on grace while cherishing rebellion. Hebrews takes up the very image, warning against any "root of bitterness" springing up to defile many (Hebrews 12:15). One hidden, unrepented sin can poison a whole community.
Explanation
Even as the whole nation entered the covenant, Moses warned of a hidden danger within: "lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD." Such a person might hear the curses and yet secretly bless himself, thinking, "I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart." Moses calls this hidden apostasy "a root that beareth gall and wormwood," a bitter, poisonous root growing unseen beneath the surface. Left alone, it would bear deadly fruit, and God would not spare such a one. A single turned-away heart could bring trouble on the whole community.
Gospel Focus
The danger here is the secret heart, a person outwardly among God's people while inwardly turning away, blessing himself in his own sin and presuming on peace. Such hidden departure is a "root that beareth gall and wormwood," bitterness growing underground until it breaks the surface. The New Testament takes up the very image: "Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled" (Hebrews 12:15). Notice that the root does not stay private; it springs up, troubles others, and defiles many. Hidden sin never stays hidden or contained; it spreads. This is a call to honest self-examination, to deal with the secret turning of the heart before it takes root and poisons our lives and those around us. Do not presume on peace while quietly walking your own way. Let no bitter root grow in secret; bring the hidden heart into the light before God, and keep it truly His.
The Secret Things Belong to the LORD (Deuteronomy 29:29)
Moses draws a line between what God has kept hidden, which belongs to Him, and what He has revealed, which belongs to us, to obey.
Revealed Things Belong to Us
"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."
Hebrew Study
"The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children... to do all the words of this law." A perfect balance: there is much about God's purposes we are not given to know, and we bow before His hidden counsel; but what He has revealed is fully ours, and it is enough — enough to obey. Faith does not fret over the secret things; it gets busy with the revealed ones.
Explanation
After speaking of judgment and mysteries the people could not fully grasp, Moses gives a wise and settling word: "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." There are things God has not told us, hidden in His own counsel, and those are His alone. But what He has revealed, His word, His commandments, His will for our lives, is given to us and to our children, and given for a purpose: not merely to satisfy curiosity but "that we may do all the words of this law." Revelation is for obedience.
Gospel Focus
This verse is a lamp for every believer who wrestles with what he cannot understand. There are secret things, mysteries of God's providence, the reasons behind His deepest workings, that He has not revealed, and those belong to Him. We are not meant to unravel every mystery or demand answers to every "why." Paul stood before the same vastness and worshipped: "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" (Romans 11:33). But God has not left us in the dark about what matters most. "Those things which are revealed belong unto us," His word, His way of salvation, His will, and they are ours to know, to keep, and to pass to our children. And notice the aim: revelation is given "that we may do all the words." God did not reveal Himself to fill our heads but to guide our lives. Rest the secret things with God, trusting Him where you cannot trace Him, and give yourself wholly to obeying the things He has made plain.
Chapter 29 in Review
Deuteronomy 29 renews the covenant in Moab. All Israel stood together to enter it, from captains to woodcutters, and it bound not only those present but "him that is not here with us this day," the generations to come. Moses warned against a hidden heart turning from God, "a root that beareth gall and wormwood," that could poison the whole people. And he closed with a settling truth: "The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children."
For the Apostolic reader, each carries forward. God's covenant reaches our children and those afar off, so we hold the faith not for ourselves alone but to pass it on. The root of bitterness warns us to examine the secret heart and let no hidden sin take root, for it springs up and defiles many. And the secret things teach us a holy humility: we trust God where we cannot understand Him, and give ourselves fully to obeying what He has plainly revealed. Stand in the covenant, guard your heart from hidden departure, and do all the words God has made known.
- The covenant reached those "not here," the generations to come (29:15; Acts 2:39).
- All classes stood together to enter the covenant, chief and servant alike (29:10-13).
- Beware "a root that beareth gall and wormwood," the secret heart turning away (29:18; Hebrews 12:15).
- Hidden sin springs up and defiles many; examine the secret heart (29:19-21).
- Trust God with the secret things; obey the revealed things (29:29; Romans 11:33).
Questions for Reflection
- Are you handing the covenant faith on to your children and those afar off?
- Is there a hidden root of turning away that needs to be brought into the light?
- Can you trust God with the secret things while obeying what He has clearly revealed?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon. Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- A covenant reaching generations to come: Deuteronomy 29:10-15; Acts 2:39.
- The root of bitterness and hidden sin: Deuteronomy 29:18-21; Hebrews 12:15.
- The secret and the revealed things: Deuteronomy 29:29; Romans 11:33.